“Why? What’s wrong?” she answered, leaning back into the van with her upper body.
She was insane, I knew that much, but she was also apparently fearless. I, however, had no way to protect her, and judging by the faces closing in on us, I was going to need to do just that.
Reaching out, I grabbed her wrist and yanked her back into the van.
“What the hell?” she yelled.
The man sprinted forward, capturing her around the waist and pulling her out of my grasp. My eyes went wide, and panic settled in my chest. I scrambled across the passenger seat after her, but my legs got stuck behind me and I fell out of the door, crashing to the pavement face first.
“Flint!” Ash yelled, but the man never released her.
I pushed myself upright so I could at least use my arms as defense, but with the exception of Ash’s flailing to get free, no one moved.
“Max, put me down. He’s my friend.”
“Not touching you like that, he’s not.”
“Jesus Christ. Put me down. He’s paralyzed. I need to make sure he’s okay.”
I wasn’t sure what was worse: the fact that I was helplessly sitting on the ground while watching a stranger manhandle her or the fact that I was so weak and pathetic that she was worried about me while it happened.
“Damn it, put me down!” she shrieked.
The man finally relented.
After rushing forward, she dropped to her knees in front of me. “Oh my God. Are you okay?”
“We need to get out of here,” I declared, watching the man and woman step even closer behind her.
“Flint, these are my friends, Max and Donna.” She turned around to address them. “Back up. He’s not going to hurt me.”
Neither seemed convinced, but they did take a single step away.
“I don’t care who they are. We’re leaving.” I started scooting toward the passenger’s door, but the idea of actually pulling myself up and into the van from the ground was daunting.
“Just hang on,” Ash called, seeming to read my mind—or, more likely, my fear-filled expression.
After opening the sliding back door, she dragged my wheelchair out and pushed it in front of me. A rush of relief filtered through me. I’d never been so happy to see that damn thing in my life.
“You need help?” she asked.
“No, I don’t need any fucking help,” I snapped for absolutely no reason other than that my pride had suffered a serious hit.
“Oh hell no,” Donna voiced behind us, causing Ash to roll her eyes.
“Can you two give us a minute? I promise I’m fine. You can watch me from over there.” She pointed to where they had been previously situated against the wall.
“Ash,” the man started.
“Please, Max,” she whined.
His face softened. “All right.” He tugged on the woman’s arm and began leading her back to the wall.
Ash turned her attention to me. “Just let me help you.”
“I’ve got it,” I said roughly as I hoisted myself up to the floorboard of van and then transferred myself back into my chair. It wasn’t easy, but I had an audience, so I did my best not to look like a bumbling idiot.
“Get in the car,” I ordered, rolling myself around to the driver’s side.
“What? I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are,” I called out, dropping my chin to my chest as soon as I was blocked by the van. My hands shook as I pinched the bridge of my nose. I tried to get my pulse under control as the adrenaline left my body. God, I was such a fucking mess, and of course, Ash picked that exact moment to round the bumper.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, walking over and stopping in front of me.
“Can you stop fucking asking me that?”
She arched an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side with sudden attitude. “Can you start answering the question?”
I let out a resigned sigh. I desperately needed the entire fucking day to be over. I couldn’t take much more, and I needed to reset my mind and body in the solitude of my apartment.
“Look, please just let me take you home. I can’t leave you here. I’m sure you think those two are your friends, but there is no possible way I can leave you in a dark alley with two homeless people. It’s dangerous.”
She smiled widely. “I’ll be fine.”
“Maybe. But I can’t in good conscience leave you here.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but I put my hand up to silence her.
“Please don’t argue with me, Ash. This has been one hell of a day, and I can’t take it anymore. I’ll be really honest here: If I don’t get home soon, I’m going to lose my fucking mind.”
Her smile widened.
Fantastic.
“Can we go tell Max and Donna goodbye?”
I blew out a breath. Thank God! At least she was rational.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“No. Come with me. I’m pretty sure they don’t trust you any more than you do them. They’re my best friends. I don’t want them to worry.” Her smile stretched even wider.
What the actual fuck is she smiling about?