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It took me a long time to figure out what, exactly, was making the sound. But when I did, I reached for my phone and had it placed to my ear moments later.
Peripherally, I was aware of the bedroom door opening, and a large figure filling the near blackness, but my heart was pounding so hard that I couldn’t make sense of much else.
God, my cell phone was loud and scary when it went off in the middle of the night.
“Hello?” I answered, sounding sleepy and confused.
“Turner,” my father’s deep voice filled the phone. He sounded worried. “Something happened to your mom.”
My heart started pounding and I moved until my feet were hanging off the side of the couch.
“What happened? Is she okay?” I asked as I reached blindly for my glasses that I’d had to put on the night before.
I kept an emergency stash of stuff in my purse in case I needed it.
My contacts case. An extra pair of underwear. My glasses. Even a couple of baby wipes.
“She was having shortness of breath,” he said.
I rubbed my hand over my face to try to control the urge to pound my head against the table that was in front of me.
“And how is she now?” I pushed.
My dad, when it came to my mom, was a lovesick fool.
He was cool, calm and collected as long as it didn’t come to Patty Hooch.
When Patty Hooch came into the picture, however, all bets were off. My father was well and truly gone for her.
“I…I don’t know,” he admitted, sounding lost and confused. “I’m at the hospital in this little room, and they won’t let me back to see her.” He paused. “They said her heart stopped on the way here.”
That had me shooting to my feet.
Before, all he’d told me was that she had shortness of breath, which, unfortunately, was normal for my mother. She was overweight, and unfortunately, not as good at walking as she used to be when she was smaller.
Which was why I’d encouraged her to have the surgery. I wanted her to experience life. I wanted her to meet her grandbabies. I wanted her to watch them, and love on them, and tell them that they were her whole heart exactly like she did with me.
“What hospital, Daddy?” I said, reaching for my purse and shoes at the same time.
“The one in Kilgore,” he said. “We were on our way to see you. Coming down early.”
I moaned a little bit in the back of my throat and said, “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Don’t freak out. I love you.”
He hung up without saying it back.
“Everything okay?” I heard from the doorway.
I shook my head and started for the door, only to realize that I’d been brought here by Castiel.
“I n-need a ride,” I stuttered out. “My mom…no, everything is not okay.”
He didn’t ask why. He didn’t complain. He only turned around and went back into his room, flicking the lights on as he did.
I realized then that I really had to go to the bathroom, and there was no reason that I couldn’t go while I was waiting for him.
So I did, trying not to think about my mom or my dad, or anything really.
I tried to think about other things. Like what work I had to do tomorrow, and when I would have to be at the funeral home to help with decorating for the next funeral. Or being in my best friend’s wedding.
By the time I got out of the bathroom, I’d managed to calm my racing heart minutely, and Castiel was already waiting for me.
I swallowed hard and followed him out the door.
He didn’t take me to his bike, though.
No, he took me to an old car that looked beautiful.
“Nice car,” I said. “Is it a Nova?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed, opening the passenger side door for me to get in. “It is. Thank you.”
I slid into the seat and then fell to pieces.
He shut the car door and rounded it. By the time he was getting in, too, I was already well into a minor panic attack.
I was hyperventilating, crying hard, and I could hardly think.
“What hospital?” he asked as he started to back out of his spot.
“Kilgore,” I whispered through the tears.
He shifted through the gears, and only when he was in the one he needed did he reach for my hand.
“It’ll be okay,” he promised.
I swallowed hard.
“What if she dies?” I asked bluntly.
“Unfortunately, it’ll still be okay,” he replied.
“All right,” I whispered brokenly.
“Good,” he said. “Now get yourself under control. You don’t know anything yet.”
Instead of asking him how he knew what happened—I knew, my dad talked really loud—I decided to take his advice.
I closed my eyes and tried to control my tears. It wouldn’t do to go walking into that emergency room with my heart already torn into pieces. Castiel was right. I didn’t know what happened just yet. She could be just fine.
