Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Julia…Julia…come on,” I plead between each compression. Tears blur my vision, but I can’t afford to close my eyes. Not even for a second. “Stay with me.”
Time loses all meaning as I continue CPR.
No response, no twitch of tiny fingers or fluttering of eyelids.
A strange calm settles over me as if time has slowed down. I can hear the sirens now—distant but getting closer—and I feel strangely detached from it all.
I don’t stop the makeshift CPR until the sirens are on top of me, until firm hands are prying me away from my daughter’s lifeless body.
“Sir, we’ve got it,” a voice says, and then a jumble of words I can’t comprehend.
My knees buckle as they pull me back, and I crumple onto the cold asphalt, rain still pelting. Everything is spinning and blurring. The flashing lights glow, illuminating the faces of the medics working to save my daughter.
It’s cold. So cold.
“Julia…” My voice is a broken whisper. I don’t even realize I’m sobbing until I taste the salt on my lips. “Lindsay,” I croak out, my voice raw from screaming and crying. “Where’s Lindsay?”
“Sir? Was there another passenger?”
“Lindsay…”
“Sir, there wasn’t anyone else in the car with you.”
Nothing matters. Nothing matters anymore.
Lindsay.
She’s not here.
Thank God, she’s at school.
But Julia…
Julia…
Julia…
The world around me tilts and blurs, as if reality is trying to escape. The steady rhythm of sirens becomes a distant echo, the flashing lights seem muted, and the busy scene of paramedics working on my daughter fades into a nightmarish scene. I’m floating, disconnected from everything and everyone.
“I need… I need to call Lindsay…” My voice is barely a whisper. I struggle to sit up, but my strength seems to have abandoned me. I gasp for air.
A paramedic kneels beside me. She’s saying something to me, her words melding together into an indecipherable string of nonsense. She tries to steady me, gives me an oxygen mask, but all I can think about is Lindsay.
All I can think of is how I need to tell her.
In a daze, I fumble for my phone in my pocket, pulling it out with trembling hands. The screen is cracked. I cackle out a laugh.
It’s cracked.
My soul is cracked.
Everything is cracked.
Can’t feel my right hand.
I manage to unlock the phone.
Lindsay’s contact.
Her smiling face.
God, her smiling face.
I press send and hold my breath.
It rings, rings, rings…
Finally, a click, and then…her voice.
“Hi, it’s Lindsay. Sorry I missed your call. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
Her voice, so light and cheerful, cuts through the chaotic sounds around me, slicing into my gut with an almost physical pain.
“Li-Lindsay…” My voice trembles on her name, the reality of everything crashing down on me. “Something’s happened…” I choke out the words between gasping breaths.
The phone drops from my grip and clatters onto the ground.
Hands grab at me again, pulling me away from the car as they work on Julia. But I can’t tear my eyes away from her, from her still form.
“Lindsay… Julia…”
My words are swallowed up as consciousness slips away.
Oblivion.
Blissful oblivion.
Chapter Nine
Angie
I freeze, a wineglass in each hand.
Ralph?
He’s attractive, but I never gave him any signals.
His kiss is soft and sweet, but after today’s kiss from Jason…
It’ll take a lot more to get my attention.
I set down the wineglasses and push him away.
“What was that?” I demand.
“A kiss,” he says, grinning slightly. “You do enjoy kissing, don’t you?”
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “I… Well, yeah. But…we’re here to study. To help each other. To eat pizza and…”
God, I’m babbling.
“Come on.” He furrows his brow. “You know you want it as much as I do.”
I cock my head, irritated. “Excuse me?”
He cocks his head, his gaze dark. “I don’t think I stuttered.”
I drop my gaze to his crotch, where his hardness is evident.
Oh, God…
“You like to kiss, Angie. I know you do. I saw you.”
I swallow. What the hell is he talking about? The only person I’ve kissed since I’ve been to medical school is—
Oh, shit…
Did he see Jason kiss me?
“What the hell are you talking about?” I demand, willing my voice not to shake.
“Today, after lab. I forgot my iPad, and I went back to the room. I saw you. You and Dr. Lansing.”
I don’t reply. Just try to keep myself steady.
Ralph raises an eyebrow. “He could lose his job for that.”
How do I handle this? Do I admit it? That won’t do Jason or me any good at all. I hate lying, but—
“I don’t know what you think you saw, but you’re mistaken.” I pick up one of the bottles of Steel Vineyards Ruby that he brought, uncork it, add the aerator, and pour a glass, hoping the trembling in my hands isn’t apparent.
“Really?” He narrows his gaze. “I’m not an idiot. You can’t deny what I saw.”
I take a sip from my glass, doing my best to steady my shaking hands. “Maybe you should consider getting your eyes checked.”