Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“I can do it,” Marty offers.
“No, it should be me,” I insist. “I was there. They deserve more than a quick, panicky chat from me. Wish we’d gotten to meet under better circumstances, but here we are.”
I force myself to focus, get some good breaths in, and though it’s not helping much, it’s better than nothing. Then Ryan and Marty leave me, saying they’ll be in the waiting area.
I remind myself what Marty said, that I need to be cool when I talk to them. Not get them even more concerned than they already are. When I FaceTime them, his dad answers. They’re still on the road, his mom driving. While she veers over to the side of the road, I catch them up about everything that’s happened since our last conversation. I tell them the facts, but I don’t mention how difficult it was seeing him pass out and then straining to talk to the EMTs, how hard he was struggling with breathing before they intubated him.
But even trying to keep my cool and get through the events that transpired after we got out of Sigma Alpha, I choke up a few times. And I see the worry written all over their faces, poking at a fear that lingers in me too. That somehow something will happen, this will all head south fast, and Lance won’t be okay.
By the time I’ve finished, his mom has parked, and they’re both on the screen.
“We appreciate the call,” she says. “We don’t want to stay on much longer because we’re still about three hours out, but we’ll let you know when we’re close.”
“Okay.”
“It’s nice meeting you,” his dad says. “Even though this isn’t how we were hoping it would happen. But we’re glad you were there and got him out of that house. Thank you.”
“Yes, thank you,” his mom adds.
“You don’t owe me a thanks. I should’ve insisted it was a bad idea to split up, gone with him up to that room, and gotten Frat Cat out myself.”
“It sounds like everything happened quickly,” his mom says. “And you both did the best you could. Now we can just hope for the best. Thank you, Ty.”
I tear up because there’s still a part of me that’s worried…that has this deep fear that something terrible is gonna happen.
I can’t imagine they’re free of it either.
After we say our goodbyes, I pull up another number in my phone.
Grant’s.
My hand trembles.
If I ever needed him, it’s now when I’m scared as fuck that the docs are gonna come in and tell me they couldn’t help Lance or that he’s irreparably injured with something he’ll have to live with his whole life because of less than a few minutes of exposure to the smoke.
Grant would have been able to be here for me. Even when things were hard with all he was dealing with, he always had a way of making me smile.
“I wish you were here right now,” I mutter.
Of course, it’s not just to help me because of what’s going on with Lance, but so much that we’ve missed out on.
Tears break free, rolling down my cheeks.
Fuckin’ A.
I push through my uneasiness and call Mom, realizing just how bad it is that I’ve contacted so many people and she’s the last on my list.
“Honey? What’s that on your face? Where are you?”
I have no doubt she recognizes the inside of a hospital room. We’ve seen enough of them.
I hesitate before forcing out, “I’m at Peachtree Springs Medical Center. I’m fine. Mostly. I don’t know. I’m not injured, but my boyfriend is.”
Now’s not the time to ease her into this shit. And she needs to know how important he is to me. How hard this is right now.
It’s difficult to tell if Mom is more shocked by that than she was when she first noticed my face and the hospital room, but I say, “There was a fire at Sigma Alpha tonight, and Lance, the guy you know as the prick president from Alpha Theta Mu…only he’s not a prick…like, not even a little bit…and he’s hurt.”
I tell her what happened, from the fire up until this point, and when I finish, she says, “I’m glad you’re both in the hospital right now. Hopefully they’re doing what they can.”
“We both know there are limits to what they can do,” I snap. “What if something happens? What if he’s seriously injured? What if he’s not gonna be okay?”
She’s quiet.
“You’re not saying anything because you know there’s a chance that could be true.”
“As we’ve seen firsthand, sometimes bad things happen to really good people, Ty. And it’s impossible to know what’s going to happen with any of this.”
Doesn’t help, but she’s right. I swallow the truth with an uncomfortable gulp.
“You know, I get a mammogram every year, and sometimes they find something.”