Just like that shedismissesme. For a moment I just stand there in front of the desk, unwilling to move. How dare she?
Two big hands grasp my upper arms and steer me out of the way. “Come on, Wesley. We gotta regroup.” Blake turns me around and parks me against a wall. His paws land on my shoulders. “Where is Jamie’s family? You have to call them.”
Fuck, I do. I yank my phone out of my pocket.
But Blake yanks it out of my hand. “Don’t terrify them, okay? Just because you’re freaked doesn’t mean they have to be.”
“Right. Fine.” He gives me the phone back and I pull up the Canning section of my contacts list, and it’s not short. But choosing the number for Jamie’s mom’s pottery studio is an easy decision.Be calm, I order myself while I listen to it ring.No panic.
“Canning Ceramics, this is Cindy.”
In spite of my desire to be calm and collected, the warm strength of her voice flips a switch inside me that I didn’t know was there. “Mom?” I croak. Okay—I’ve never called her that. Not once. Don’t know why I did it now.
“Ryan, sweetie, what’s the matter?”
I close my eyes and try to pull myself together. “We have a bit of a situation,” I say carefully. But I can’t possibly fool her, because my voice shakes. “Jamie’s been admitted to the hospital with flu symptoms. Last night he had a headache, and today he passed out at work. That’s what I know so far.”
“Okay, Ryan, take a breath.” Why do people keep sayingthat? I do it, though, because Cindy told me to. “And now say, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ Say it three times in a row.”
“But…”
“I have six children, Ryan. This is an important step for keeping your sanity. Say it. Right now. Let me hear you.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I wheeze.
“Two more.”
“It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.”
“Good boy. Now tell me where you are.”
I give her a rundown of what the nurse behind the desk told me.
“So you need my permission to see Jamie. How do I reach the right person to provide that?”
“Uh…”Shit.
Someone sticks a piece of paper in my face. It’s Blake, and he’s offered me a card reading Patient Registrar and Permissions, with a phone number.
“Thank you,” I mouth into his face. Then I give Cindy the number.
“Okay, honey,” she says. “I’ll call them immediately. After you get in to see him, you’ll call me, okay? Use my cell phone because I have to go pick up my grandson. Tammy is having her C-section tomorrow.”
“Oh, wow. Okay. I will. I promise.”
“I know, honey. Hang in there. I love you both so much.”
There’s a giant lump in my throat now. “Love you, too. Bye.”
We end our call, and the hospital waiting room comes into focus. It’s loud and full of people, some of whom are staring at Blake and me. One teenage girl nudges her friend and points at us.
If anyone asks me for an autograph right now I’ll probably explode.
Blake moves his big body, positioning himself to get in between the waiting room and me. “Let’s give it ten minutes,” he says. “J-Bomb’s mom needs to get through to whoever, and then maybe your name will show up on the record. Nurse Nazi over there will have to let you in.”
“Right,” I say. My head is still spinning. Jamie can’t have any kind of weird flu. Where would he have gotten it? On the other hand, then why is he so sick? In my panic, it feels like a problem I ought to be able to solve. I’ve never felt so helpless in my whole life.
“He’s gonna be okay,” Blake says, reading my mind. “Healthy guy like that? In a couple of days you’ll be laughing about this.”
