Page 28 of Starved Until Sunset

“Someone’s already back there. Only two visitors at a time.”

“That’s Otis,” Cody said. His hand felt big and warm and grounding on Demetrius’s shoulder. “It’s okay, I’ll wait out here.”

Demetrius wanted Cody with him when he saw Amelia for the first time. He wanted to feel that familiar hand touching him, holding him in place, giving him strength. But that wasn’t to be, apparently. More updates from the universe, it seemed.

The nurse gave him quick directions as she wrote Amelia’s name and a bed number on a sticky-backed name tag. She handed it to him over the desk, and Cody gently tugged him aside. He took the sticker from him and pressed it to his shirt, over his heart.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I’ll be right here.” Someone nearby let out a thick, wet cough. “Or maybe waiting out in the truck. Either way, I’m close by. Text or call me with any information.”

“I will.”

“Tell Amelia I love her.”

“I will.”

Demetrius started away, but Cody grabbed his hand and held him back. “I love you.”

He couldn’t help the smile, which he was sure was what Cody was going for. “You said that.”

“People don’t say it enough, I think.”

“You’re right.” He slowly pulled his hand free. “Let’s discuss that later.”

“I’m right here.” He gestured over his shoulder toward the exit. “Or not far.”

Demetrius took a few steps back from him. “I know.” Someone coughed heavily off in a corner, and they both winced. “Yeah, wait in the truck.”

“I’m already there.”

Turning away, Demetrius nodded to the check-in desk nurse, and she triggered the pneumatic doors to triage. He pumped some hand sanitizer into his palm and rubbed his hands together as he tried to remember the directions the nurse had rattled off. Had that only been a few minutes ago? It felt like something that had happened last month.

People in all manner of distress lay in beds curtained off from each other. He’d been in this triage section of the hospital more times than he cared to remember, but it was always stressful being a visitor. The beeps from monitoring equipment picked at his nerves, as did the medical terms stated through overhead speakers, codes for what were most likely grave situations.

He really hoped Amelia wasn’t one of them.

She was a very safe driver. What could have caused her to have an accident? Would it affect her independence going forward? Was this the start of a downward slide in her physical abilities?

After a couple of wrong turns, Demetrius found them. Amelia lay on a stretcher, glasses off, a bandage covering her left eye, and an uncomfortable-looking plastic brace around her neck. Her right eye was closed, but her fingers tightened and released in an anxious rhythm against the sheet. Blood stained the collar of her blouse, an orange one she always favored in autumn, and that, more than her condition, sent a sliver of loss into his heart. It was ridiculous, he knew, but she loved that blouse, and he loved seeing her wear it, and now it was lost.

Life changes in a second.

Copious amounts of medical tape held an IV needle steady in the back of her left hand. The back of her hair stuck up in places, static from the pillow no doubt. The white of the bandage looked shockingly out of place on her usually open and friendly face, and the neck brace sent a queasy rush of adrenaline through him. What the hell had happened?

Demetrius paused outside the curtains to rein in his emotions before he stepped through and said in a quiet voice, “Hi.”

Otis had been looking at his phone in a chair in the corner, and he stood up and pulled him into a hug. “Demetrius!”

When he was finally able to extricate himself from Otis’s hug, Demetrius found Amelia smiling at him. A tear trickled from her uncovered eye.

“Hello, Demetrius.” Her voice shook slightly. The crack in his heart that had opened at the sight of her ruined blouse widened a little more at the uncertainty in her voice.

“Hey, Aunt Amelia.” Demetrius took her right hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as he leaned in to place a soft kiss on her forehead. He smoothed down a few strands of hair and smiled. “How do you feel?”

“Oh, I feel great,” Amelia said, rolling her eye. “I’d like to get up and walk out of here.”