I bounced on my feet. “Is she talking? Awake? Can I see her?”
“Yeah. Her mom said to go in. She had to run home and get Celia some things. She’ll be in for a few days. They want to watch her closely since her concussion is bad.”
I bolted out the door and ran right into someone. It took me a second to get my bearings, and when I did, I cried, “Maiken!” I threw myself at him. “How come you didn’t call me back or answer any more of my texts?” I sounded like a crazy teenager with off-the-chart hormones.
He gave me one of his slow, easy grins as his blue gaze drank me in.
Holy moly!I had to look like death. Then I remembered I was wearing my sleep shorts and matching T-shirt with llamas on them. My hair probably looked like I’d been in an F5 tornado. And hygiene?Yikes!Even though I’d taken a quick shower last night, I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet. And my upper lip was swollen like I’d gotten a heavy dose of Botox.
I edged away, like far away. “I’m going to see Celia. Will you be here for a while?”
He peeked into the waiting room. “Can we talk outside?”
The hallway spun. “Sure. I guess. It can’t wait?” I got the feeling he’d been ignoring me after I’d sent my fifty texts. Okay, so I hadn’t really sent fifty, but any more than three was bordering on madness. Still, I got a sinking feeling that he was going to break up with me because of last night.
A pensive expression washed over him. “Sorry, it can’t.”
I folded my arms over my chest, feeling small and embarrassed.
Liam came out of the room. “Are you ready to leave tomorrow?”
“Leave?” The mouth dryness I’d had earlier returned, and I swallowed to get the lump in my throat to go down.
Did his mom decide to move again?
“Sorry, man,” Liam said. “I thought you told Quinn already.”
Maiken paled. “No worries.”
Liam went back into the waiting room.
I bit my bottom lip. “What’s he talking about?” I craned my neck up at my boyfriend, or maybe he would be my ex in the next minute or so.
Maybe moving was in the Ashford water.
“Are you feeling better?” Maiken asked.
I hugged myself. I had, but I wasn’t anymore. “Tell me.” I ground my back teeth together. Tears were on the precipice of spilling over like Niagara Falls.
Don’t cry. You don’t know what he’s going to say yet.
He was leaving. That was crying material for me.
“I was going to tell you last night. Then the shit hit the fan. Anyway, I’m off to basketball camp for a month.”
I should have been relieved it was just camp, but in my belly, I felt like a string in our relationship had broken. Maybe it was my hangover making me think the worst.
“You’ll be gone the rest of the summer?”
He tucked his hands into his jeans pockets. “Pretty much. Didn’t your dad ground you?”
Tears stung my eyes. I wasn’t going to cry, at least not in front of Maiken.
“When did you decide to go to camp?” I searched my brain, trying to remember if he had mentioned camp. Maybe I hadn’t been paying attention.
“It was kind of last minute. Uncle Martin came through. He’s paying for camp.”
I fidgeted with my fingers, trying desperately not to cry. “Can you meet me in the barn when I do my chores tonight?”
