My body practically vibrates with tension as I sit in the waiting room, hoping to catch site of Zak. It’s been over an hour since I got here, after taking thirty minutes to find a park and run back to the emergency room. An hour and a half of wondering what the hell is going on.

I reach for my phone to call him, but stop before my finger taps his name. Whatever’s going on, if he wanted me there he would have called me. Tapping on Kallie’s name instead, I wait as the ringtone starts up. I need to talk to someone before I go crazy and start demanding things of the poor nurse at the reception desk again.

Kallie answers on the third ring, “Hel—”

“Are you busy?” I cut her off.

“No, what’s going on? Why do you sound like you’ve been crying?” she asks.

Tears I’ve been holding back since the nurse said she couldn’t give me information burst free, “Zak-got-a-call-this-morning-and-somethings-wrong-with-his-friend-and-we’re-at-the-hospital-and-I-don’t-know-what’s-going-on.” My words are a garbled, sobbing mess, and I have no clue if Kallie understood me but nothing else will come out of my mouth now.

“I’m coming, just breathe, Ellie,” she instructs in her no-nonsense, business-woman voice, “I just need you to tell me which hospital, honey.”

I try to do as she says, try slowing my breathing, but at this point I’m almost hyperventilating.

“Ellie, listen to me,” Kallie says softly through the line. “Breathe, honey. Everything will be okay. Zak isn’t hurt so you can calm down now and breathe for me.”

She obviously understood the garbled mess. I remind myself Zak isn’t the one in hospital right now. He’s not hurt, not physically anyway. Emotionally though, after seeing the utter despair in his eyes when he answered that call this morning, I know he’s not okay.

“Mount Archer,” I tell Kallie, when I can finally talk again, “Off Main.”

She wastes no time in telling me she’ll be here as soon as possible, then ends the call. I stare at my reflection in my shiny black phone screen, and see the haunted darkness I saw in Zak’s face as we drove here. Tears prickle my eyes again as I replay the few words he spoke this morning.

Lu’s been in an accident—her baby might not make it.

Did he know she was pregnant? He can’t have. He would have told me last night when he told me everything else about their relationship. I definitely would remember him telling me that. And there’s no way he would keep it from me, not after everything we shared.

My heart fractures when I realise none of that even matters right now. His best friend might lose her baby. I can’t think of anything more horrific than losing a child. My palm rests against my own empty belly as the thought alone rocks me to my core.

Tapping my phone screen, I note thirty minutes has passed since I called Kallie. She will be here soon. She and Abe live about forty minutes out of town. I need something to do so I sit here staring at my phone screen, tapping it every time it dims, counting down the minutes until Kallie is by my side.

Warm arms circle me, jolting me out of my entranced state. I didn’t even notice she’d arrived.

“I’m here now, El. It’s going to be okay,” she whispers into my ear, trying to bring me comfort that I know only Zak can provide. I squeeze her back all the same.

“Thank you,” I murmur as she releases her hold on me.

Kallie’s lifts her hand to my face, tucking stray hairs behind my ear then cups my cheek. “Now tell me what you know,” she coaches, dropping her hand to reach inside her bag then she hands me a hair tie.

Tying my bed hair in a messy bun on top of my head, I tell her everything I can remember. I watch her face crumple as my story continues, covering everything from last night until my phone call to her.

I swallow thickly past the lump of emotion in my throat, “I’m so selfish,” I tell her, “I was sitting here fussing over whether Zak knew if Lulu was pregnant, when I should have been thinking about that poor woman possibly losing her baby.”

Kallie shakes her head. “No, honey, you’re not selfish. You wouldn’t have realised the error of your thought process if you were genuinely selfish,” she assures me, tucking more fly away hairs behind my ear. “Now stay here, I’m going to go talk to the nurse and see if my father’s name and numerous donations can get more information.”

She gets to her feet, turns and presses a kiss to my temple then strides over to the reception desk. Without missing a beat she glares down at the nurse sitting behind the desk and begins questioning her.

I’m watching her weave her high society, I’m-a-senator’s-daughter-and-my-money-pays-your-wages magic over the nurse, when someone drops down into the seat beside me. My head snaps to the side, ready to tell them to shove off when I recognise the sharp jaw and stern features. It’s Abe, Kallie’s other half and Zak’s closest guy friend.

