Catching Summer (Second Chances, #6)(47)

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.

A sob escaped her lips and she clutched her stomach. Sitting back in the chair, she lowered her head and cried. “Brianna’s dead. From what the doctor said, she died on impact.”

“Oh my God,” I cried, falling to my knees. Tears streamed down my cheeks and my chest tightened. It wasn’t just Brianna’s life that was lost.

“She was pregnant, Summer.”

“I know,” I whispered hoarsely. “She told me.”

“I don’t know what to do. I told the doctor I would tell Derek myself, but the thought of telling him he lost not only Brianna but a baby as well rips my heart to pieces.”

“I’ll tell him,” Evan murmured.

Gasping, I quickly got to my feet. “Evan.” I hovered over him and cried when he lifted his hand to my face. His weary gray eyes stared back at me.

“I’m okay, sunshine.”

“I was so worried about you when you didn’t come home. Thank God you’re okay. The thought of losing you…”

He wiped my tears away and put a finger to my lips. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Kate came around to the other side of his bed. “You saved Derek’s life, Evan. He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

He scoffed. “He’s probably not going to forgive me for bringing him back once he finds out about Bri.”

“I don’t mind telling him,” Kate murmured. “You don’t have to do it.”

Evan nodded. “Yes, I do. He’s going to be angry, and the last thing we need is for that stress to be on you when you’re nine months pregnant. He’s my friend, sis. I was there through it all.”

“Speaking of which,” I cut in, glancing at them both, “what exactly happened?”

“The police want to know, too,” Kate insisted.

Evan closed his eyes and growled, “Someone ran us off the road.”

“What?” I shrieked. “Like, literally ran you off the road, or by accident?”

“No,” he replied, opening his eyes. “The f*cker ran into our car and forced us off the road. If the police look at the car, they’ll see the marks on the left side where they rammed into us. It was a lifted blue truck. That’s all I can remember.”

Kate backed away toward the door. “I’m calling the police.”

“And I’ll call Mason,” I offered. “He always knows what to do.”

Kate nodded and disappeared out the door. So many scenarios had gone through my mind, but I definitely couldn’t have imagined someone running them off the road. Evan grabbed hold of my hand, his voice full of anger. “When I find out who did this, they’re going to wish they were dead.”

“You didn’t see who it was?”

He shook his head. “No. It was dark.”

“Do you know of anyone who would want to see you hurt?” As soon as I said it, Levi Milner came to mind. But surely he wouldn’t have come all the way to North Carolina from Arizona, would he?