Page 91 of Unraveled

Luckily, my brother agreed. “I had a cold two weeks ago, and half my class has had the flu over the last month. It’s going around. By the way, Mom and Dad are on their way down.”

I wrote out, “You have school tomorrow, so you shouldn’t stay late.”

“I do, but let me worry about that.”

I turned toward Kellan, writing, “You have the walk-through this week. You can’t miss it.” He was down to just the small details now, and then he was finished.

“It’ll be fine.”

But twenty-four hours later, it wasn’t.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Kellan

“Unfortunately, her body isn’t responding to the antibiotics the way we’d hoped. We’ve switched her to a higher dosage.”

I rubbed my hand over my unshaven face, listening to the doctor’s words. Twenty-four hours was all it had taken to go from Layla cracking jokes, trying to reassure us she’d be fine, to her breathing through a tube. Now I was with her family, meeting with the doctor in charge of her care.

“Why wasn’t she started on the higher dosage to begin with?” her mother asked. It was a good question.

“Because there are side effects we wanted to minimize, like vomiting. That would’ve further dehydrated her. But now she is on the highest dosage because we have no other choice.”

“What is the prognosis?” Russ posed the question we all wanted to, but none were prepared to hear the answer.

“Fifty-fifty at this point.”

I felt all of the blood drain from my face while a lump the size of a cantaloupe lodged itself in my throat.

“Every hour counts when it comes to an infection. Because of her compromised immune system, this has hit her hard. We’ll plan to meet in another hour. Hopefully, we’ll have some better news.”

Layla’s mom and dad embraced one another while Russ stood there in shock. Me? I had to get back to her. To hold her hand and make sure she knew I was there. They left me alone with her to talk in private for a few moments, for which I was grateful. She was sedated due to the breathing tube, but still conscious.

“Babe. I need you to fight. Fight harder than you ever have before. I know it’s not fair to ask that of you, but you have to. You just do.” I wiped my eyes and glanced up when Russ came in.

“I can leave for a few more minutes,” he offered.

I knew her parents would be in again shortly, too. “No. No. You talk to her. I have to call and update my folks. I’ll only be a couple of minutes.” I’d been keeping them informed since yesterday, hoping I could give them better news.

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

I took out my phone once I walked outdoors, needing the fresh air and a moment. Unfortunately, I saw I had twelve missed calls. Half were from Carly, the others from my foreman on the job. As I listened to the voicemails, I proceeded to get angrier and angrier. My ex was threatening to sue if I wasn’t there today to change the color of the paint. Let her. As if I cared about the job right now.

I was about to dial my parents when Brandon’s number flashed up. I found it curious he was calling now.

“Hello.”

“Hey. Everything okay?”

“No. It’s not.”

“My mom spoke with your mom about Layla’s condition. Is it any better?”

“No.” My voice nearly cracked on the single word.

“What can I do?”

“Nothing.”