Like Gravity(7)

I swear she never even took a breath. It might’ve been impressive if I wasn’t bleeding from the head and very possibly concussed.

“I’m sure she’ll be better once you stop yammering at her,” the guy’s voice scolded from above me.

“Oh…right,” Lexi whispered, looking suddenly chagrined. “I’m so sorry, Brookie. I’ll be quiet now I promise.”

“I’m fine, Lex,” I mumbled, turning my face away from the bright sunlight and into my savior’s shoulder. When I inhaled I got a whiff of his cologne or aftershave, a heady scent of autumn leaves and crisp apples. He smelled like fall, my favorite season. I giggled aloud at the thought, recognizing almost immediately that I was delirious and, in all likelihood, suffering from a concussion.

Suddenly, we were walking up steps and through a set of glass doors. The health desk receptionist took one look at us before calling for a nurse on the intercom, simultaneously directing us toward a curtained-off section of the room. Laying me down gently on a cot, the guy moved my hair away from my eyes and grinned down at me, a dimple appearing in one cheek.

“Well, this definitely fulfills my annual act-of-kindness quota,” he quipped. “At least, I think helping someone oblivious enough to trip over a fire hydrant will count.” His eyes crinkled up in laughter as he joked at my expense.

Rude.

“Careful,” I warned, wagging my finger back and forth at him. “Making fun of the injured is a definite deduction of karma points.”

“I’ll take my chances. You got blood on my favorite shirt, by the way,” he said, gesturing unhappily toward the bloodstain now marring the band insignia on his dark grey T-shirt. “I mean, I knew walking and talking simultaneously posed a challenge for you sorority girls, but at least try to remember to avoid the hydrants – you know, those red shiny things – in the future. Think you can manage that, sweetie?” he mocked.

In an instant, any gratitude I’d felt toward this stranger vanished, replaced by anger and more than a little embarrassment. Not only had he insulted my intelligence, he’d equated me to, as Lexi would say, a sorostitute!

“Oh, I’m just so sorry. Next time I’m bleeding from the head I’ll be sure to direct it at someone else!” I snapped, my voice trembling with indignation.

“I’d appreciate that,” he bantered back. “Now, as fun as this has been, I really need to go. Watch out for those hydrants, kiddo. Next time I might not be there to save you.”

Kiddo?! Who the hell did this guy think he was?

“I don’t recall asking for your help!” I glared up at him icily. “I’d typically say thank you, but at this point I think I’d have preferred to be left to bleed out in the street!”

“You’re welcome,” he grinned back at me, again showing off that infuriatingly cute dimple as he retreated backward toward the door. As he turned, he spotted Lexi making a beeline for my cot with a nurse in tow.

“Enjoy your time with the redhead. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone talk that fast in my life,” he noted, one eyebrow quirking up at the thought. “Oh, and before I forget – you owe me a dark grey Apiphobic Treason t-shirt. Size large.”

With a final wink at me, he spun and walked to the glass entryway, disappearing out into the sunshine before I could even contemplate a comeback. I lay in stunned silence, slowly processing the fact that he’d just sauntered out, leaving nothing but his freaking t-shirt order behind.

What an *!

Shock from the accident had worn off several minutes ago; in my anger, I hadn’t even noticed that the aching in my head had mostly subsided. The nurse quickly determined that I did not, in fact, have a concussion – just a severely unattractive lump on my temple and a small cut by my hairline. With an efficiency that attested to years of patching up reckless college kids, the nurse cleaned the blood from my face, placed a small bandage over the cut, and sent me promptly on my way to class with an ice-filled compress to reduce the swelling.

My brush with death wouldn’t even make me late for Criminal Justice.

Damn.

***

In a rare moment of silence, Lexi and I stepped outside and slowly retraced our steps to the accident site. My backpack, discarded in the rush of activity, lay abandoned on the pavement. As I bent to retrieve it, I noticed a lump of dark material had been roughly shoved beneath the pack. I threw my bookbag strap over one shoulder and reached for the wadded up material, which I now recognized as the black leather jacket.

Shit.

“Finn’s jacket,” Lexi explained. “He put it under your head as a pillow after you fell.”

“After I fell? That’s the story you’re going with?”

“Well, I guess I may have been slightly at fault,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing pink.

“Slightly? Lexi, are you kidding me? You completely—Wait. Did you just say the boy who carried me was Finn? As in…the Finn you nearly killed me by chasing?” I asked, somewhat shocked.

“Yes,” Lexi murmured dreamily. “Isn’t he such a gentleman?”

“I could think of a few other choice names for him. Like *, doucheb-”

“Brooklyn!”

“What?! He was such a dick to me!”


“He saved your life!” She stared me down indignantly, hands planted firmly on her hips in a show of intimidation.