Page 23 of When the Leaves Fall

LUCA

I ’m having the best time with Sean and his parents.

Sean and I have gone on all of the cool rides, not the ones for little kids, and played a few carnival games.

For these few hours, I’ve been able to pretend this is what life is like for me right now.

Mom told me to make sure I had a great time and not to think about home responsibilities.

And so far, I’ve been able to do just that.

“I’m hungry,” Sean says out loud. He must be reading my mind.

“Me too,” I agree, my stomach growling.

“Okie dokie, let’s get some food,” Sean’s mom says. We follow his parents to the line of food trucks selling everything from corn dogs and cheese curds to funnel cakes and waffle cones.

We find a picnic table and sit to eat dinner. I bite into one of my cheese curds; the crunch is followed by the gooey cheese tastes absolutely delicious .

“Oh, so good,” I mumble with my mouth full of goo. “These are my dad’s favorites.”

And suddenly, the guilt is back.

I didn’t want to miss any texts from Drew this morning while her mom was having the procedure done, so I skipped my normal morning-after-my-night-shift shower.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because I’m startled awake by my alarm wailing at me.

I look at the clock and realize I don’t have time to shower before my shift.

I jump out of bed and quickly get ready, brushing my teeth and running a comb through my hair.

I throw a few things into my lunchbox, grab my phone and keys, and run out the door.

Once in my car, I plug my phone in because apparently I forgot to this morning and the battery is currently at thirty-one percent.

It gives me anxiety anytime it’s under fifty percent. Especially when I have to leave the house. Luckily, I can charge it at work.

I park my car just in time to catch the shuttle that’s currently there. Thank goodness, because otherwise I would have had to wait another fifteen minutes. I want to arrive a little early so I can try to catch Drew alone and see what she thinks about us going to Fall Fest together.

As I head down the hall to the nurse’ s station, I see Sandra’s room is dark. Like really dark. No TV, no lamp. It’s only 6:30. I peek my head inside and see it’s completely empty, and freshly clean and sanitized based on the smell.

I trot down to the charge desk.

“Hey, Luca,” Mel says.

“Hi, Mel,” I reply. “Room 848 is?—”

“Empty, yup!” She chirps. “Sandra was doing so well that she was able to move today. She’s down on the fourth floor now.”

My heart drops. I was supposed to have one more night with them. With Drew. I sneak a glance at my phone, but don’t have any missed calls or texts from her. Why didn’t she give me a heads-up?

“Oh, that’s great,” I fake a smile. “How long ago did they move her?”

“A couple of hours now,” Mel says. “Sandra and Frank were over the moon about it.”

“I bet,” I laugh. “It’s always a good feeling to graduate from critical care.”

“As of now, we don’t have anyone coming into her room, so you’ll have a little bit of a lighter night by the looks of it.”

I force a small smile and nod in acknowledgment.

“Sounds good. I’m going to drop off my stuff and hit up the bathroom before shift starts,” I say. Mel smiles back.

Once I’m down the hall and around the corner, I shoot Drew a text.

Hey, I heard you’re on the 4th floor now.

Shit. Yes. Sorry, I meant to text you, but apparently forgot to hit send.

That’s okay. I’m just bummed I didn’t get to see you first.

Or say goodbye to Sandra.

That’s really sweet.

I’m game for Fall Fest.

Every part of my body comes alive when I read her last text. I’m going on an actual date with Drew. I get to take her and show her off at one of my favorite local events. I picture us playing carnival games and sharing some kind of ridiculously bad-for-you fair food.

I need to see her.

Meet me at the elevator.

I dash down the hall as discreetly as I can. The elevators take the sweet time opening for me, but as I’m about to step inside, Doctor Erickson steps off the elevator.

“Good evening, Luca,” she says .

“Good evening, Doctor Erickson,” I reply.

She glances at her watch. She’s one of the very few people I know who still wears an actual watch. “Heading in for shift?” she eyes me curiously.

“Uh, yeah. I didn’t sleep well, so I was going to run down and grab a coffee quickly.”

“Ahh, I get that. Okay, see you soon,” she smiles and heads down the hall.

Her elevator closed during our short chat, and now I’m smashing the down arrow as fast as physically possible.

The elevator to my right chimes, indicating it’s stopping on this floor.

I wait to the side in case anyone steps off, and when no one does, I hop inside only to find Drew standing there, waiting for me.

“Hi,” she whispers.

“Hi,” I whisper back, unable to stop smiling at her.

The moment the doors close, she’s in my arms, and her soft lips crash into mine.