“Cool.”

“Cool,” she breathed as he laid his head on her chest. She felt like she was on cloud nine; her heart was going wild, and she couldn’t believe it. He was going to ask her to marry him, something she had wanted since the moment she met him. Yeah, they were young, and she was younger, but she’d known from the moment she met him that he was the man she wanted for the rest of her life. How could she not want him? He made her laugh constantly. He gave her the best sex in the world, and he made her feel so special. No matter what, she knew he had her back and he loved her. Unconditionally. That alone made her heart soar for him. Everything was going exactly how she wanted it to. She was happy, he was happy, and they were moving forward, together.

Everything was perfect, and she felt like nothing could touch them.

Kissing her breast, he said, “I love you.”

Smiling, she kissed the top of his head. But before she could answer him, her phone sounded. It was her mother, but she ignored it. “I love you too, Markus. So much.”

“Good,” he said as her phone stopping ringing. “Don’t want to talk to you mom right now?”

“Nope, I love what I’m doing right now. I’ll call her back,” she said, moving her hand down the middle on his back and then back up. But when her phone sounded again, and it was her mother again, she glanced over to where her phone was as her brows came together.

“Maybe you should answer. She usually doesn’t call twice in a row like that,” he suggested, and she nodded as he rolled off her just as the phone stopped ringing.

“Well, then,” she said, and she went to cuddle back with him, but her phone sounded once more. “Huh,” she said as a dreadful feeling washed over her. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but her mother never called her like that. Reaching for her phone off the table, she answered it. “Hello? Mom?”

She was met with hysterical sobbing before her father said calmly, “Skylar was in a car crash, Mekena. It’s not good. You need to come home.”

As they walked through the hospital to the ICU of Vanderbilt, Mekena couldn’t feel her hands or feet. Her heart hadn’t slowed since she dropped the phone and Markus picked it up back in Florida. He was the one who had made the calls, the one who got them on the first plane back to Nashville, and the one who packed. Mekena just sat there, not able to feel anything but pure fear.

She didn’t understand what was going on. Only that Skylar was in an accident and that it was bad. She also didn’t understand her feelings. She was supposed to hate Skylar, she did hate her, so why was she on the verge of tears and unable to hold it together as they headed through the cold hospital full of people either dying or fighting for life.

The place where Skylar was fighting for hers.

With a lump in her throat, Mekena stopped, and Markus looked back to her, confused.

“Baby?”

“I was supposed to drive back with Avery and my stuff so we can fully move in to the apartment. Shit, I didn’t call her.”

Coming to her, he took her hand, and to her surprise, she felt the warmth of his palm as he laced his fingers with hers. “I called her. Don’t worry, she’s flying up later tonight with Ashlyn and then taking her to Autumn before meeting us here.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, looking up at him as tears flooded her eyes. She felt like she didn’t even know who she was. What she was doing. What she was walking into. The fear was so great, it rattled her, and she wasn’t sure how to feel. She’d wanted Skylar to get a wake-up call, but getting into a head-on collision with a semi wasn’t the wake-up call she’d wanted. She wanted her sister to live, but there was a chance that wasn’t going to happen.

And she hadn’t even spoken to her except words of hate.

Her stomach dropped as she gazed up into his eyes, and he nodded grimly.

“It’s okay. Just keep walking, we’re good,” he said, reminding her for the nine hundredth time. Kissing the back of her hand, he pulled her along with him as he looked around, trying to find either Skylar’s room or her parents. His face was so set, his eyes wild, and she knew he was worried. He didn’t hide his feelings well, and she could tell he was shaking in his boots, but he was being strong for her.

When they rounded the corner, they started down another hall but then heard, “Mekena, Markus.”

It was her father, and when they turned toward a door, her parents were waiting inside what looked like a family room. Her mom was in a ball in a chair, crying, and Mekena just broke down, a sob leaving her as she rushed to her mother, wrapping her arms around her. Linda took her in her arms, holding her tightly as they both cried, her body shaking against her mom’s.

“It’s so bad, Mekena. They don’t know if she’ll make it. We might lose her. We might lose her before we could save her,” her mother cried, and Mekena squeezed her eyes shut, the pain rocking her core. “Why couldn’t we save her?”

“I don’t know, Mom. I’m sorry, I don’t know,” she cried, holding her tightly as her mother’s sobs filled the room. Guilt washed over Mekena as she buried her face in her mother’s shoulder. She should have tried. She should have talked to Skylar, tried to fix her, help her figure out whatever was wrong. She didn’t know because her sister had cut her out. Skylar had hurt her, broken her, and instead of getting over that, Mekena threw her out of her life. She had to; she didn’t know what else to do. But now, now she felt horrible.

What if this was her fault?

“Preston?”

Mekena looked up as a younger man in a white coat came into the waiting room, her father meeting him halfway. “Yes, that’s us. We’re Skylar Preston’s parents.”

Letting Mekena go, Linda got up, rushing to Stan’s side as the doctor tucked his hands in his pockets. Mekena was unable to move as he said, “I’m sorry, but we’ve done everything we can. Your daughter wasn’t wearing her seat belt, and her head hit the window so hard that it not only cracked the glass, but her skull, exposing her brain and, of course, causing some irreversible damage. She sustained injuries to her lungs, liver, and pelvis. Along with breaking all her limbs and shattering her feet. We are keeping her comfortable, but I’m very sorry to say the tests are indicating no brain activity. We don’t see her making it through the night.”