Next date.
Even after I go home, this isn’t ending. It feels good to get that confirmation.
As the hours pass, I’m struck by how normal this all feels. Presents are next, and while everyone gathers around the stunning mother-to-be, I grab my phone to take a picture. I want to capture this moment: my new boyfriend, my new friends, my new normal.
4 missed calls.
All from Grams’ apartment complex?
Quietly, I step away, expecting the usual—either Grams or a telemarketer—but something in me goes cold as I answer another incoming call.
“Miss Brooks?” a monotone voice says as I pick up. “We’re calling in regard to your relative in our care…”
“What happened?” I spit out the words, but the room is spinning around me. “Is she okay?”
“Your Grandmother had a fall last night. We’ve been trying to reach you. She’s been transferred to the hospital.”
“Which one?” I bark, looking around for something—a pen, paper, anything. The closest thing is one of the fabric markers to decorate onesies and a paper plate. I jot down the address he gives me with shaking hands.
“Visitation is—” The man begins,
“As soon as I arrive.” No one is going to keep me from seeing her, especially when I have no idea how serious this is. The man on the phone rattles off more details: policies, fees, it’s all white noise I barely pay attention to. I need to get back to my car.
How do I get back to my car?
Reality snaps back into place. I’m in the corner of a paranormal baby shower. Heather has stopped opening her perfectly decorated presents, and everyone is staring at me.
Shit.
“I—I am so sorry,” I begin, backing away. I make it as far as the entryway before Gil catches up to me.
“Are you okay?” His voice is tender as he places a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s get you out of here.”
I manage to nod, sobs building in my throat as I apologize again, because of course I would ruin a baby shower with a family emergency.
“My car… we have to get my car and—” God, it’s going to take so long to get there. “They said she’s okay but—I don’t know—I don’t trust them, or the doctors, or—God, you think she’s okay, right?”
“She’ll be okay, Marina,” he says, his hand trailing down to squeeze my fingers, which I barely register. “Sounds like our first thing to solve is getting you to the hospital. I’ll need to order a new glamour. It shouldn’t take too long but—”
“Can’t you borrow one?” I ask, looking around the room at the collection of faeries. “Someone must have—”
“They’re attuned to each person.” Gil’s usual calm cadence is replaced with stress. “I can probably find mine in the spring.”
I hang my head. Why did I have to go and be romantic and dramatically drop it into a large body of water?
“I won’t let you face this on your own.”
My stomach drops as I pull away. Let me.Let me?This is my Grams we’re talking about! I can feel my face twisting in anger as he raises his hands in surrender.
“Marina—”
“Do you seriously think they’d let you into a hospital lookinglike—” I stop myself. Common sense wise, he knows better than thinking he can run around without a disguise. He wouldn’t have been sneaking around the springs otherwise. Sure, it’s a high stress situation, but it’s my Grams we’re talking about!
“Looking like?” he says, and there’s a flicker of agitation there. I gulp, getting the sense we’ve had this conversation before. It echoes something from the past that’s been blurred by time. For just a moment, he sounds like an antagonistic ten-year-old boy, and I follow suit.
“Not a human! In a very human place!” I shake my head. “I don’t want to argue with you right now.”
“Who’s arguing?” he says, his voice as gentle as his hand on my shoulder. It’s irritating in its calm, and quiet, especially when I feel like I’m going to explode in contrast. “I’ll get it sorted, just wait a few—”
