Pryce’s eyes shine with unshed tears, he can be one emotional motherfucker.
“I know that if playing ball were what you really wanted, Abi would support you but we’d all hate not to have you around and knowing that you're miserable the whole time.”
Pryce and Abi both hug me at the same time and there's nothing better than the love of my family.
This is what we all realised: loving Abi makes us a family.
An unconventional one but a loving, tight knit little family.
One we’re in by choice, especially since none of us has been very lucky with the family they were born into.
We leave the restaurant in really high spirits and we debate if we wanna go out somewhere fun or go home to chill out in front of a movie.
“Can we go home? I know it isn't late but I feel really tired. A certain someone kept me up all night last night ...”
Abi teases with a flirty look directed at Reece and he winks at her and quips:
“I didn't hear any complaints last night. Actually if I can recall, you kept asking me not to stop.”
She blushes and whispers something in his ear making him chuckle darkly.
It's funny how seeing her with them should make me jealous but it doesn't.
It makes me happy and excited at the same time.
Reece is driving us today and we have an unspoken rule that Abi always rides shotgun with the one that's driving.
He helps her into her seat and closes the car door for her and then gets behind the wheel.
We chat and joke the whole way home. One thing we love is to provoke our girl and get a reaction out of her.
So Reece proposes:
“Ok, then. Let’s go home. We can watch a movie or play a game. A strip game, where the loser has to take off their clothes.”
He suggestively raises his eyebrows and Abi walks right into his trap.
“Hell no! Every time you guys talk me into a strip game, I end up being the first one naked. It happened with strip poker, strip bullshit, strip Uno ...”
Reece turns briefly to look at her and taunts her jokingly.
“Of course you do! Because we all cheat through our teeth! For tonight, I propose a game of strip Monopoly ...”
Abi’s about to retort but we never hear her words because a loud bang covers her voice and I realise with horror that the car is sliding on the carriage way completely out of control.
I hear Abi’s scream as I brace myself for impact.
The noise is even louder when we stop against a pole.
For a second, everything goes dark and I lose consciousness.
When I come to, I instinctively clutch my injured hand, looking for the limo driver ...
Then I realise with horror that that was a different accident two years ago.
I move my hand and it's completely fine.
But that also means that I’m not in a company car with a driver, I’m with Abi and my brothers.
We’d just left the highway and were driving at forty miles per hour on the coastal road that leads up to my house.
Someone must have exceeded the speed limit and hit us on the driver’s side.
I look at Pryce: he looks confused but relatively unharmed.
“Abi!”
We both shout, looking at the front seat.
She’s just come to and she's checking herself feeling up her arms and legs.
She says that she's ok but her white dress is stained red, so I get out of the car with my heart beating fast in my throat to check that she isn't injured.
When I open the passenger car door, I hear Abi cry out.
“Oh my God, Chaz! It’s Reece! Look at him!”
She’s panicking and my first instinct is to take her in my arms and comfort her but then my eyes fall on Reece and I don't even recognise my own voice when I shout:
“Pryce, call nine-one-one!”
The other car hit the drivers side and the car spun by three hundred and sixty degrees a few times and hit an old street light pole head on.
The windshield is smashed and there's a metal rod sticking out from Reece's chest.
There's blood everywhere, this is how Abi got it on her.
Pryce has called the emergency services and seems fine but as soon as he stands up to get out of the car, he collapses on the dark road tarmac and as I shine a light on him, I see a big lump starting to appear on his forehead.
He was sitting right behind Reece and he must've hit his head.
I decide not to move him and redial nine-one-one to tell them that there are two casualties.
Abi is standing by my side, completely quiet and when I talk to her softly to check on her, I realise that she's in shock.
The ambulance arrives quickly and the paramedics tell us that Reece is still breathing.
Thankfully his door isn't stuck, so he can be extracted from the car wreck relatively quickly.
I ride in the ambulance with Reece, and Abi rides with Pryce but I speak to the paramedics and ask them to keep an eye on her because she seems almost catatonic.
We arrive at the hospital pretty quickly and while each of my brothers is surrounded by a whole team, Abi and I get checked by two kind nurses.
I’m told that I was extremely lucky to walk away unharmed.
“Your girlfriend has only a little scrape on one arm, nothing that a bandaid can't fix. Do you guys have a ride home?”
I tell the nurse that I can call someone but I’m not going to until I know what's wrong with my brothers.
“Very well, call your ride and I’ll get you an update.”
As soon as the nurse walks away, I call Max.
He's the only person I can think of and when I tell him what happened, he tells me that he’s on his way.
When I walk out of the bay where I was being checked, I find Abi speaking with the same nurse who promised me an update.
When she sees me, she beckons me over and explains that Pryce is conscious and has a mild concussion.
“We’ll keep him under observation overnight but if everything goes well, he should be discharged tomorrow morning. As for your other friend, he's very lucky that the metal rod missed any vital organs and major arteries. However he’s in surgery to extract the piece of metal and he needs a transfusion because he's lost a lot of blood.”
