Page 29 of No Holds Barred

“Which arm?”

“This one.” Angelica pointed to her right arm and then dropped her hand into her lap. “The air bags went off, and they had to cut them to get me out because they didn’t deflate.”

Well, that was more tracking information than Hope had thought she’d get. She pulled at Angelica’s wind jacket to try and see her arm. As the fabric moved from her skin, she was shocked to find cuts and bruises already forming along the back side of her arm. But the jacket itself was still completely intact.

“Where did you get this from?”

“Probably the airbag,” the good Samaritan said with a shrug. “She’s not wrong. They all went off.”

Hope sighed heavily and brushed her fingers just under the injury. Angelica was going to be in a significant amount of pain tomorrow, and for the next week at least. Lyric and Cadence came back, and the scent of alcohol hit Hope hard. They were both drunk.

“Lyric, go get a medic, would you? Someone needs to look Ange over.”

“I’m fine.” Angelica waved Lyric off.

Lyric sent Hope a concerned look, but Hope shook her head. “Get the medic.”

“I’m fine, really.”

“You absolutely aren’t, and don’t even try to convince me otherwise. The pain should be hitting you soon, and then you’re going to regret saying that.” Hope looked up to Cadence. “Where were you?”

“I was uh…”

“She had a date.” Angelica sighed heavily and shook her head. “Lyric was supposed to come get me.”

“You weren’t driving?” Cadence asked.

“She doesn’t drive,” Hope answered. She put her hand on Angelica’s shoulder to hold her up slightly. She was blinking hard, like it was a struggle for her to stay focused and upright. Where the hell was the paramedic when they needed one?

“Oh look, they’re arresting the other driver,” Cadence muttered under her breath.

“Perfect.” Hope didn’t even bother to look over her shoulder. She only had eyes for Angelica.

Finally, someone came over to check Angelica over. They must have asked Angelica a hundred questions, but she couldn’t answer more than a handful of them. Hope frowned, but when they told Angelica that she’d need to go to the hospital, she wasn’t surprised.

“I’ll be fine, really,” Angelica repeated, waving off the paramedic.

Hope sighed heavily. “I’m pulling rank, Ange. You’re going to the hospital to get checked over, so we can talk about how the rest of this week will go. You need a doctor’s approval to return anyway.”

“Says who?” Angelica tossed a glare in Hope’s direction.

“Says everyone here right now,” Lyric chimed in. Cadence added her nod. “Hope will go with you, and I’ll take Cadence back.”

“They can start to sort out what tomorrow’s going to look like.” Hope brushed Angelica’s hair out of her face and pushed it behind her ear. “And I’m not giving you an option.”

“Fine.”

The ride to the hospital was short and sweet. Hope sent a text to Rex to update him, but then she focused primarily on Angelica. Getting her transferred to the stretcher had been a chore, and it was clear the pain from the accident was setting in.

Hope held Angelica’s hand as they moved the stretcher out of the ambulance and into the emergency room. She wasn’t going to leave Angelica’s side for a second. Through getting settled in a room, another round of checks, and X-rays of not only her leg and ankle, but her arm and wrist and head, they finally found quiet.

Angelica closed her eyes, resting into the bed that she wasn’t getting out of. “Who’s watching Eva?”

“Rex,” Hope answered. Why would Angelica be worried about Eva? Why would that be the first question she even asked?

“Isn’t it your week?”

“It is, but I called him…” Hope trailed off. She wished Angelica would look at her, that they could have some sort of actual conversation, not just about whatever they were doing here, but about what Angelica had shouted at her in the car right before the accident.