Addicted

Had she been with Jonathan, and then Dad stole her?

I lost my footing for a minute, but righted myself.

"Keep your head in the game," I grumbled and over-corrected my next turn. There was no time to fix the error, and I covered my face and tried to relax as I flew forward, knowing it was about to get bad.

The world flew by, colors mixing and fading as I tumbled over myself over and over again. I hit something hard on the way down and lost my vision for a minute.

I lay there for what felt like forever, trying to remember where I was and what I needed to do to get up. It was so damn cold, and the sky was darkening. I fumbled with my phone in my pocket as dizziness rolled over me.

Pressing my dad's number, I put the phone on my chest and closed my eyes, waiting to hear his voice.

"Finn? What's up, son? You on your way over?"

I could hear him, but I couldn't seem to respond. Fear rushed through me, and I groaned, wanting so damn bad to tell him where I was and what I was up to, but words wouldn't form.

"Finn? Stop dicking around, boy. You're scaring me." His tone sharpened and his anger seemed to burn through the phone.

Tears burned my gaze, and I let out a painful breath. My mind was blurry and even breathing was hard. I had to have punctured a lung and hit my head on something. Why else couldn't I get a word out?

"Goddammit, son!" I could hear him yelling at Milly to get the truck and call 9-1-1. I let myself fade out as he continued to yell at me to stay awake and think good thoughts.

I let Chloe take up my mind, the warmth of her smile and softness of her lips keeping me busy. I didn’t know how much time had passed before the sound of voices around me ushered in relief. Someone was there to help. Now if I could just flag them down – but I still had no ability to form words.

"Here. Here he is. Bring the stretcher." Someone knelt next to me and picked up the phone. "Hi, this is Leah Smith. We've found him. We're going to assess him and get him to St. Marks. Meet us there."

"Hey, buddy." A male voice spoke near my ear, and as badly as I wanted to respond, I couldn't. Fuck me if I wasn't paralyzed. If I thought I wasn't good enough for Chloe before, this was a moment of clarity. "Just stay still, Finn. We're going to make sure your neck and back aren't broken, and then we'll get you to the hospital. Your dad's gonna meet us there. Just open your eyes if you can hear me."

I tried, but nothing happened. It was like being trapped in my body with no way of communicating out.

"He's breathing, Leah, but non-responsive. Brain injury, I would assume."

They poked and prodded at me as I lay there with my eyes closed, trying to focus on breathing.

"He's got tears coming from his eyes," the female spoke. "He can hear us."

"We're going to pick you up now. If something hurts, just cry out if you can, and we'll stop." The guy patted my chest. "It's going to be fine. We've got the best doctors in the world right down the road."

I didn't remember much more other than bright lights flying by above my head as I opened my eyes for a moment and groaned. My father was running beside the bed with tears streaking down his face, and I knew the shit was bad. He glanced down and pursed his lips.

"I'll see you soon. Hang in there, okay. Don't leave me. You're all I've got and I'm a selfish bastard."

He patted my chest, and I tried to mumble, “of course not,” but nothing came out. I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me. It was far less frightening than knowing what the hell I'd done to myself.

If I survived, I was done taking shit for granted and defining myself based on other people’s opinions. I knew who I was and who I wanted to be. Outside of all of that, I knew who I wanted, and if I could have another shot at showing her, Chloe would be mine forever.

Chapter 25

Chloe

I spent the rest of the night in my room, even refusing Parker as he tried to come in with some food. By Sunday morning, I was feeling a little less manic. The fact that Finn didn’t call was upsetting, but I would give him a day or so to cool off. My father had most likely torn him down to nothing, which still grated my nerves completely. I was somewhat pissed at Finn for letting my father affect him so much, too, which is why I hadn’t texted. My dad's opinion wasn't my own, and Finn should know that.

A knock at my door pulled me from my thoughts.

I tugged the covers up around me and called out. "Come in."

Parker stuck his head in the room with a cute frown on his boyishly handsome face. "Can I come snuggle?"

"Yeah. Get in here." I moved over, making room for my little brother beside me.