Page 71 of Find Me Under the Stars
My heart drops through the floor. “Harper, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
She is hyperventilating as she says, “Ella, s-she’s in the emergency room. Everything was f-fine! She was doing good. B-but this morning, she…I don’t get it. I don’t understand.”
My body aches as her words sink in, and tears aren’t welling in my eyes; they are already pouring down my cheeks. “I-is she okay?”
“What happened?” Reed whispers.
“Which hospital are you at, Harper?” I ask before she has time to answer my last question.
“S-Saint Joseph’s. And she’s okay…but they said that she’ll—” She cuts herself off. “When can you be here?”
Quickly, I tell Reed which hospital they’re at as my heart is threatening to burst through my fucking chest. “Saint Joseph’s.”
He types it in his phone and loads the directions up before tearing out of the garage and driveway.
“We’re on our way. Should be there within fifteen minutes,” I tell her, struggling to keep my voice stable.
“O-okay. Let me know when you get here, and I’ll come out to the waiting room,” she says and hangs up without a good-bye.
Clutching my phone in my hands, I press it against my forehead, then let it fall from my hands, not caring where it ends up.
How is this happening? What is even happening? We are supposed to be visiting her for her follow-up appointment and then grab breakfast. She’s supposed to be happy and giggling.
“What’s going on?” Reed asks softly, placing his hand on my thigh.
“I don’t really know. But nothing good,” I force the words out between deep breaths to keep myself calm because I’m a split second from completely losing it.
The fifteen-minute drive to the hospital feels like it takes us hours. I can’t stop picturing Ella’s face. Why wouldn’t Harper just tell me what’s going on? As Reed is driving into the parking lot, my heart is in my throat. He pulls up to the emergency room entrance and parks.
“Go. I’ll find you when I get parked,” he says urgently.
Grabbing my phone off of the floor, I kiss him quickly. I throw the door open, and everything seems to slow down and speed up at the same time. My legs are moving as fast as they can carrying me through the automatic doors. Memories of her laughter fills my ears in the silent entrance. My vision is blurry, and I blink rapidly to try to clear it. The nurse lifts her hand as I’m about to sprint past, stopping me dead in my tracks.
“Ma’am, you have to check in and get a visitor badge,” she informs me, and I decide that at this very moment, formalities and procedures are the worst thing in the world.
There’s a kiosk on her desk. I grab my ID out of my phone wallet case and scan it on the machine. With shaky fingers, I enter Ella’s name and select the dreaded emergency room. The slowest goddamn printer in the world takes its sweet time to print every inch of the sticker name tag.
The second it’s done, I rip it from the machine and smile at the lady, who seems satisfied. While I try to catch my breath, I ask, “Emergency room?”
She points down the wide corridor. “Go straight through there, take a right, follow the signs.”
“Thanks,” I say, panting, and take off running again.
Ripping my phone out of my pocket, I call Harper.
She answers immediately. “Hello?”
“Hi.” I huff and puff between words. “I’m here. Following the blue f-footprint stickers.”
“You’re almost there. I’ll be out in two seconds,” she whispers and hangs the phone up.
Part of me wants to run faster to reach Ella as quickly as I can. The other part of me wants to turn around and never stop running because then she will always be okay in my mind. Nothing will be wrong, and everything will be all right. But I can’t run away, not from her.
I burst through the doors to the waiting room, scanning instantly for Harper. When I finally spot her, I kind of wish I hadn’t. Because I can never unsee the absolute terror and devastation on her face.
Oh God.
“Oh, Charlotte,” she cries out and rushes over to me, throwing her arms around me in desperation.
