The weather was perfect on the day of my discharge.

I finished the paperwork myself and drove toward the Cole estate.

Just as my car reached the tree-lined driveway at the entrance of the gated community, a figure suddenly lunged from the bushes, throwing themselves directly into my path.

Thud.

I slammed on the brakes, swerving hard, but it was too late. The car struck them.

The figure crumpled to the ground.

It was Alexandria Rodriguez.

My heart skipped a beat. I unbuckled my seatbelt and scrambled out of the car to check on her.

Alexandria lay motionless, a gash on her forehead oozing blood. She was deathly pale and her eyes were closed, though her chest still rose and fell with shallow, ragged breaths.

I dialed 911 immediately.

The ambulance and police arrived in a blur of sirens.

As the driver involved, I was tethered to the investigation. I followed the ambulance to the hospital and hovered outside the surgical wing like a ghost.

It didn't take long for Callahan Meyer and my parents to rush in.

Panic was etched into their faces. They didn't even spare a glance at me standing to the side; they marched straight to the doors and intercepted the nurse exiting the room. "How is my daughter? Is she alright?"

The nurse looked rattled. "She's still in surgery. You’ll have to wait for the doctor."

Callahan paced the length of the hallway, raking a hand through his hair, while my parents leaned on each other, their eyes rimmed with red.

From start to finish, not a single person asked me: "Are you hurt? Were you shaken up?"

I stood silently in the shadows of the hallway, watching them fret over Alexandria, and the frozen wasteland of my heart didn't even crack.

Finally, the lights above the operating room flickered off.

As the surgeon stepped out, Callahan and my parents swarmed him.

"Doctor, how is she?"

The doctor pulled off his mask and let out a long breath. "The surgery was a success. She’s out of danger and will wake up once the anesthesia wears off. We’ve stitched the wound on her forehead; just make sure to keep it clean and let her rest."

Just as the three of them began to breathe a sigh of relief, the doctor added, "However... while performing a full exam, we noticed a number of bruises and contusions of varying ages on her body. They don't appear to be from the car accident. They look like they were caused by blunt force trauma. You should probably look into that."

The expressions of Callahan and my parents darkened instantly.

Seeing that Alexandria was out of the woods, I turned to leave.

"Maya Cole!"

Callahan finally noticed me. He strode over and gripped my wrist, his fingers digging in painfully, his jaw set in a hard, dangerous line. "You hit Alexandria and you’re just going to walk away without a single word of explanation?"

I stopped, opening my mouth to speak, but a weak voice called out from the hospital room: "Callahan... Dad... Mom..."

The three of them abandoned me instantly, rushing into the room.

I stood by the door, watching through the glass. Alexandria, her head wrapped in bandages, lay pale and tearful, surrounded by my parents and Callahan, who were whispering words of comfort.

Inside the room, I heard my parents’ concerned voices: "Alexandria, what happened? These injuries..."

Alexandria glanced timidly at me by the door, pretending to hesitate, then whispered, "It’s... it’s nothing. I was just being careless..."

"Alexandria, tell us the truth!" Callahan stepped closer to the bed, his voice tight with controlled anger. "Where did those bruises come from?"

Prodded, Alexandria began to sob harder. Choking back tears, she finally broke under the pressure. "It’s... it’s Maya! You guys took me to the Maldives to clear my head, and when Maya saw my Instagram post, she got so angry. She kept texting me, saying such... such horrible things. When I got back, I wanted to explain, but I never expected her to hire a group of people to corner me in an alleyway and beat me up..."

She sobbed until she was almost hyperventilating. "I knew she was getting out of the hospital today, so I wanted to go home and talk to her. I wanted to tell her I never meant to take anything from her... I just got to the gate when I heard the car, and I knew it was her, so I ran out to welcome her... I didn't think... I didn't think that when she saw me, she would just... she would just drive straight into me..."

By the end, she had collapsed into hysterical sobbing.