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Back Verona Comics Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  52. CHAPTER FIFTY
  53. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  54. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  55. RESOURCES
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  58. What’s next onyour reading list?

IT’S LIKE SLOW motion when the other car hits us, barreling in with its blinding headlights. There’s no time to react. There’s no time to do anything. There’s no time at all.

Somewhere in the background Peak screams, or I do, and our car spins, and I think, I always thought dying would be my choice.

•  •  •

“Ridley!”

“Ridley, please, open your eyes.”

“Yes, he’s breathing. Okay. I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Ridley.”

I crack open my eyes, but it’s hard. I’m tired, and something is making them burn. I reach up to wipe it away, and Peak grabs my hand and pushes it down.

“Ridley! Help is coming. Just stay still, okay?”

Help. Yes, Peak said we needed that. I’m glad. I turn my head a little bit, and everything hurts. Everything really hurts, but I need to see her. I need to know she’s okay. She’s clutching her shoulder with her left arm, her right arm gone totally limp. That’s not good, I think, my eyelids drifting shut.

“Ridley, hold on.”

Hold on to what? I wonder. But when I open my mouth to ask, nothing comes out.

“Shh, baby, shhh. You’re okay. You’re okay. They’ll be here in a minute. They’ll—”

She’s still talking, probably. I think I can hear her voice somewhere in the distance, somewhere far away, somewhere I’m dreaming of, like if I listen hard enough, I can almost chase it back. I can almost get there. But I’m so tired.

She’s crying now. I can hear that much, and I want to open my eyes. I want to tell her that everything is fine, probably. If only I could make everything less red.

We were going home. It was going to be okay. She promised.

I’m so tired.

I should sleep.

I should sleep now.

“Ridley, open your eyes.”

“Ridley!”

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Jubilee

I’M STILL SOBBING when my parents burst in, pulling back the curtain as I’m trying not to hyperventilate while the doctor tells me that my shoulder’s dislocated and I’ll need surgery to fix the bones in my wrist. I don’t even care, though—they can cut it off if they want—because Ridley wouldn’t wake up and nobody will tell me what’s going on.

A nurse told me he was okay when we first got here, but I’ve seen enough television to know that might not be the truth. They won’t let me out of this bed, and the doctor is just droning on about how they need to stabilize the injury and I need to calm down, and I just want to scream at her to shut up, because WHAT DOES IT EVEN MATTER ANYMORE?