I grip the armrests of my chair, my knuckles going white and palms burning from my hold, praying for another black-out episode Steven warned me about. An unnerving lump forms in the back of my throat, blocking the air I’m trying to breathe.
My chest gets tight, and my breaths are ragged. Just when I’m about to bolt for the door, Devon towers over me, handing me a set of headphones.
“They’re noise-canceling.” He smiles and pats me on the shoulder.
Taking the seat next to me, he helps adjust them on my head. Silence surrounds me instantly. Relief washes over me, and I focus on the movement of Kate’s mouth as she talks. She hands out flight tickets and reads aloud from her phone. She drives the girls mad as they attempt to inch away. Pointing at them, she makes them come back. My lips twitch with a smile at their slumped shoulders and eye rolling. The coffee will be there in a few minutes, ladies.
Mid-discussion, something on Kate’s phone draws her attention away from the conversation. Concern mars her face as she steps away to answer it. The girls use this as their moment to race to the tiny, innocent woman manning the coffee shop register. Gray eyes bulge at the stampede of messy buns and clunky slippers. I’m honestly amazed, and slightly disappointed, that none of them ate it in their scurry over. I can sense the tiny woman’s overwhelm from here.
She’s halfway through pouring the second drink when Kate rushes into my view, gripping me by both shoulders. Fear in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I rip the headphones off my head, and a plethora of sounds hit me at once.
“It’s Lola…”
I’m on my feet in an instant. She lets out a terrified sob into my chest. “Stay here,” I say to Devon before guiding Kate toward the ticket counter. “Excuse me, ma’am?”
The woman behind the counter startles from behind her crossword puzzle. “May I—”
“Do you have any earlier flights to OKC?” I set my wallet on the counter, keeping one arm around Kate’s waist, her back rising and falling rapidly as tears soak her face. I squeeze her tight and pull her into my shoulder, letting the tears soak me instead. “Please?” my voice cracks.
The attendant grasps the severity of the situation and begins to move fast on the other side of the counter. I watch as her fingers type on the keyboard rapidly, eyes scanning the screen in a blur. “Yes, we have two seats that leave in twenty minutes.”
“Perfect, we’ll take them.” Handing her my debit card, I pull Kate’s wallet out of her back pocket and hand the woman her license.
“Can you come with me?” she whispers into my shoulder, throat thick with trepidation.
“You won’t go alone,” I whisper back. Over her head, I wave Devon over, who’s been standing watch, worry etched on his face. She’s practically his lola too. When he sidles up next to me, I motion for him to hand over his ID, and the woman books their flights.
In moments, we are at the new gate with the new flight boarding its last group. Devon rushes ahead, carrying his and Kate’s bags. Kate, still clinging to my side like a life raft, squeezes me against her. “What if she—”
“Shhhh, don’t think like that.” I wipe the tears from her cheeks and hug her into my chest. “Hurry.” I give her a double squeeze on her shoulders and turn her toward the boarding door. The smile she leaves me with is both beautiful and excruciating as I see terror settle on her face. It’s almost too much to bear.
A sea of people rush around me as they head to their own destinations as I watch the attendant close the bay door to the plane. I grip my jaw, feeling a lack of control when a small sob breaks through me. Please let Lola be okay.
The flight home is grueling. Not knowing what’s going on and not being with Kate when she needs me feels a thousand times worse than my concussed headache. I welcome the nausea the turbulence causes, giving me something to focus on.
When we land, my phone pings with a message.
Benny:Mild heart attack, they’re taking her to surgery. Kate is with her.
She can’t have any more visitors until after 3 p.m. :(
Benny knew I would hightail it to the hospital the moment we landed if I could. I text Kate, letting her know we made it back, and I will be there as soon as she needs me.
I take the kids back to the school and wait until they all head home, then I lock up the supplies we brought with us and climb into my truck. The orange glistens in the late-morning sun, freshly washed. No sign of life marks its doors, no dirt or grime on the tires. It’s clean and shiny and nothing like how I left it. I fear for how the inside of my house looks after letting Ellie and Benny have my key tokeep an eye on things.
As expected, when I get home, I find everything out of place—dishes organized by color, couch cushions fluffed, and aWelcomemat at the front door. Why am I friends with these people? Remind me to get my key back immediately.
Five hours go by before I hear anything else about Lola. Enough time for me to pace my land a hundred times, move the chicken coop out of the sun, and weed around my tomato plants. My hands are caked with dirt when my phone rings in my front pocket.
“Lola is going to be fine,” Kate says on the other line, “for now at least. I’m going to kill her when we get home.”
I hear Lola arguing with someone in the background, probably the doctor, as Kate explains what happened. Lola had a minor heart attack during a fitness class—something she is forbidden to do, according to Kate and Benny, because she gets too competitive and hostile. It's clear where Kate gets her feistiness from. I bite back a laugh as Lola begins arguing with Kate.
“Do you ladies need anything?”
“You’re a saint. Food and clothes would be perfect.” Kate’s voice sounds lighter on the other end.
