“Thank you.”
They hurried from the restaurant. Fortunately, she hadn’t used valet parking, so it didn’t take long to reach her car. Rae went over the silly things that had happened during their odd double date, hoping it would be enough to distract him. It must have worked, at least partially, because Dylan would give a soft chuckle every once in a while.
She found a parking spot near the Emergency entrance, and they hurried inside.
“Nora Rademaker is in the psychiatric ward,” the attendant said when Dylan asked about his sister.
Someone coughed, and the woman ducked her head. Dylan had turned at the sound and faced an older woman.
“I’m Dylan Rademaker, Nora’s brother.” His clasp on Rae’s hand tightened.
“Is this your wife?”
He shook his head.
“I’m Dr. Mackin. I’m glad someone from your family has come.” The hint of accusation made Dylan flinch.
“He came as soon as he got word,” Rae said in his defense. “Don’t blame him for his father.”
“I need to have a word with you, sir,” the doctor said.
“I’ll wait over there.” Rae turned to face Dylan. “Pay close attention to what she says so you’ll know what we can do to help. I’ll be right out here.”
He nodded and pulled her in for a quick hug before following the doctor.
It turned out to be a long wait. Rae stared at the TV but couldn’t concentrate enough to take in any details of the movie. What was the doctor telling Dylan that would take so long? Or had he been allowed to visit his sister? How was he holding up?
Rae glanced at her phone. Midnight. It was a good thing Amelia had offered to keep the children overnight.
A door opened, and a haggard-looking Dylan stepped through. Rae jumped to her feet and rushed to take his hand.
“Is she all right?”
“She’s alive, if that’s what you mean.” Dylan pulled her into his arms again, his body shuddering.
He must have managed to keep it together until now, so Rae held him. She’d never met his sister, but the woman’s absence had been an ever-present “elephant in the room” for him and Jayden. When the two had first moved next door to Rae, the little boy had talked about his mother a lot. Whatever other problems she was dealing with, she’d managed to leave him with good memories.
“Thank you.” Dylan released her and wiped his eyes. “Can we get a coffee? I have to talk about this.”
“Whatever you need.” Rae took his hand, and they headed out to her car.
He didn’t say anything until they’d been seated in the all-night diner and ordered their drinks.
“When that woman said Nora was in the psych ward, I assumed she’d attempted suicide.” Dylan stared past Rae, out the window.
“I wondered that too.” She leaned back so the server could put a mug of hot chocolate on the table and then topped Dylan’s cup of coffee. “Nora didn’t?”
“The doctor didn’t think it was aconsciousattempt.” He met Rae’s gaze, the shadows under his eyes even more pronounced.
“Then why the psych ward?”
“Because she was hallucinating. She looked awful, Rae.” Dylan buried his face in his hands. All she could do was reach across the table and touch his arm. He finally looked up. “I asked if she wanted to see Jayden. I thought it might give her a reason to keep trying, but Nora freaked out. She screamed that she’d stayed away to protect him.” Dylan’s voice dropped to barely more than a whisper. “She said she doesn’t want his memories to be of her like she is now.”
The hot chocolate sat in her stomach like a weight. “It sounds like your sister expects she’s going to die.”
“Yeah. Nora’s dying, if only by slow starvation. She’s skin and bones.” Dylan’s voice cracked. “I don’t know what to do for her.”
“I don’t see how you can do any more than you’re already doing by keeping her son safe and happy.”
