Page 120 of Playing for Keeps

Char.

My nightmare spiraled off in a different direction.

“What happened?” Luke croaked.

“She was found unconscious. It looks like she overdosed on pills. Dad’s gone in the ambulance with her.” Alison’s words were clipped, as if she was trying to impart the information while holding herself together. “Theo was the one who found her. He’s really upset and I can’t get hold of Ethan.”

Luke shot me a look but I was already reaching for the phone.

“Ethan’s here,” Luke said.

“What do you mean, Ethan’s there?”

“He’s in Sydney. He’s here with me—”

I cut off Luke’s explanations by grabbing the phone off him and pressing it to my own ear. “I’ll grab the earliest flight and be home as soon as I can. Is Theo there now? Can I talk to him? Actually, it might be better if we FaceTime so he can see me.”

I heard her sharp intake of breath. There were a few beats of silence.

“Okay, we’ll FaceTime,” she said finally.

I ended the call with shaky hands and then pressed the option to FaceTime her back.

As the phone dialed, I looked down wildly. Fuck. I was naked. And so was Luke.

Luke’s mother would see we were in a hotel room together and we were both naked.

But I didn’t fucking care. The only thing that mattered was comforting my son.

Luke must have had the same thought , because he got up and chucked my boxers at me. I scrambled to put them on.

Alison had obviously handed the phone straight to Theo, so when the call connected the screen showed Theo’s pale face.

His eyes were red and his breathing came in short hiccups.

My heart clenched.

“Hey, buddy,” I said gently.

“Mum’s sick.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“She threw up everywhere,” he whispered.

“I heard that. I’ll be home tomorrow, okay? And Mum will be alright. The doctors will be doing a really good job of looking after her. And in the meantime Nan will stay with you. You can give her a big hug.”

A tear trickled down Theo’s face.

My whole body ached to be there, to touch him. Alison’s arm slid around his small shoulders.

“We’ll make Mum a giant Get Well Soon card.” I continued to talk, spilling out whatever my brain could conjure up in an attempt to comfort my son. “She’ll like that, won’t she? And we’ll buy her some of her favorite chocolates.”

“She might not want chocolates if she has a sore tummy,” Theo said, sniffing.

“Good point.” I kept my voice light. “What things do you think someone with a sore tummy should have?”

Theo thought for a minute, tears continuing to trickle down his face. “Maybe toast,” he said eventually.