Push me away

Elias’s POV

Adrian would not wake up.

I shook his shoulder harder than I should have. “Adrian. Hey. Open your eyes.”

Nothing.

“Adrian, come on. Look at me.” My voice cracked. I pressed two fingers to his neck and felt a pulse, but his head stayed limp against the pavement. “Don’t do this. Wake up.”

My hands shook so badly I almost dropped the phone. I dialed and spoke the second the operator answered.

“I need an ambulance. Someone’s unconscious. A car nearly hit us. He’s not responding.”

“Sir, can you confirm the location?”

I gave the street name twice, speaking too fast. “Please hurry. He’s bleeding a little from the head. He’s breathing but he won’t wake up. I can’t get him to open his eyes.”

“Stay on the line. Help is on the way. Is the area safe?”

“Yes. Just get someone here.”

I kept one hand on Adrian’s chest. “Adrian, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand or something. Anything. Come on.”

Still nothing. The wait felt endless. Every second without a response made the fear climb higher. When the ambulance finally arrived, paramedics moved me back with practiced speed.

“What happened?” one of them asked.

“A car came straight at us. He pushed me out of the way and then he just collapsed. He hit the ground hard.”

“Any other injuries you know of?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t woken up since.”

“Relationship to the patient?”

“Friend. We go to school together. I’m coming with him.”

They lifted him onto the stretcher. I climbed into the ambulance after them without waiting for permission. No one stopped me.

At the hospital they took Adrian through double doors and pointed me toward a waiting area. I sat under the harsh fluorescent lights and stared at the floor, replaying the sound of the engine and the moment his body went slack in my hands. My scraped palms stung. I barely noticed.

A police officer found me after about twenty minutes.

“You’re the one who was with the victim?”

“Yes.”

“We found the driver a few blocks away. He was drunk. He’s already under arrest. We’ll need a full statement from you later.”

“Is Adrian going to be okay?”

“That’s for the doctors to say. You did the right thing calling it in.”

I nodded and sat back down. The clock on the wall moved too slowly. My phone battery was almost dead. I had no one else to call. I kept seeing the moment the headlights hit us and the way Adrian had shoved me without hesitation.

When the automatic doors at the end of the corridor opened and a well-dressed couple walked in, I knew who they were before they spoke. Adrian’s parents. His father’s expression was tight with control. His mother’s face was pale but composed. They went straight to the nurse’s station. A moment later the nurse pointed in my direction.

Adrian’s father walked over first. His eyes moved over my ripped jeans, the bar logo still visible on my shirt, the scrapes on my hands.

“You’re the one who was with him?”

“Yes.”

“And you are?”

“Elias. We go to the same university. We race together.”

His mouth tightened slightly at the word race. “I see. Thank you for calling the ambulance. We’ll take it from here.”

His mother gave me a thin smile that did not reach her eyes. “Yes. Thank you. I’m sure you’ve done enough. We’ll handle everything now.”

The dismissal was polite and complete. Neither of them asked if I was hurt. Neither offered a chair. They simply turned back toward the nurse as if I had already left the hallway. I stayed anyway.

Another forty minutes passed before a doctor came out and said Adrian was awake and stable. His parents went in first. I waited until they stepped out to make phone calls before I walked to the door of his room and pushed it open.

Adrian was sitting up against the pillows. A bandage covered the cut on his forehead. His eyes found me immediately.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

The coldness in his voice stopped me just inside the door. “I came with you in the ambulance.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“You were unconscious. What was I supposed to do? Leave you in the street?”

“And now I’m not. My parents are here. You should go.”

Something in my chest pulled tight. “That’s all you have to say to me?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Maybe thank you for not leaving you there. Maybe anything other than telling me to get out.”

“Thanks. You did your part. Leave.”

I stared at him. “You’re an asshole.”

“I know.”

“I sat out there for hours, Adrian. I didn’t know if you were okay. I kept seeing you on the ground and I couldn’t do anything.”

“Well, now you know I’m fine. You can go.”

“That’s it? You’re just going to shut me out like I wasn’t there?”

“I’m tired. I don’t feel like talking.”

“Then don’t talk. But don’t act like I did something wrong by staying.”

He looked at me for a long second. “Why did you stay?”

“Because I was scared.” The words came out before I could stop them. “Because you wouldn’t wake up and I thought…”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t make this into something it’s not.”

Heat burned behind my eyes. I turned toward the door. My hand was already on the handle when his voice stopped me again, quieter this time.

“Elias.”

I looked back. “What?”

Adrian’s expression had changed. The cold edge was still there, but underneath it something darker and more intentional had settled in his eyes. He shifted against the pillows and let his gaze drop slowly down my body before climbing back to my face.

“Come here.”

“You just told me to leave.”

“I changed my mind.” His voice dropped lower. “Close the door first.”

My pulse kicked hard against my ribs. “Adrian…”

“You heard me.” He tilted his head slightly, the beginning of a dangerous smile pulling at his mouth. “Close the door and come here.”