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“Right.” He takes a deep breath. “Okay, right.”
We drive in silence the rest of the way to the hospital.
When the brightly lit up building comes into view, I instantly forget the almost accident, eager to finally see my sister. Winter pulls up by the drop-off area and stops the car.
“Thank you,” I say more genuinely thankful than I thought I’d be when I first got in his car. “Have a safe trip back to LA.” I don’t give him time to respond before I shut the door and walk into the hospital.
I ask for Julia as soon as I reach the reception desk. A nurse that looks eerily like my oldest sister Maria walks me to Julia’s bed in the ER.
As expected, Cam is glued to her side. They’re in the middle of a conversation when she stops, surprised to see me.
“Luiza?” She looks between me and Cam, but he looks just as surprised as she does. “Am I hallucinating, or is my sister standing right there?” she asks him.
“Nope,” he confirms. “Your head’s good. That’s really her.”
“Why are you here?”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t come? You’re in the fucking hospital, Julia.” I go to hug her tight but hesitate, not knowing the full extent of her injuries. She smells faintly like hospital alcohol, but mostly like herself, like vanilla and roses. I cup her face and examine every inch of her. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” She holds my wrists pushing me an inch away. “Who told—”
“Winter,” Cam guesses. “He asked you for her number when we got here, remember?”
“He called me,” I confirm. “He called to tell me what happened. What were you thinking eating coconut, Julia? Are you trying to die on me?”
She shakes her head vehemently. Cam clears his throat next to her. “That’s on me, actually. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Cam, it’s okay,” Julia soothes him. I imagine they’ve had this conversation a few times already. “You didn’t know.”
“I made her eat a desert that had coconut milk in it.”
“You didn’t make me do anything,” she corrects him. “You offered, and I accepted.”
The way they both are trying to take the blame while comforting the other is disturbingly cute. I can’t even be mad at them for being this irresponsible. I’m just glad she’s safe now.
My stomach makes an embarrassingly loud noise, and Julia half laughs, half scolds me.
“You didn’t need to come. I’m really okay,” she says. “Go grab some food, Luli. If you won’t let me die, I won’t let you either.”
“The doctor said we should be here a few more hours,” Cam says. “There’s a cafeteria down the corridor.”
I leave them at the ER after dropping a kiss on Julia’s forehead and making me promise she’ll call me if she needs me.
“You’re going to the cafeteria, not back to Brazil. Chill, Luiza.” She waves me away.
My body starts showing signs of exhaustion as I make my way down the corridor. Now that the adrenaline has dropped, my muscles start aching, complaining about how tense I’ve been until now. A big yawn escapes my lips, and I decide I need coffee as well as food.
I make my way to the cafeteria counter, where a kid is so busy watching something on his phone he doesn’t even look up. The buffet doesn’t look that appetizing, but I manage to find a couple of items that don’t seem so tasteless.
“Can I also get a latte, please?”
The kid finally looks up, his eyes sending me a message that would get him fired if he said it out loud. He’s clearly annoyed I interrupted whatever it is he was watching during his late-night shift. He fills a cup with steaming hot black coffee and hands it to me, telling me my total.
“I wanted a latte,” I repeat.
“We’re out of milk,” he says simply and repeats the total. “There’s creamer over there.”
I’m too tired to argue, so I grab a few cups of creamer and two packets of sugar. It’s only when I’m walking to the tables that I notice Winter sitting there, watching me.
