A rough sound tears from him, and he grips my hips to hold me still as he drags himself against me. Soon we’re both breathing hard. “Itisa long drive.”
“You should stay.”
“It would feel good to wake up with you in my arms.”
When he pulls back, I think I’ve convinced him. Only his brows furrow and he reaches to pull his phone out of his back pocket.
The screen is lit up with a call. Riley.
We stare at each other over the phone in his hand. I give him a little shrug, and he answers while I wrap his jacket more tightly around me, cold now that his big, warm body isn’t pressed right up against mine.
“Hey, Riley. What’s up?”
Bastien listens for a moment. Then his expression walls up all of a sudden. “Oh shit.” He pulls the phone from his ear and switches the call to speaker.
“—can’t get hold of Vera.”
“What’s happened?” I say out loud before I can think.
Riley pauses. “Ver?”
“Yeah, she’s here.”
I know something serious has happened when Riley doesn’t immediately fire off a million questions. “Vera, why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone? Mom’s been admitted to the hospital. She’s had a fall. They’re doing X-rays now, but they think she’s broken her collarbone and maybe her arm.”
“Fuck.”
Bastien’s warm hand on my shoulder grounds me.
“What happened?” I ask Riley.
“Relapse.”
“Are they sure?”
“Yeah, Ver. That’s all this is. It’s just a bad one.” Riley’s voice is a harsh bark.
I don’t ask any more questions. There’s no point. Her specialist will already be looking into it, I’m sure. No one will have answers yet.
The tightness in my throat reaches up and claws at my eyes too, making them water. Bastien’s hand smoothes over my back, and I can breathe again.
“OK, I’ll be there. Which hospital?”
He gives me the directions, and Bas hangs up the phone. We don’t have to discuss it. I run upstairs to fetch an overnight bag, and we climb into his truck and hit the road.
Stopping at a rest stop for cheap coffee and stale donuts keeps us going into the early hours of the morning. But by the time we make it to the hospital, visiting hours have ended and they won’t admit us. Bas sits on the firm bench in the emergency waiting room, and I lie with my head in his lap, not expecting to sleep. Some time before five, I must drift off, though, because I wake groggy and stiff to someone shaking me.
EIGHTEEN
Bastien
I wake with a start as Vera sits and spot Riley looking pale and tight-lipped, standing in front of us. I scrub a hand over my face. “Hey. What time is it?”
“Six. How long have you guys been here?”
“A couple of hours.” Vera’s voice is unsteady, and I don’t pull her into my arms, but I’m glad when my friend remembers how to be a good brother and hugs her instead. I’m not sure now is the right time to break our news to him, so it’s good he doesn’t seem suspicious. I guess letting her rest in my lap is innocent enough.
After a moment they break apart, and her eyes are teary. That makes me want to hit something, but there’s nothing to hit. There’s no big bad here, just a silent disease that it’s all too easy to forget about on Tilly’s good days. Then it slogs you in the guts when you least expect it.
