“Excuse me?”
“I called.” There’s a harsh bite to his tone that has me pulling out my cell only to see several missed calls from an unsaved number, but the cell is in silent mode like it is every day.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I frown. “Is everything okay?”
“No, we need to go.”
“Is there a problem here?” Oscar asks, his demeanor changing from casual to on duty.
Silas curls his lip toward him. “Who the fuck are you?”
They stare at each other for a long, tense moment, Silas glowering, a storm cloud over his head, while Oscar debates on what to do next.
“He’s my brother-in-law,” I rush out before someone does something reckless and focus back on Silas.
Ashley touches my hand. “What happened?”
“Roman’s in the hospital. We need to go.”
My heart drops into my stomach, and a chill rushes through me. I stare at Silas, willing those words to change, that maybe I just didn’t hear him right. Worry and anxiety churn into a nauseating mess in my stomach, and I press a hand to it, trying to ease myself though it doesn’t work.
“What?” My voice comes out weak, barely above a whisper.
“Go,” Ashley rushes out, her deep brown eyes wide as she urges me to leave.
But I’m frozen, panicked. “I can’t — I can’t just —”
“I’ve got it, and I’ll look after Pumpkin. Go.”
I nod, but I’m still not moving, my eyes on Silas, but it’s like I don’t really see him.
“Miss Calloway?” The voice crackles over the phone.
“That’s me,” I tuck the phone between my ear and shoulder as I continue to unload the delivery and stack it on the shelves.
“My name is Doctor Hall. I’m afraid we need you to come to the hospital.”
The glass bottle I’m holding slips out of my fingers, smashing onto the floor as the liquid inside soaks the bottoms of my jeans. I know. I already know.
My name is called once, twice, the sound crackling against my ear, but I can’t move. Can’t speak. Can’tbreathe.
No, not yet.
Not yet.
“Dad?” My voice is but a breath, a squeak that rattles out of me.
“Yes.” It’s the only confirmation I need. My phone drops to the floor, and my throat closes up around a sob.
“Niamh?” Ashley grasps my arms, shaking me a little. I didn’t even hear her come out of the back room, but here she is, dark eyes wide as she tries to bring me out of the shock.
“He’s dead.” They didn’t need to say the words for me to know it to be true.
Ashley gasps but catches me as my knees go weak, stopping me from landing in the glass.
“We need to go,” She says as softly as she can. “Okay?”
I think I nod or maybe I do nothing at all. I hate hospitals. Watching my dad grow weaker and weaker has left me with nightmares. He’s withered away in that room with the too bright lights and the scratchy sheets, but they said he had at least another month. They lied. They lied, and now I’ve missed my chance to say goodbye to him. I knew I shouldn’t have left this morning, but I’d got the call about the delivery while in the room with my dad, and he’d insisted that I sort it. That life doesn’t just stop, and obligations must be met. I’d left with the promise of seeing him later. Now there is no later.
