“She needs a doctor now. She’s overdosing on sleeping pills,” I rush out.
The nurse presses a button and points to the double doors next to her station. “Bring her through.”
I’m met with a bed and instructed to lay Zara down. I do, and then there are a bunch of people in hospital scrubs surrounding her.
“Are you family?” the nurse asks.
“I’m her father,” Dominic says, standing right beside me. “He’s not family.” He doesn’t look at me.
“Yet,” I say loud enough for him to hear it.
Zara, you better fucking make it through this. You can’t leave me.
“Family only. You can sit in the waiting room.” The nurse steps in front of me.
“I’m not leaving her,” I reply.
“Ares, come on. Let the doctors do their job.” My dad grabs my shoulders and pulls me back. “If you want her to come out of this, you need to let them work.”
“I can’t leave her,” I tell him.
“I know. And you’re not. You’re just waiting out here until she wakes up.”
I follow my dad and uncle out to the waiting area and sit down. My head drops into my hands. I can’t believe this is happening. This was supposed to be a happy day for her. It should have been a celebration of her becoming an adult. What the hell went wrong? Why didn’t I get there earlier? I could have stopped this.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I call Dr Finn. She gave Zara her mobile number, and I copied it down.
“Hello?”
“Dr Finn, it’s Ares.” My voice cracks. “It’s Zara.Katie,” I correct.
“I know who she is, Ares. What happened?”
“She took some pills. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. When I found her, she’d taken sleeping pills.”
“Where are you now?”
“Melbourne General. They won’t let me back to be with her, but you’re her doctor, right? You could get to her?”
“I can. I’ll be there as fast as I can. You did good getting her to the hospital, Ares. This isn’t your fault,” Dr Finn says.
“I should have been there earlier. I knew she wasn’t happy about having a party. I should have insisted she cancelled it,” I ramble on.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” The line cuts off and I stare at my phone. A tear falls onto the screen. I don’t remember the last time I’ve cried. But right now, I can’t hold it in. I’m scared. I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life.
I promised Zara we’d get through this together, and I failed her. I promised I’d always be there to pick her up when she was down, and I wasn’t there. Why didn’t she call me? Why would she do this to us?
“Oh, honey, she’s going to be okay.” My mum kneels down in front of me.
“I wasn’t there, Mum. I promised her I’d always be there to help her and I wasn’t.” Tears are falling like rivers down my cheeks. I look up and see Lucy, Zara’s mother, being directed through the double doors I got kicked out of. “They won’t let me back there with her.”
“We just have to wait and let the doctors do their job. She’s going to be okay. You got her here in time, Ares. You did help her,” Mum says.
I shake my head. “I should have been there.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Ifeel sick and my throat’s raw. Like something has been stuck in it. I try to swallow but it hurts.
