“I’m saying Darren was right. I tried so hard to deny it, to deny you, but he saw it. He said I was being selfish by leaving you, that I did it because I didn’t want to be hurt again, that I was a coward for it. He was right. He saw it from the moment he arrived at the hospital when you were unresponsive.”

My brow scrunched. “Dr. Morgenson? How do you know him, and what did he see?” My patience was running thin, and Nathan’s head shook, making it worse. “Just f**king say whatever it is you’re trying to say!”

My chest protested, screaming at me, and I laid my head back down. The pain was almost unbearable.

He looked at me, his face torn as he studied my features. His mouth opened and then closed again, the words stuck.

“He knew that I’m in love with you.”

My eyes widened, my mouth dropping in shock as my brain attempted to process what he had said.

“I love you, Lila,” he declared. “I’m so scared about what that means for you.”

My heart skipped a beat as words I had longed to hear slipped past his lips. The problem was they were tainted by the darkness he had carved in my heart.

I laughed; it was a harsh one, my bitterness soaking through, and he flinched in response. “You love me? Then why did you leave me?”

“I’m sorry, I…”

“You love me? You’re sorry? Do you somehow think that makes everything better?” I asked, my voice growing in volume despite the protest in my lungs.

“No.”

“Then what, Nathan? What the f**k do you want?” I asked, tears welling in my eyes. I needed to know. He needed to tell me. No more hiding.

“I…” he began, and then shook his head, his eyes pleading with me for some sort of unknown understanding.

“Out.” My right arm lifted, despite the pain, and pointed toward the door. The chance was given for him to give me something, anything, but he didn’t take it.

“Wait, Lila, please,” he begged.

“I said get the f**k out!” The action of yelling caused my eyes to grow wide as an agonizing fire ripped its way through me, my injuries protesting my movements.

My breaths became shallow, each harder than the last. The beeping on the machines increased.

Nathan stepped toward me, and I growled at him in warning. “No! Out!” My hand grabbed hold of the ice water on the stand next to me, and I threw it at him. The lid popped off when it crashed into his chest. The cold water spilled all over him, and he wore an expression of utter shock while the sound of the plastic, hitting the hard floor, filled the room.

I screamed out, the pain from jostling my body so intense a white light clouded my vision. In the background, Nathan was calling to me along with other voices, coaxing me to calm down, but all I could pay attention to was my own gasping breaths and shooting pains coursing through my body.

I was crying out in pain between the pants. Every sound I emitted caused the stabbing in my chest to flare, which would cause me to scream yet again. It was a vicious cycle.

It took a while, but with the help of some drugs, I regained a normal breathing pattern.

“Ms. Palmer… Delilah, I’m Dr. Thomas. Do you recall how you were injured?” he asked, and I shook my head. His hand reached out and stopped the motion. “It’s okay, not too much. Now that you’re awake, I’m hoping we can better assess your injuries. As of right now, we know you have a broken leg. You also have multiple lacerations that we’ve stitched up. We’re going to evaluate you and go from there, all right?”

I nodded in response, and nurses began taking new vitals while fingers poked and prodded me. I may or may not have hit one of the nurses when my leg was bumped, but thankfully they understood.

For what felt like the next millennium, I was examined and moved about, left with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company. The nurses tried to draw me into conversation, but I wasn’t paying attention. What had me was him: Nathan. Everywhere in the hospital I went, I could still feel him. My eyes searched for him as they wheeled me down corridors. I never did see him, but I knew he was near. After everything, there was still that rope that bound us together, pulling me to him.

Sixteen hours, seventeen x-rays, and one CT scan later, the tally was in: bruised ribs, broken tibia and fibula which needed surgery to be realigned with a metal rod to hold the bones together, sprained left wrist, a concussion, and a linear skull fracture. To top it all off, I had multiple lacerations to my arms, legs, and head, and bruises with various scratches that covered my body. I was also informed I would not be leaving the hospital until after the surgery to fix my leg. My surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, and if I was lucky, I would be released on Wednesday.

It was going to be a very long week.

They gave me lots of medicine for the pain, and I soon found myself drowsy. After a small fight I gave up trying to stay awake and fell into a deep sleep.

Soothing strokes of my hair woke me sometime later, and my eyes fluttered open to find Caroline staring at me with wet eyes.

“Caroline?”

“You gave us quite a scare, sweetie,” she said with a sniff. Her fingers continued to run through my hair past the bandage that circled my head. “How are you feeling?”

I attempted to move, but my body protested by shooting pain throughout, including my lungs when I breathed. “Like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

“Full size work van.”

“Huh?”

She smiled at my confusion. “You were hit by a full size work van.”

“Oh. Well…that hurt, probably more than a truck.”

Caroline tried to suppress a laugh, but it came out anyway. “I bet it did. Do you remember?”

I shook my head, an action I found to be bad when my head began to spin. “How long have I been here? I know the doctor came in, and I had all those tests after Nathan…” I trailed off, my brow scrunching as I remembered how he was dressed. Not in his normal tailored suit, but in the same drab hospital gown I was wearing. “Why is Nathan in the hospital?”

She pursed her lips. I knew she wasn’t happy with him and all that had gone on with our breakup, but there was something in the look upon her face. She was…torn.

“It’s almost seven in the evening on Friday, you’ve been asleep for most of the day, and you’ve been here for almost two days. Nathan…well, he ran, literally ran to you after you called him… Lila, were you aware he was in a car accident?” she asked, avoiding answering my question.