FORTY-ONE
LeoMy skin crawls with unease. My body aches. No doubt every inch of my skin is covered in bruises. But that pain doesn’t hold a candle to the agony within my chest. Every tick of the thinnest hand on the analog clock on the wall, every second that passes brings more panic.
I won’t survive if she didn’t make it. I can’t live in a world without her.
Guilt consumes me. All of this is my fault. I was tired and didn’t see the pileup of cars in time. I overcompensated when turning the wheel, flipping the car and sending us flying into a tree. This is on me. If she dies, it will be at my hands. I did this. The truth dawns—even if she did make it, she surely won’t forgive me. She shouldn’t. I’m going to lose her either way.
Hot tears flow down my face, and the sting in my heart is s
