“Should we call her again? Make sure things are okay? Did she get hurt?”
“She’s hurt, but she’s more concerned about Rory. Fuck. Fuck. I can’t… if we lose him, E… if we…”
Xav reached forward and gripped both of Quinn’s shoulders.
“Hey man, shh, it’s okay. We’re going to get to them and make sure Rory is fucking okay, right, E?”
“Yeah, Quinn, we got this. And he’s got Ash. She won’t let anything happen to him.”
Ash would fight for Rory. She would keep him safe. I had to believe that and so did they. A world without our Rory would be dark as fuck. Even though he was quiet and withdrawn, he was still our family. An integral part of our world.
Quinn’s phone rang and he fumbled with it before answering and putting it on speaker.
“Little girl… is everything okay?”
“No… Quinn, I can’t do this. He won’t wake up. I’m so scared. I can’t leave him like this in the car. What if it catches fire or something? I need you.”
“Shh, it’s okay, we’re on our way.”
“But he needs help now. What if I did call an ambulance? He needs medical attention and we can’t give him that. I don’t know what to do.”
Quinn looked at us, his eyes wide with fear and worry lacing his features.
“Ash, it’s Eric… are you able to move him at all so you can maybe see what’s wrong?”
“I can try… hold on…” we heard movement and then her voice calling again, “Okay, I’ve managed to make him sit up. His head has stopped bleeding and it doesn’t look like he’s got any other injuries that I can see… Ror, come on, wake up for me, please.”
We could all hear the panic in her voice.
“Do you think we should get her to move him more?”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Quinn said shaking his head.
Then we all heard a very faint groan down the phone.
“Ror! Hey, hey, it’s okay. Can you speak?” came Ash’s voice. “I think he’s waking up…”
“Thank fuck for that,” Xav said.
He was still holding onto Quinn and honestly, I didn’t think he should let go. Quinn looked like he was about to fall apart.
“We’re going to get there as fast as we can, Ash, okay? Just keep him awake,” I told her as I navigated my way through over a busy intersection.
“Ror… can you hear me? Ror?”
I swear all of us had our fingers crossed, hoping beyond hope our Rory was going to be okay. And I no longer cared how fast I was driving or if I broke any speeding laws. Ash and Rory needed us and I was fucked if we were going to let this shitty traffic get in the way of us being there for them.
Chapter 36
I groaned, pain flooding my chest, my head and my limbs. Why did everything hurt? What happened to me? I opened my eyes, trying to focus on what was in front of me. A vision of blonde hair leant over me, eyes frantic and I could hear them talking to me.
“Ror, can you hear me? Can you talk?”
I groaned again, trying to work out how I could speak and why it hurt to move. My fingers twitched. I shifted a little. Pain ripped through me and a low moan of pain escaped my lips.
“Shh, shh, don’t try and move, okay? Ror, look at me. Open your eyes properly.”
I blinked and then my vision focused on her. On Ash. My beautiful Ash who was pale as a sheet.
“Ash, what’s going on? Is he awake?” came a muffled voice from near us.
Ash pulled back and grabbed something off the dashboard.
“His eyes are open, but I don’t think he can talk yet… Ror, can you say something?”
“Wh… what happened?” I croaked.
I could see we were inside the car, but not much beyond that.
“We were in an accident. The boys are on their way.”
An accident? Was that why we were in the car? My mind felt foggy. I couldn’t remember a thing.
“Accident?”
“It doesn’t matter right now. I need you to tell me where you’re hurting, okay?”
I tried to focus on her question. Where was I hurting? Everywhere. But no, that’s not what she wanted to know. Where exactly?
“My head hurts and my chest.”
“Is that it?”
“My arm hurts… the right one.”
“Okay. I’m going to need to go around the other side of the car to check it, okay?”
“Little star.”
I felt her stroking my hair back.
“Shh, it’s okay, I’m right here.”
I reached out with my left hand, touching her chest. Thankfully, it didn’t hurt to move that limb.
“Are… are you hurt?”
“I don’t matter right now, Ror. Just stay there, okay?”
I felt her warmth leave me and I almost panicked, but she told me she was just going around the other side of the car. Why did I hurt so much? Why were we in an accident? How could I have let this happen? I promised I’d take care of her. My little star.
The door next to me was wrenched open and then I felt Ash’s hands on my arm. I winced, pain ripping up my wrist.
“Ow, fuck!”
“E, I think his wrist might be broken or at the very least, sprained. It’s beginning to swell.”
I turned my head to look at her. She had her phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder.
“Okay… you think I should try get him out? How much longer are you going to be?”
I stared at her concerned features. She didn’t look so good herself although she wasn’t bleeding anywhere.
“Hold on, I’m going to put the phone down. Yeah… okay.”
She fiddled with the phone and placed it on the lip of the inside of the car door where the handle to open it was.
“Ror, I’m going to take
