I don’t have time to tell him I already know that, so I ignore him instead, because I don’t understand what I’m seeing. I thought she was just wasted, but her lips are blue, and her face and neck are covered in small, red hives. Leaning in, I hear a faint hiss and I go straight in to panic mode, realizing the sound is her wheezing because she’s hardly getting any air.
“Rodriguez!” I yell out, prompting someone to nudge her drunk ass back to consciousness, hoping she knows what’s wrong, but it doesn’t work. She can barely open her eyes, which makes her completely useless to me right now.
I push my arms beneath Southside and hoist her up from the grass, carrying her lifeless body against mine. Before I can even think of what to do next, I haul ass down the hill, headed toward my car.
“What happened?” Sterling asks, chasing after me.
“I don’t know, but she’s barely breathing. Looks like some kind of allergic reaction maybe?”
I hear the panic in my voice, and I know whoever else is trailing me hears it, too. But fuck it. I care about the girl. Even despite myself … I care about her.
We leave the dim light of the party behind and rush into the pitch-black woods beyond it. I’m going completely off memory at this point, knowing I don’t have any time to spare.
Something’s terribly wrong with her, something more than that drink going to her head. At this point, a doctor is the only one who can help.
Moonlight glints off the roof of my car and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Someone get the door,” I yell, which sends Joss running ahead to open the back one.
Sterling helps me slide Southside in and he takes my keys when I pass them to him.
“You’ll have to drive. I need to keep an eye on her, make sure she keeps breathing.”
He nods and I turn to Dane next.
“Stay here with Joss. She shouldn’t walk back up there by herself in the dark.”
He responds the same as Sterling, nodding once. “Text as soon as you have an update.”
I assure him I will, then the next thing I know, Sterling’s driving like a bat out of hell.
I’ve got Southside in my arms and she’s getting worse. I pat her down for pockets, hoping to find meds or one of those EpiPen things for situations like this, but all I find is her phone. Grabbing it, I tap the screen to light it up, but its password protected, which means I can’t even get in touch with her family.
I’m screwed.
The one thing I can do while Sterling barrels toward the hospital is harass the one I know is responsible for this.
“What the fuck did you do?” My voice is way too calm, and when I hear the fear in hers, I know I’m not wrong.
“I—I didn’t think she’d react like this,” Parker stammers. “I—”
“Tell me what the fuck you did so I can at least tell the doctors what she had!” The words ricochet off the windows of the car, but still, Southside doesn’t move an inch. She’s out.
Completely.
“Heidi went through her file,” Parker admits. “She helps out in the office during her free period, so … I thought we’d get some info to use against her. You know, personal shit,” she explains. “But when I saw the note about a peanut allergy, I thought I’d have a little fun with her. That’s all,” she adds, pleading her case.
“Have fun with her?” I growl.
Parker’s sobbing on the other end of the line and I want to reach through the phone and strangle her.
“I … slipped a little peanut sauce into the Monster Mix,” she admits, causing me to squeeze my phone until it creaks in my hand. “My cousin’s allergic, too. And when she has a reaction, it just makes her lips and eyes swell. I mean, she looks terrible, but nothing else happens,” Parker explains. “I thought this would be the same. I didn’t think…”
“You—” A frustrated growl leaves my mouth when nothing else will.
I hang up because I can’t take another second of this bitch’s rambling. The only thing that’s come of this is that I now know what caused the reaction.
I’m also now aware of the measure of Parker Holiday’s stupidity.
And that shit is off the charts.
I told Sterling to take off once Southside was stable. I plan to call for a ride when I’m ready to go, but I don’t expect that to be anytime soon.
It shouldn’t jumpstart my heart the way it does when she finally comes to, but I’m on my feet and at her side. At first, I reach to grab her hand, but catch myself just in time, shoving them both inside my pockets instead.
Southside blinks a few times and then reaches for her head with a groan.
“Are you okay?”
It takes her a second to get her bearings, and then she settles her confused gaze on me. “Where am I?”
That inkling to take her hand is back again. And I resist it again.
“You’re at the hospital,” I say. “You had an allergic reaction to something you ate.”
I don’t give a shit about protecting Parker, but can’t shake the warning she gave at the cemetery. I know that, if it gets out what she’s done, the girl would sing like a canary, giving up every detail of whatever she might know. Do I believe she actually has something on me? Not quite. But are the stakes too high if she does? Completely.
“My head,” Southside moans, letting her eyes fall closed again.
“Are you up to speaking with the doctors? They have a few questions they wanted to ask once you woke up.”
It’s still taking some getting used to, speaking to one another without there being venom in our words.
She nods. “Sure. I can do that.”
I leave her for only long enough to
