Page 103 of Reckless Skye

‘You can sleep in hospital, once they see to your back and give you some pain meds. TJ?’ She waited for him to look at her, and though her heart wept for the blank expression in his eyes, she gave him an ultimatum. ‘We go to the hospital, or I drop out of the season and ditch you and Kai back in Arizona on my way to Hunt Ranch. The choice is yours.’

‘You know, you never used to be such a hard-ass,’ he said bitterly.

‘You never used to be such an idiot, but I guess we’ve both changed,’ she snapped.

TJ wheezed out a tired laugh at that. But eventually he said, ‘Fine,’ and limped to the passenger door of the truck.

Skye searched for the nearest emergency room and sighed in relief when she saw that it was only a ten-minute drive.

As they left the coliseum behind, TJ didn’t say anything. He didn’t argue, didn’t fight. Just stared out his window in silence, his face pale, his eyes blank.

Skye didn’t try to talk to him. She was lost in her own guilt and regret.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to stay mad at him, but it was so much easier to be angry at a person than it was to be sad and scared for them. Being angry had agency; being sad and scared didn’t. And yet, she knew it was already too late to turn back. Somewhere between Texas and Colorado, she’d unknowingly slipped back over that line from anger to forgiveness.

She pulled up to the ER’s drop-off zone and hopped out, slamming her door behind her. The nurse standing just inside the doors, triaging every patient who walked in, must have seen her panic because she came outside. ‘What’s the nature of your injury?’

Terrified that they’d keep her away from him if they thought she wasn’t family, Skye replied, ‘My boyfriend has an old spinal cord injury and hurt himself working on my truck. He’s struggling to stand. He threw up.’

TJ opened the door, so the nurse directed her next order to him. ‘Sir, please don’t get out of the vehicle until I’ve fetched a wheelchair.’

‘I can walk,’ TJ argued.

‘Don’t you dare.’

Both the nurse and TJ looked at Skye as the demand left her lips. But while the nurse smiled and said, ‘I have to agree,’ TJ just scowled.

She passed Skye a form on a clipboard, said, ‘Fill this out. I’ll wheel him in as a priority, but given that he’s coherent, it may be up to ten minutes until he’s seen.’

‘Thank you.’ Skye waited until the nurse had hurried off to grab a wheelchair before turning back to TJ. ‘I need your ID and your health insurance card.’

TJ passed her his wallet. ‘This is bullshit.’

‘Tough luck,’ Skye snapped. ‘You’re obviously not making good decisions anymore, so from now on, as long as you want to tag along, you’re going to start listening to me.’

Oddly, he didn’t argue. He didn’t say anything. And when Skye paused filling out the paperwork for long enough to look up at him, she was mortified to see that his eyes had glassed over. Her crying was bad enough, but TJ crying was intimate in a way that terrified her.

Unsure of what to do, she lowered the clipboard. ‘TJ …’

‘I can’t think past the pain anymore,’ he whispered, and raised his eyes to her.

The despair and hopelessness in him sent a streak of fear down her spine.

‘I just want it to be over,’ he said. ‘And I know that’s hard for you to hear, Skye, because you have the biggest fucking heart. But it’s inevitable. I can’t …’

His words were strangled by a choked sob.

Skye wanted to soothe. She wanted to hold him and promise that everything would be all right. But, somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knew TJ had probably been told that by everyone in his life with no measurable result. So, she steeled herself instead. She forced her tone towards matter of fact. ‘We won’t get anywhere unless you agree to start trying again.’

TJ just stared at her with that hangdog expression.

‘Enough.’ Skye put the clipboard on the dash and then leaned into the truck. She didn’t threaten. She just said, ‘Please.’

‘Nothing I’ve done has worked,’ he whispered. A tear trailed down his cheek, and TJ angrily swiped it away. ‘I can’t even think, Skye. Every part of me is in pain all the time.’

Afraid she’d start crying too, Skye leaned further in. She placed her lips on his, just a gentle brush. ‘How about now?’

TJ’s eyes were huge in his face. But he managed a breathy, ‘I don’t know. You’ll have to do it again for me to be sure.’