Page 336 of Nobody's Girl

After a very brief conversation with my doctor from home, I tell them what he told me. “We need to go ahead and take her to the hospital. She’s most likely dehydrated and they need to get an IV in her and start giving her fluids as soon as possible. One of our doctors will meet us there. He said there’s a small hospital right here in town.”

Kyle comes back down the stairs with the blanket. “We have to take her to the hospital, Kyle,” I say.

“What? It’s that bad?” he asks.

“The doctor said that, since she’s been unable to keep anything down, she’s probably dehydrated and we need to get that taken care of as soon as possible,” I tell him.

Kyle wraps the blanket around her. “Let’s take her car, Eden. You drive and I’ll ride in the back with her,” Kyle says, then he picks Laura up and walks to the door.

Alyssa follows behind us. “Don’t worry, Laura. You’ll be feeling better in no time,” she tells her.

We pull up at the hospital’s emergency entrance. Kyle gets out, picking her up. “Go with them, Alyssa. I’ll park the car and be right in,” I say.

When I come in, I see them all still sitting in the waiting room. “They should be taking you straight back,” I tell Kyle.

A nurse opens the door. “Laura Stevens?” she calls out.

Kyle looks at me. “Stevens?” he asks.

“Take your wife and follow the nurse, Kyle,” I tell him.

Kyle stands up, taking Laura and following the nurse. Alyssa and I walk behind them, only to be stopped by the nurse. “Only her husband can be back here for now. Sorry guys. Hospital rules,” she tells us.

Alyssa looks at me as the nurse shuts the door in our faces. “Now I see why you lied when you took me to the hospital,”

I smile at her. “I know she’ll want someone in there with her. It should be him.”

She nods in agreement, but I feel the pain in her heart.

She’s not ready to let him go.

CHAPTER 69

ALYSSA

Just as Eden and I sit down, I realize I need to let Laura’s mother know we found her. “I need to call her mother.” I tell Eden. “I’ll be right outside.”

I take out my cell phone and walk out the sliding glass doors. “Hey, Joan, I know it’s late. I just wanted to let you know we found Laura and it’s a long story, but she’s okay,” I tell her.

“I want to talk to her,” Joan says.

“She’s sleeping right now. I’ll get her to call you in the morning,” I say.

“Ally, please. I am worried sick,” she says.

“Look, Joan, I don’t want to wake her up. Please know she’s okay. I’ll have her call you first thing in the morning,” I say.

“You better, Ally. You have no idea how hard this has been. You’ll never understand until you have children,” she tells me.

“I’m sorry. Just know that she’s okay and she’ll call you as soon as she wakes up,” I say to her before I hang up.

Eden comes out just as I turn to walk back in. “We should go home and rest. The nurse came out and told me they’ll most likely be moving her to a room later. She’s severely dehydrated. They’re going to run tests on her to find out what’s making her sick.”

He puts his arm around my shoulders and moves me towards the parking lot. “I feel bad about not being able to tell her mother everything. She told me I would never understand how she feels until I have children. I hope we’re doing the right thing for Laura,” I say.

Eden opens the car door for me. I sit down and he leans across me and fastens my seatbelt. “She’s being taken care of. Don’t second guess things,” he tells me, then shuts my door.