Erin saw blood.

“Oh my God. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Grace moved her hand away, saw the blood. “I think so.”

“You’re bleeding,” Parker cried.

“Just my head.”

Someone outside the car knocked on the window. “You guys okay?”

Erin looked around. The cars around them moved but the one in front and the one that hit them from the back were at a standstill.

Erin started to shake as adrenaline dumped and memories surfaced. “It wouldn’t stop.” Her breath came in short pants.

“It’s okay. We’re okay.”

“It wouldn’t stop.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Matt received the call from Colin. He heard the words the girls and accident on the freeway, and his blood pressure jumped. The next thing Colin said eased him slightly. They all walked away. Traffic was bad so they weren’t going at freeway speeds. But fast enough to hammer the front and back of the car when the car behind them couldn’t stop in time.

Much as Matt wanted to take his bike and swerve in and out of traffic to get to the hospital, he didn’t trust himself not to become part of the problem, so he took the truck.

Grace needed a couple of stitches. That’s all he knew.

Colin said he’d call the second he got there, and he was only a few minutes closer than Matt.

He white-knuckled all the way in. His phone rang as he was parking the truck.

“Are they okay?” He jumped out of the truck and double-timed his steps to the emergency room doors.

“They’re fine. How far out are you?”

“I’m walking in now.”

His eyes searched the lobby as he entered. Without a familiar face in sight, he approached the receptionist.

The hospital was in Glendale and not one he was familiar with. “My family was just brought in from a car accident.” He gave them Erin’s name and then Grace’s.

He was directed to a room in the far back of the department. A good sign no one was seriously injured. Matt saw Grace first. She was sitting on the edge of a gurney with a bandage on the left side of her forehead and laughing. On another gurney Colin sat next to Parker, his arm over her shoulders. She, too, was giggling. Mallory was in a chair to the side.

Erin sat in a corner, eyes wide, her lips in a straight line.

“You didn’t have to rush,” Grace said when she saw him enter the room.

“And miss the party? What are you laughing about? I thought this was a serious moment.” Matt moved to his sister and wrapped her in his arms.

“Grace was hitting on the doctor,” Mallory told him.

That sounded like his sister.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“I’m fine. Erin’s pretty shook up,” she whispered back.

He moved from Grace, around the gurney, and to Erin’s side.

She looked at him with a blank expression.

Matt knelt down and took her all in. Both her forearms were wrapped in bandages. He touched one and she finally spoke. Her voice wavered. “The airbag burned my . . .” Her voice floated off and she started to shake.

He carefully took both her hands in his. He could only imagine what she was feeling. What thoughts were racing through her mind.

“So what exactly happened?” Colin asked.

Matt listened while his eyes stayed on Erin.

“We were on the five. Traffic was crazy. Erin said something about the brake light,” Grace explained.

“They didn’t work. I slammed on the brakes. The car didn’t stop,” Erin said a little louder this time. Her eyes finally met Matt’s.

He squeezed her hands, realized that might hurt her arms, and eased up.

“Next thing we knew, the airbags were exploding and another car was slamming us in the rear,” Grace finished.

“Erin’s car is jacked,” Mallory said.

“But we’re all okay, and that’s all that matters,” Parker said. “It’s not your fault, Erin.”

“One of the other drivers tried to limp the car off the freeway and even he said the brake pedal wasn’t catching. They had to tow it.”

“Did you come in on an ambulance?” Matt asked.

Grace rolled her eyes. “They insisted, but I refused the backboard. I have no time to be tied down by your people,” she teased.

Matt wanted to laugh, but Erin was still staring out in space.

“I’m so sorry, guys.”

Another round of “It’s not your fault” ensued.

Twenty minutes later, a doctor came in the room. Matt had taken up residence behind Erin and kept his hands on her shoulders to make sure she knew he was right there.

Grace offered a smile to the fortyish-year-old doctor who didn’t seem to notice her attention. He introduced himself and shook both Colin’s and Matt’s hands.

The doctor pointed to Mallory first. “Your shoulder is going to hurt, but nothing is broken.” He turned his attention to Erin. “You’re not broken either. Looks like you have old fractures.”

Erin nodded. “I do.”

“I’m glad you agreed to the X-rays. Swelling in these airbag burns can be pretty intense and might make you think you refractured something. Now you know.”

Matt kissed the top of Erin’s head when the doctor looked away.

“Stitches out for you in five to seven days.”

Grace smiled. “Should I come back here?” Her voice was breathy and hardly sounded like her.

Mallory started to giggle.

“Ah, no. Your regular doctor can do it without an ER visit.”

“That’s too bad.”

Matt noticed the doctor’s blush. He turned to Parker. “And it looks like the only one to escape without a scratch is the bride.”

“They gave me the most champagne. I didn’t tense up when we hit.”

“You guys were drinking?” Colin asked.

Parker patted his hand. “Only the three of us, and we finished the bottle before noon. Erin didn’t have a drop.”

All eyes went on Erin.

“One of the nurses will be in with your discharge orders in a minute.” He left the room with Grace watching his backside as he walked away.

“Good Lord, could you be more obvious?” Parker teased.

“I could slip him my phone number when I walk by as we leave.”

Erin offered a practiced smile but didn’t find the humor the way everyone else in the room did.

Colin pulled Matt aside before they walked out to the parking lot. “I’ll take the others back to the house. Are you going to take Erin back to your place?”

“If she’ll let me. If not, I’ll be right behind you. Try and get her to let me stay. She’s pretty shook up.”

“Thankfully she wasn’t drinking. That would have made everything worse.”

Matt couldn’t imagine.

They met back up with the women, who did a group trip to the bathroom, and walked outside. Matt kept close to Erin. He led her to his car and opened the door. “See you guys later,” he said as they walked past his truck.

Matt started the engine and waited for it to warm. “Erin?”

“I’m okay.”

No, you’re not.