We flew through the darkness; making every red light a blurry afterthought. I wrapped my arms around my chest, finding it hard to breathe.

Jared rested his hand on my forearm. “Are you hanging in there?”

“I’m just worried about Ryan,” I whispered, peeking back momentarily at my friend. Jared’s hand gripped tighter.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Nina. Ryan’s going to pull through.”

“You shouldn’t have…you could have been killed, Jared.”

Jared raised an eyebrow, looking at me as if I were overreacting.

“It was necessary.” His hand left my arm and gripped the steering wheel. “They’re lucky I spared them their lives after he—,” he paused, seeing my expression. “You don’t need to worry…I won’t let anyone hurt you. Least of all me.”

When the scowl didn’t leave my face, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong with me, Jared. You’re bleeding, Ryan is…,” I turned around, “Ryan? Can you hear me?” I touched his battered face gently with my finger tips.

I could see Jared in my peripheral vision, his entire body tensed as if I was touching a live grenade.

“We need to get to the hospital!” Kim begged, holding her fingers to his wrist.

“Hang on, Ryan. We’re almost there,” I said, wincing when he did.

I had to turn back around to wipe my tears; I didn’t want him to see me cry. Jared tucked my hair behind my ear, and with his warm thumb wiped the moisture away. I didn’t notice that I was turning my ring mindlessly around my finger until Jared gently squeezed my hand.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

Ryan was whisked away to surgery and Kim, Jared and I were directed to the ICU waiting room. Jared sat beside me, brushing my bangs back from my eyes.

Kim sat on the adjacent couch, her knees shaking up and down. She bit her nails, staring straight ahead. “I called Beth half an hour ago! When are they going to get here?”

I couldn’t look at her; Ryan’s blood was smeared on her shirt and jacket.

Beth, Josh and Chad filed into the waiting room, wide-eyed and breathless. Beth crashed into me, hugging me until I thought my ribs would break.

“Oh my God, Nina!! Are you okay? Is Kim okay?”

“We’re okay,” I whispered.

Beth put her hands to her mouth when she noticed the blood on Kim’s clothing and shook her head. “Ryan?”

“He’s still in surgery,” Kim said. “He has some broken ribs, and they think the knife may have punctured his spleen. They’ll remove it if they can’t get the bleeding stopped.”

My eyes welled up with tears.

“Whoa,” Josh sighed, rubbing his forehead in disbelief.