Page 84 of Puck Me, Baby

“Lincoln, I’m sorry.” The line crackled and my heart stuttered. “There’s been an accident. Travis is—”

My ears filled with static. My chest clenched tight, and my hands instantly became clammy. The phone slipped from my sweaty grip.

The thud on the floor barely registered.

My legs couldn’t hold me up anymore. I crumpled to the floor.

There was a crash. Porcelain shattered.

Then all I could hear was my breaths, labored and fast. I couldn’t slow them.

I was instantly lightheaded.

The room spun like the Gravitron ride I’d been on when I was a kid.

Footsteps thundered down the corridor.

I was dragged out of myself to float above my body. I saw myself curl up in the fetal position, jammed against the side of our bed.

I watched as Jacques careened in.

The color drained from his face.

He dashed forward and fell to his knees before me.

He brushed my hair off my face, infinitely gentle. “Rusty, we need to get you up.”

He gripped my arm and tried to lift me. But I couldn’t move. I was numb. I didn’t feel him. I wasn’t even in my own body.

Another person came into the room. Carina.

“Oh my god, what’s happened?” she cried.

I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t even move.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be all right,” Jacques murmured, his voice low and comforting.

Carina stepped closer. I looked up at her, unseeing. I blinked. I gasped in a breath and exhaled. But I couldn’t get enough oxygen in. In place of the air in my lungs was a tight band compressing my chest.

I looked down on us, observing like a fly on the wall. I watched as Carina’s attention was drawn elsewhere. She bent and picked up my cell phone. She spoke rapidly. Then she dashed around the bed, wrote something down, and palmed my cell.

“Linc, honey. We have to get to the hospital.”

“What?” Jacques barked, his eyes wide as he wrenched his gaze away from me and snapped it to hers.

“Travis has been in an accident. He’s in surgery. We have to get to the hospital.”

Jacques froze, and I was sucked back into my body with the speed of the Niagara River emptying over the falls. My breathing turned rapid again. My heart pounded in my chest. I rocked back and forth, wanting to hide. Desperate to get away.

“Rusty, look at me,” Jacques ordered gently and slipped his hand into mine. “Squeeze my hand twice if it’s okay for me to sit you up.”

I did, and he hauled me into a seated position.

“Is it okay if I hug you? Give me another two squeezes if it is.”

I did and tried to suck in another breath but failed. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders. His warmth seeped into me, and I burrowed my face into the crook of his neck. After the longest time, I managed to wrap my arms around his waist.

“That’s it, breathe slowly. Can I lift you up so you’re sitting on my lap?”