I continued down the corridor and took a left into the next wing of the hospital. I passed a cart filled with dinner trays, and a scrubs-clad employee grabbed a tray and delivered it into a patient’s room. When I finally made my way to the end of the hall, I encountered another waiting room. This one was much smaller than the first, and I opened the door and entered the room, so that I could see the faces of the two women who occupied it.
One woman wasn’t much older than me, and I quickly dismissed her, turning my attention to the remaining woman. My hope diminished when I noticed that the second woman didn’t look like Yvonne Golding in the least.
I turned back toward the door when I noticed a third woman who was huddled in the corner, sleeping. Her hair was the same shade of dark blond as Dara’s mother, but with her face partially hidden beneath a curtain of gold-streaked locks, it was difficult to tell whether it might be her.
I didn’t know how long I stood there, trying to discern whether it might be Ms. Golding or not. Realizing that a stranger might think that I looked like some kind of stalker, I took a seat nearby, where I could easily watch the woman.
Nearly half an hour later, she finally stirred, her small frame stretching like a cat that’d been curled up in a windowsill.
When her eyes scanned the room and landed on me for the briefest of seconds, I knew it was her. She gazed at me with the same emerald green eyes as Dara. Then, she looked away.
Now that I’d found her, I wondered what I should do.
I cleared my throat. “Ms. Golding?”
The woman’s eyes drifted back to my face, and she watched me as if she were trying to determine whether I’d spoken.
“Ms. Golding?”
“Yes?” Her dainty eyebrows lifted as she watched my face, waiting for me to speak.
I rose from my chair and moved closer to her, leaving a vacant chair between the two of us. Her eyes expressed confusion and exhaustion but not recognition.
“I’m Stone Hamilton. Dara’s boyfriend?” Okay, so maybe I wasn’t technically Dara’s boyfriend, but that was how she would know me.
“Stone? What’re you doing here?”
That’s when I knew that I’d finally found her. Now, I had to figure out whether finding her would help me or hurt me where Dara was concerned. If her mother had no desire to see Dara, then it would remain our secret because I wouldn’t, couldn’t be the one to cause Dara pain again.
Chapter 10
Stone
I had replayed what I would say over and over in my head when I found Dara’s mother, and quite frankly, it would’ve probably burned a sailor’s ears. But that was when I thought she just didn’t bother driving to Quail Mountain for her daughter’s birthday party. Considering that I found her huddled in the corner of a hospital waiting room with bags under her eyes, I decided that it might be prudent to find out what’d been going on before I passed judgment.
Dara’s mother stared at me, her hair and clothing unkempt, and I realized that she was still awaiting an explanation.
“I was looking for you.”
“Why?” she asked as she clutched a crumpled tissue in her hand.
It seemed like a silly question, but in my attempt to remain patient, I responded, “You didn’t come to Dara’s birthday party.”
“Oh.”
“She’s devastated. You know that, right?” I asked, annoyed.
Ms. Golding took a deep, ragged breath, and the tears began to fall.
Something shattered inside my heart when I saw Dara cry, and I always went through a multitude of emotions, depending on the situation. But that was Dara. No other girl’s tears had ever bothered me, except for my own mother’s when Luke died, and I found that Ms. Golding fit in the same category as the majority of females.
I realized that she may have a very good reason for not showing up at Dara’s party, but I had yet to hear it.
“I wanted to be there.” She looked at me, her lips quivering into a frown as she searched my face for understanding. I had no intention of offering her a shoulder. I stared at her, still waiting to hear her excuse.
“My life is just so screwed up,” she whined, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue.
“Couldn’t you have at least called her to let her know you wouldn’t be coming? Is that too much to ask? And why haven’t you been taking her calls? She deserves better than that.”
“I know. I know,” she whispered. “But I dropped my phone in a puddle when I was trying to open my umbrella, and now it won’t work. I didn’t have her number written down anywhere, and I didn’t have it memorized, and I couldn’t afford a new phone.”
“Then you should’ve driven to Quail Mountain,” I said between clenched teeth, my anger rising.
“I couldn’t.”
“Couldn’t? Or wouldn’t?” I asked, rubbing my palms across my jean-clad thighs.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?” At this point, I was pretty sure that if she’d had a good reason, she would’ve spit it out by now.
***
Dara
As I helped Granny clear the supper dishes from the table, I realized that I hadn’t helped her as much lately as I used to, mostly because Stone and I had been inseparable the last few months. I loaded the dishwasher while she wiped off the table and counters.
Mr. Milton wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the fridge. “What else can I help you with, Helen?” he asked Granny.
“We’ve got it. Why don’t you go out on the porch, and we’ll join you in a minute?”
Porch sitting had always been one of Granny’s favorite pastimes, and she and Mr. Milton did it every evening after they ate.
I heard the front door close behind Mr. Milton as Granny and I wrapped up the last bit of cleaning. I added the dishwasher detergent and closed the door.
“Are you ready?” I asked Granny as I pressed the start button. When she didn’t answer, I turned around.
