“Elliot,” I breathe, knowing without asking that it’s my brother-in-law. “What is it? Is Mary okay?”
“We’re on our way to the hospital.” His voice is tight, clipped. It’s completely opposite his normal joking, breezy tone. “Something is wrong with her. Her blood pressure skyrocketed, and she’s in pain. Cramps. We don’t know…”
“Oh, god,” I whisper, hand relaxing on the phone so it nearly slips from my grasp. “I’m… I’m…”
I’m unable to think, apparently. Panic surges through my body like bubbles in a shaken soda. I take a jerky step forward. When I finally lift my gaze from the dusty, dirt path of the pumpkin patch, I realize Dane and Nico are a few steps away from me, on the phone. Dane’s voice deep—ready the jet—and Nico’s more serious than I’ve ever heard it—bring the car around.
Cole stands next to me, his hand on my shoulder, his hazel eyes bluer now.
“I have to go. I’ll tell Mary you’re coming.”
Elliot hangs up, and I turn to Cole, my entire body trembling like I haven’t had anything to eat all day.
“Something’s wrong with my sister,” I breathe, lungs seizing.
“Let’s go,” Dane and Nico are there, and the three of them usher me to the place we came in. The car is waiting, and I know without asking that it’s taking us to the flight field, to one of the private planes at their disposal.
Now more than ever, I’m glad to have them at my side.
Chapter 33
Cole
Growing up, I always thought we lived in a small town.
In a suburb outside of Detroit, we knew all our neighbors and had frequent potlucks. My mother was intimately involved in the town drama. Claire could tell who was coming down the street just by the make and model of their car.
But this—Lancaster, Missouri—takes all that to a new level.
We have to travel through Lucy’s hometown to get to the slightly larger town one over, where her sister is in the hospital. According to the sign outside the city limits, Lancaster has a population just over a few thousand.
A Casey’s gas station scrolls past us on the right, several small businesses on our left. The roads are pale ribbons, main street there and gone in a blink.
Lucy sits in the seat next to me, her chin in her hand as she stares out the window. I would ask her what it feels like, to come back here now, if it weren’t for the circumstances.
In fact, I have no idea what to say to her right now.
You don’t say anything, Claire’s voice instructs, in my head.You just be there for her. Treat panicked people like plants—food, water, fresh air.
Gazes snap to our car the moment we pull into the small hospital lot, following the signs forEmergency. The driver met us at the airport at Nico’s arranging, and he instructs him now to wait in the car for us, to pull around and park.
We climb out together, a strange group here in small town Missouri. Gazes are already trailing us, and we’re just in the parking lot.
Lucy, in her corduroy skirt and black turtleneck, doesn’t even notice. She’s too busy charging into the hospital, her voice apparently having come back to her.
“My sister,” she rasps, her palms landing on the nurses desk. A middle-aged woman spins slowly in her chair, eyes widening when she takes in first Lucy, then the three of us standing behind her.
“What’s the patient’s name, honey?” the woman asks, casting her gaze up at Lucy. It flicks to us again, but given the situation, she does a fairly decent job of staying focused. “Let me look her up.”
“Mary Sulli—sorry, Mary Gerot.”
The nurse nods, types, and says, gently, “Alright… looks like she’s in room 302.”
Lucy turns and follows her guidance, and Nico flashes the nurse a grin, “Thanks. You’re a doll.”
The nurse, flustered, blushes a little and swipes her bleached hair away from her face before turning back to her computer.
We follow Lucy down the cramped hallway, dodging carts and equipment along the walls. Each time I’m in a hospital, I think about Claire. Then, about how, at one point, this was going to be my future. Long, grueling shifts. A slow track forward, specializing and treating patients.
