Dean’s in the hospital? Well, I’m stunned. He’s already busted his legs and his nose twice and he’s also suffered a fractured collarbone. Expecting him not to have an accident was a ridiculous notion.

After a frantic dash across the city’s streets, I reach my SUV. With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I find the location of the hospital on the navigator. Frustration pours into my heart when I realize that the quickest route is via the coastal road. I just left Stacy there, and unless she’s some kind of superhero or she’s taken a cab, she’s not far. Nevertheless, I am much too upset to consider an alternative route. Running into the girl who had given me an incredible time is not going to deter me from getting to my little brother as quickly as possible. Smoke rises up from all four tires as I drive off.

The short route to the hospital gives me some time to reflect on what has transpired. Without a doubt, it was one, wild, crazy ride. There I was, believing I had found someone to fool around with at some point during the night or on our second date. I was prepared to wait a night or two to get her into bed. Yet, she had other things in mind. I don’t have a clue what drove her to give herself to me so fast, but I never pass up anything good, and she is more than just good. Stacy is the very definition of a knockout: long, blonde hair lies on her shoulders; sky-blue eyes; big, natural breasts; long, shapely legs; and an ass that I could stare at for hours. One would have to be crazy or gay not to want to sleep with her. In my hastiness to get back to my car, I made a mistake I knew I would come to regret. I didn’t get her number. Now, the odds of my finding her in a city of two-hundred thousand locals and several thousand tourists were next to none.

This sucks, but I’ll always have the memory. And it was sweet, baby. It was sweeter than honey. Wait, what am I doing? My friend’s in the hospital and I’m thinking about a chick? Snap out of it, Ray. Stacy was an amazing fuck, and that’s it. Don’t blow this out of proportion.

Ditching my Jeep in the hospital’s parking lot, I sprint towards its entrance, my heart ready to burst right out of my chest. The mere notion of Dean fighting for his life threatens to consume me whole and suck me into an abyss of sorrow I have never been in my life. His sarcasm can drive Michael and me crazy sometimes, and he may be a handful, but he’s still our handful.

I take a few, furtive glances around me as I step into the lobby. There are people at the reception desk who are in the middle of a heated conversation. A wide corridor stretches out in front of me. Two, large men are heading in my direction. One of them is walking normally, whereas the other seems to be limping. I don’t have to take a closer look to discover his identity. His black, leather outfit and the helmet in his grasp are telltale signs of who he is. It’s Dean. I waste no time at all. Waves of relief wash over me as I stride along the corridor. He seems to have taken a nasty fall, but other than that, he’s fine.

“You look like shit,” he remarks, his face twisting with a mixed expression of amusement and irony. “Where were you?”

“I look like shit?” I wonder, pointing at myself. “Have you seen a mirror lately? What the hell happened? Are you okay?”

“He’s going to be just fine,” Michael interjects. “He’s got a couple of nasty bruises and some scratches, but that’s about it. And you’ll be glad to know he didn’t do anything wrong this time. I saw the whole thing. There’d been an accident on the way to the freeway. Dean’s bike slipped into some oil and he wiped out. I called the rental dealership and told them about it. Since our boy here isn’t to blame, we owe them nothing. In fact, they agreed to give him another motorcycle free of charge for the remainder of our stay.”

“That’s good to hear,” I murmur, nodding at the same time. “Why didn’t you tell me this over the phone? I was worried sick.”

“Because he landed pretty hard on his knee,” Michael explains, his voice losing volume. “He was in a lot of pain when the paramedics arrived. I didn’t know the extent of his injuries, until about ten minutes ago.”

“You still haven’t told us where you were,” Dean states, taking a step closer to me.

“I was, um…” I falter, dragging my gaze away from him. “I was with someone.”

“He looked away,” Dean’s remark makes me regret my reaction, because it told him and Michael precisely what I was preoccupied with. “We both know what that means.”

“That’s right,” Michael agrees, raising an eyebrow. “Start talking.”

“I’d have a lot more to say if biker boy here hadn’t fallen off his goddamn motorcycle,” I grumble, turning my attention back to Dean.

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to fly over any oil next time,” he says in sarcastic tones, narrowing his eyes at me.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” I sigh, shaking my head in disappointment. “We met last night at the harbor. She asked me to meet her at the same spot tonight. We were standing outside a club when you called me. In my panic, I forgot to get her number,” I’m not telling them the whole truth, simply because I doubt they will believe my story. Perhaps I would do the same thing if one of them claimed they had sex with a knockout like her.

“Did you head anywhere on your way over?” Dean squints at me.

“No; why?”

“Because there are hundreds of chicks out there, and you’re sad about losing one,” he chuckles, glancing at me first, and then Michael.

“This isn’t funny,” I complain, my tone stiff. “I liked her, and not just because she was hot.

“Don’t tell me you had a con…”

“You’re crossing the line, kid,” Michael raises his voice above Dean’s. “You’re right, but I’ve told you this like a million times. It’s not your point. It is the way you…”

“Make it,” Dean finishes out his friend’s sentence, his voice dropping down two octaves. “Sorry, Ray.”

“Let’s get out of here,” I suggest, unwilling to let this escalate. Dean is six years younger than Michael and me. That doesn’t mean he can do anything and get away with it, but arguing with him after his accident is not going to help him or me for that matter. It won’t make me feel any better, either. If anything, it’s only going to make me feel much, much worse. Only one person can lift my spirits, and she is somewhere in Heraklion, probably wondering why I took off on her like that.