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“KATE! OH MY GOD! KATE!” Grace runs past me and pushes Reid out of the way as if he’s not even there.
Kane comes running in behind her, out of breath, and looks at me. “She’s fast.”
“What happened? I’m so sorry I wasn’t here sooner. Kane banged on my door and woke me up. My phone was off. What happened? Are you okay? What do you need?” I don’t think Grace took a breath.
Kate takes Grace’s hands and brings them to her lips and kisses them. “Grace. I’m okay. Some smoke inhalation and a minor burn on my shoulder. I need you to breathe, honey. In and out. That’s it. In. Out. Good.”
Grace bursts into tears. “When Kane woke me up, I just knew something was wrong. When he told me, I was so scared. I made him drive me over here as soon as possible.”
“Shh. I know. I’m okay.” Kate looks at Kane. “Can you get her some water?”
“Come on. I’ll show you where the vending machine is located.” Reid says and both Kane and I follow him out of the room leaving the girls alone together.
The three of us are quite a site walking down the hallway. Shoulder to shoulder, we take up the entire walkway. “I’ve got to ask. How did a little girl like Grace out run you man?” Reid laughs at Kane.
Kane shakes his head. “Dude. I have no idea. I pulled my truck into the parking spot and looked over. and she was out the door and running across the parking lot. That girl is fast. If she ever gets a kick in her kickball game, she’ll get a home run.” He stops and looks up at the ceiling. “Is it still called a home run if it’s for kickball and not baseball?”
Reid and I stop and look at each other, and I shake my head. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
“What made you go to Grace’s house?” Reid changes the subject as he pushes open a door labeled ‘Lounge’.
“After we got Kate’s house under control and were relieved by the oncoming shift, I called Grace, and it went straight to voicemail and she didn’t respond to my texts.”
“Yeah. I called and texted her last night when I was trying to find Kate.” I interrupt him.
“Well, I knew she shouldn’t find out what happened on the morning news, so I drove to her house and banged on her door until she woke up. When I told her what happened, she grabbed some clothes and demanded I take her to see Kate immediately. I kept telling her that Kate was okay, but she wanted to see for herself.”
“Did she say why she didn’t answer her phone?” Reid asks as the three of us head back to Kate’s room.
“Yeah. She said she was so exhausted from all the planning and the excitement of the fundraiser the other day that she took some sleeping pills and turned off her phone so she could sleep.”
“I’m sure she’s just as stressed as Kate has been over what happened to the shop. Kate hasn’t been sleeping well lately, either, although she’d deny it if you asked her.” I knock on Kate’s door and then open it up to find Grace lying next to Kate on her bed. They’re both watching some house hunting show on the television.
“I’ve got rounds to do.” Reid says, then looks at Kate. “If you do what the wardens tell you to and your labs keep getting better, I’ll discharge you in the morning. Sound like a plan?”
Kate nods. “Yep. Thank you again, Reid.”
He waves back to Kate and then walks out of the room.
“What are you watching?” Kane asks as he seems mesmerized by the couple on the television.
“House Hunters. This couple has the worst taste in design.” Grace says as Kate nods.
“Terrible.”
“Where are they?” Kane is still staring at the program.
“Amsterdam.”
“The house is so small. I’d never fit inside.”
Grace, Kate, and Kane are having the most ridiculous conversation, but I’m just staring at Kate and thanking God that she’s here with me. Yesterday I could have lost yet another person who I love and the helplessness and hopelessness I felt last night watching the ER staff work on Kate was so familiar. That same feeling I had when I watched the paramedics work on my father all those years ago.
“I’ll be right back.” I say as I have to leave the room for a minute. My adrenaline is coming down and my emotions are getting the better of me. I didn’t know I could feel this way about a person and it’s freaking me out.
Finding an empty waiting room, I find a chair and sit down. I need to get hold of myself before I cry like a baby. What the hell is wrong with me? I’ve stuck my fingers against my eyelids to push back the two tears that are about to fall.
“Hudson?” I hear my name called and I quickly jump up and find my mother standing next to me.
