“Down the hall. Smoke inhalation. They’re keeping him for observation.”
Will did not appreciate being confined to a bed. The nurse informed her of this fact because, apparently, he was not being a model patient. As soon as they were separated in the emergency room, he insisted he needed to keep checking on Lucy. He finally agreed on a note passing system through the nurses—a flashback to the era before cell phones. The messages had stopped a few hours ago when the nurse told her they had taken him for a chest x-ray.
“Did you guys figure out your caterpillar problem?” Katie asked, a bit too casually.
“No.” Lucy studied little bits of dust that danced in the light. “But then I got offered a job in Ohio. Reporter, anchor, they’re giving me my pick. I’m taking the job. Will doesn’t know yet.”
Katie tilted her head, contemplative. “This is what you really want?”
“I can’t stay here. We’re not together anymore and I can’t work with him.” Or for his company.
“When are you going to tell him?”
“Well, I guess as soon as we’re alone. They say I’ll be released this afternoon. I have no idea where I’m going to go though. Where are you staying while you’re here?”
“At a hotel…with Jeff.”
Um. Say again?“With Jeff?”
Katie’s cheeks turned red. “The kid’s staying with Dixie’s at one of her other houses for a few nights.”
“Is there something you never mentioned?” Lucy asked.
“We had a thing when I lived here.”
Lucy’s mouth dropped open. Then she lifted her hand to theatrically press it closed.
Katie fussed with the edge of Lucy’s blanket. “It’s not a big deal or anything. Nothing serious.”
“I can’t believe you held out on me with this,” Lucy said low. “I mean, Jeff’s totally adorable, but you never said anything about him.”
“It’s complicated.”
Lucy gestured around the room. “I’ve got time.”
“Is she in here?” The door muted the sound coming from the hallway, but Lucy recognized her mother’s high-pitched voice immediately.
“She’s got to be. They said she’s in two-oh-four. This is two-oh-four,” her father replied.
Lucy gritted her teeth. “Katie, is there an oxygen tank under the bed?”
Katie leaned down. “Yeah, do you want me to get a nurse?”
“No. Just, uh, hit me over the head with it until I’m in a coma. That’d be great.”
“Lu—”
The door creaked open.
“Lulu, are you awake?” Her mother entered the room, and Lucy promptly pretended to be asleep. Or dead. Either would work.
Katie shook her arm. “Wake up, sleepy head. Your mom’s here.”
Lucy glowered at Katie and gave a little wave in her mother’s direction. “Hey, Mom.”
“There’s my Luluroni.” Her father barreled over her mother to get to the bed. He wrapped her in a huge hug.
Ugh. She hated that nickname.
