For Lucy

“Tate … she’s going to be okay. Don’t you dare think otherwise.”

Clenching my shirt in her delicate fingers, she buries her face in my neck and continues to cry out of control.

It’s too much. Losing Lucy would be too much for her and too much for me. After losing track of how long we’ve remained in each other’s arms, I ease out of her grip enough to see her face.

Still … she won’t let her gaze meet mine, so I put my finger under her chin and force her face up. She closes her eyes instead of looking at me, and her bottom lip trembles.

“What happened?” I whisper, clearing the tears from her face and the terrain of cuts and bandages.

Curling her lips together and drawing in a shaky breath, she starts to open her eyes just as the door to the room opens. Her gaze goes straight to Josh, and she sits back, forcing distance between us. I stand and take in a deep breath.

“What’s her condition? What can we expect? I haven’t really been told anything.”

Josh gives Tatum a quick glance that she ignores before he returns his attention to me. “She suffered a spinal injury. Miraculously all of her other injuries are minor except for a concussion, but given enough rest, that should resolve and hopefully not leave any permanent damage. We’ll know over the next few days.”

“The spinal injury …” I’m not sure what I’m really asking.

Josh nods slowly. “It appears to be an incomplete injury which means she has some function of her lower extremities, but not a lot. If we can get the inflammation down, we’ll have a better feel for the extent of the paralysis.”

“So she can’t walk?”

Josh shakes his head.

“Is it permanent?”

“Again, we don’t know yet.” He makes his way to Tatum. “What can I do for you? Have you eaten? Do you need something for the pain? Your head must hurt. I could take you home for a few hours and drive you back here.”

That’s my wife.

That’s my daughter in the bed, lifeless.

My whole fucking world is in this room, and Dr. Josh is trying to make a place for himself too.

Tatum stares blankly at Lucy while Josh rests his hand on her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze.

“Do you want me to have your parents come in for a little bit? I could have them make an exception for the number of visitors. I know they’re really concerned about you and Lucy.”

Not a blink.

Nothing.

I haven’t seen Tatum like this since Austin died. She just … faded away. Never in my life had I felt so helpless.

He died and I couldn’t save him.

She blamed me, and I couldn’t argue with her.

And every day she pulled away from me. It was like trying to hold water in your cupped hands. I fought to keep her, but the cracks were too big. Our love, our life we kept safe in a bubble … it broke.

Josh nods at me toward the hallway, and I follow him out the door, closing it behind me. “She won’t talk. She hasn’t said one word to me since the accident. Her doctor, Dr. Mathers, got her to say maybe five words, but only because she said she wouldn’t discharge her to see Lucy if she didn’t answer a few questions.”

I nod a few times, keeping my gaze over his shoulder to the room and Tatum’s dead gaze on Lucy. They both look lifeless and limp. The only difference is Tatum’s eyes are open, but fixed and unblinking.

“Do you think we should have her parents come talk to her?”

We.

So now Josh and I are a team? Great. Really great.

“Sure.” I shrug. “It’s worth a try. I just …” I squint at Tatum.

“You just what?” Josh asks.

On a drawn-out sigh, I rub the back of my neck. “She’s stable. Right? I mean, I guess what I’m saying is … it’s unlikely that she’s going to …” I can’t say it. I can’t even say the word die.

But I don’t have to.

“They anticipate a full recovery from the concussion. They’ll know more when she’s awake again. They’ll keep checking for any signs of memory loss or other neurological deficits. So to answer your question, no. It’s highly unlikely that anything at this point would lead to death.”

I nod slowly. Lucy will live. Austin died. Why does Tatum look like she’s not going to make it?

“Do you know the details of the accident?”

Josh frowns. “Only what a few witnesses have told the police. Tatum hasn’t been able to give her account of it yet.”

“What did the witnesses say?”

I can tell from the indecision on his face and his quick glance over his shoulder to Tatum that he doesn’t want to tell me.

“Just tell me.”

“Witnesses said Tatum’s car ran a red light.”

“Who was driving?”