Page 100 of Use Me

“Are Claire and Andy on their way?” Kenny asked as we walked into an elevator.

My eyes widened. “I didn’t call them. Shit, I didn’t call them.”

“It’s okay, Ash.” Abby touched my arm. “Call them now.”

“Right.” I pulled my phone out of my purse. My hands were sweaty as I scrolled through my contacts, looking for Claire’s number. As I pressed the button to call her, the three of us exited on the surgical floor.

“Ashtyn!” Claire exclaimed. “What happened? I was watching—”

“Did you recognize the car?”

She was silent for a moment. “What?”

“The car in the story I was broadcasting before I ran off.” We made it to the surgical waiting room and took a seat near a wall.

Claire again took a few moments before she responded. “It looked like Rhys’s car, but he’s at work.”

“No.” I shook my head, tears forming again in my eyes. It was almost time for his pre-game live show, and no one would know he was missing until Jett went live. “He was the one shot.”

“That can’t be.”

The tears dripped onto my blue dress. “It is.” She gasped, and I told her what hospital we were at and that we were waiting in the surgical waiting room. “They won’t tell us anything because we’re not family.”

“We’re on our way.”

“Want me—” Abby started to say just as Claire and Andy walked through the sliding doors.

The three of us stood, and I rushed to Rhys’s parents, engulfing Claire in the biggest hug I could muster. “How did this happen?” she asked, sobbing into my arms.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her it was Corey, but I held off because even though I knew in my gut it was him, I wanted to wait until we knew for sure. Through my own tears, I simply said, “I don’t know.”

We broke apart, and I looked to see Andy talking to a nurse in the hall. I wasn’t sure where she came from. Maybe he’d stopped her when she was walking by. Finally, he came back to us. “The nurse said Rhys went into surgery not too long ago and that once he’s out a doctor will come give us an update.”

I hugged Andy, and then Kenny stepped forward, giving them both a hug as I wiped my tears away.

After Kenny hugged them, he introduced them to Abby, “Andy, Claire, this is my girlfriend, Abby.”

They shook her hand. “I’m sorry about Rhys,” Abby stated with a tight smile.

“Boy’s tough. He’ll pull through,” Andy replied a matter-of-factly.

He was tough. But it still worried me that something so tiny like a bullet could take the biggest thing in my life away from me.

“I’m going to go see if I can find us some coffee,” Abby said, and I smiled tightly at her. I loved her and was happy she and Kenny had started something.

“I’ll come with,” Kenny offered, and the two of them left.

The surreal feeling returned as I sat down next to Andy and Claire. I couldn’t imagine what they were going through. Kids are supposed to outlive their parents. What if that wasn’t true in this case? I didn’t know how long Rhys was in surgery for, but longer than a few minutes to remove a bullet was too long for my liking. I wanted to rush in and hug him, kiss him, run my hands over his entire body to make sure he was still alive.

But what if he wasn’t?

What if he was shot in the head? What if he was shot in some artery and they couldn’t stop the bleeding? So many scenarios rushed through my head again and again. The not knowing was killing me. Plus, what do you say to your boyfriend’s parents in this situation? I wanted to tell them that everything would be okay, but I didn’t know that, and I didn’t want to give them false hope.

Abby and Kenny returned with five cups of coffee. I stared at Abby as she offered to make Andy and Claire’s coffee the way they liked it and Kenny pulled cream and sugar from his coat pocket.

“Abby,” I called, a thought hitting me.

She looked over at me. “Yeah?”