Page 27 of Come Back To Me

Aiden mumbled in the background and then came back with, “Yeah. Liam is with her now, he’s getting her to use the app on her phone to find her car.”

A minute later he prattled off the GPS coordinates.

“I’m on my way,” I said.

“Me too.”

I’D CONJURED UP several images of what we were going to see when we finally found Kenzi. Flashbacks from the night of her accident had me struggling to stay calm and not think the worst. Fortunately, she wasn’t involved in another accident, but it didn’t make finding her any easier. She ended up almost forty-five minutes from her apartment, in the opposite direction. The tail lights of Maddy’s Prius lit up when my headlights reflected off the back of the car, and I didn’t even cut the ignition in my car before I was out the door. Aiden stopped behind me in his truck, and hastened footsteps sounded behind me. With more force than necessary, I ripped the front driver side door open.

Kenzi was holding on to the steering wheel for dear life, staring ahead. Her skin was pale, and if it weren’t for her breathing I’d think she was dead.

“Kenzi!”

Aiden came to an abrupt halt beside me.

Kenzi didn’t move.

I reached in and touched her arm. Dammit, she was ice cold, her muscles rigid. She flinched, slowly turning her head in our direction.

“I…I…Where am I?”

Fuck.

Aiden was freaking out next to me, I could feel it, and I wasn’t far behind.

Wide eyes looked between us, but nothing registered and seeing Kenzi this way scared the living shit out of me.

“Let’s get you out of the car,” I said quietly. My movements were slow, and measured so as to not spook her.

She came willingly, and when she was standing, her entire body started shaking uncontrollably.

“I think we should get her to the hospital,” said Aiden. “She’s ice cold, man.”

He was at a loss, and really, so was I. Neither of us knew what to do, so I followed my instincts. I wrapped my arm around her, and lifted her up so that her body was nestled into my chest.

“Let’s get her home,” I told Aiden. “Then you and Liam can decide whether or not to call Connor.”

Kenzi clung to me, and I fought the shiver when her cold nose touched the crook of my neck. Jesus, had she been sitting out here, alone in the dark, all this time? It’s summer, but the evenings were still crisp, and the car was off so she had no warmth at all.

Aiden followed and we got Kenzi into the passenger seat of my car. Right then I was glad that I was still waiting to get my truck back. I was afraid being in my truck again may upset Kenzi, trigger a memory of her accident or something.

Aiden climbed back into his truck, and followed me back to Kenzi and Maddy’s apartment. She was quiet in the passenger seat, her gaze fixed ahead but not really on one particular thing. When I helped her get out, her body was still cold to the touch.

Maddy held the front door open while Liam stood in the living room. He didn’t say anything. I half expected him to rush me and demand that he take Kenzi from my arms.

“I can take her,” said Maddy. Her eyes were red, and slightly puffy.

Kenzi shook her head, only slightly, but it’s the first time she’d responded to us. Her voice was scratchy when she said, “Vaughan.”

I braced myself for a rebuttal from Aiden or Liam, but no one said anything. I walked down the hallway, and slowly set Kenzi on her bed. Her pajamas were in her dresser, so I grabbed a clean pair and automatically helped her change. I’d seen her naked more times than I could count, but seeing her naked like this wasn’t even remotely sexual. When she was dressed again I took a seat next her on the bed, feeling physically and emotionally exhausted.

“What happened?” When Kenzi’s eyes met mine it was obvious she was very much aware of her surroundings.

“I think you had another panic attack.” I rubbed my hands down my face, and scratched the two-day old stubble covering my jaw. “Do you remember anything after you left your Dad’s house?”

Her brows scrunched. “Everything went blank.” Her voice hitched. She was upset, and while my natural inclination was to reach for her, I hesitated. I didn’t know how she’d react. I didn’t know how I was going to react either if I was completely honest. I still loved her, I was still in love with her, but I had to remind myself that she no longer knew how she felt about me. It wasn’t her fault, but damn if it didn’t still cut deep, and because I was still weak when it came to her, I pulled her into me. She climbed into my lap, her thighs resting alongside mine.

“Do you hate me?” she asked. My skin prickled from her breath on my neck.