She leaned against the counter, the dishrag clutched tightly in one hand. Her other hand stretched across her forehead, as if she had a terrible headache.
“What’s wrong, Granny?” I asked, alarmed.
“I just feel a little dizzy.”
“Do you want me to get Mr. Milton?”
“No, honey. Just pull out a chair and let me sit down and catch my breath. I’ll be all right in a minute.”
I lunged forward, grabbing a chair that had been neatly tucked under the table and pulling it out, so that Granny could sit down. She eased into the chair, still holding her head.
“Granny?” Her behavior scared me.
“I think I’m gonna be sick. Would you mind grabbing the bucket on the back porch?”
I raced out the back door and located the black, plastic bucket. I rushed around the table to bring it to Granny, wondering if it was something that she had eaten.
As she leaned over the bucket, I rushed to the sink to wet a dishtowel for her. I heard the thump before I saw her. I turned to find her lying in the floor.
My heart pounded.
“Mr. Milton!” I screamed, rushing to her side. “Mr. Milton!”
“Granny! Can you hear me, Granny?”
I didn’t hear Mr. Milton enter the house, and I didn’t see him until he was crouched beside me.
“Call 9-1-1,” he instructed calmly.
My hands shook as I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed.
“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”
“My grandmother collapsed.”
“Is she breathing?”
“I don’t know.”
I gave the dispatcher our address, and she promised me that an ambulance was on the way. Mr. Milton began CPR, and I remained on the phone while the dispatcher calmly gave instructions.
My heart slammed against my ribcage. Fear churned through my body like a swarm of killer bees. I closed my eyes. I wanted to wake up and find that this was nothing but a dream. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Mr. Milton breathing into her mo
uth. I heard the sirens and fled to the front door, opening it wide as paramedics grabbed their gear and headed inside. I told the dispatcher that they had arrived and hung up the phone.
Time stopped. It was like I was watching a movie with the mute button pressed. Paramedics hovered over her. Mr. Milton held her hand. I was frozen, staring in horror as the last person who really, truly loved me lay unconscious.
I wanted to run to her and shake her and make her promise me that she wasn’t leaving. But I couldn’t. She was surrounded. And I was frozen.
It seemed like they worked on her forever before they finally stabilized her and carried her out on a gurney.
Mr. Milton rode with her in the ambulance, and I followed them in my car.
The wait in the emergency room was excruciating. Mr. Milton sat quietly beside me, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, his head buried in his palms.
Silent tears slid down my face, but I didn’t care. I didn’t bother to wipe them away. As far as I was concerned, each tear was filled with love for Granny. I wondered when was the last time that I had told her that I loved her. She always made me feel loved. Did I make her feel the same way? I closed my eyes, desperately hoping so and promising myself that I would tell her that I loved her more often.
I could hear Mr. Milton sobbing softly, and I realized that without Granny, the two of us would be drifting like a couple of dandelion seeds in a strong wind. Granny was the one person who anchored us to this world, the one person that each of us could count on. She had to be okay.
Finally, we were called into a small room. When the doctor came in to speak to us in his hospital blue scrubs, I could see it on his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly.
Mr. Milton’s cries of sorrow echoed off the walls, and I tried to console him, but I, too, was overwhelmed with grief and uncertainty. Granny couldn’t be gone. I needed her.
I didn’t know how long we sat in that little room drowning in our own misery. Once we were somewhat composed, we shuffled back into the main waiting room. It seemed strange that there was nothing for us to do but go home. How could we leave without Granny? It was a notion so foreign to me that I had difficulty getting my feet to take the steps necessary to exit through the automatic doors.
On the drive home, I was numb. It was painful going back to our house, seeing the spot where Granny had lain. The bucket and dishtowel were strewn on the floor. The chair was pulled out in disarray when any other time, it would have been neatly tucked into place. Knowing that Granny wouldn’t want her house to be left in a mess, I cleaned everything until it would meet with her approval. Mr. Milton excused himself to his room, and I went outside and sat in Granny’s rocker, staring blindly at the view bathed in moonlight.
My thoughts toggled between Granny and Stone. I needed someone. I didn’t want to be alone. I thought about Granny’s words when she and I discussed the situation between Stone and me.
There will come a moment when everything will click, and you’ll know what you should do.
None of us were guaranteed tomorrow. Stone may not be perfect, but I truly believed that he loved me. Could I forgive him?
It was close to midnight. Desperately needing to talk to someone, I pulled out my phone. Crimson and Scarlet would still be up, and I pushed Crimson’s contact listing and pulled her phone number on the screen. My index finger stopped just short of the call button, and without any real conscious thought, I dialed Stone’s number instead.
It rang and rang, but he never answered. Maybe that was a sign.
I couldn’t stop the tears that rushed down my face in rivulets as the magnitude of what I was facing hit me. Where was Stone? I needed him. I thought of my mother, but I knew it was pointless to call her. The fact that I had no one settled in the pit of my stomach. That wasn’t totally true. I did have friends, and Mr. Milton would always be there for me. But I needed the kind of person that I could tell my darkest secrets to and know that they would still love me, and up till now, that included Granny and Stone.
