Hefty

That’s the moment the whole ordeal catches up with me, so the tears that gather in my eyes are real. “My knee hurts so bad. You have to take me to the nurse.”

A light clicks on behind his eyes. His Adam’s apple swells and plummets.

He looks at the student he’s holding off the ground and tosses him down to the pavement with a snarl, his fingers flexing at his sides, visibly restraining himself. And then he turns on a heel and scoops me up, carrying me through the thongs of gaping students toward the main building where the nurse’s office is located. No one moves, they just watch us pass. But I don’t have time to worry about their opinions or how they might bother Zach, I just lay my head on his big shoulder, confident I’m in the best care possible and let all of my concerns wash away.

“How did you know I was in the parking lot?”

His heart hammers against my ear. “When I heard the crash, I went looking for you. I just wanted to know…I got nervous. And then you weren’t in class, where you’re supposed to be.” He has to take several deep breaths before continuing. “I saw your friends and one of them said you’d run out to grab a book from her car. Everything after that is a blur. Until now.”

My pulse clamors. “Because you’re holding me?”

Several beats pass. “Yes,” he rasps, jaw tight. “Are you hurt anywhere besides your knee?”

I’m still reeling from the fact that Zach admitted holding me had such an effect on him. What does it mean? “I bumped my head, but not too hard. It’ll just be a little sore.”

“Christ. Your head?” He kicks open the front door of the main building and carries me through the opening. “It could have been worse. You’re getting checked anyway.”

“It’s really not—”

“Please don’t argue with me. I just…I really need to know you’re okay.”

I look up at him, my knight in shining armor and I’m more in love than ever. And I almost tell him, right there outside the nurse’s office, but my fear that he doesn’t feel the same keeps my lips sealed. Maybe if I’d had more courage, we could have avoided what came next.

6

Zach

I pace back and forth in front of the bed in the nurse’s office, watching as the woman shines a pen light in Jill’s eyes to determine if she has a concussion.

I’m a cross between sick to my stomach and livid beyond words.

Racing. They were racing near my Jill.

If they’d hit her…

A bellow lodges in my throat and I press a fist to my lips, keeping it from escaping. I’ve already revealed way too much about how I feel today. I need to calm down. Stop walking the office like a caged animal, my hands poised to rip the bars off if something serious is wrong with her. If I’d stopped to talk to her in the hallway, she wouldn’t have been in the parking lot at the exact wrong time. This is my fault. I didn’t want her friends to laugh at her for talking to me, but I didn’t know the alternative was her nearly getting run over. Goddammit.

What is taking the nurse so long?

“Is it a concussion?” I ask, unable to stand the suspense any longer. If she has a head injury, I’m taking her to the hospital immediately.

The nurse looks back at me with speculation. “No. No concussion.” Her smile is tight as she stands. “Let’s get that knee cleaned and bandaged, then you can sit here for a while and rest, all right?”

“That sounds perfect, thank you,” Jill murmurs.

I try not to stare over the nurse’s shoulder while she’s cleaning up Jill’s knee, but I can’t help it. I wince every time Jill does, a vein beating in my forehead at the sight of gravel pieces embedded in her beautiful skin. God, I should have killed those little shits for what they did. What if I’d run into the parking lot and seen Jill lying still in the middle of the lane? I don’t even think I’d be here right now. I think I immediately would have left earth, unable to bear a second without her alive.

“Okay, you’re all set,” the nurse is saying. “Keep the ice pack on for fifteen minutes, then I’ll send you back to class.” The older woman gives me the side eye. “I assume you’re going to stand guard over her?”

I grunt. Nod once.

The nurse leaves, pulling the partition curtain behind her, and Jill smiles up at me from her prone position, her blonde hair fanned out around her. “Will you text Harper and let her know I’m okay?” She licks her lips almost nervously. “I-I mean she might have heard by now that you…came to get me. But just in case.”