Read Online Rush by Eve Silver - Free Book Online Page A

takes me a second to realize that everything is in slow motion, except Luka and me.
    I have so many questions, and none of them get answers because Luka clearly isn’t willing to offer any and because I never get the chance to ask. The pain in my head grows until it pushes against the backs of my eyes and makes the joints in my jaw ache. My ears pop, and the pain is gone.
    “ Bam . We’re back,” Luka murmurs a millisecond before something changes and the world speeds up. Carly’s no longer in slo-mo. She’s running at me full tilt.
    “Miki! Oh my gawd, Miki! Are you okay?” Carly skids to a stop and drops to a squat by my side. She runs her hands along my legs, then my arms. I glance down, expecting to see the con on my wrist. It’s gone, just like the pain in my head and the pain in my ribs and the blood that should have been all over the ground.
    Kelley and Dee are right behind her. I’m enveloped by my friends, who ask over and over if I’m okay. I tell them I am. I’m lying. I’m so far from okay, it’s laughable.
    I mutter reassurances and glance around for Luka. He’s on his feet, backing away.
    Janice Harper’s standing on the curb, signing back and forth with her little sister. She lifts her head and looks at me. Her eyes are wide, her face pale. She squats down and pulls her sister into a tight hug, her gaze locked on mine. “Thank you.” I can’t hear her over the chatter of my friends, but I see her lips shape the words.
    I did it. I saved her. Chaos under control. My brain pats me on the back, tells me to feel good, job well done. But I can’t quite get there.
    The metallic clang of a door slamming snags my attention. The driver of the truck leans against the hood, phone in hand. He talks, his fingers running repeatedly through his thinning hair, his face furrowed in concern. A moment later, sirens wail in the distance.
    He takes one look at me surrounded by my friends and heads toward Luka. He stops and says something I can’t hear. Luka nods and answers.
    “Miki!” Carly snaps her fingers. “Talk to me. You seem kind of spacey.”
    That’s one way of putting it. “I’m fine. Really.”
    Hands grasp my upper arms, helping me to my feet. I’m surprisingly steady, no dizziness, no pain other than the twinge of my scraped elbows. I hold on to Carly’s hand while Dee rubs my back and Kelley stares at me and presses her palms together and holds her fingers to her lips.
    “Should you be standing? Should you be moving?” Kelley’s hands flutter out to the sides now like butterflies. “I’m a lifeguard. I took first aid. I don’t think you should be moving.”
    “I’m fine,” I say.
    “Maybe Kelley’s right,” Dee says. “Maybe you shouldn’t be moving. You could have a concussion. Or a fractured neck. I saw this show where this guy was tackled during football practice and he thought he was okay and then a couple of days later he died because some bone at the top of his neck was actually broken and he”—her voice trails away as the others turn to stare at her—“died.”
    “I’m fine,” I say again, and glance over at Luka. He’s on the far side of the road, his expression anything but happy, his arms crossed over his chest. I’m confused. We’re alive. We made it. What’s he so pissed about? I take a step toward him. “I just need to—” ask Luka something . I don’t get to finish my sentence because the police pull up, followed by an ambulance.
    “You’re not normal,” Kelley says.
    I wince. Carly glares at her. Dee gasps.
    Cardinal sin—publicly calling me out on one of my issues. I have to bite my tongue to keep from hurling one of Kelley’s own back in her face. I’m not usually quite that vindictive, but at the moment, my defenses are pretty shredded.
    “Don’t do it,” Carly says. “She didn’t mean it that way.” And that’s enough to ground me. I know that if I snarl at Kelley, I’ll just regret it later.
    “I mean, you’re so calm,”