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“Hudson Walker.”
“All right, Hudson. Is she awake?”
“Well… her eyes are open…” I pant. “But she doesn’t look like she’s fully awake, not really.”
“If she’s wearing any restrictive clothing, please remove it to enable blood flow.”
I reiterate the instructions to Eli and Rose, who peel away her covers and check, but Katherine is only in her cotton nightgown, nothing to constrict her veins.
I remain on the line until the ambulance arrives, and Connor finally clues into the fact that something is going on in the house.
“I’m going with her to the hospital,” Rose tells us, and of course, none of us try to stop her.
“I’ll follow you,” I promise her.
Eli nods, but Connor doesn’t say anything. We watch as the EMS workers take Katherine on the gurney and close the ambulance doors with Rose in the back.
“It was only a matter of time before something like this happened,” Eli says sensibly. “She’s getting up there in age, already on medication?—”
“This is brought on by MVP, and we all know it,” Connor cuts him off. “Don’t sugarcoat it.”
“MVP isn’t helping matters,” I agree. “And now Rose won’t go to Seattle and help her friends like she planned…”
“She can still go,” Eli says slowly. “It depends on what the doctors say. There’s no reason we can’t keep an eye on Miss Katherine.”
I’m unconvinced that Rose will leave her grandmother now, but getting rid of MVP is as much a benefit to Katherine’s health as being at her bedside.
“Come on,” I tell my friends. “Let’s get to the hospital and see what we can find out. Rose shouldn’t be alone.”
“We might as well take my truck,” Eli suggests, nodding to where he had left it for Rose.
“We should make a stop first,” I say.
Eli nods in agreement without me explaining my thoughts.
* * *
We arrive at the emergency room in Helena, about two hours after the ambulance left the BB with Katherine and Rose.
The nurses give us cute smiles, loaded in bouquets of flowers, teddy bears, and books.
“Mrs. Winterbourne has been transferred out of emergency and into a room already,” one of the administrative nurses informs me when I announce our arrival at the desk. “You can find her on the fourth floor.”
“How is she?” Eli asks.
The nurse shakes her shiny, dark mane. “That’s not information I’m at liberty to give out—despite the fact that you come bearing all those lovely gifts. But if you are authorized by next of kin, the doctor can update you.”
“We’re the closest thing to kin that she’s got,” Connor growls, but I guide him and Eli toward the elevators.
We find Rose sitting next to Katherine’s bed and enter quietly in a flux of balloons and an array of reds, whites, and oranges. Relief colors her beautiful face when she sees us.
“Oh, thank God!” she whispers, nodding toward her sleeping grandmother. She hugs each of us individually and thanks us, sniffling as she accepts the flowers and other gifts we stopped for. “You didn’t need to do all this, guys,” she murmurs. “She’s not really with it yet.”
“That’s all right. She’ll see everything when she opens her eyes,” I reply, setting down the gifts on a bedside table.
“How is she doing?” Eli asks again, the concern on his face tangible.
I’m eager to hear the response, too, and I can see Connor is anxious to know what the doctors said.