The nurse isn't even finished telling us about Reece's condition, than the head nurse walks up to us with a doctor.
“Mr Atwood? If I’m correct you were in the same vehicle as the young man we have in surgery right now?”
I nod and look at Abi: her blue eyes are huge and full of fear.
She speaks for the first time since the ambulance arrived.
“Doctor, is Reece ok?”
The doctor shakes his head.
“I’m afraid not. Your friend has lost a lot of blood and he needs a transfusion urgently if he's to survive surgery.”
I’m about to tell him to hurry up and do it then, when the doctor explains.
“Reece has a very rare blood type AB, RH negative. Less than six per cent of the population in the US has this blood type and it's the rarest in the world. Our blood bank hasn't got a sufficient supply at the moment. Since the situation is time critical and Reece is in no condition to be airlifted to another hospital, we decided to try and go with a compatible blood type. An O type. However, this happens very rarely, when we tested a small sample of his blood against the blood he was set to receive, we discovered that the sample created clots. Which means that his body would reject the blood if transfused. We don't know exactly why this is happening but it's imperative that we find a donor with his blood type. You said that Reece is your brother?”
I shake my head and explain that we're very close friends but we aren't related.
The doctor still looks unperturbed when he says that he notified Reece's father and he should be here soon.
Abi starts crying when she realises that the doctor’s hope is in vane.
“Reece was
adopted. Congressman Abbot isn't his biological father.”
The doctor begins to talk in a lower voice, trying to prepare us for the very real possibility that Reece might not make it.
“The odds of finding a donor immediately are ...”
“Quite good, considering that I’m gonna give my brother my blood.”
Max has just walked into the ER room.
The doctor asks him if he's related to Reece.
“No. But we have the same blood type. We volunteered to work at a blood drive sponsored by our school a few years ago, we were giving out snacks to the donors and so on and we went with our biology teacher as we were studying the DNA and the blood.
And we were all being tested to learn what blood type we were and shown around the labs, it was pretty interesting. Long story short. They told us that we had a very rare blood type and to always keep it in mind, should we ever need blood. So, shall we? I believe time is critical?”
The nurse takes Max with her to take his blood and this is when Abi collapses in my arms, crying with a mixture of fear and relief.
26.
The Right Thing
Abi
THE FOLLOWING FEW WEEKS pass really fast and really slow at the same time.
The night of the accident we all waited for Reece to come out of surgery and I think that every second we didn't know if he was gonna be all right, felt like a decade.
But Reece is a fit, strong young man and he survived the surgery.
I can't explain the sense of relief that I felt when the doctor came to inform us that Reece was fine.
I cried against Chaz's chest and that was when Reece's father arrived.
He looked surprised to see me there and when I told him that Reece was gonna be all right, he surprised me by hugging me.
I saw a gleam of unshed tears in his eyes and a little part of me couldn't help but feel that maybe he did care a little for his son, despite being far from perfect.
And I couldn't help but wonder how my own father would've reacted in a similar situation.
When Congressman Abbot was told that he could see his son, he offered me his arm.
“I know you want to see him?”
I looked at Chaz who nodded and told me that he’d be in Pryce's room.
Reece was still in the ICU but the doctors were optimistic about his recovery.
“Can I have my driver take you anywhere, Abilene?”
“No Mr Abbot, thank you. Our friend Pryce got a concussion and I wanna check on him before going. And we have a ride waiting for us.”
Pryce looks quite well, aside from a huge bump on his forehead that has started to turn purple.
“Aw, I wish they’d let you guys stay. They told me that I’ve gotta stay awake the whole fucking night. But I found a phone charger and at least I can watch movies and play games on my phone. Will you guys come to pick me up tomorrow morning?”
We promise that we will and when we exit the room, Chaz wraps a protective arm around my shoulder and I let his nearness, his honey and spice scent, comfort me.
We find Max in the parking lot and as we climb into his SUV, none of us speaks.
I observe him while he drives in the increasingly bright light that immediately precedes dawn.
He looks tired and his jaw is tight with tension.
“Why did you walk out?”
He doesn't look away from the road and for a second I think that he didn't hear my question.
“I heard that he was gonna be all right and when I saw his dad ... I’m not one of his favourite people since last year's Prom, as you can imagine.”
“But Max, you saved Reece's life!”
He shrugs.
“I wouldn't give that fact too much weight, Abi. Everyone in my place would've done the same. It was the right thing to do.”
I stop talking: this has been a long, long night, full of terrible and wonderful things.
Because you can say anything but seeing Max save Reece's life is something that I’ll never forget.
When we get home, Max surprisingly walks me and Chaz to the door.
“Are you gonna go pick up Pryce tomorrow morning?”
Chaz nods.
