“Please, Lara. Let me have Luke’s number. I have to know Evan’s okay. Something just doesn’t feel right.”
“Okay, let me find it in my phone.” She yawned and fumbled around on her phone for a few seconds and then recited it to me.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry to have called you so late.”
She yawned again. “You’re welcome. Call me back if something’s wrong. You kind of have me worried now.”
“I will. Hopefully, he’s just with Luke catching up.” We hung up the phone and I immediately dialed Luke’s number. He, too, sounded like he’d been asleep when he answered.
“Yeah?”
“Luke, it’s Summer. I’m looking for Evan. Do you know where he’s at?”
“Evan? He should’ve been home a couple of hours ago. He left with Derek and Brianna.”
My gut clenched. “He’s not here. I’ve been texting him and he’s not answering. That’s not like him.”
“No, it’s not.”
Just then a call beeped through on my phone. “Hey, I have a call coming in.” When I looked at it, it wasn’t Evan, but Kate. “It’s Kate,” I mumbled, my heart dropping. “Why the hell would she be calling?”
“Answer it and then call me back.” Luke hung up so I clicked over to Kate, swallowing hard.
“Hello,” I answered.
I could tell she was in her car by the background noise. “Summer, I want you to listen to me and stay calm. Can you do that?”
“That depends. What the hell’s going on?”
“I’m not exactly sure. I got a call from the police department. Evan’s been in an accident. From what they said, he’s stable, but I don’t think the same can be said for Derek and Brianna. I’m on my way to the hospital. Meet me there?”
I ran to the kitchen and grabbed my purse and keys. “I’m on my way.” My stomach clenched and I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. I had known there was something wrong before she called; I could feel it. Thankfully, there wasn’t much traffic in the middle of the night, so I was able to fly as fast as I could down the road. However, I came upon a sight that would forever haunt my memories. A crumpled car that looked like Brianna’s was being pulled out of a ditch, completely mangled and torn apart.
Gasping, I swerved and slammed on the brakes. In the rearview mirror, I watched as the tow truck driver secured the car onto the back of his truck. There was blood on the broken windshield. “Oh my God,” I cried, closing my eyes. That was Brianna’s car. Pulling back out onto the road, I sobbed the entire way to the hospital. My whole body shook, but I had to get there. Over and over in my mind, I repeated the words Kate had said. Evan was stable. I wouldn’t be able to survive another loss, especially his.
Once I arrived, I parked in the first space I could find and rushed inside to the lady at the desk. “Evan Townsend’s room, please,” I said quickly. She looked it up and as soon as she told me his room number, I dashed to the elevators. Pacing the elevator, I felt like it took an eternity to get to his floor. “Come on!”
The doors opened and I rushed out, only to run right into another person. His arms grasped me tight, steadying me. “Summer, calm down.”
I looked up and it was Cooper, his weary gaze making my stomach drop. “Where’s Kate?”
“She’s in Evan’s room. He got transferred up from the emergency room a few minutes ago. Kate just got done talking to the doctor. I was going to step out and call everyone for her.”
“Will you call Luke and Lara for me, please?”
Nodding, he squeezed my arm reassuringly. “I will. Now go in there. He’s not awake, but I’m sure he’ll want to see you when he is.”
Swallowing hard, I stepped past him and went straight toward Evan’s room. The door was shut, but I opened it quietly and found Kate sitting in the corner, covering her face, her shoulders shaking.
“Kate,” I whispered.
Her head snapped up and she rushed over, folding me in a hug. I could see the edge of Evan’s bed, but I couldn’t see his face. “Summer,” she cried. Letting me go, she pulled me the rest of the way into the room so I could see Evan. I gasped and rushed to his side. The area underneath his eyes was black and blue and his head was bandaged. On his arms there were cuts and bruises, but other than that it didn’t look like he’d suffered anything major.
Taking his hand gently, I kissed it and held it to my cheek. “I’m here, baby.”
Kate came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. “He’s going to be fine. He took a nasty hit to the head when he was thrown out of the car, but luckily he has a hard head like the rest of our family. I called my parents, but they’re in Wyoming right now hiking the Grand Tetons. They’re going to get on the first flight they can find.” It wasn’t the way I’d wanted to meet his parents, but at least they were coming.
“What about Derek and Bri? How are they?” I set Evan’s hand down and turned to her.