Page 32

Cherry

“Why aren’t they showing us the crash?” I cry, staring at the screen and silently begging it to show me an image of Nicky walking away from his car.

Serena links her arm through mine. “You know they won’t show anything until the driver's status is confirmed.”

My eyes bore into hers. I know this; I know they won’t broadcast anything that could be catastrophic.

The ringing in my ears intensifies and I lean into my friend. “Serena…”

She looks at my face and pulls on my arm. “Come on.”

Together we race down to Nicky’s garage, skidding to a halt a few steps away from where Jack, Paul and the rest of the race crew are huddled together.

“He’s okay,” Paul calls when he sees me. “He’s walking out of the car now.”

I slump against the wall behind me, my shaking legs no longer holding me up.

“Is he hurt?” Serena asks, her gaze trained on me .

Paul’s eyes flash to meet mine. “They’re taking him to the local hospital.”

I smother a moan. Usually, after a crash, drivers are taken to the onsite medical centre at the racetrack to get the all-clear. If they’re transporting Nicky to the hospital, they must be concerned about the extent of his injuries.

James bursts into the space and pulls me upright, using his thick arms to shepherd me out of the garage. “Cherry, let’s go.”

I turn back to Serena, who’s covering her worry with a weak smile. “I’ll call you,” I yell over my shoulder.

“He’ll be alright.”

I take her words with me, chanting them over and over as James guides me to his car.

“Try not to worry,” he says, his rough tone belying his words. He’s concerned too. “Nicky’s tough. This isn’t his first race crash.”

I know this. I’ve watched every race he’s ever driven in and have watched many of his crashes at home on the couch, peeking through my fingers. It’s just that being here and experiencing it, it’s worse than I could have ever imagined.

He also means more to me now than I could have ever imagined.

“How long till we get there?” I lean forward in my seat, willing James to go faster.

“We’re almost here.”

The local hospital looms up ahead and James swears under his breath at the scene in front of us.

“Vultures,” he grinds out.

He parks the car a way back from the front entrance and turns to me, halting my exit with a gentle hand on my arm.

“If you go running in there, looking like you do, they will never leave you alone. ”

Right now, I don’t give a fig about the media swarming to get the breaking news. I just want to get to Nicky.

“James—”

He shakes his head. “Let me go in and see what’s happening. There’ll be a way to get you in without causing a frenzy.”

Everything inside me screams for me to ignore him, to forgo reason and rush inside. But I know that isn’t the right move, that it isn’t what Nicky would want. And so, I swallow down my retort and nod.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

James sprints through the reporters in front of the hospital, not too gently pushing away anyone who gets too close.

I keep my eyes trained on the entrance and wait for his return, refreshing my social media feed to see if anyone is reporting any updates I haven’t yet heard.

So far, all that’s being reported is that Nicky was conscious and able to walk away from the crash.

That has to be good news, right?

Matt

Any news?!

I gulp at the message flashing on my phone. My poor family will be watching this race in the middle of the night in Melbourne, freaking out about the crash and all the unknowns.

Cherry

I’m at the hospital now. Will keep you updated.

Matt

He’ll be fine, Cherry. Nicky is tough.

I nod and bat away tears. He may be tough, but he’s also only human with a body that can break, just like the rest of us.

A sharp rapping on the glass next to me startles me .

“Come on.”

James waves me out of the car and I jump to follow him.

“So, here’s what I know,” he says as he walks in front of me, keeping an arm around me to hold me behind his larger frame. “They’ve taken him in for some scans to rule out internal damage, but mostly, he’s fine.”

I swallow hard, giving up a thank-you prayer to whichever deity will take it. “He is?”

James takes a sharp left just before the entrance and hurries us down a side alley. “There’s no head injury; no broken bones. He hit that wall with a force of 50Gs, so they brought him here as a precaution.”

My ears are still ringing and I struggle to keep up with James’s long legs. Although the words he’s saying are reassuring and…good, I just can’t help imagining if things had gone the other way. Just the thought of it is unbearable.

James stops and turns to face me. “He’s okay.”

He waits until it sinks in, until I’ve stopped bouncing on my toes, and then walks us into the hospital through a side entrance.

