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“HAPPY” by NF
HOLDEN
“What's up, man?” I ask when I see Nash’s name light up on my phone screen.
“Eighteen-thirty west east lane! It’s Rose, and she’s in bad shape, Holden. I was on my way to Nissa and Rob’s when she just started seizing in the passenger seat!” Nash’s words are frantic and anxious. Scared.
“What the fuck? I jump to my feet and rush to the door, grabbing my keys. I’m jumping in my car when I realize I don’t even have shoes on. Fuck it. “The hospital? Why were you with her?” My mind spirals, but I’m already driving.
“I have to call your stepmom, just get here.” Nash disconnects the call.
My breathing is so erratic that spots start to cloud my vision.
“Fuck!” I slam a fist against the steering wheel, sucking in a deep breath through my nose and then blowing it out. I need to calm down before I fucking pass out.
I don’t pray. I don’t believe in God or a higher power. But at this moment, I beg.
I beg the fucking universe not to take Rose too.
“Please, whatever’s out there. If there’s anyone listening, don’t take her too. Please, not Rose…not Rose…” My throat closes as I hold in my emotion. It feels like I’m choking on my own pain as my temples throb until I release the sob that was threatening to break free.
My phone rings as I drive more recklessly than I ever have in my entire life. I can’t take my eyes off the road, or I’ll crash, so I ignore the call, even as it rings for the next ten minutes straight. Pulling into the emergency parking, I spare the precious seconds it takes me to reach for the phone and answer.
“Holden!” Terry wails, and I hear her release a relieved sob. “Are you there? What’s going on!” she sobs into the phone, and my chest tightens for the woman I call my stepmother. She doesn’t know I’m in love with her daughter. Our girl is lying in a hospital bed…
“I’m running in now,” is all I can say. She’s rambling now, asking questions I don't have answers for as I race into the building. I pass the line of people waiting to speak with admissions. If they needed to be seen before I needed to get to Rose, they’d already be in a bed. “Rose Rays… uh Rosily Rays…” I correct, saying her given name, not sure what Nash would have given them.
“Holden!” I hear my best friend shout and don’t even wait for the nurse to respond before I’m dashing away.
I put my stepmom on speaker as Nash rushes me to the hall outside my stepsister’s room.
Three nurses and two women that I assume are the doctors based on their white jackets are surrounding Rose. Someone is shoving a tube down Rose’s throat while another hooks her up to an IV. The door is closed, and I rush to enter, but Nash stops me.
“They won’t let us in,” he huffs, clearly still out of breath.
“What happened!” Terry screams, reminding me I have her on speaker still. Hanging up, I call her back with a video and show her what we’re seeing. “Oh, god,” she whispers.
“I met her at a restaurant tonight, but she was already so drunk. She looked so fucked up. Like she hasn’t been eating… I was going to take her to Nissa’s, but she started having a seizure in my car. I called 911, but they said it would be faster if I drove her myself…they were ready for her, though, when I pulled up…” Nash takes a deep breath and pauses when we hear pounding footsteps behind us.
“What the fuck,” I hear Ren curse as he stops beside us. I don’t look away from Rose. I can’t.
“They’re pumping her stomach and giving her an IV…” I say, watching the heart monitor beep. It’s too slow. Her blood pressure is too low…
“Holden?” I hear the strong, steady voice of the man who adopted me.
“Yes, sir?”
“We’re on our way,” he announces, and I nod, even though I know they can’t see me. The video call disconnects, so I place my phone in my pocket as two nurses walk over to the three of us.
“We need you to wait in the waiting room. You’ll be alerted when she’s stable.”
“I can’t…” I try to say, but it doesn’t matter. Ren and Nash pull me with them as the nurses lead us away from Rose.
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
“Running” by NF
REN
