“This is what I want to do. Just sit with you, walk along the street with you. Oh.” She grabs my arm. “You can come and look at the gallery. I’ll show you where my paintings used to hang.”
Her excitement is so palpable, I laugh, putting my arm around her.
“Is that the same hand that you’ve just been licking?”
“Yep.”
She relaxes into my embrace, planting a kiss on my cheek before stealing one of my chips. It’s lucky she’s cute.
When my phone rings, I’m tempted to leave it, and Avon glances over. “Who is it?”
“Wilder.”
He still boards at Tiaki Academy, now on the tertiary side. His room is the only remaining contribution his mother makes to his upkeep. Since it got me out of the house, I’ve also attended some basic university courses. I’m still not sure where my future lies but I wanted to keep connected to him and Maddox.
I click to answer, ready to give an excuse.
But he yells, “You need to come. She’s in hospital.”
For a moment, my brain can’t decipher the frantic speech. Wilder’s voice is twisted with anxiety, shot through with fear. If his name wasn’t on my phone display, I don’t know I’d recognise it.
“Who is?” All I hear is heavy breathing. “Wilder? Who’s in hospital?”
Avon’s eyes widen in alarm, sitting upright as she leans her ear closer to mine.
“Dahlia,” he finally manages, voice strained to breaking point. “She’s been in an accident. You need to hurry.”
He disconnects before I can say another word and I’m already standing, mapping out where the car is, taking Avon’s hand as I give her the scant details.
My heart beats a quickening rhythm as we race outside. The fob is slippery in my hand and I’m paranoid the keys will go flying, costing me time. My fist squeezes them as I get in the driver’s seat, clumsily shoving them into the ignition.
“Hey.” Avon puts her hand on my arm. “Breathe.”
I stop even though adrenaline is pumping, urging me to get going, to put my foot down, to race there as fast as I can.
But I meet her gaze and nod, force myself to slow. I check the reversing camera before pulling into traffic. Obeying the road rules despite the frantic pounding of my heart.
As I drive, she tries to get Wilder on the phone, without luck. Two minutes out from the hospital, Evie calls, panicking. Trying to make sense of the same scant information.
On arrival, I park close, and we run from the car to the lower entrance.
“Dahlia Evans?” I ask at the front desk then spot Wilder pacing in front of the elevators, clearly agitated, and rush to his side. “What happened?”
Distress pours off him. His eyes jump all over the place, barely tracking.
“Her mother kicked me out,” he says, voice thick, croaking, each word an effort. “She’s in A & E and I just wanted… But she told me to go. I was making it worse. She wouldn’t—”
He jams his arm across his mouth, and I spin around, searching for Avon. She’s back at reception, talking with the staff. She gestures to say she’s nearly finished, then hurries over, face creased with worry.
“They won’t give me any details because we’re not family.”
Deep strain shows in every line of her face. She moves past me, wrapping her arms around Wilder, rocking from side to side.
“What did they tell you?” she asks when his agitation forces him to break the hold.
She steps back just as Evie sprints through the double automatic doors, then comes to a halt, staring wildly around the lobby before hustling to join us. “Can we see her?”
“They won’t let me in.” Wilder’s hands clench, tendons straining in his neck. “Her mother…”
