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My cell vibrates across the coffee table and a feeling of dread comes over me. Clenching the mug of tea between my hands a little tighter, I eye my phone.
An unknown number.
The second sign that this can’t be good. Whose number in town wouldn’t I have in my phone? We were a small community. Everyone knew everyone.
Unless it was a mountain rescue volunteer.
No. No, I couldn’t think like that. I was jumping to conclusions and being silly. Scott left only an hour ago. He couldn’t have gotten in trouble so quickly. He was a trained professional.
Yet even I knew, as a firefighter, shit could go south really quickly.
Snapping out of my doom and gloom thoughts, I balance my mug and reach for the phone. I don’t even get a greeting out before the speaker is shouting at me.
“Elyssa? Am I speaking to Elyssa?” the voice calls out, static or the hard fall of rain sounding loudly in the background.
“Yes, you’ve reached Elyssa. Who is—”
“You need to get to Royal Victoria Hospital. As soon as you can. Scott…hurt…they don’t know…disaster.” My heart leaps into my throat but I can’t make out what he’s saying.
“Hello? Can you hear me? You’re cutting out.”
“Get to the hospital!” is cried out before the line goes dead.
I’m so stunned that my body doesn’t move as fear courses through me. An hour ago I was in bed with Scott, whispering secretly into the arch of his neck that I loved him. We’d been on the path to our happily ever after.
But now that could all just be a memory. I would regret not telling him just how much I loved him.
The coffee table upends as my knee crashes into it in my haste to get up. The tea I was drinking spills, but I don’t stop to clean it up. I need to get out of here. I need to get to the hospital.
On autopilot, I run out the apartment door, grabbing my jacket and keys. I don’t remember getting in my car or the drive to the hospital; all I feel is immense relief when I see the bright lights of the hospital parking lot.
“Scott Aldridge,” I half cry, half huff at the nurse behind the high counter. “Please, can you tell me which room Scott Aldridge is in?”
“Is he with the mountain rescue? We have a couple of those in surgery.”
“Oh God, yes. He was out there tonight.”
The woman must see the desperation in my eyes because she doesn’t try to quiet or calm me down. She’s realized her mistake. Instead, she begins clicking away at the computer.
“Room 419. Elevators are over there.” Her arm is midway to extending when I dash down the hallway. I know my way around this hospital. I’ve taught an infant CPR class here many times.
The elevator corridor is packed with people waiting to get on. My anxiety spikes again. I can’t wait. I’ll take the stairs. With each slapping footfall up the stairs, new scenarios of dread pop into my mind. So many things could happen up in the mountains. Most of them deadly.
My boots slip on the tiled floor, making me crash into the wall near the stairwell exit. If I wasn’t so frantic, my ungraceful slide would have been funny. With shaking hands, I exit onto the floor and desperately look for room numbers. The floor is busy with medical staff and civilians bumbling around. No one pays attention to me as I begin to speed walk down the hallway.
“Elyssa?”
At the sound of my name, I stop. My heart jumps into my throat and my stomach churns.
Scott is here. He’s here!
“Oh my God” is all I’m able to get out before I’m wrapped tightly in his arms. I cling to him, squeezing him with all my might to make sure he’s real. He’s whole and healthy. “I thought—” I don’t bother finishing that sentence.
I burst into tears.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m okay.”
Nodding against his chest, I let him know I can hear him but all my fear and relief erupt from me in the form of hiccups and crying. Scott holds me through all of it.
