“Oh, before we hang up, I wanted to tell you that one of the dogs adopted on Saturday is already an influencer!” The light turned green, so I tossed my phone onto the seat next to me and put my foot on the gas. “His person has a really popular restaurant, and he made his new pup a mascot.”
The next thing I heard was the sound of screaming brakes.
24
HARRISON
Susan looked just as frantic as I felt. We each had our cell phone pressed to one ear and the office phone against the other, trying to get more information about what had just happened to Gwen.
My heart had started racing as soon as I’d heard her scream followed by the abrupt end of the call, and it wasn’t likely to slow down any time soon.
I was terrified and unwilling to consider the worst-case scenario.
“She’s not at Huntington or Keck,” Susan said. “Who have you called so far?”
“I’m on hold with Cedars,” I said through gritted teeth. It was taking every bit of my strength to remain civil, and Susan knew it.
She walked as close as the phone cord would allow and stared at me. “It’s going to be okay.”
I nodded and didn’t say anything, because I didn’t believe her.
It all felt too familiar. The hollowed-out sensation of dread as every shred of hope and optimism withered away. What if I was already too late? What if she was…
No. There was no way I’d lost her.
“Who are you holding for?”
The voice on the other end of the call woke me back up. It was the third time asking if she was there. “I’m trying to find out if someone has been admitted with you. She was in a car accident. I think it was an accident, I’m not sure. We were on the phone, and it definitely sounded like an accident. Her name is Gwen?—”
“One moment, please,” the clipped voice said, and it was back to the terrible hold music.
“How hard is it to look up a goddamn name?” I roared to no one.
Susan had seen me lose my temper plenty of times, but she’d never looked at me like this before. I didn’t want to imagine what kind of expression was on my face, but it was enough that she knew better than to try to talk me down in this scenario.
Another call buzzed through on my cell from a number I didn’t recognize. I was about to pick it up when the hospital operator’s voice came through again.
“Cedars-Sinai, how can I help you?”
“Are you fuckingkiddingme?” I shouted. “I’ve been on hold for ten minutes, and you keep coming on and asking me the same?—”
“Hold please.”
It took everything in my power not to chuck my phone against the wall. I was breathing so hard it felt like I’d just finished a sprint.
The unknown number left a voicemail, so I checked it while still on hold with the hospital.
“Harrison, it’s me. I’m okay.”
Gwen. Her voice instantly doused the five-alarm fire raging inside of me. I could finally breathe again.
“I got T-boned at an intersection,” she continued. “My car took the brunt of it, but I got a little banged up. The windshield shattered. I have some cuts. I’m sore all over, so they took me to Cedars to make sure I didn’t have any internal injuries. All the tests came back clear, and they’re ready to release me. Sorry to call you from a random number, but my phone is still in my car.”
I still couldn’t calm my racing heart, even after hearing her say that everything is okay. I had to force myself to stay focused on her message.
“Anyway, they said I can go home in a bit. My sister is still away, so it would be great if you could come pick me up. If not, I guess I’ll call an Uber. Just call me back and let me know either way. Thanks.”
I flinched. How could she possibly think I wouldn’t be there to pick her up?
