Page 80

Silent through practically the entireconversation, Nancy took in a sharp, shuddering breath. While everyone had been talking, she’d grown paler, to the point where the bags underneath her eyes looked as dark as a bruise.
“Nancy,” I said, my heart stuttering on a beat. “Are you okay?”
Not yet, not yet, not yet. The thought was on a repeating loop in my head, a desperate echo that I was too afraid to think about what it meant.
Nancy never answered. Instead, she collapsed forward, her frail body falling onto the table. Sumner barely caught her before her head slammed onto the oak, and after that, everything had become a loud, roaring blur.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
In the daytime, the hospital almost seemed pleasant with its grand windows letting streams of warm summer sunlight into the lobby, soft, upbeat music playing over the speakers, and staff chattering at the lobby’s desk. Nothing about the atmosphere felt like a hospital at all.
No one ever would’ve guessed that this was the place people came to die.
After Nancy collapsed, eyes rolling back into her head, everything blurred with only snapshots of focus. Sumner easing her off the table and into his arms, keeping her from falling out of her seat. Ms. Jennings giving a shrill, theatrical wail. Aaron sipping his water as if nothing were happening.
I didn’t remember how I reacted; it all blended together like splotches of paint, creating the ugliest shade of brown.
The sunlight in the hospital windows seemed somewhat low, but I had no concept of time. I knew I left my hotel room earlier this morning around nine, but after that, I knew nothing else. My phone was in my pocket,but it weighed far too heavy for me to pull it out. There was no clock on the walls.
Suddenly, a figure appeared before me, crouching down and coming into my frame of sight. He’d pushed his golden hair out of his eyes, which glowed with concern. “Here,” Sumner said, offering something out to me. “Have something to snack on. It’s been a while since you’ve eaten.”
It took my sluggish mind several moments to catch up that he held an unopened bag of salt and vinegar potato chips. I didn’t even realize he’d moved from sitting beside me, let alone went off to find food. “Nutritious.” My voice was flat.
“The vending machine was slim pickings, and the food court closes at six on Sundays.”
So it was after six. It didn’t feel like it should’ve been that late in the day; it didn’t feel like I’d been sitting in this hard chair that long.
When I didn’t take the bag, Sumner ripped the top open, ducked his hand in, and pulled out a chip. He stretched it out to me, the worry flaring in his eyes and thawing just a bit of my numbness.
I took it. “Where’s Aaron?”
“He… didn’t come with us. You remember that?”
I did. I don’t know why I even asked; I knew Aaron hadn’t come with us. In the hectic confusion of it all, he’d asked if I wanted him to stay behind and out of the way. I’d barely batted an eye twice at him, my non-answer answer enough.
My eyes flicked to the hospital desk. “I should see if they have any more information they can give me.”
When we’d arrived at the ER, the paramedics transferred Nancy off to a collection of doctors and nurses, and despite the fact that I’d come in with her, they restricted me. “Are you family?” one of them had asked, in a far rougher tone than necessary. “If you’re not family, please move to the waiting room.”
Sometime since the ER and me moving to the lobby, Dr. Conan, who’d begun his shift, had come to find me. It was mostly to get information on what happened, and I couldn’t tell if it was for medical purposes or because he was just being nosy. Dr. Conan, despite my insistence, was tight-lipped about anything to do with Nancy’s condition. It seemed he took his doctoral vows more seriously than his marriage ones.
“I can go see,” Sumner said, rubbing his free palm over my knee. “I want half that bag gone by the time I get back, okay?”
Sumner shifted as he was about to stand up, but I grabbed his wrist, holding his hand to my leg and holding him in his crouched position. His fingers were slender, and I couldn’t help but remember the countless of times they’d curved over my own, a comforting grip. “Not yet.” My voice was as small as a child’s. “Not yet.”
He fell back firmer into his heels, continuing to peer up at me, returning to rub my knee. The touch was grounding, the slight massage giving me something to focus on. In this moment, I could pretend that his concern was because he cared about me—reallycared about me. It was a delusional sort of thought, but it brought me the barest comfort.Comfort.
With his free hand, Sumner held the bag of chips out to me again.
“It’s true Nancy fashion,” I said as I dipped my hand in, pulling out a few chips and scattering them in my palm. “Making a scene when she’s meeting my fiancé for the first time.”
Sumner let out a soft breath, a laugh adjacent. “She really doesn’t want you to choose him, does she?”
“That’s one thing about Nancy—she does have good taste.”
“I thought you liked Aaron.”
Despite being weary, I raised an eyebrow at him. “I thoughtyouliked Aaron. The entire time I’ve known you, you were always pro Aaron Astor. The way you were bickering with him earlier, it didn’t seem like you liked him much at all. Is this an enemies-to-lovers thing?”