“The nurses said we can use this one to avoid the mess out there,” he fills me in as he strides through a set of swinging blue doors. I jog to keep up with him. “Nicky should be back from X-ray now.”

We draw to a stop outside a hospital room and James peeks inside. “Go through.”

Taking in a steadying breath, I squeeze his arm in gratitude. James saved my sanity just now; I’m not sure what I would have done without him.

With a lungful of helpful oxygen, now that I can breathe again, I open the door and immediately feel I’ve been sucker punched at the sight in front of me .

Nicky— my Nicky—is lying still in the bed, a blanket pulled up to his waist, his chest and stomach bare, painted blue and black with myriad bruises.

Tears spring back into my eyes and I creep towards him. “Nicky?” I whisper.

His eyelids flutter and he groans, rolling his head in my direction.

“Cherry?”

I take his hand and press it to my cheek. “It’s me. How are you feeling?”

He nods. “I’m okay.”

He really doesn’t look like he is.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

This man and his apologies. I bend over and run my lips across his cheek, marvelling at how unmarked his face is. The rest of him is black, blue and purple, but his face is as perfect as ever.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

He nods and groans and I bite back a whimper. “Yes, the scans came back all clear. Just a few bruised ribs; I’ll be good as new in no time.”

The tenuous control I’ve had on my emotions since I watched his name tumble down the order snaps and I let out a sob. And then it’s like putting the toothpaste back in the tube: it’s not going to happen.

“Shh,” he comforts me, rubbing his hand up and down my arm. “It’s gonna be fine.”

“I—I know, it’s just that there was the crash and then…” I hiccup through my tears, wiping frantically at my eyes and lecturing myself to get it together.

You’re here to look after him, Cherry. Not the other way around.

“Ah, Mr Dimitrios, you’re just about ready to go. ”

I turn to see a man in a white coat entering the room with his eyes on the tablet screen in his hands. He’s got white hair and glasses and looks like an actual doctor. I feel immediately better knowing he’s the one entrusted with Nicky’s wellbeing.

“There’s just one problem,” he says, finally looking up. He’s startled to find me next to the bed, looking like a train wreck, probably. “Oh, hello.”

I wave limply, one last shuddering sob escaping me. At least I hope it’s the last.

“What’s the problem, doctor?” Nicky asks.

“Right.” He gives me a wary look and focusses back on his patient. “When a person has a crash such as the one you experienced today—”

“50 G-force,” I interject and start mopping at my tears again.

He shifts away from me. “Yes, quite right. In those instances, there’s always a concern about head injuries.”

Nicky shakes his beautiful head with a subtle flinch. “My head is fine.”

“Be that as it may, we can’t be too careful. I don’t feel comfortable sending you home unless there’s someone to watch over you.”

His eyes slide to mine as I nosily blow my nose.

Nicky frowns. “I’ll have James with me while I fly home…and then I’ll get Hannah to look in on me.”

Ah, Hannah, the wonderful housekeeper and the maker of the world’s greatest cookies. In the time I’d stayed at Nicky’s place, I’d wanted her to adopt me. She’s the best. But that’s beside the point.

“You don’t need Hannah. I’m staying with you.”

The doctor’s gaze is frankly doubting and I would take offence, but given my current state, I’d be wary to leave me in charge of a goldfish .

“I’m good,” I tell him, mustering up a confident smile. With teeth and all. “Now that I know he’ll be fine, I’m good.”

He looks between me and his patient, whose eyes have yet to stray from my face since my declaration.

“If Mr Dimitrios is good with this arrangement, then we can discharge him.”

Nicky tugs on my hand. I look down at him and am once again lost in his chocolate eyes. “You don’t have to do this,” he murmurs.

I scoff, ignoring his statement, focusing back on the doctor. “What do I need to know? What do I need to look out for? What signs or symptoms should I be concerned about?”

His expression clears and he smiles at me. “It will all be in the discharge papers. The main thing will be managing his pain. Don’t let him tell you he’s fine; he’s got significant bruising and needs to make sure he takes the painkillers when and as he needs them.”

Nodding, I give Nicky a hard stare. “Have they given you anything for the pain yet?”

He stares back at me, his lips a thin, stubborn line. “I refused to take anything.”

I sigh. “Doc, can we give him something now? I’m going to organise to get us a flight home as soon as possible and I want him comfortable for the trip.”