“Let me know if you need a ride. Just in case you don't feel like driving, after last night.”
Chaz grabs Max’s shoulder in a brotherly gesture.
“If you wanna go see him, you can just say so, bro.”
“I wanna see him. I wanna make sure that he's all right.”
The boys look at each other with a quiet intensity and Chaz is the one to initiate the hug.
“Thank you, bro. In my eyes, what you did last night does put things right. I don't know how Reece’ll feel and I’ll let him come to his own conclusion but lately, you’ve done nothing but make amends for what happened last spring. What I’m trying to say is that I’m ready to put it all behind me. Like, really behind me, brother.”
He then turns to me.
“Angel, I’ll have the shower running for us. I’ll see you in a minute.”
And he disappears inside the house, leaving me alone with Max.
We look at each other and he gives me a small smile.
“What, rally girl?”
It's funny how a couple of months ago I’d have yelled at him for calling me rally girl but now, it just makes my heart flutter in my chest when he says it.
I just say ‘thank you’ and he touches his lips to my temple before walking back to his car and driving away.
Reece
THEY SAY THAT I ALMOST died.
That I was extremely lucky twice: first when that metal rod missed any vital organs and then when Max gave me his blood.
When I got discharged from the hospital, my dad didn't even insist when I said that I wanted to do my recovery at Chaz's.
That was definitely a relief because he’d have hired someone to look after me and there's only one sexy nurse I want watching over me.
I still agree to have a medical professional come to change my dressings and I’m lucky enough that most of the time I’m bed bound falls during winter break, so I don't miss too much school and I’m still on track to graduate with my class.
Abi barely ever leaves my side and spends every night in my bed, hugged to my uninjured side.
At first it's a mixture of bliss and torture: because while I love her caring nature, feeling her tits against my chest doesn't do anything to help me sleep.
I mean, I know I almost died but tell that to my dick! He’s definitely in top shape and very aware of Abi's presence.
So I manage to persuade her that none of the doctors said that I wasn't allowed to have sex.
But she's still adamant that I need to be careful not to pop my stitches and I end up living one of the hottest moments of my life with her sitting on me and rocking her hips slowly and sensually while she covers my chest and shoulders with kisses and I play with those amazing tits.
She also helps me shower, even though I don't really need any assistance but who am I to tell a gorgeous, naked girl that I don't need her help?
Especially because she makes sure that each shower has a ‘happy ending’.
And I’ve just gone back to bed after one of those amazing showers and I’m waiting for Abi to bring me lunch.
I think I’ll have to tell her soon that I can manage the stairs and to sit at the kitchen table or on the couch to have my meals but there's something so sweet in the way she babies me, that I admit I’ve been shamelessly reaping all the benefits of it.
My bedroom door opens and I tease:
“You know that between ‘coffee, tea, me?’ I definitely choose ‘me’, right?”
“Are you sure, motherfucker? I always thought that you liked me a bit too much ...”
Max enters the room with a bag from my favourite burger place.
I immediately tense up, but I guess it's because that's what I’ve become used to where Max is concerned.
“Do you mind if I sit with you for a
sec? I got a strawberry milkshake for Abi and Pryce and Chaz are chasing her around the kitchen to get a taste. I don't know if they want the milkshake or her ...”
I bark out a laugh.
“What do you think?”
“I think that I don't blame them. Anyway I just wanted to know how you're feeling. If you need anything.”
“I’ll be all right. I’m feeling better everyday and ... dude, you’ve always been better than me with words but I wanted to say thank you. You quite literally saved my ass.”
Max doesn't immediately say anything, he looks at me for a moment and then his eyes drift to the floor.
“What was I supposed to do, let you die? I think this year I’ve done enough to ruin your life. And I only have my stubborn, distrustful nature to blame for it. I think I kinda owed you.”
“I don't know, dude. Yes, you should’ve believed us. But on the other hand, if Abi had been in Emily's place ... I don't know what I would've done.”
Max lifts his dark gaze and his eyes stay on mine for a long moment.
“To be honest, Reece, I almost immediately felt that I’d put my trust in the wrong place. It was a lot of little things, from Emily ghosting me to the fact that my heart was telling me that you guys would never force a girl into anything. I was stubborn and I felt ashamed of how I immediately reacted that night. I know I’ll pay the price of that behaviour for the rest of my life.”
I sigh deeply and look at him, my friend, my brother, my enemy until a few weeks ago.
“Max, you know how I said too little too late?”
“I don't blame you at all, bro. And I only helped you cause it was the decent thing to do and also because ... I’m not ashamed to admit it but when I walked in and I saw the look on her face when the doctor said that you might not make it ... I would've given you a kidney. I’d have done anything to make her smile again, Reece. She loves you so much. You're a lucky bastard and so are Chaz and Pryce.”
I shake my head.
“Whoa, whoa! You really love her, don't you, asshole?”
His gaze is fierce when he nods.
Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance Page 61
