Finding You (By You #3) (31 page)

Clicking his phone on, she scrolled through it until she found Oz's phone number in the contacts list. She could only hope that he and Billie weren't indisposed, and that they could go and make sure Jeremy was alright.

The phone rang four times before the voicemail answered. Sarah clicked the phone off and then redialed the number, only to get the same result. She tried it one more time, saying a prayer that the third time was the charm.

"This had better be
fucking good
," answered a girl.

"Billie, is that you?" Sarah said, startled.

"You've got about five seconds to explain why you keep calling or I'm hanging up dropping the phone into the toilet."

"Billie, wait. There was an accident, I need your help."

A moment's pause came from the other end before she got a response.

"Why are you calling from your boy-toy's phone? If you lost him, he's not here with us."

"Billie, I'm being
serious
." This was no time for them to be playing their little games. Sarah really needed her help. "There's been an accident and I'm at the hospital. Jeremy's stranded without his phone and I need you go to check on him."

The silence that came from the other end of the line was even longer this time. She could only barely hear muffled voices coming through before Billie was back on the line.

"Tell me where he is. We'll go get him right now."

Just hearing Billie say that sent a wave of relief over her. She told them where the accident had been, and what hospital she was at before ending the call. As she slid his phone back into her pocket, she stared at her own phone. There was one more call she had to make, and this one was going to be a lot harder than the last one.

Ever so slowly, she clicked her phone on and opened her contacts list. She scrolled through the names until she came on the one she was looking for. She punched the "Call" button.

The phone rang three times before there was an answer on the other line. The man's voice sounded groggy, like he'd been sound asleep. What time was it, anyway?

"Hello?" he said.

"Braden? This is Sarah Miller, Reagan's friend. You met me a few weeks ago..."

"I remember," he said, still sounding asleep. "What's up?"

She swallowed a lump in her throat.

"There's been an accident. You and your family need to get down here right away."

Jeremy struggled to focus on what the cop was asking him. His thoughts kept flashing back to just a few minutes earlier, when they'd put Dylan into a black bag and wheeled him off. Dylan was dead, and Reagan might be right behind him.

And it's my fault.

"Son? Son, are you okay?" The officer shifted his head to look Jeremy squarely in the eye, his face tight with concern.

"Sorry, what was the question?" Jeremy shook himself, trying to pay attention.

The officer didn't say anything for a while, instead just gave him a long, pensive stare. He tapped a pen against the clipboard he was holding a few times. Then gave Jeremy an understanding smile.

"I think I've got everything I need, for now. You should get over to the hospital to be with your friends. We'll be in touch."

Jeremy stared at him in disbelief. "You're not even going to write me a ticket for the driver's license? A man died, tonight."

The officer shook his head. "You passed your field sobriety test, and the other guy already admitted to driving through the red light... I think you've been through enough for one night, don't you?"

Jeremy shook his head. "I should have seen him coming. I should have slammed on the brakes or something."

"Go be with your friends, son. The ambulance will be heading back to the hospital here in a minute or two."

The ambulance with Dylan in it.

Jeremy nodded that he would, and the officer headed back to his squad car. But he didn't have any intention of going to the hospital--especially not in
that
ambulance. How was he supposed to face Sarah right then? Hadn't he already done enough damage for one night?

He looked around at the scene one more time. Police cars were lining the side of the road, and tow trucks had started showing up to help clean up the mess. But someone had died there tonight, and the cops were going to have to do a full investigation. They'd already started taping off certain areas, and they were blocking off parts of the road.

Jeremy started walking toward the ambulance, but he didn't stop walking when he came to it. He passed it without risking a glance inside, and he kept on walking until he couldn't see the flashing lights of the squad cars, anymore.

He just needed to go for a little walk. A little walk to clear his head. That's exactly what he needed, right then. His head was throbbing, and he just needed a little walk to help put some distance between himself and everything that happened.

He thought about Sarah.

Why was he so good at putting the women he loved in danger?

He shook his head. Never again. He couldn't be with her. Not anymore. Not after tonight. He couldn't bear the idea of losing someone else he loved, so maybe he shouldn't love anyone? That was for the best, wasn't it? Just cut it off before things got uglier, before he had the chance to ruin everything even more.

That was what he deserved. To be alone. Nothing more.

It felt like Sarah was sitting in that waiting room for an eternity while other people both showed up and left with their loved ones. Left there, alone, to think about everything that had happened, and to worry about both Reagan and Jeremy. She reminded herself that he would be there soon--Billie was on her way to pick him up and make sure he was okay. But it had been a long time since she'd heard anything about Reagan.

Sarah was staring at her phone, about to call Oz again, when both he and Billie came walking into the waiting room from outside. They were wearing the same clothes they'd had on at the rave, earlier. But no one else came with them.
Jeremy
didn't come in with them.

Sarah bounded to her feet as they walked up to her, her pulse racing.

"Where's Jeremy?" she said.

They both gave her a confused look.

"We were told he was here, already." Billie said, confused.

"You were supposed to go get him!"

"We did go! By the time we got there he was already gone. An officer said he hitched a ride with the ambulance."

"Well, he's not here. I would have seen him come in--I've been sitting here worried sick about him."

Billie opened her mouth, looking like she was going to make another one of her infamously snide comments, but then she stopped herself. She took a deep breath and a worried look came over her face.

"I'm sure he's alright. Maybe he had to go back to his dorm first, or something?"

Sarah shook her head. "But why would he do that? He doesn't have a car to get over there. He knows we're here at the hospital."

Billie shook her head, shrugging. Oz had a similarly pained expression on his face, but didn't offer any suggestions.

Where could he have possibly gone? Why wasn't he there at the hospital with her?

"Have you heard anything about Reagan?" Billie asked.

