“What about it?”
“He had an episode,” she says.
“What kind of episode? A heart attack? Mom, use your words.”
“A heart attack.”
“Who said that? The doctors? Did they confirm that? Let me talk to him.”
“Lauren!” She screams it through the phone.
I go silent. I hear her breathing on the other end of the line.
“Honey,” she says. She so rarely calls me that. I can’t even remember the last time. “I think you need to come home now.”
I call Leo and it goes straight to voicemail. I go online and book a flight for this afternoon; I’ll be home in time for dinner in LA. Cedars is forty-five minutes from LAX. I start throwing things into a carry-on—toothbrush, T-shirt, a pack of hair ties.
I text my mom my flight information. She likes it. Thumbs-up.
I need to go back to LA. Dad is in the hospital. I don’t know details. I’ll call you when I land. I love you.
The plane ride seems both short and endless. Two hours becomes six, but then we are landing in Los Angeles. My cell phone bars come and go, come and go, as we make our descent.
There are no new messages from Mom, and then—
Text me when you land.
I do immediately—resentful, still, of her tone. Of her withholding. Just fucking tell me.And, yikes:Why is everything such a big fucking deal?
We’re on the cardio floor. Ask for Dr. Berk,comes the reply.
I text Leo: Landed. Call when you can.
I’m walking out to meet the Uber when my phone rings. It’s him. “Babe, tell me. What’s going on?”
“I landed. Going straight to the hospital.”
“Did you talk to them? I called; she didn’t answer.”
“No, not yet. She keeps being very cagey. You know my mom.”
Leo makes a noncommittal noise.
“She’s scared,” he says.
His words hit me. He’s defending her. Or, no, he’s trying to prepare me.
“Yeah, well.”
“You’ll call me from the hospital?”
“Of course.”
Leo is quiet for a moment. “Hang in there. I’ll be out as soon as I can.”
He hangs up before I can protest, before I can tell him that there’s no need. This is just a speed bump. Dad will befine.I’ll come back to New York; we’ll pick up this summer of freedom right where we left it off.
My Uber and I manage to choose each other correctly, and then we are speeding out of Terminal 7 in search of the freeway. My phone rings again. I think it’s Leo, calling to tell me he’s going to get the next flight, or my mom saying she’s overreacted, the doctor just came in and actually everything is looking just fine.…