“She’s doing that for you,” Abe says, his focus never leaving Kallie.

My eyes return to my best friend and I know what he’s talking about. Kallie hates her name, she walked away from the high society life when Abe showed her she didn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want. Her father be damned. The fact she’s throwing her status around right now is solely for my benefit.

“I know,” I nod, agreeing with the Neanderthal beside me.

His eyes remain trained on her as he speaks to me, “You were talking about Lulu on the phone, weren’t you?”

I swallow hard. “Yes,” I whisper.

Abe nods, then tilts his head down and to the side to stare at me. “I’ve never seen Zak so caught up in another person like he is with you. Not even Lulu,” he says.

He’s being nice to me. I frown. “I know,” I mumble, then narrow my eyes on Abe. Why is he being nice to me? He and I do not get along. Never have, and frankly never will, despite our counterparts being the other’s best friend.

“What?” he snaps, “Stop looking at me like you’re about to scalp me. I was comforting you, woman,” he glares down at me.

Leaning back in the plastic chair, making it squeak annoyingly, I keep my eyes on his scowling face. “The question is why?”

Abe rolls his eyes and gets to his feet, stalking away from me and over to Kallie who’s in an intense conversation with someone wearing a suit. Administration, maybe? I flip Abe off when he looks over his shoulder at me, eyes still narrowed. Then Kallie points back to me and I tense. A second later she waves me over, “Ellie, come on, I know where he is.”

My eyes flick around our surroundings as I follow Abe, Kallie, and the suit, down a long corridor. I read every sign I see along the way, and it seems we’re going to the neonatal unit. I don’t understand. “Kallie, I think we’re going the wrong way,” I speak up from behind her.

Her posture is rigid as she turns to me, halting the progress of our little group. Stepping forward she takes my hands in hers, her eyes are shining with unshed tears. What the hell?

I step back, leaving her hands hanging in mid-air. “What’s going on?”

Abe steps up to Kallie’s side, a warning on his face, but I ignore him and focus on my friend. “Kalista,” I use her full name, letting her know I’m onto her. “Tell me what’s going on. Where are we going?”

She swallows hard then looks back at the suit. “Is there a waiting room we could have a few moments in, please?”

He nods, then shows us to a small room with two couches, a few chairs, and a small kitchenette. “I’ll just wait in the hall,” he tells us, closing the door behind him.

Kallie takes my hand, tightening her grip when I try to pull away, then tugs me to one of the couches. “Sit,” she commands, when I don’t immediately follow her lead.

Huffing, I do as she says.

Abe stands against the wall beside the door, also listening intently. So, he doesn’t know either.

Kallie licks her lips, then holds my stare with her own. “I don’t know how to say any of this, El, it’s all so…” She pauses, “Fucking awful,” she murmurs, rubbing her palms down her jean clad thighs.

My heart drops as does my stare and a heavy weight settles in my stomach. “Is the baby okay?”

She nods, “Yeah, the baby is perfect. From what I’ve been told.”

I take a deep breath, that’s good, really good. “Thank god,” I sigh with relief for Lulu. But tilt my chin at Kallie, why is she so tense? “Kallie, what’s so awful?” I’m afraid to hear her answer, but I need it.

Kallie’s eyes well up. “Zak’s friend, Lulu…” She takes a deep inhale, “She didn’t make it. They said she was brain dead on arrival, and she was kept alive long enough for Zak to decide what to do regarding the baby.”

My eyes lose focus and the weight in my stomach rolls and churns, I can’t comprehend what she’s saying. I shake my head, blinking repeatedly to clear my vision. “No. No that’s not what Zak said this morning. He said the baby might not make it, not Lulu,” I stress, “It was the baby in trouble, not her.”

Kallie nods. “I know, honey, but all I can tell you is what I’ve been told. We’ll know more once we find Zak.”

It can’t be right, I’m certain Zak said she might lose her baby. He didn’t say anything about Lulu’s life being in danger. I’m sure he didn’t. But if this is true…I force myself to swallow past the thickening in my throat as the knowledge of the intense pain and anguish Zak must be going through consumes me.

I need to find him. Now.