Fate Book Read Online Free Page B

up with my eyes, it was too late.
    I screamed, but it wasn’t because a large blue pickup barreled down on me; it was because of whom I saw standing next to my best friend.
    Smack!
    “Dakota? Dakota? Ohmygod. Are you okay?” Mandy’s face was a pale blur against the backdrop of the gray rain clouds overhead. I felt the wind dust my face, chilling the drizzle collecting on my cheeks. “Don’t move. Okay? The ambulance will be here in a minute.”
    Luckily, the hospital was exactly one block from school; however, a paramedic wasn’t what I needed. A psychiatrist was more like it.
    Although I couldn’t make out the face clearly, the image hovering directly to my right looked eerily familiar.
    “Santiago?” I mumbled.
    I will never, ever forget the sound of his voice. Deep, strong, one hundred percent male.
    Mesmerizing.
    Something embedded in its timbre called out to millions of years of female evolution. It penetrated so deeply that even in my state of utter delirium, I could’ve sworn he’d latched onto my soul and wrapped it around his pinky.
    “Dakota,” he responded, with a thick Spanish accent, “don’t move. Everything will be all right.”
    That was the last thing I remember before I blacked out.
     

CHAPTER SIX
    “Honey, can you hear me? Dakota? Open your eyes, baby.” A warm hand ran down the length of my arm.
    My vision focused slowly, but my mother’s calm face punched through the haze. Was this what people witnessed when they came into the ER, or even died? My mother’s loving expression, reassuring them that they would be all right?
    “What happened?” I whispered.
    “You were in an accident, but everything’s fine—just a concussion. How do you feel?”
    I made a pathetic little nod and tried to focus my eyes on the objects around the room: a small television mounted to the wall behind my mother and a peach-colored table and chair in the corner next to the empty bed at my side. “My head hurts, but fine.”
    “Good!” She pinched my arm so hard that I yelped. Bolts of fury exploded from her eyes. “What the hell were you thinking ?” She pinched me again.
    “Ow!” I sincerely hoped this wasn’t her usual bedside manner. Not only did it totally suck, but in no way did it inspire me to stay alive. Although, maybe I did want to get away, so that was something.
    I slowly sat up and then rubbed my head. Owww… “It was an accident. You just said so.”
    My mother covered her face. “I knew this would happen. Damn it. He promised.”
    “What? Who promised what?” I groaned, massaging my temples.
    She shook her head from side to side and whisked away the tears from under her eyes. “Nothing. I just wish your father were here. I’m mad. That’s all. Never mind.” She pasted on a plastic smile.
    Okay. That response seemed slightly… off . “Mom. I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”
    Once again, her eyes filled with an undercurrent of anger. “Well I do. And it won’t ever happen again.”
    “I’m not planning on letting it.” My brain completely hurt, and my body was in no better shape.
    Just then, Mandy burst into the room. “Jesus Christ Superstar, Dakota. Are you okay?”
    I tried not to laugh because (a) it was inappropriate and (b) it would hurt. But it was near impossible to ignore one of Mandy’s trademark expressions. She had serious flair for all things Broadway. New York really did seem like the best place for her to go to school.
    My mother stood and smoothed down the front of her blue scrubs, too distracted to notice that Mandy had entered the room. “I’ll be back to check on you in an hour.”
    “Okay.” As soon as she left, I stopped hiding my panic. I looked at Mandy. “What the hell happened? And why is my mom acting so weird?”
    Mandy rolled her eyes and plunked down on the edge of the bed. “You were hit by a car. What did you expect? A polka dance?”
    I survived, didn’t I? “No, but—”
    And then that’s when I