Chapter 18
Riot
“Look, Mr. Riot!”I smiled down at one of my preschoolers, Hailey, as she proudly showed me the bowl she had made last class and was now painting hot pink and purple.
“I love it. The colors are so pretty.”
She beamed. “I’m gonna add sparkles too!”
“That’s exactly what it needs. Make sure it’s extra sparkly.”
“I will!”
My phone started to buzz in my pocket. “Why don’t you take that back to the table, Hailey. I have to answer this call real quick.”
“Okay!”
She ran back, and I dug my cell out, trying to keep my heart from racing out of my chest. A burst of nerves had become a Pavlovian response every time my phone had rung the last few days, since every call had brought another boulder down on top of me.
“Hello?”
“Mr. St. James, this is Jackie, one of Cara’s nurses from St. John’s General.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed that I could manage to stay on my feet and not collapse in front of all my students and their parents.
“I-is everything okay?” The hospital would only be calling me in the middle of the day for two reasons. Either Cara had woken up or she never would.
“Yes, Cara’s awake.”
My breath caught and I stumbled back. Thankfully, there was something behind me. A table? Counter? I didn’t fucking know, but it had kept me from falling on my ass and making a fool of myself.
“S-she’s awake?”
“Yes. And she’s responsive and asking about you.”
Oh fuck. Oh god. Cara was awake. She was going to be okay.
Tears started to fall down my face. I could feel eyes on me, so I turned around, my back to the class. I probably should’ve left the room, but I just . . . I wasn’t thinking, I guessed.
“I-I’ll be there as soon as I can. Can you tell her, please? That I’m on my way?”
“Of course. We’ll see you soon, Mr. St. James.”
The nurse hung up. It was hard to see the screen of my phone with how blurry my eyes were, but I somehow managed to pull up my text thread with Koa.
He would be at school and probably wouldn’t see it till his lunch break, but he had to know.
Hubby: Cara’s awake. I’m gonna, idk, I guess cancel my classes for the rest of the day. Going there now.
I looked down at the word hubby. Koa had been in my phone like that for years, almost like a joke, but it felt different now. We were the same people we’d always been. Acted the same way wehad for most of our adult lives. And yet . . . I was finally starting to see that “best friend” wasn’t the right term to describe us. It never had been. We’d always been more than that. I still didn’t know the correct word, the proper way to define my feelings, and maybe I never would, but I was looking at Koa with fresh eyes, seeing him in a way I never had before.
“Is everything okay?” one of the moms came up to me to ask, concern lacing her features.
I shoved my cell in my pocket and smiled at her. I had to look a wreck. “Yeah, um, actually really good. That was the hospital. Cara woke up.”
“Oh my god. Honey, that’s amazing. We were all so worried. C’mon, let’s get this place cleaned up and these kids out of here so you can go.”
“Thank you,” I said sincerely.
