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University hospital?”
Hagan’s lips ask who.
“Yeah.”
“We’re on our way.”
I hang up. “Joe and Ginger are in the hospital. Let’s go.”
He doesn’t hesitate, we’re in the car and at the hospital in a matter of minutes. Hagan runs in, holding my hand all the way from the emergency parking lot. “Joe Danke’s room please.”
“I’m sorry sir, he’s in testing. You’ll have to wait.”
I interrupt, leaning forward on the counter. “Ginger Bell’s room?”
She taps her fingers on the keyboard and looks up. “Three twenty nine. Only two people at a time.”
We’re flying down the hall. We hit the button that opens the doors into the emergency room corridor, and it’s the open like we’re opening King Tuts tomb; it’s so slow.
We look to the left and right, figuring out which way to go. When we come to her room, we stop, composing ourselves before walking in. We need to be calm, because on the phone, Ginger was agitated and distraught.
Hagan turns the knob, and I walk in before him. Ginger sees us and starts bawling. I’m holding her and Hagan’s holding me. There’s blood in her hair. It’s a deep, an almost blue, hue. “Are you okay?” I ask. “I mean is anything broken?”
“I don’t think so. I may have a concussion. But Joe, he was bleeding and wasn’t talking. I yelled and yelled for him, but he didn’t respond. Please Hagan find out what happened to him. I’m supposed to marry him when we graduate next year.”
I sit on the bed, running my fingers through her hair hoping it will calm her down. Then I pull her into my chest. “He’ll be okay. Whatever it is, you know Joe will put up a fight. He loves you. He’s going to fugging fight to be with you. No, you know what, he’s going to fucking fight for you.”
That draws a vacant smile. “Thanks, Addy Bug.”
Hagan says, “What happened?”
“All I remember is Joe saying, ‘Shit! That car isn’t stopping!’ Joe tried to swerve but the car hit us, and we hit a pole. I don’t remember if it was a streetlight or an electricity poll. God, please let him be okay.”
“Do you know if Joe’s parents have been called? Or coach?” Hagan asks. She shakes her head, no. “Okay, I’ll call Coach.”
Hagan excuses himself as he calls the baseball coach. Ginger and I stay silent until she finally says, “One minute we’re discussing wedding dates and the next minute we’re in the hospital. It can’t be God’s plan for us not to be together. It can’t.”
“Let’s say a prayer.” She nods. “Please give Joe the strength to heal his body. Give the doctors the knowledge to heal him. And most of all, please tell Joe we love him, and we want to dance at his wedding next year.”
Then, Ginger and I sob together.
ChapterThirty-Eight
Hagan
Coach saidhe’ll handle everything. I wander the halls searching for Joe. No one is keeping me from seeing him. I look at the dry erase boards beside the room numbers, searching.
Danke… Danke… Danke…Summers… What Summers?
And that’s when my world crashes. Adalee’s dad was late to dinner. Fuck, no. It can’t be. But Summers isn’t a common last name. My minds on a loop.
“Sir, this is Hagan Chatham, Adalee’s boyfriend. She wants to be part of your life. While at Thanksgiving with my family she talked about not having a real Thanksgiving since her mom passed away. I want to give her a Thanksgiving with you. We’ll be back in Kentucky on Sunday. I’ve arranged for a private flight to bring you and take you home and a hotel for the night. Please say yes. Please say you’ll do this for your daughter.”
“Yes, I want that too. Send me the details. Thank you.”
No, no, no. I slide down the hospital wall. Anger and guilt fill my body like I’ve never felt before. I had a weird feeling in the car when we saw the wreck ahead of us. I didn’t recognize the cars, so I pushed the feeling down. What have I done? What has Mr. Summers done?
A nurse comes by and tells me I need to wait in the lobby or go into the room. That’s when I see Joe being wheeled into a room. I follow along behind the rolling bed. The transport nurse asks who I am.
