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Javina and I must be on the same page again, because we wait for the doctor to leave before we glance at each other in silent agreement of what we’re about to do.

She takes my hand as we exit the room, then she practically drags me down the hall—the same hall the man on the stretcher was wheeled down earlier.

“I’m so curious to know if it’s him,” she says.

“Me too.” Even though I already know it’s him, but I can’t tell her that. I’ll sound crazy if I tell her that my heart feels a strange pull to head this way.

We casually pass each room, where either the curtains are drawn shut or the people inside are not Trey.

At the end of the long hallway, two people step out of a room.

One is my nurse from earlier. The other is a woman I recognize as Liz Hart, Trey’s best friend.

His bandmate that all his fans say he dates on and off.

She looks as beautiful as she does in their YouTube videos, maybe even more.

Javina stops dragging me down the hall and stops mid-step to turn to me. In a whisper, she says, “That’s Liz Hart. She’s in his band.”

I haven’t told Javina about all the research I’ve done on Trey, so I act like this is new information. “Should we ask her if he’s okay?” I say instead.

Javina gives me an I dunno look.

“He’s going to get admitted soon,” the nurse says in a low voice as he slides Trey’s room door shut. “He’ll have to stay for at least a night. Depending on how he is tomorrow, he could be discharged, but that will be at his doctor’s discretion.”

“Am I able to stay the night with him?” Liz asks.

“Of course. Is there anything I can get for you in the meantime?”

“I’m good. Thank you.”

The nurse heads toward Javina and me as Liz turns back toward Trey’s room. She’s just sliding the door open when I blurt out, “Liz?”

Her head whips up, and we lock eyes. For a split second, I regret what I just did, but it’s already done, so, with Javina in hand, I head down the hall. This time, it’s me who’s dragging her.

“Hi?” Liz says warily as she slides the door closed.

“Um, hi,” I say as we reach her. “I’m sorry to bother you. I just recognized you from down the hall.”

“Oh, you’re a fan. Um, now isn’t really the best time.”

“Actually, I’m not a fan.”

That makes her tilt her head to the side and narrow her eyes at me. I suppose it sounds weird to say that I recognized her, yet I’m not a fan of her band.

Thank God for Javina. “She’s not, but I am. I went to one of your shows a few months ago, and I’ve been watching all your music videos ever since. My favorite? The video for ‘Fired Up!’ The flames in it looked so real!”

Liz relaxes a bit. “That’s because they were real.”

Javina’s mouth dramatically pops open. “Shut up. That wasn’t just special effects?”

“Nope. One-hundred-percent real flames. Trey built that set all by himself, then set it on fire, just for our video shoot.”

“That’s so cool! Anyway, I’m Javina.” My friend throws her hand out for a shake.

Liz accepts it with her satin-gloved hand. She wears cute gloves in all of her band’s music videos. I didn’t realize it was something she did in real life too. “Nice to meet you.”

I offer her my hand. “Ari.”

At first, she takes my hand and shakes it. Then she freezes. “Wait. Did you just say Ari?”

“Yeah.”

She narrows her gaze on me again. “Is that short for anything?”

“Arella.”

Her eyes go wide; then she blinks at me. Trey must have told her about me. I wonder what he said.

Finally, Liz and I let go, and I take a step back. An awkward silence fills the air as neither of us knows what to say next.

Again, thank God for Javina. “Is Trey okay? We saw him getting rushed in.”

Liz sighs deeply. “Yeah, he’s okay. He wasn’t when I got the call from the hospital. They weren’t sure if he was going to make it, but he’s stable now.”

“What happened?” I ask, desperate to know.

“They said Trey was on his bike when he crashed into a truck. Both parties were going over the speed limit. No one died, but Trey got banged up pretty bad. Actually, he’s the only one who got hurt. What I don’t know is how he lost control of his bike. I mean, to go straight into oncoming traffic?”

Judging from the timing, Trey’s accident happened shortly after he left my apartment. At the time, he was upset, crying, and barely breathing right. Is that why he lost control of his motorcycle? Did he almost die because of me? Because I said things that hurt him?

