My hand paused halfway on my reach for the keys. “What?”
“I overheard what you said to Blanc. You’re in no state to drive. We’ll take your car to the hospital, and I’ll find a ride back.”
I didn’t have time to debate this with him—and I didn’t want to. We were out the door and in my car seconds later.
He switched on the ignition and, thankfully, heededAugust’s mother’s warning to drive carefully. Hudson was overly cautious on our drive to the hospital. He dropped me off out front and said, “I’ll find a spot in the garage, let’s say third floor, north side, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you. Really.”
He nodded and drove away as soon as the passenger door was closed. I sped into the main building, sprinting through the pristine white hallways, my heels clicking loudly beneath me.
The receptionist directed me, and I soon found myself in an elevator surrounded by people in scrubs and white coats. I’d driven past this hospital a thousand times, but I had never been inside. There was never a reason. Not until then.
Once the elevator let me out onto a quiet floor with light-blue walls and white linoleum flooring, I rushed down the hallway until I found her room. August’s mother was sitting at her side, head bent downward in prayer.
I nearly dropped to my knees at the sight. August was hooked up to machines with wires and IVs and tubes. Her eyes were closed, unconscious, her dark hair fanned across the light-blue pillow. Her face was bruised, purple and swollen. Her right arm was broken and in a white cast. She didn’t look peaceful. She looked like she was in pain. Tears that I hadn’t even considered letting fall until now welled in my eyes.
August’s mom got up to hug me when she saw me. She ushered me into her seat and pulled up another chair to sit on August’s other side. I took August’s hand, carefully so as to not upset anything she was hooked up to.
“Hi,” I whispered.
She didn’t respond. She couldn’t.
Please be okay, I thought as I used a shaky hand to brush the hair from her forehead.
I sat with her for the rest of the afternoon, until my bladder forced me to take a break. As I was walking back, I heard screaming.
I rushed back to find August’s mother forced out of the room, shuddering sobs overtaking her body. I stationed myself at her side and took her hand. From the doorway, we watched as the doctors tried to revive her.
And we watched as they called her time of death.
5:17 p.m.
eleven
. . .
Present Day
Turns out,Icancry in here. I wipe away the tears streaming down my face, the presence of them almost comforting. These tears have been with me so often since August left.
I suppose Kit saw all of that. That’s fine. At least now, I won’t have to explain who August is.
Who Augustwas.
I curl into a tight ball under the covers, wishing my mind wouldstop, just for a bit. To my surprise, Kit leaves me be. I don’t know what he’s getting up to, and I don’t want to know. Probably something weird or gross, like sniffing my underwear. I haven’t heard him talking to anyone, so that minimizes the nefarious actions by a percentage at least.
Time doesn’t exist in the same way here, so I’m not sure how long I lie in my imaginary bed. I wonder if I can conjure up a book to read in an attempt to pass this endless amount of time on my hands. My eyes squeeze shut as I picture my favoritebooks. When they reopen, a whole stack is there before me on the bed. I excitedly squeal and snatch the one on top. I open it and…it’s blank. I try the next, and it’s also blank. Right. Of course, they are. I guess I’d have to have memorized an entire book in order to actually have it appear in full here.
I toss the book I’m holding aside with a sigh. With nothing else to do but slowly pluck my hairs out one by one, which I will not be doing, I climb out of my bed and wander back to my window. Kit is watchingFriendsagain.
“This is a good one,” I say as a way of introduction.
He flinches like I surprised him. “Lacy. Hey.”
“Hi,” I say. I slide into my chair and rest my chin on top of my arms on the window ledge.
Kit pulls out my phone and opens it. “You got a few texts from someone named Matthias. Is that your boyfriend or something?”