My phone rang, and I jumped at the sound. I answered the call, but I couldn’t get my voice to cooperate.
“Dara?”
I heard his voice, and I sobbed even harder. I tried to speak, but I couldn’t catch my breath. My words were nothing more than choked sobs.
“Dara! What’s wrong?”
“St…Stone.” I thought of Granny, and my heart ached with such an intense pain that I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the rocker.
“Dara, you’re scaring the hell out of me. Where are you?”
I breathed in deeply and managed to choke out, “Home. I’m at home.”
“I’ll be right there.”
He didn’t wait for me to reply. I hung up my phone and waited for him.
In a matter of minutes, I heard his motorcycle racing down the street. Shortly after that, I could see the single headlight beaming into the darkness as he approached the house and pulled into the driveway.
He pulled off his helmet and rushed up the sidewalk, his long legs covering the distance quickly. I watched him in the moonlight, and when he reached the top of the porch, I was unable to wait any longer. I raced into his arms, desperately needing to feel the security that I could only get from his embrace.
He pulled me tightly against him as he smoothed my hair and whispered soothing words to me. His chest muffled my cries as I clung to his torso.
“What is it, baby?” he asked, his fingertips skimming the edge of my face.
I couldn’t answer right away, and he didn’t press me. He just held me until I had calmed enough to speak.
“Granny’s gone,” I whispered into the night, wishing the breeze would carry my words away and make them untrue.
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
Hot tears stung my eyes, and I swiped them away. “She had a heart attack or something, and she didn’t make it. She’s dead.” To hear the truth in my own words made reality settle in. Granny was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.
Now I knew the same pain that Stone felt when he thought about Luke.
“When did it happen?”
“Tonight. We just got back from the hospital a little while ago.”
“I’m so sorry, Dara,” he whispered, rubbing tiny circles at the small of my back. He kissed my temple and pressed his cheek against the top of my head, and I realized that I didn’t want him to ever let go. I wanted to be in his arms forever.
I breathed in the heady scent of his cologne and reveled in the strength that I found in his embrace. He was familiar and safe in a world filled with nothing but uncertainty.
He sat in the rocker and pulled me into his lap, stroking the length of my back with his fingertips. I cried until there were no tears left, and I let the rhythmic beat of his heart and the gentle rocking motion comfort me.
“Where’s Mr. Milton?” he asked.
“In his and Granny’s room,” I whispered. “I suppose he just wants some time alone.” I knew it was late, and I wondered if Stone needed to be getting home. “You probably need to go.” I pushed myself into an upright position.
“I’m not leaving you, Dara.” His hand firmly grasped my waist, and he tightened his grip as if he were proving his point.
“I’ll be okay.”
“I’m not leaving.” His voice was forceful, and I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t have to face the night alone.
“Can I get you anything? A drink or something to eat?” he asked me.
“There’s some bottled water in the refrigerator,” I said. “I am a little thirsty.”
He helped me to my feet, and I followed him into the kitchen and waited while he grabbed two bottled waters. We went to my bedroom, and he twisted the top off of one and handed it to me as I sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’ll be right back,” he told me. “I’m going to check on Mr. Milton.”
I nodded, and he turned and left the room.
When he came ba
ck a few minutes later, I asked, “Is he okay?”
“No, he’s not, but I took him a drink. I think he’s going to try to sleep now. I told him that I’d take care of you and that he could let me know if he needed anything.”
“That was very sweet of you. Thank you.”
“Are you tired?” he asked, taking my hand in his.
“I am, but I don’t know if I can go to sleep.”
“Why don’t you get ready for bed? We can talk if you want.”
I nodded. I grabbed an oversized tee shirt and went to the bathroom to change and to brush my teeth.”
When I returned, Stone had turned down the covers. The overhead light had been turned off, and a small lamp radiated soft light into the room. The sheet pooled around Stone’s waist as he leaned against the headboard, exposing his bare chest and abs. His muscles rippled into action when he patted the bed beside him, waiting for me to climb in.
His neatly-folded jeans rested on my dresser.
“Don’t worry. I have on my boxers.”
I felt the heat rise to my cheeks when he answered my unspoken question.
“I’m not here to try anything, Dara. I just want to hold you. I want to be here for you.”
He settled into the mattress, and I climbed in beside him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. My hand rested on the warm skin of his stomach, his muscles firm beneath my fingertips.
When he kissed my forehead and wrapped both arms around me protectively, I lost it. Hot tears seeped beneath my eyelids, and I clung to his torso in an attempt to calm the tempest that raged inside of me. He rested his chin on the top of my head and stroked my back.
“I feel like my life is falling apart,” I whispered. “Now that Granny’s gone, I have no one.”
“You have me,” he countered, turning on his side to face me. He bent down and kissed away my tears. “And your mother.”
“I may never see her again.”
“And if you don’t, then you still have me. Dara, you’ll never be alone. I’m not going anywhere.” He kissed me gently again as his palm slid up my thigh, pushing my tee shirt higher, and came to rest on my hip.
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