Page 24 of The Me I Left Behind

Upon seeing Julia, however, she jerked herself alert and stood. “Thank God you’re here. I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”

Julia glanced toward the bed. “Goodness, Maggie. I want to be here. Carol’s sleeping, I see.”

“Yes. We’re waiting for discharge papers. Shouldn’t be long.”

Julia nodded. “How are you?”

“Nervous as a whore in church.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “My skin is crawling.”

Julia reached in for a hug—something she rarely did. “We’ll figure this out.”

“I don’t know what I am doing, Julia. What the fuck did I do last night? Why am I poking the beast?”

“Because the beast is far away, and you took a chance. You also wanted answers, or something.” Julia sighed. “Hell, Mags, I’m sort of proud of you for taking a stand like you did.”

“Even if it’s breaking and entering?”

A smirk rolled across her friend’s face. “Takes guts to do what you did. And as far as being illegal, we’ll manage that. I had time to think while driving.”

A breath burst out of Maggie’s lungs.

Julia glanced again at Carol. “So, is she okay? By the way, I will take you two home.”

“Good, because my car is probably totaled. I don’t even know where it is.”

“Probably impounded somewhere. Well, no worries.” She paused, studying her. “I tried to call. Just got your voice mail.”

Maggie glanced at Carol. “Yeah. I turned it off while in here.” She gave Julia a direct look, pointed to her phone, and mouthed,Max called.

“Ah.” Then she mouthed,Did he leave a message?

Maggie shrugged.I haven’t listened.

“Okay. We’ll catch up later.”

“Definitely.”

A couple of nurses shuffled into the room behind Julia. One went straight to Carol’s bed, and the other to Maggie.

“Mrs. Oliver, I have the discharge instructions. Since we already have your insurance information, we’ll just need to go over these quickly and get your signature. Then, as soon as we doa last vitals check, we can call for a wheelchair and get you both home.”

“Oh, that would be lovely.”

The nurse looked at Julia. “Is this your transportation?”

Laughing, Julia said, “Yes, that’s me. Just call me Juber. That’s short for Julia Uber.”

Maggie chuckled and elbowed her friend. “You’re crazy.”

“Naw, that’s you.”

“Mom? Julia?”

Both women looked at Carol, now fully awake.

“Sweetheart. You’re going home soon.”

Groggy, Carol pushed up a little. “Good. I’m tired of being poked.” She gave the nurse taking her blood pressure a foul look.