CHAPTER TWO
I woke up three days later in the hospital.
The first thing I noticed was the ceiling be like.
White.
Perfectly still.
Nothing like the spinning world I remembered from the crash.
The second thing I noticed was the pain.
It started in my hip and traveled all the way down my left leg.
I tried to move.
A sharp pain stopped me.
“Don’t,” a nurse said gently. “You’ve got fractures.”
I closed my eyes.
The accident came rushing back.
The metal.
The smoke.
Dad’s voice.
Grace is not important.
I opened my eyes again.
“Where’s my father?”
The nurse hesitated.
“Your father has been here.”
“Is he okay?”
“He has some injuries, but he’ll recover.”
“And Olivia?”
“Your sister is fine. Broken wrist, some stitches. She was discharged yesterday.”
Of course she was.
Olivia had always been the one who recovered first.
She was the daughter Dad protected.
I was the daughter who was expected to survive anything.
The nurse adjusted my IV.
“You have visitors.”
“Who?”
“Your aunt.”
Aunt Meredith entered a few seconds later.
She was holding a small paper bag and wearing the same gray coat she’d worn the night of the accident.
When she saw me awake, her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
She leaned down and kissed my forehead.
I stared at her.
“Aunt Meredith?”
“Yes?”
“Why did Dad say that?”
She froze.
“Say what?”
I knew immediately.
She hadn’t heard.
“He told the paramedics to save Olivia first.”
Her face changed.
“What?”
“He said I wasn’t important.”
Aunt Meredith sat down.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered:
“Grace, your father didn’t know you could hear him.”
“I know.”
“And he was terrified.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“He wasn’t terrified.”
I looked directly at her.
“He was angry.”
“Angry?”
“Because he found out I was leaving.”
Aunt Meredith’s face went pale.
“You told them?”
“No.”
“Then how did he know?”
I swallowed.
“That’s what I want to know.”
Aunt Meredith looked toward the door.
Then she lowered her voice.
“What exactly was in that envelope?”
I stared at her.
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Enough for me to leave.”
“Where?”
“Boston.”
She closed her eyes.
I watched her carefully.
“Aunt Meredith?”
She didn’t answer.
“Did you know?”
She finally looked at me.
“Yes.”
My heart sank.
“You knew I was leaving?”
“I knew you were thinking about it.”
“Who else knew?”
She hesitated.
Then she said something that made my stomach turn.
“Olivia.”
