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“Apparently, my son has me as his emergency contact with the university,” she continued to recount at a snail’s pace. “They were very nice when they phoned.”
Oh. My. God. I was losing my mind. I wanted to shake her and shout, Get to the point!
Beneath the counter, my sister put a calming hand on my bouncing thigh, and I was reminded to be respectful and compassionate. Clearly, the woman needed to tell the story in her own way. I gave Shepperd a grateful nod, and she withdrew her hand. She’d never know how much that small gesture calmed me.
“You can imagine my panic when they told me he’d been struck by a hit-and-run driver in the school parking lot. Apparently, he had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital, and that’s where I’ve been spending most of my days and nights since I arrived. You’re actually very lucky you caught me here tonight. The nurses are so sweet, but they insisted I get some proper sleep and come back in the morning.”
“He…he what?” I croaked while clutching my throat. I couldn’t breathe.
“Oh, dear, sit down, honey,” the woman said. “You don’t look so good.”
“Is he okay? Do they know who hit him?” Shepperd asked while I tried to pull my shit together.
“Well, it was touch and go at first. Andrew hit his head when he went down—or so they think. He has no memory of the accident happening. At least not yet. But today was the first day he was able to speak after they removed that awful tube.” She motioned to her mouth and throat, and I surmised that he had been intubated. “The doctors are hopeful he will make a complete recovery. They just can’t say how long that will take.” She dabbed tears from the paper-thin skin beneath her eyes as she told us as many details as she could recall.
Through the whole retelling of the facts, I sat motionless. I couldn’t even process a fraction of the thoughts running through my head. Who would do such a thing? Yes, Andrew was known to be a tough teacher. It was hard to get an A in any of the classes he taught, and his expectations from his students typically outweighed their performances.
Could a former student harbor that much resentment to attempt to kill him?
I mean…that had to be what was intended here, right?
Again, my twin saved me from wasting this woman’s time by asking the right questions.
“What hospital did you say he’s being treated at, Mrs. Chaplin?”
“Please, call me Millie. All my friends have always called me Millie,” she said and gave my sister’s hand a little squeeze. “I have the address of the place in my purse. I’ll give it to you before you leave.”
“I’d really appreciate that,” I barely whispered.
Shepperd took the last gulp from her pretty porcelain teacup and carried mine and hers to the sink.
“Oh, dear, you don’t have to worry about that,” Millie insisted. “I’ll clean up in a bit when I have some energy.”
“It’s no bother at all. But I think we’ve kept you long enough. Haven’t we, Maye?” It wasn’t until she said my name that I registered she was talking to me.
“Oh, my goodness,” Millie said, and covered her grin with her bluish hand. All the blood vessels were so close to the surface, it changed the perception of their hue. “I didn’t put two and two together when you first introduced yourself,” she said to me with the biggest smile.
With my overly active brain at the moment, I couldn’t understand what she was getting at. I tilted my head to the side a bit and waited for her to finish her thought.
“He’s been asking for you. Relentlessly.” She smiled my way and gave my hand another squeeze. “You must be very special. I’m glad we were able to have a cup of tea together. Chat a bit.”
Shepperd tugged my sleeve to pull me out of the trance I kept dipping in and out of. How could I not be lost at that point? I’d been on the emotional equivalent of a roller coaster since admitting I had feelings for the man. Feelings deeper than I thought I even realized, based on the amount of giddy relief overwhelming me. Tears came unbidden, and I wouldn’t be able to hold it together much longer.
“I’m so sorry,” I said through a strangled laugh. I swiped my cheeks over and over, but the tears were coming hard then. “You have no idea how worried I was when I didn’t hear from him,” I gushed through my waterworks.
“Well, I’m so glad you stopped by,” Millie said while escorting us to the front door. “Put your mind to rest, dear.” She swept me into a long hug, and I greedily accepted the comfort. When we separated, she said, “Thank you for caring for my son. I think you’re a bit young,” she said, smiling earnestly with her honesty, “but he needs a good woman in his life. He works too much and has become a bit of a homebody.” Saying that made her giggle. Then she revealed, “He’d kill me if he knew I said that.” She shrugged, “Oh well. Mother’s prerogative, right? Maybe I’ll see you again before I head home?”
“I’d like that,” I said truthfully and stood in amazement as the woman hugged my sister and Shepperd returned the embrace. Normally she stood with her straight arms by her sides until the other person gave up from the embarrassment of an unrequited gesture of affection.
“Get some rest, Millie,” my sister called from the front walk. “He’s going to need you at your best. Especially when they release him, I’m sure.”
Who the hell was the woman getting into the driver’s seat of our shared car? I hadn’t seen or heard a sign of kindness from my sister in so long, she seemed like a stranger.
Once buckled in, she started the car, and I alternated staring at her and staring out the front windshield. My thoughts were going in so many different directions, it was hard to pluck one from the whirlwind and expand upon it.
“I can’t thank you enough for doing that with me. I feel like my head’s going to explode, though, with all the information we just learned. Who would do that? They probably have security camera footage, wouldn’t you think?”
“Yeah, I would think so,” Shepperd agreed as she backed out of the driveway. Once the car was in drive, she continued her train of thought. “But who’s in charge of that? Who looks at that footage and determines who’s at fault? I’m sure we won’t be part of that conversation, no matter who it is.”
