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Liam exhaled over the line. “It’s not excellent that my bro needs a distraction from your—”
“If you say it, I’ll castrate you. I’ll handle it from here. Thanks!” I concluded cheerily. But when the line didn’t disconnect, I asked, “So, uh, did you need something else?”
“Are we still on for tonight, then?”
I bit my lip. “Yeah. See ya.”
It seemed we all needed our own distractions.
Chapter 31
Lucy
Chula Vista
Emotional roller coasterscould suck the big one. One minute I was fine, feeling like I could conquer the world, and the next, I felt like I was spiraling down a human sized drain.
I didn’t think that spending time with E would have been pleasurable, what with her Mother Hen attitude, but it was helping. Little by little.
But the other thing it did was put into sharp contrast how different we were as individuals. How opposite we were.
I’d come to realize that there were two types of people in the world: smooth top-sheeters and stretched to the limits fitted-sheeters. Top-sheeters had everything figured out; their lives were polished and hung with the precision of mitered hospital corners. Fitted-sheeters though (that was me if you were wondering), they were the ones that struggled to keep their shit together before the damn elastic either loosened to a point of never going back or inevitably popping up over the edge of the damn mattress. Right now, my elastic was centimeters away from just that. Centimeters away from snapping haphazardly; what was left wasn’t pretty.
As made evident by the bunny slippers I was wearing and the pint of ice cream I had just devoured.Damn you, Ben & Jerry’s. I wasn’t going to be hungry for dinner, which E said she’d start in a half hour.
Scuffling my way out to the kitchen to dispose of the dripping carton, E was just getting off the phone.
“Yeah, ok, thanks for telling me. I…I hope he’ll be alright.” E was using her Corporate Cathy voice and whatever it was, sounded serious.
“What was that all about?” I licked the spoon, though I had polished it to perfection minutes ago.
She placed the phone on the coffee table and looked everywhere but toward me.
“Hello,” I pushed when she didn’t answer right away. “Who was that?”
E began wringing her hands in her lap, but she finally angled her body in my direction. “It’s nothing really, at least not something you probably want to hear.”
“I’m not in the mood for riddles, lady. Just tell me. You basically have to, now.” I adjusted the belt on my bathrobe, then crossed my arms.
“Well, it’s about Jake.” I could see the icy blue in her eyes from across the room as they shot to me, gauging my reaction. If E was a superhero, she’d have laser vision.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, he, uh…he was injured. On set. This afternoon.”
My heart dropped along with my jaw. “Well, is he ok? How bad is it?”Shit.
She tucked her glossy hair behind her ear, watching me like a hawk. “That was Liam, on the phone just now…they’re not sure yet.”
“Oh my god, I’m gonna call Liam.”
“No!” E shouted. I paused as if I was in slow motion, regarding E like one would look at a person on the brink of a breakdown.Oh, how the tables had turned in a matter of seconds. “What I mean to say is that, he won’t be able to tell you anything that I haven’t just relayed.” I came over to the sofa and sat next to her. Her knuckles were white as she continued to wring her hands together.
“But like, is Jake in ICU or did he just need stitches?” It was the first time I had spoken his name aloud since San Antonio.
E loosened her grip and grabbed a pillow, placing it over her lap. “I don’t think it’s ICU, but Liam sounded pretty bad. I’ve never heard him so worried before.”
So many thoughts were competing in my mind. Was Jake going to live? Was it even life threatening? Was he alone in the hospital right now? Did he feel much pain? Everything all at once bubbled to the surface and I was unable to stop myself.
