Page 110 of Finding Wonderland

“Can I have a few minutes alone to talk to her?”

“Good luck,” the doctor shrugged again, “she’s not said anything since she got here.”

Vera waited until the doctor was out of the room to walk closer to Walker’s bed. Still, Walker didn’t react. If it wasn’t for her unsteady breathing, Vera wouldn’t even know she was alive.

“Walker?” She paused, waiting for any kind of response before continuing. “I know you can hear me, so I’m just going to say what you don’t want to hear. I don’t know what happened today between you and Maddie, but I know you’ve been drinking. I can smell it all over you. And if this doesn’t make you realize that you have got to stop drinking, not only for yourself but for the people you love, then I don’t know what will.”

“Maddie doesn’t love me anymore,” Walker grumbled, her voice raspy. “I’d asked her to pick me up from the bar and she did. I knew you wouldn’t,” she nearly spit the words at Vera.

Vera ignored Walker’s obvious attempt to get her to engage in an argument. “Then what happened?”

“She was going to take me home and I said no. So then she started to bring me to your house and I was like hell no. Vera doesn’t want me there.”

“Walker, you know that’s not true.” Reaching out, Vera placed a hand on Walker’s arm.

“Go away,” Walker’s voice was louder now.

Vera tried not to let Walker’s words hurt her. “Walker, do you know what happened?”

“You abandoned me.”

Walker was aiming her words to hit their mark with Vera. She knew them well; Vera had been her target practice before.

“Today, Walker. Do you know what happened today?”

Slowly, Walker sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Vera took a step back, unsure of what Walker would do next. Walker must have seen the momentary fright flash across her face, as she laughed sarcastically.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you.” Walker tried to stand, but clearly didn’t have her coordination back yet. Vera reached out to steady her, but Walker pushed her away. “I’m fine. I don’t need you.”

She only took two steps toward the door before falling. Vera tried to help her to her feet but Walker pushed her away. The force of the push caused Vera to stumble, and she fell back onto a nearby chair. Angry and hurt tears mixed in Vera’s eyes as her heart broke for her sister.

Vera tried to regain her composure; tried to be the adult figure Walker needed in that moment. But the truth was her heart was shattering into a million pieces. Walker was beyond help; even more so than Vera had realized before. If Walker didn’t change soon, she worried she might not make it to her next birthday.

The thought alone broke Vera’s heart.

Standing to her feet, Vera walked to the side of the bed and pressed the call button. She asked for the doctor to come back before turning to Walker, who was putting her sling bag over her shoulder.

Vera wanted to stop her; wanted to give her some big, long, motivational speech that would make Walker want to get sober. But she knew her words would fall on deaf ears tonight. The speech would have to wait until morning.

Thankfully, the doctor and a nurse returned and told Walker they were keeping her overnight for observation. Walker fought it, desperately trying to convince them that she was okay. But the more she tried to convince them, the less believable it was.

“I’ll come back and pick you up tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, right,” Walker scoffed as she turned her back to Vera.

Vera waited a beat before leaving the exam room. She meant what she told Walker: she’d be back in the morning to pick her up. Before leaving the hospital, Vera checked on Maddie one more time. Then she called Isla.

“Hey, how are they?”

“Maddie has a broken leg, but otherwise is okay. Monica said the car is totaled.”

“And Walker?”

“Not even a scratch,” Vera sobbed. “Isla, I can’t do this anymore. If this doesn’t wake her up to see that she needs to change then I don’t know what will.”

“I know you’re hurting, baby. I’m so sorry. What can I do?”

Vera wiped away the tears in her eyes. “Is it okay with you if I get a room at the inn tonight? I need time to think and figure out what to do with Walker and I don’t want to bring this heaviness home with me.”

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