I swallow thickly. “Is it all right if I see him?”

“He’s asleep right now. He’s under sedation.”

“I don’t need to talk to him. I just want to see that he’s okay.” That he’s alive.

Liz thinks, then says, “Um, yeah, sure.”

Javina takes a step back. “I don’t need to see the man. You go, Ari. I’ll be in the waiting room.”

Liz reopens the glass door, then gestures for me to step inside.

Trey’s room is bigger than mine was, and filled with more machines.

That same lemony disinfectant smell lingers in the air.

Some cords dangle from Trey’s upper body, and there’s an IV sticking out of his arm—the arm that’s not in a cast.

I don’t know what comes over me. All of a sudden, I’m tearing up and my chest feels numb.

It doesn’t feel like the numbness that dominated my arms earlier.

This numbness feels more emotional than physical.

It doesn’t make any sense though. I’m not emotionally attached to this man.

Why does seeing him hurt and helpless affect me this much?

Liz gestures toward a chair. “You wanna sit?”

I don’t take my eyes off Trey. “No, thanks. I won’t be staying long.

” I feel the urge to apologize to him. Earlier, I yelled at this man to get out of my apartment.

I even threatened him with a restraining order.

Now he’s all drugged up in an emergency room, with a broken arm, and I feel responsible.

“Sooo...” Liz says as she settles into the chair she just offered me. “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but, um, why are you at the ER?”

“I got really nauseous earlier and threw up. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, so my boyfriend brought me here to get checked out.”

“Nauseous?” Liz repeats with a lift of her brows. “And you threw up?”

“Yeah.”

“Did it happen all of a sudden?”

“Yeah.”

“Did your body go numb? Like, your arms especially?”

My body freezes. “Yeah . . . ? How did you know that?”

She blinks at me, then flicks her attention to Trey, then back up to me. “Lucky guess.”

I want to ask her to clarify how she came to that highly accurate lucky guess, but I’m not sure how to word that question without sounding accusatory.

“Could I ask you something, Ari?”

I nod. “Sure.”

“Do you believe in soul mates?”

What an odd question to ask someone you just met. I take a moment to think about it. Soul mates. What is the definition of a soul mate? Someone you’re meant to be with? “I suppose I haven’t put much thought into the concept.”

Liz uses her gloved fingers to drag her reddish-brown curls behind an ear. “Well, I believe in soul mates. I believe that there’s someone for each person in this world. Someone who sets our soul on fire when we’re together and makes us feel like we’re empty when we’re apart.

“While I hope that everyone in this world is blessed enough to find their soul mate, I also believe that some may never find theirs at all. In addition, I believe that sometimes, even after we find ours, things can happen that tear us apart.”

I crinkle my eyebrows together. “Why are you telling me this?”

She shrugs like there’s no hidden meaning to what she’s saying. “I was just wondering if you believe that even when soul mates are torn apart, somehow, in some way, they’re still connected to each other, whether that’s mentally, emotionally, or even physically .”

Is Liz trying to tell me that Trey is my soul mate?

I stare at the sleeping man. The man who has been the star of my dreams for the past three weeks.

The man who’s got me tearing up at the sight of him in a cast, even though I don’t know him.

The man who got into a motorcycle accident today after leaving my apartment, and around the same time, I suddenly got dizzy.

Are our minds and bodies connected to each other’s in some way?

Some alternate-universe or futuristic way?

I shrug nonchalantly, ignoring the chill running down my spine. “Like I said, I haven’t put much thought into the soul mate thing.”

A soft knock sounds on the door, then the glass slides to the side.

The nurse flashes Liz a warm smile. “We’re ready to take him upstairs.”

Liz stands from her chair. “It was great to meet you, Ari. You really are gorgeous.”

Why is she saying that as if Trey has talked her ear off about how gorgeous he thinks I am? My heart warms with the idea that he spoke about me to Liz in that way.

I steal one last look at him. He looks peaceful, even with all the cords and medical stuff surrounding him.

With a heavy heart, I force my feet out the door. The second I leave his side, my body yearns to go back.