Sarah shook her head. "All I know is they rushed her straight into surgery. They haven't told me anything since."

"Maybe that is a good thing?" Oz said. "It means she's still hanging in there--doesn't it?"

Sarah considered it, and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess it does," she said, her voice trailing off.

A long, awkward moment passed before Billie looked her up and down, giving her a worried look.

"How are
you
doing? That accident looked pretty bad."

"How do you
think
I'm doing?" Sarah said, her voice tight. "A guy died, Reagan's in surgery fighting for her life, and my boyfriend has now gone missing. How am I supposed to be doing?"

Billie's face flashed with her usual outrage, again, but she reined it in just as quickly. She rubbed Sarah on the shoulder, and then pulled her into a tight hug. Pain bubbled up through Sarah's chest into her eyes, and she sobbed as tears began spilling out. Billie squeezed her even tighter, and held her there until Sarah got it all out.

Why wasn't Jeremy there with her? That's all she wanted. She could handle everything going on with Reagan if she had him at her side. Everything had been so crazy once the ambulance showed up--she hadn't even gotten the chance to thank him for getting her out of the car the way he had.

Then another thought crossed her mind. He'd been bleeding. At the time, she'd thought that it just looked a lot worse than it actually was, because it was all over his face. But what if it really had been bad? What if he hadn't come back with the ambulance and something had happened to him after? He was alone out there, and if something happened to him then he didn't even have his phone to he call for help.

How could she be so stupid to not even give him his phone back? If anything happened to him, it was on her. She didn't think she could live with herself if something happened to Jeremy because of her. The thought of not having him around was bad enough, the thought of it being her fault was unbearable.

But what was she supposed to do? If he hadn't gotten a ride to the hospital, then he could be anywhere. Maybe Billie was right, and he really had gone back to the dorms for some reason. Maybe he was already on his way to the hospital and he'd be there any minute? A million
maybes
crossed her mind, and each one of them sounded as reasonable and as ridiculous as the one before it. She just wanted him to be there with her--was that too much to ask?

What felt like ten more hours passed while the three of them sat in the waiting room, silent. That was what they were expected to do, just sit there until something new happened. It was the most miserable and torturous time of Sarah's entire life.

When Braden walked through the door, another man who looked almost identical to him close behind, a new wave of tears and emotions erupted on Sarah's face. His blazing eyes found her, and he marched over to her, not making an effort to hide his fear and concern.

Sarah leapt out of the chair and threw her arms around him. He hugged her tight, rocking slowly.

"How is she?" he asked, when they pulled apart.

Sarah shook her head. "I haven't heard anything since we got here. I think she's in surgery still, but I don't know what's going on."

He gave her an intense look, a fire blazing behind his eyes.

"Well, it's time to start asking some questions, then," he said. As he turned to walk toward the nurse's station at one end of the waiting room, he nodded at the man with him. "Thom, this is the girl I was telling you about--Sarah." His eyes swung back to her. "This is my brother, Thom."

Sarah gave him as much of a smile as she could muster, and stuck her hand out.

"Good to meet you," she said.

Thom was actually a bit larger than Braden, if that were possible. He stepped forward, past her hand, and wrapped her in as big a hug as Braden had. He squeezed her tight, her head pressed up against his hard chest.

"Shaking hands is for strangers. Any friend of Reagan's is family to me."

More tears came to Sarah's face. Reagan had to pull through. She just had to.

The three of them walked up to the nurse's station, both men with intent looks on their faces. There were a few people standing in a little makeshift line, waiting to talk to the nurse behind the desk. But Braden wasn't about to wait there with them. He marched straight to the desk, a man on a mission.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my sister," he said, loudly. His voice commanded attention. "Her name is Reagan Dalton, she was in an accident tonight."

The nurse gave him a stern look over the top of her gold-rimmed glasses.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you can see we have a line. I'll be happy to help you when it's your turn."

Braden didn't look away.

"If you could just look her up real quick and tell me how she's doing, I'll be on my way."

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait in line, just like everyone else."

That same fire flashed in his eyes, and he leaned in even closer.

"Look, ma'am, I don't mean to be rude but I've just driven two hundred miles to get here, and I just need to know how my sister is doing."

The nurse's back arched, and she pulled the glasses from her face. Her glare just as strong and intense as his own.

"Everyone here is either sick and dying or here to see someone who is. You must wait your turn."

Braden snorted fire and stood up straight. He looked like he was about to jump over the counter and get the information himself if she wasn't going to help him.

Thom stepped forward and clapped his brother on the back. The big, charming smile on his face was enough to make most women's defenses melt away, and the nurse noticed it right away.

"I'm sorry, it's been a long night and my brother seems to have forgotten his manners." Thom turned that dangerous smile from the nurse to the lady standing at the counter next to him. "Pardon me, ma'am--would you mind terribly if we jumped ahead of your real quick. It won't take but two seconds, and I'd be most grateful."

The girl stuttered and blushed as she gave him a nervous smile. "It's no problem."

He nodded at her, his smile seeming to grow even more.

"We thank you, kindly." He turned back to the nurse behind the desk. "I'm so sorry for the trouble. Her name is Reagan Dalton."

The nurse shook her head, stammering that it wasn't really
that
big a deal, that she was just following the rules. She slid her glasses back on and looked the name up in the computer. She tilted her head back as she read the screen.

"Looks like she's still in surgery, but that's all that's in the computer." She turned back to Thom, giving him a warm smile. "If you'd like, I can page one of the nurses to get and update and come speak to you."

He leaned down onto the counter, still smiling.

"Would you do that for me?" he said.

Even Sarah was ready to run back to the operating room to find out what was going on for him. She could understand how Reagan had gotten such thick skin if these were the guys she'd grown up with.