Page 40 of The Kidnapped

“Cafeteria,” Raleigh told her, prompting her to stand up. “She’s out like a light, Hollis. Let’s get you something to eat. Do you also want coffee to stay up? Or do you want to sleep?”

Hollis stood slowly, grumbling as she did. Every part of her body felt tight and unhappy with her decision to sleep in that chair. She stretched her arms over her head and then rubbed her face quickly to try to wake herself up more.

“You smell great, by the way,” Raleigh teased.

“Hey, cut me some slack. I bought a mini-deodorant thing from the gift shop earlier. Then again, I didn’t think to get a toothbrush, which was dumb of me, but the nurse came in and gave me an update when I got to the room, so I never went back to get one.”

“Food,” Raleigh insisted, taking Hollis’s hand. “Then, we’ll worry about everything else.”

They walked down the hallway, with Raleigh pulling her along. Hollis was having trouble keeping up with her due to exhaustion and her body not wanting to cooperate. Arriving at the elevator, she let Raleigh take the lead. She knew her mother would likely be asleep for the next several hours, so Hollis had plenty of time to eat and probably go shower at home and change her clothes, but the cafeteria already seemed so far away… She couldn’t think of going home right now and missing something. It would take at least fifteen minutes to get back to the hospital, and then she’d have to park and run into the building and back to her mom’s room.

“No,” Raleigh stated as Hollis reached for a bag of barbeque chips.

“Huh?”

“You need real food. They’re still serving dinner. Meatloaf.”

“Meatloaf from a hospital cafeteria? Are you trying to kill me?”

Raleigh laughed and said, “Fine. Don’t get the meatloaf. There are vegetables, though. They can’t be that bad. Get a sandwich and maybe a yogurt or fruit or something.”

“You realize you’re not the boss of me, right?” Hollis joked as she pulled a yogurt parfait and a fruit salad off the shelf in front of her.

“You’re barely functioning right now. Someone’s got to be.”

Hollis had to agree with that, so she asked the woman behind the stainless-steel counter if she could have some of the mixed vegetables that looked like they’d been in that pan for days and could be easily mashed with a fork. After she also grabbed a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water, she realized that Raleigh hadn’t gotten anything for herself.

“You’re not eating?”

“No, I ate at home. I’m okay.”

“Raleigh, you didn’t have to–”

“Let’s pay and sit down,” Raleigh interrupted.

“You sure are bossy when I’m tired,” Hollis joked.

“I think I’m bossy all the time. You might just now be noticing it because you’re tired.”

They paid and sat at an empty table. The cafeteria wasn’t busy, but there were several people in scrubs sitting around and a few people who were likely here to visit friends and family. Hollis stared at the food she’d picked out, and while she knew she should eat, she really wasn’t hungry.

“You don’t want to eat any of that, do you?” Raleigh asked.

“No,” Hollis replied, laughing a little. “I know I’m starving, but I’m not hungry. Does that make sense?”

“Oddly enough, yes, it does. I’ve been there myself more times than I can count this past year. I think I went three days without food before Millie force-fed me something. And I don’t even remember what it was. I have zero recollection of eating it.”

“She took care of you,” Hollis noted, picking up her fork and stabbing at an overcooked carrot.

“Yeah, she did.”

“And her wife didn’t mind?”

“Her wife is a mom, too, so she got it. Besides, she helped a little as well. She made me food that I could freeze and eat later, and she also helped in the search. I think when something this horrible happens, you put aside anything from the past and just help each other out. We aren’t the best of friends, but she was kind to me.”

“Maybe she just wanted to be around because she’s still worried about residual feelings between you and Millie or something.”

“Why would you say that?” Raleigh asked.

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