Chapter 6

Alexa winced, piercing pain shooting through her abdomen. She blinked in confusion as she was jostled and realized that several EMTs were lifting her on a stretcher into a waiting ambulance, one of them shouting out orders. Nausea roiled through her once more as she fought against the pain, and she was in too much shock to understand what they were saying.

What had just happened? Had she been in a car accident?

She was strapped down, she realized. No doubt it was to keep her from falling off the gurney, but the sensation was unsettling nevertheless. She blinked at the bright light shining in her eyes and then felt a blood pressure cuff being wrapped around her upper arm. There was a prick on her hand, and she groggily watched as she was hooked up to an IV, still trying to understand what was happening.

“She might be dehydrated,” a female voice said. “Check her vitals.”

“Lex, are you okay?” a man called out. Wait. Was Austin here? There were just so many people talking at once that nothing made sense.

“I’m going with her!” a woman shouted. It sounded a bit like her best friend Callie, which was odd. Callie hadn’t been in the car with her driving to the beach—

Alexa gasped in surprise, then moaned as it made the ache in her abdomen worse.

“Ma’am, we’re taking you to the hospital,” a female EMT said, looking her over as they locked the gurney into place in the back of the ambulance. “Can you tell us what happened? Where does it hurt?”

A reel of memories suddenly bombarded her. The party. The beach. Callie and Wyatt. Austin, and then—

Had she passed out?

“I think I fainted,” she mumbled weakly.

“She was unconscious when they called it in,” another voice said. An engine started as the back doors slammed shut, and then Alexa heard the distinctive wail of a siren.

“Alexa!” Callie cried out, her blonde head suddenly appearing at Alexa’s side. Alexa looked at her friend in surprise as the ambulance began to move and promptly burst into tears, hot teardrops streaming down her cheeks.

Callie’s body swayed slightly with the movement of the vehicle, her eyes wide with concern. “Oh my gosh, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Callie asked, clutching her hand.

“Her blood pressure is slightly low,” a male voice said.

Alexa looked down at herself, realizing that her arms were free despite her body being strapped to a gurney. Callie was carefully clutching her hand with the IV in it, and Alexa felt the cool liquid flowing into her veins. As the ambulance turned, she gasped again at the shocking white-hot pain flashing through her.

“Where does it hurt?” a voice asked.

“My—my abdomen. Right here.” Alexa weakly moved her hand, fighting through the pain once more. She felt hot and cold all at the same time, her body breaking out in a cold sweat. She was light-headed, trying to fight the dizziness about to overtake her again. No wonder she’d passed out. The pain seemed never-ending, piercing, and violent.

“Did her appendix burst?” Callie asked, looking worried.

“Wrong side,” Alexa muttered, closing her eyes.

The medics were still shifting around her, taking her vitals. Her abdomen hurt so much, she was having trouble focusing on what they were saying. She heard the crackle of a radio as one of the EMTs alerted the hospital to their arrival in five minutes and heard Callie asking them a string of questions.

“Are you pregnant?” the female EMT asked, her face appearing in Alexa’s line of vision.

“No. I don’t think so,” Alexa said, clenching her teeth as another jolt of piercing pain shot through her. “We always use condoms.”

“They’ll run a pregnancy test at the ER,” the EMT said.

Pregnant?

She couldn’t be. While she and Austin had been together for well over a month, they’d always been careful.

Austin.

Alexa opened her eyes and looked right at Callie. “Where’s Austin?” she asked, suddenly remembering he’d been with her at the beach. Everything had happened so quickly, she was having trouble processing it all.

“He’s meeting us at the hospital,” Callie assured her. “The EMTs didn’t want to let anyone ride in the ambulance, but I basically hopped on anyway, insisting that I come along.”

“I don’t know what happened,” Alexa murmured. “I bent over to grab a drink from the cooler and had this incredible jolt of pain.”

“You fainted right next to me,” Callie said softly. “Austin was so worried about you. Everyone was. At first, we couldn’t even find your pulse, but you woke up as the EMTs were transferring you to the ambulance.”

Alexa stiffened and nodded, fighting against another stab of pain.

“Just rest,” Callie told her. “We’re almost there.”

Alexa nodded weakly, watching the medics adjust her IV. They were clearly ready to roll out once they reached the emergency room, handing her off to the doctors and nurses staffed there.

Sirens wailing, the ambulance made another turn, and then they were suddenly rolling to a stop, arriving at the hospital long before she imagined they could. How they’d gotten there so quickly in Honolulu traffic, Alexa didn’t know. Even with their lights flashing and sirens blaring, cars would still have to pull to the side. She was thankful they’d gotten here so fast. Alexa was in so much pain, she was having trouble breathing through it.

Light filled the back of the ambulance as the doors opened.

“Ma’am, time to exit,” a voice called out.

Callie let go of her hand, disappearing from her side. Alexa heard more voices and commotion, and then they were unlocking the gurney. Someone was calling out her vitals, placing the bag of saline atop her so they could lift her down from the ambulance, and then she was moving.

“Ugh,” she grunted as they set her gurney on the cement. Alexa blinked briefly at the clear blue sky, and then they were rolling her into the hospital, away from the sunshine and gentle breeze. Away from the beach and her friends. Away from Austin.

Sterile walls took up her line of vision, and the strong smell of antiseptic filled her nostrils. Doctors and nurses were rushing past, various machines were beeping, and she closed her eyes as dizziness set in, once again letting the darkness overtake her.