Twenty

Haley

The fight with Madison nagged Haley’s conscience for the rest of the week. So much so that she almost didn’t go to the library on Saturday. But the atmosphere inside the house was positively poisonous, and she needed to study, and the library really did help her be more productive.

You could go to a different library, a voice echoed inside her head. Well, I don’t want to. And I’m not going to let Madison dictate my life.

David was already at their table when she arrived.

“Bad mood?” he asked after taking one good look at her.

“Please don’t ask.” Needing a distraction, she said, “Do you have any vicious models for me to crack today?”

David dipped his head in a mock bow. “I hear you, vicious model on its way.”

After pulling up the file, he offered his laptop to her. Haley sat next to him and happily forgot about Madison’s accusations for the rest of the day.

***

As usual, it took an attendant to kick them out for Haley and David to leave the library. They were outside saying goodbye when an insistent vibration in her backpack distracted Haley. She rummaged blindly for her phone until her hand clasped around the slim rectangle. Haley stared at the caller ID on the screen: Mom. Weird, they just had their weekly chat last night and her mom never called on a weekend unless something was wrong.

“Mom,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“It’s your father,” her mother said, a tremor in her voice.

“Dad? What about Dad?”

“Oh, Haley, he’s had a heart attack.”

The ground disappeared from beneath Haley’s feet. She felt like she was about to faint. “When? How? Is he okay?”

Please let him be okay, please let him be okay.

“He’s in surgery right now… Before… we were outside taking care of the garden and I don’t know what happened… he just collapsed.”

“But what are the doctors saying?”

“The surgeon is optimistic, but they won’t tell me anything for sure until he’s out of the OR.”

Haley made a split-second decision. “I’m coming home.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d want to. We’re at Mercy Hospital.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“How are you getting here?”

“I’ll catch a flight or the bus, I don’t know.”

“Please be safe. I have to call Uncle Tim now.”

“I will, Mom, bye.” Haley pressed End and immediately googled flights. There were none going out of Boston Logan to Buffalo after five in the evening. “Damn,” she cursed. The bus took forever. “I need a car.”

She was about to call Madison, when David said, “I’ll drive you.”

Haley had forgotten he was standing right next to her. “You have a car?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you really drive me home?”

“Not would, am.”

“But Buffalo is a seven-hour drive.”

David checked his watch. “If we leave now, we can be there by midnight.”

Haley swallowed. “Thank you.”

David gave a curt nod. “Do you need to go home to get something?”

“No, I just want to leave.”

“Let’s go, then.”

***

David’s car was a midnight-blue pickup. He drove it in silence, following the navigator’s instructions on his phone without trying to make small talk. Haley was glad. She wasn’t in the mood to talk. She wasn’t in the mood to do anything. All she wanted was to get home as fast as possible and be with her family, and David seemed to understand that.

They only stopped once to fill the tank and go to the restroom. David ate a cold sandwich while he drove, but Haley’s stomach was too cramped up with worry. David didn’t insist on her eating, and once again, Haley was grateful that he let her be. No awkward, “I’m sorry.” No stupid, “How are you feeling?” questions. And no “You should try to eat something,” crap. David drove her in silence, the hard resolution of getting her to Buffalo as soon as possible etched on his rugged features.

Haley’s mom called again halfway through the trip with the good news that her dad was out of surgery. The doctors had said everything had gone well, and that now they only needed to wait for her father to wake up. The biggest lump eased in Haley’s throat; her dad was going to be okay. She would get there in time. She would see him again.

After the call, Haley’s phone died, making her curse under her breath. She’d spent too much time on Google, learning everything she could about heart attacks, recovery, and prevention, consuming all the battery. She hadn’t thought to buy a charger at the gas station, and she certainly didn’t want to stop again now.

“What happened?” David asked, probably worried the call had been bad news.

“My phone died,” she said.

“I don’t have a charger, but mine still has half the battery if you want to call Scott,” David offered.

And, once again, Haley appreciated how much effort it must’ve taken him to say that.

“You don’t need it for directions?”

“It says to go straight for the next two hundred miles. I can manage.” David freed the phone from its case on the air vent and handed it to her.

“Thanks.” Haley dialed Scott’s number and waited on the line. It rang, and rang, and rang… “He’s not picking up.”

“Probably because it’s my number. Try a text.”

“No, it can wait until tomorrow.” The truth was Haley feared Scott would go into full panic mode and ask her all the questions she didn’t want to answer right now. “Mind if I give your number to my mom, in case she needs to get a hold of me?”

David shook his head and didn’t add anything else for the rest of the trip.

At exactly ten minutes past midnight, he pulled over near the main entrance of Mercy Hospital.

“Go,” he said. “I’ll find a parking spot.”

Haley didn’t need to be told twice; her hand was already on the car door handle. She thanked David again and rushed out of the car and inside the towering building. Her mom had texted her the floor and room they were keeping her dad in, so Haley headed straight for the elevator. She had to meander through a few halls and pass many doors before she spotted her mom standing in the threshold of a room.

