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I WAS SITTING IN FRONT of my TV when I got the call. I didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID so I thought about letting it go to voicemail but something told me to pick it up.
“Hello, is this Miss Cannon.”
“It is. May I ask who’s calling?”
“This is the Los Angeles Memorial Hospital.”
“Hospital?” I repeated and already my mind was racing with a million and one different possibilities. I didn’t have any living relatives in the area so it couldn’t be that. In terms of friends, I was kind of a loner.
That’s when it hit me: Gayle.
“We are sorry to inform that your fiancé has been in a car crash.”
I nearly dropped my phone. “Car crash?” My ears were ringing with the sound of it. “Did you just say... car crash?”
“Yes, his rear tire blew out and the car was flipped over on the side of Route 2.”
“No. No. No. No. No.” I kept repeating that word as if it could make this nightmare go away but deep down, I knew this was real.
It was his reckless driving, I’m sure of it!
I was shaking and it was difficult for me to focus on whoever was on the other line.
“Ma’am? Ma’am?”
“Is he alive?” It was the only question I could force myself to ask.
My blood froze just waiting for the answer.
“Yes, but he is in critical condition.”
“Critical...” The words felt like a stab to the heart.
“We will do whatever we can to stabilize him but he has lost a lot of blood.”
“Please, you can’t let him die,” I begged. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Thankfully, with the 21st century in full effect, I was able to order myself an Uber that was due to arrive in five minutes. In the meantime, I tossed on some shoes. I didn’t even care that I was going to the hospital wearing nothing but my pajamas. All that mattered was getting to the hospital.
***
ONCE THERE, I BEGGED the staff to let me see him but since he was still on the operating table, all I could do was sit in the waiting room, pacing back and forth like some sort of crazy person.
After what felt like hours, Diana walked in.
“Lily!”
“Diana!”
“I heard the news,” she said. It was the first time I had seen her without a tablet. “Is he alright?”
“They have him under the knife right now. I haven’t had an update in a while.”
She hugged me and rubbed my back in an act of courage. “He’ll make it through this, I’m sure. Knowing Gayle he’ll fight death just to marry you.”
“What?”
“That guy loves you, Lily, and I doubt he’s going to want to leave you — not like this.”
“Love?” I echoed.
“You sound surprised.”
“How do you know?”
“Well, he’s never said it outright but I could tell the moment I saw the way he looks at you. It’s like you’re the only girl in the world that he sees.”
“Gayle loves me?” I sat down because it was honestly too much to take. To make such a realization while he was on the very edge of life and death, it just wasn’t fair. And if he loved me as Diana said he did, then why hadn’t he told me so sooner?
“He does.” She rested her hand on my shoulder. There was this pained expression on her face. Her lips were pressed together like she was holding herself back from saying something.
“What is it?”
“I really don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but there’s something I have to tell you.”
“What...?”
“Mindy was the cause behind this.”
“Mindy?” I blinked. Certainly, Diana was mistaken. “Mindy, the innocent redhead, Mindy?”
“It would seem she’s not quite as innocent as she seems.”
“I... I don’t understand.”
“I have a feeling we’re going to be here a while. Let me make you some tea. It’ll help calm your nerves.” Diana walked off to the coffee station and steeped a couple of teabags in hot water.
Dazed, I watched her. It was difficult to process what was going on because my mind was such a wreck.
She returned. “Careful, it’s hot.”
I was actually quite thankful for its warmth because it helped melt some of the chill that had settled into my bones.
“Not too long ago, I got a call saying that Mindy was arrested. I had sent her to this bar to interview Gayle on his engagement. I was going to do it myself while I was at the clubhouse the other day but he turned me down because he didn’t feel comfortable discussing such things with his ex-girlfriend which is understandable. I think he did it out of respect for you.”
“Wait... so that’s why you were at the clubhouse. You were just trying to interview him.”
“Yeah, why, what did you think I was doing?”
My cheeks turned a bright shade of red when I realized that I had mentally accused Diana of trying to steal Gayle away from me when she had done nothing of the sort. Jealousy was definitely an ugly monster capable of consuming judgment.
She sipped her coffee. “If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, then you have no need to worry. Believe it or not, I have a boyfriend of my own but he doesn’t really like the spotlight all the much so we’ve kept it on the down low.”
“Oh... I’m sorry. When I saw you saddle up to him —”
“I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve made assumptions like that before and I’ve made a fool of myself too. No hard feelings.”
I was grateful for her level of understanding. “Thank you.”
“Of course, but as I was saying, I sent Mindy to interview Gayle since she had also taken the liberty of interviewing you on the subject. I thought it was only logical to give her the assignment.”
“Right.”
“As it turns out, she doesn’t like you very much.”
I furrowed my brows together, confused. “But she was always so friendly...”
“She was upset that you slept your way into the industry instead of working at it.”
“So... she tried to kill Gayle? That’s a little drastic, don’t you think?”
“I don’t have all the details but she was bragging about it at the bar as soon as he left. A connection I have with the local police told me that she was intoxicated.”
“Drunk?”
“Worse than that. The tests haven’t come back yet but my connection believes it was probably ecstasy.”
“What, was she planning on sleeping with him too?”
“I don’t know, Lily. All I know is that this is probably going to go to court. It’s going to be bad publicity for the magazine and I’m not sure we’ll make it out of this. Our financial lenders aren’t going to like a scandal on their hands.”
“So, what you’re telling me is that my fiancé is on the verge of dying in there because some crazy...” I was angry I couldn’t even say the word. “Tried to kill him because she was upset that you had given me a top story during my first week on the job. And now, to top it all off, I might not even have that job when all of this is said and done.”
“I’m sorry, Lily.”
The tea in my hands suddenly felt cold.
“This has to be a nightmare...” I whispered aloud. “These sort of things don’t happen in real life.”
“Lily...”
“Just tell me I can wake up now... please.”
“Ms. Cannon.”
I bolted out of my seat the second I heard my name. I no longer cared about Diana or Mindy or the rest of the world for that matter. “Tell me...”
“He made it through surgery. We have him in the ICU. Seeing as you are his fiancé and emergency contact, we’ll allow you to see him.”
I followed her as my throat surged up to my throat, threatening to suffocate me with the way it was beating. I blinked away the tears because I was on the verge of breaking down.
This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.
I’ll wake up soon, I kept telling myself but no matter how hard I tried, my feet kept dragging me towards the inevitable.
We reached his hospital room.
I felt lightheaded and weak.
The nurse pulled back the privacy curtain and I swear, I nearly threw up every morsel in my stomach.
Gayle was a wreck. Half of his body was black and blue and the other half was covered in casts.
“How did he survive...?” I cried.
“It’s a miracle,” the nurse agreed. “But if I had to guess, he was fighting for something.”