Twenty-One
“Doyouwantmeto stay so you have a ride home?” Sylvie asks when she parks her car outside St. Mark’s Hospital.
I unbuckle my seatbelt. “No, it’s fine. I’ll go back home with him.”
Sylvie smiles mischievously. “On his motorcycle?”
“Goodbye, Sylvie,” I say, exiting the car. “Thank you for the lift.”
“Oh, wait,” Sylvie calls, and I lean back into the car. “Can you do me a favor?”
“You got me away from my mother, so, of course.”
“Can you talk to Mr. Riley for me?”
“Your English teacher?”
She nods eagerly. “I’m totally not getting the dumb poetry he has us reading. Can you do something to get him to lay off?”
I flick at my bracelet. “What do you want me to do?”
“I dunno; the usual thing you do to make teachers back off.Please, Ness. I’ve been struggling with this class for weeks.”
I nod, stepping back from the car. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She claps. “Eep. Thank you.”
I close the door and wave her off. As I turn into St. Mark’s, my stomach churns. I clamp my hands together, hoping with all my might Dax is seeking treatment. At least it’ll explain why I haven’t heard from him. I called three times on the drive over with no answer.
I swallow hard. He’d have no clue why I was late. I just hope he knows I was getting here as fast as I could. My stomach twists again. Oh gosh, why didn’t he answer the phone? Oh, please, be inside with Dr. Harris.
I make my way to the nurses’ station and find Trisha walking my way.
She waves. “I didn’t know we’d be seeing you today.”
“Really?” The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “I had an appointment with Dr. Harris. Cindy scheduled it.”
Trisha runs a hand over her brow. “Oh, perhaps she did. I’ve been running around so much, I haven’t kept track of Dr. Harris’s schedule.”
I view the hallway. “Umm. Is he around? I’m really late and couldn’t call ahead.”
“I think he was getting a patient’s test results back.”
My head gets woozy. “Erhm. By any chance, umm, did Dax Malone come in today?”
Trisha’s posture jolts straight. “What? Why?”
I clear my throat, hoping to rid the shakiness in my voice. “Is that a no?”
“I haven’t seen him,” Trisha says, scanning the surrounding area. “He’s not coming back here, is he? I thought we were done with him.”
“So there’s no chance Dr. Harris saw him?”
Trisha’s jaw clenches, and she shakes her head. “I wouldn’t miss that guy walking back in here. Any of those Scorpions send my blood ice cold.”
My heart thuds to a melancholy beat, and I back away. “I have to go. Can you please apologize to Dr. Harris for me?”
With a mixture of confusion and fear in her expression, Trisha nods.