“Mom,” Haley shouted, probably too loud for a hospital, especially after midnight.

Her mother turned and smiled; she looked tired but relieved. “Monkey,” she said, using Haley’s pet name.

Haley flew into her mother’s outstretched arms and, resting her forehead on her shoulder, she finally cracked down. She started sobbing convulsively while her mother gently stroked her hair, whispering soothing words. “It’s okay, Baby Monkey. We got scared, but it’s all good now.”

“How’s Dad?” Haley lifted her head, wiping the tears from her face with the sleeve of her blouse. “Can I see him?”

“The doctors will be out in a minute, and they’ll let us in afterward.”

While they waited, Haley bombarded her mom with questions, since the doctors weren’t around to interrogate. Miranda responded as well as she could. They’d told her that the heart attack had been minor as only a small portion of tissue had been involved, and that they’d been able to remove the clog during the surgery. The prognosis for her dad was a speedy recovery, provided he took better care of his health and stuck to a wholesome diet.

She learned this last part from a young doctor who she’d roped into questioning. “I’ll make sure he never touches a slice of bacon in his life ever again,” she swore.

The doctor smiled and said, “Seems like Mr. Thomas already has the best care. Would you like to see him?”

“Yeah, can we go in?” Haley asked eagerly.

“Yes, but only for a few minutes. Your father needs to rest right now.”

“We won’t be long, I promise.”

Shyly, Haley entered her father’s room. His face brightened as soon as he spotted her on the threshold. He was pale as a ghost, hooked to too many machines to count, with tubes jutting out of his body all over, but her dad was smiling at her.

“Dad.” Haley rushed forward, ready to hug him, but stopped just before the bed, afraid of hurting him. She took hold of his left hand instead. “I got so scared.”

“I know, Baby Monkey.” His voice sounded coarser than usual, but his eyes were alert and full of life. “I promise I won’t do it again.”

Haley fought back tears again. “We won’t let you,” she said, wrapping her free arm around her mom and pulling her close. “At the cost of making you a vegan,” Haley threatened.

Her father chuckled at the mock threat and pressed his right hand to his chest as if it hurt, which it probably did.

Haley paled.

“Too soon for jokes, Baby Monkey,” her dad said. “Now you both go home and have a good night’s rest.”

“But, Dad, I just got here.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Monkey.”

“Come on, Haley.” Her mom pulled her closer. “We need to go, your father needs to rest.”

Haley planted a kiss on her dad’s forehead and left some space for her mother to do the same, before they both walked out wishing him goodnight.

David was waiting for them seated on a chair in the hall outside her dad’s room. When he spotted them coming out he got up, his face pale, worried, and tired.

Haley steered her mom toward him and made the introductions. “Mom, this is David, the friend who drove me here.”

“We talked on the phone a few weeks ago, right?” her mom said. “Nice to meet you in person, and thank you for bringing our daughter home safe.”

David shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure, Mrs. Thomas. I’m glad I could help. How’s Mr. Thomas?”

“Already well enough to boss us around and order us to go home.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” David’s mouth stretched in a close-lipped smile. “If you’re going home”—he scratched the back of his head—“is there a motel nearby you could suggest?”

“Oh, don’t be silly.” Her mother scoffed. “You’re staying with us.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude, Mrs. Thomas,” David—suddenly the most educated, parents-presentable boy on Earth—said.

“No intrusions.” Her mom smiled warmly. “Plus, I came here in the ambulance and we could use the ride home.” She spared Haley a wink. “And please, call me Miranda.”

“Thank you, Mrs.—Miranda. I’ll get the car out front; you can wait for me downstairs.” David nodded at Haley, then sprinted toward the elevator.

Haley had followed the conversation between him and her mother with mixed feelings: it was so weird to have David here in Buffalo, meeting her family—staying at her house.

“So that’s David, huh?” Her mom asked with a shrewd smile. “Not your boyfriend, I take it?”

“David’s just a friend, Mom.”

“A very good one to drop everything and drive you across the country at a moment’s notice.”

Haley shrugged. “I guess. Can we go now? I’m really tired.”

***

Staring at the roof of her childhood bedroom, it took Haley a long time to fall asleep. The worry-induced adrenaline of the day was still pumping in her blood, but mostly it was the thought of David sleeping in the adjoining room that kept her awake. Haley wasn’t sure why the idea made her so restless, but the whole David-in-her-childhood-home scenario seemed so improbable, so out of context. If she’d ever imagined introducing someone to her parents, it had been Scott she’d pictured coming to Buffalo, not David. And definitely not under the present circumstances.

To be honest, the fact that he’d been her hero today wasn’t helping either. It was so much easier to disregard David when he was acting like a jerk and hurting everybody. This new knight-in-shining-armor attitude was confusing. It forced Haley to see the good in him, and she couldn’t help but like what she saw.

A stab of guilt made her chest contract. These were dangerous thoughts to have, and Haley was too exhausted to even begin to investigate what they might mean. She tried to empty her brain and, after several minutes of tossing and turning, fatigue got the best of her and she finally fell asleep.