Page 88 of Loving Taylor

My hand tightened over my phone. I paced the room as the minutes ticked by.

Slater ran his hands through his hair as he tried to refocus his eyes. Our bodies craved the sleep our minds couldn't slow down enough to give us.

Over an hour later my phone started to ring. It was Jeff. I had been staring at it, hoping Jeff would call me to tell me if his lead had led to anything. I answered it.

"And?" I whispered, not sure I could handle whatever he was going to tell me.

"I found her."

My world tilted and it felt like someone had spun my insides. My next question was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't ask it. Instead I held my breath, trying to prepare for whatever he was going to say next.

"She's alive."

I bent over, trying to breathe as I felt the relief overwhelm me. I couldn't talk. Barely keeping myself upright, I held the phone so tight against my ear my hand ached.

The touch of a hand on my shoulder reminded me I wasn't alone.

"She's in bad shape."

I let out a hiss of pain. In that moment I wanted to kill whoever had harmed her.

"She's being admitted."

"Which hospital?" I finally managed so ask, straightening up. Slater dropped his hand from my shoulder.

The only thing that mattered was getting to her as fast as I could. It was something I couldn't explain. He gave me the name of the hospital and I disconnected the call.

I jolted into action. Where the hell were my car keys? I patted my jeans down but they weren't in my pockets. I needed my jacket. My mind was still reeling from the news that Taylor had been found.

"What did Jeff say?"

I began to look around the living room for my jacket. I was sure I had dropped it over the back of the chair closest to the door.

"We need to go," I mumbled, angry with myself that I wasn't more organized.

But there was no way to know that she would be found. I stopped. My lungs hurt and my head began to throb.

"Where do we need to go?" Slater asked, stepping in front of me to get my attention.

"She's at the hospital." I couldn't repeat what Jeff had said about her being in bad shape. But the mention of the fact that she was in the hospital would tell him what I couldn't.

He gave me a slight nod.

I nodded back. I found my jacket and shrugged it on just as I looked up to see Slater with my cars keys dandling from his fingers. "I'll drive."

I wasn't going to argue, I was in no state to drive. I was too wired to be able to concentrate enough to get us to the hospital in one piece.

There was only a moment's hesitation in the doorway.She needs you to be strong for her,I told myself before I followed Slater to the car.

I don't even remember if I closed the front door. Nothing mattered other than getting to Taylor. Slater drove as fast as he could while still staying within the speed limit. Feeling frustrated that it was taking longer than I wanted to get to her, I wrestled with my annoyance. I was barely keeping the fear of what she had been through at bay.

Bad shape.The words echoed in my mind with images of her bloodied and afraid.

I tightened my fist to keep my anger from taking over.Keep calm. She needs you to keep it together.

Keeping that thought repeating in my mind was the only way I held it together. Slater dropped me off at the front entrance so he could park the car.

As I rushed into the hospital, I called Jeff. He answered on the first ring.