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Steph released a breath. “I’ll drive myself. I don’t want to worry about shuffling cars later. I just need Lori to call me and say that Pops fell asleep in front of the TV.”
“Right.” He squeezed her hand and released it. “That’s probably exactly what happened.”
By the time they made it back to Cal’s town house, Lori still hadn’t called. Steph couldn’t wait anymore, so she called her. No answer.
“I’m going to start driving,” she said. “Every minute will bring me closer to home.”
“Steph, let me drive you. It’s not a big deal to take a bus or something back here tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t want you driving while dealing with so much.”
Steph bit her lip. The offer was so generous. She wanted to say no. She wanted to jump in her car and drive as fast as she dared, but maybe Cal was right.
“Okay, but can we go right now?”
“Of course,” he said, and they detoured toward her car.
Steph didn’t even ask him if he needed to get anything from his place. They jumped in her car, with Cal in the driver’s seat.
It was another ten minutes before Lori finally called. “Steph?” she said, her voice high, panicked. “Pops had a fall. He’s talking and everything, but he was really shaken up. I called the ambulance, and they’re taking him to the hospital.”
Steph couldn’t speak for a moment. “Did he tell you what happened?”
“He was pretty fuzzy on the details,” Lori said. “I had to go through the back door, and I found him in the kitchen. The phone was too far for him to reach. I guess he fell and was able to get to the phone, then fell again and dropped it.”
Steph reached for Cal’s hand and held on tight. “Why did he fall? Did he break a bone?”
“It was all kind of a blur. I’m sorry. I don’t think the paramedics knew exactly what had happened either.”
“Okay,” she said, her thoughts spinning all over. “Cal’s driving me back home, and we’ll go straight to the hospital.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
Steph’s instinct was to tell her no, not to worry about it, but instead, she said, “That would be great. Thank you so much.”
When she hung up, she looked over at Cal and told him what Lori had said. “Do you think it was a stroke?”
“Maybe,” he said. “The fact that he’s talking is great, though, and I’m glad Lori found him when she did.”
Steph nodded as everything began to sink in. “I’m glad he was able to call and alert me.”
“I’m sorry,” Cal said softly.
Guilt washed over her. Guilt and pain that something might be seriously wrong with Pops. If she’d stayed home tonight, he would have been fine. Right? She’d spent those two nights babysitting Maren, and nothing had happened to Pops. Why did she have to be so far away when it did?
“It’s not your fault,” Cal told her, as if he could read her mind.
“You don’t know that,” Steph said. It wasn’t fair to say, but until she had answers, she did feel like it was her fault. “I need to call my parents.”
She hated to wake them up, but what if the worst happened? They’d be more upset if she didn’t inform them.
“What did the doctor say?” her mother asked right away.
“I haven’t spoken to a doctor yet, but I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I find out at the hospital.”
“We can catch a flight tomorrow,” her father said.
“Not until we know what’s going on,” her mother cut in. “I don’t want to spend money on last-minute plane tickets unless we have to. I do want to know, Stephenie, why weren’t you home this time of night?”
Because she was a grown woman and wasn’t in lockdown. “I was visiting a friend in Grandin.” She avoided any probing questions, then promised again to let her parents know as soon as she had more details. After hanging up with them, she reached for Cal’s hand because it was the only thing keeping her from completely melting.
