The dead battery on my phone bugged the hell out of me, so I plugged it in. As soon as I did, I saw a missed call from Toby. Was he okay? I called his number.

“Haley?” he answered, sounding dazed.

“Are you drunk?” I asked.

“No, I hurt my toe.”

“Oh no, are you okay?”

“No, not really. I tried to drive myself to the doctor, but I crashed the Maserati into a fucking tree in my front yard. I’m currently being suffocated by my airbag.”

“Oh no, are you okay?” I repeated, dazed myself.

“I will be if you come and rescue me. The last thing I want to do is call an ambulance. It’ll be all over the fucking news in ten minutes.

“I’m on my way.”

Billy glanced up at me as I stood.

“What’s going on?”

“Toby hurt himself. Keep it on the down low, okay?”

“Yeah, of course. You going to get him?”

I nodded.

“See you at home later,” he said, flashing me a smile. “Hey, tell Toby he should tweet about it if it works. Could get #ChezLouieLives to go viral.”

“Yeah, I should probably tell him I’m behind that.”

“And me,” he said.

“Of course,” I said, gathering my things. “I’ve got to go.”

I waved as I walked away, heading toward the parking lot to go save Toby. Or at least try.

* * *

As I stood next to his hospital bed, staring down at him, I realized how much I loved him.

“It’s going to be fine,” I said as I stroked his arm.

“I’m feeling fine right now.”

He stared at me with his glassy eyes.

“Morphine will do that to you.”

“Good medical plan,” he said.

“And a good doctor.”

Dr. Jensen walked into the room holding what looked like an x-ray of Toby’s foot.

“What’s the news, doc?” Toby asked.

I squeezed his arm, staring at the doctor.

“It’s not broken,” he said in a calm, monotone voice. “You bruised it bad and broke the nail clear off, but you’ll live.”

When he mentioned the toe nail, I winced in empathy.

“Hey, as long as you didn’t cut it off, doc.” Toby laughed. “It’s not like I’m playing anyway.”

“Get some rest,” the doctor said then left.

“He needs to work on his bedside manner,” I said.

“Doc Jensen? He’s a good man.”

Toby grinned, his eyes closing.

“You should get some rest.”

“I love you, Haley.”

“That’s the drugs talking. I messed up bad with the photos.”

“Not your fault,” he said softly. “It’ll all work out. All in good time, you know?”

As his eyes closed, I wanted to wake him and apologize again. The thought of losing him terrified me.

I stared at him a few more minutes, watching his chest rise and fall.

* * *

I glanced over at Toby in the passenger seat after stopping at a red light. He moaned then giggled.

“Still feeling good, are you?”

“The pain is gone, and you’re here. I’m doing damn good. It’s not like I would be playing the rest of the season anyway.”

“Don’t talk like that,” I said. “We started a positive campaign about you. Hashtag Chez Louie Lives.”

“That was you? I saw that before I got mad and kicked the bannister.”

“Why did you kick the bannister anyway?”

His sudden honesty surprised me. Was it the drugs?

“Because the tablet didn’t smash,” He replied, laughing.

I reached over and patted his thigh a few times.

“Careful,” he said as I pulled my hand away.

“What? You okay?”

“You’re going to wake it up.”

“It?” I asked. “You haven’t named it?”

“No, it’s just it. You know, my dick.”

I smiled, my eyes on the road ahead.

He pointed out the windshield.

“Hey, that’s my house.”

“Did you want me to take you somewhere else?”

“No, this is good.”

I looked over at his bandaged foot on the floorboard.

“You’re the save the Chez Louie person, huh? I paid Billy to help me, I probably should have told you that.”

“He helped too,” I said as I pulled into the driveway.

The tow-company I’d called had put his wrecked car into the three-car garage attached to his house. I promised them an extra hundred dollars if they kept quiet about it.

I turned to him after stopping the car. He smiled.

“Still high?” I asked.

“Not too bad. Why?”

“I wanted to talk about something serious.”

“Ah, and you don’t want me cracking jokes?”

“We’ve got something special here, Toby, and I don’t want us to ruin it.”

“Me either.”

“Let me help you get inside.”

I opened the door and got out. Walking around the car, I looked inside and saw him staring straight ahead. He needed to be in bed resting.

“Here we go,” I said as I opened the passenger door.

He grabbed my hand to steady himself as he stood, swaying back and forth slightly.

“You okay?”

“I got this,” he said, putting his arm around my back.

I held him up as best as I could as we made our way to the front of his house. He unlocked the door then turned before opening it.

“Thanks for coming to save me.”

“No problem. I’ll see you later,” I said, looking up at him from the bottom of the porch.

“You’re leaving me?”

“I’ve got to go,” I insisted. “I’ll call you later, okay? Get some rest.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, then turned to go inside.

I hid my smile as I watched him close the door behind him.

Maybe everything would be okay after all…