“I totally get that.”
“We have patient-nurse confidentiality, right?”
She smiled. “You’re not my patient, but if you don’t want me to tell anyone, I won’t.”
I nodded.
“What do you need?”
“I have no idea.” I shook my head. “Oh my god, what if Flash is...”
“He’s fine,” Lily pressed. “Don’t go there.”
“I need my mom.”
“Call her,” Lily said.
“Right. I’ll get your stuff.”
“I’m not leaving you, honey. You can get my stuff, but I’m staying right here.”
I nodded, shuffling back to the kitchen where I grabbed my phone and called my mom.
“Hey, Tate.”
“Mama?”
“Oh my god, what happened?”
“Flash is missing.”
“I’ll be there in ten seconds,” she said and hung up.
Mom and Hayden walked through the door ten minutes before Maisie, and my two moms wrapped me in their loving arms as Lily put the call out to the girl squad. By seven, my house was filled with all of the Wallace men, Poppy, several of the club women, along with their male counterparts, and all of the club officers, including Mack.
I curled up on the corner of my sofa, overlooking the water, a cup of hot tea in my hands at all times. The only time I moved was to get up to pee. Every physical need was seen to by someone other than me. No one made me do anything. Mom and Maisie prepared food for anyone who wanted it, Hayden sat close enough to me so that no one would crowd me, but far enough from me so I wouldn’t feel claustrophobic, and everyone just let me be... me.
Every time Maisie’s phone would ring, I’d crane my neck, hoping for some kind of good news. She’d meet my eyes and shake her head and I’d be right back where I began, my heart shattered and my stomach roiling.
The sun had long set when my mom walked over to me and held her hand out. “Honey, you need to rest.”
I shook my head. “I need to know Flash is okay.”
She waved her hand in the “mama wave” and I sighed, taking it, and letting her pull me up. She slid her arm around my waist and guided me down the hall to my bedroom.
Once inside, she closed the door and faced me, settling her hands on my shoulders, studying me.
“What?” I rasped.
“Baby, are you pregnant?”
I gasped. “How the hell did you know that?”
She cupped my face. “You have been vomiting all day. You never vomit. You have always said you’d rather have your eyeballs plucked out by crows than puke.”
“I’m stressed. In case you haven’t noticed, my fiancé is missing.”
“Your boobs are huge.”