“I’ll get him something now and send you home with some for later.”

We continue discussing the details, leaving Nicky to stew in silence, and then the doctor gets ready to take his leave. “You were lucky today, young man. And you’re lucky to have such a delightful woman to take care of you.”

My cheeks burn and I avoid looking down at Nicky. I’m pretty sure he’s annoyed I’m taking charge and bossing him about, but it’s just too bad. He needs to be taken care of, and I need to be the one to do it.

“I’m going to call Sue and organise our flight home,” I tell him. “You just rest.”

He grabs my hand before I can leave, running his thumb over the pulse point in my wrist. “Thank you,” he says.

I stroke my hand over his hair and lean down to whisper in his ear, “If you ever scare me like that again, I’ll kill you myself.”

A nurse bustles into the room, her face turning a violent shade of red as she looks at Nicky. “Here’s your medication,” she says in a squeaky voice, looking very star-struck as she inches towards his bed.

I know exactly how you feel, lady , I think as I duck out of the room to update James on the new plan. He volunteers to call Sue to make the travel arrangements, so I’m freed up to answer all the calls and messages flooding my phone since the crash.

“Sue’s got us a private flight leaving in an hour,” James says as I send the final ‘He’s okay’ message.

There are a lot of relieved people in Nicky’s circle tonight.

“Great. Let’s get the patient and get out of here.”

We enter the hospital room and find him staring off into the distance.

“Nicky?” I ask as I approach him. “How are you feeling?”

His answering grin is wide and sloppy. “Cherry! You’re here.”

James barks out a laugh and I give him a bewildered look. “It’s the painkillers,” he whispers, tilting his head to the patient and rolling his eyes.

Oh! Nicky is high on his pain meds. This will be fun.

“Right.” I bit my lip to hide my smile and get down to business. “We’re getting you out of here. ”

His eyes go wide as saucers. “We’re breaking out of here?” he whispers, his head swivelling from left to right.

As if he couldn’t get any cuter; of course he’s a delightful high person!

“Yes,” I whisper back with a straight face. “We’re breaking you out of here.”

James passes me a sweatshirt for Nicky and I guide it down over his body, taking care to avoid his bruises as much as possible. Pretty tricky, given the sheer volume of bruises all over his torso.

“You’re pretty,” Nicky whispers, once I have him dressed, and he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into him.

“Oh, Nicky. You need to be quiet,” I advise, resting gently against him. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

He pouts ( he actually pouts! ) and calls over to his bodyguard. “She’s so pretty, isn’t she?”

“Don’t answer that,” I tell a grinning James. “And you, shhh.”

“I’m going to bring the car around to the side entrance,” James says with a wink. “Try not to cause too much trouble while I’m gone.”

Nicky waves to his friend. “No promises!”

I giggle and marvel at the turn of events. An hour ago, I was sobbing by Nicky’s bedside, and now I’m pinned to his chest with his muscular arms locked around me.

“We need to get moving.” I lean back and look up into his face. “Let’s get you into the wheelchair.”

An orderly had dropped it off a little while ago, informing us it’s hospital policy that patients aren’t allowed to walk out. They have to be wheeled. So that’s our next step.

“Just stay here for one more moment,” Nicky breathes into my ear and I melt into him. It’s not like I’m in a massive rush to leave his arms. “I’ve missed you so much, Cherie.”

He nuzzles his nose into my hair, and even though I suspect it’s the painkillers doing the talking, I let myself believe in his words.

“I missed you, too.” My gosh, how I’ve missed him.

“Hmmm,” he mumbles as he pulls me even closer. “Let’s go home.”

We hold each other as tightly as his injured body allows us before I force myself to take a step back.

Taking his hand in mine, I walk with him to the wheelchair, laughing at the put-out expression on his face as I push him to sit in it.

When he’s secured in place, I wheel him out of his hospital room to where James is waiting for us.

I’m taking him home and I’m going to take care of him. After all these years of him looking after me, I’m finally able to return the favour. And if it means I get to spend more one-on-one time with the man I’m falling in love with, then who am I to argue?

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to nurse Nicky back to health and perhaps during that time, I can break down the walls he’s so determined to put up around his heart as well.