AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine, but did you call the police?” she asked worriedly. “Did you call your mom to warn her?”
I could see the concern on her face. It was so typical of us; to worry about each other more than ourselves. Emotions welled up and I drew in a deep breath trying to steady my next words. “I called my dad. He’s going to call the parole board and maybe they can put him back behind bars before he does any major damage.”
“What did he say?” She picked up a glass of ice water and took a sip.
“Just that he wanted to be my dad. I’ve been getting a bunch of anonymous phone calls all week. He never left a message, so I thought it was telemarketing.”But hoped it was you… I thought.
“It seems kind of weird that he’d show up now. I mean, if he wanted to be in your life, he could have written you letters over the years to at least make the effort.”
I shook my head. “I think my mom had a restraining order against any contact.”
Her green eyes seemed so huge, and I wished I could see them in person. I found myself wanting to touch her face with my fingertips. She looked so fragile, and I wished I was there to take care of her.
“Well, keep me posted on what’s going on, okay?”
A small wave of panic pulsed through me. Was she about to hang up? “Tell me what’s going on with you? Anything new?”
“Just school and working at the hospital.”
I sensed there was more; something was bothering her. I wished I was sitting right beside her so I could hold her and there wasn’t all this damn distance between us.
“The only thing new is that one of the patients died. A little boy. I wasn’t there when he passed and I’m sad about that.”
I could hear the pain in her voice. “You can’t be there for all of them, honey. You’re doing the best you can.”
“Am I?” she asked, defeat in her voice.
“I know you better than anyone, and you always give a hundred and ten percent. Were you close to the little boy?”
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. My heart seized a little inside my chest as hope sparked. She was wearing my old high school T-Shirt. I knew it was mine because of the tear on the shoulder. I’d caught it on a branch when we were helping to cut down trees at the ranch the summer of our junior year.
“I’m close with all of them.”
I nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry. There’s something else, though” I stated. “What is it?” Was she struggling with the situation between us, as I was?
“It’s just been a really crappy day,” Remi answered. She tried to keep her voice even, but there was a small crack behind the words. “I don’t want to bother you with it.”
“Remi,” I said seriously. “If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t ask. You know this about me.”
She made an almost undetectable nod. “I thought he was getting better and then I came into the hospital today morning and he’d died. I was so sad, and then it all got worse. Sometimes I wonder if this is really what I want to do with my life.”
This was serious. “What happened?”
“Oh, Dylan, it’s just awful! A little girl with leukemia was abandoned by her mother! Can you imagine?”
I was taken aback a little. “Not really,” I said honestly leaning back on the couch cushions, but still holding the phone in front of me so we could see each other. “I’m sorry, honey.”
Remi scooched down on the sofa to lay her head on a pillow. She rolled onto her side. I could only see her face and the pillow she was lying on, but I could imagine her curled into a fetal position but holding her phone. “The little girl was found at another hospital and after tests they brought her to St. Jude’s. What kind of person abandons a sick child like that? Especially when there are no bills from the hospital, and she could have lived on campus while her daughter received treatment.” It was one of the wonderful things about St. Jude; no patient received a bill for treatment or living expenses.
“Was she a drunk or drug addict?” I asked.
“I don’t know. There was a note, but maybe? She might have mental illness, but whatever her issues are, she felt she couldn’t care for her child. I’ve spent hours thinking about it. I want to try and find her.”
I shook my head adamantly, sitting up and leaning forward so my elbows were resting on both knees while I gazed into my screen. “Remi, no. Stay out of it. Even if she’s clean, she might have dangerous people around her. I’m sure the police are doing their best to find her. Please promise me, you won’t go into any seedy neighborhoods.”
“You should have seen the little girl, Dylan. She was crying for her mom and all I could do was sit beside her and read her stories. I felt so helpless. I remembered what it was like being a little kid in a big, sterile hospital room, but I had my mom and Jensey, and then Dad came. I wasn’t alone but I was still scared to death. Rory only has strangers.”
Her words conjured the terrifying picture of another sick little girl in my mind; one with huge green eyes. We were all so lucky Remi had survived. I didn’t know what my life would have been like if it weren’t for her being by my side growing up. “You won’t be a stranger long, sweetheart.” After seeing how heartbroken Remi was about the little boy who passed away, I was worried that she was setting herself up for yet another heartbreak. “What’s going to happen to her?”
