Page 116 of Accidental Roommates

“Wait! Stop! I only got part of what you said. Can you use a different phone? Or repeat what you just said? My mom fell down a what?”

There’s silence, and when I look at my phone, I see the call disconnected. I quickly call back the number. It rings and rings, but no one picks up. I call my mom’s number and it goes straight to voicemail.

Something happened to my mom. She’s in the hospital, and I can’t find out what’s wrong with her. What if something really bad happened? She’s halfway around the world. I can’t get to her, or talk to her. I can’t even find out what’s wrong!

I’m pacing the floor, gripping the phone in my hand. I call that number again, but nobody answers.

“Mom, please be okay.” I drop to my knees, tears streaming down my face. “You have to be okay.”

I can’t be without my mom. She’s my only family. My dad acts like I don’t exist. All I have is my mom. If anything happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.

I call Jace. He answers on the second ring.

“Hey, Kenzie.”

“Jace.” I’m crying and my voice is shaking.

“Kenzie, what’s wrong?” He sounds almost as panicked as I feel.

“Jace, I…” I sniffle. “I need you.”

“Where are you?”

“Home.”

I hear noise, like he’s walking or going through a door.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. It’s my mom. Something happened.” I can’t tell him any more than that. I’m crying too hard.

“I’ll be right there.”

As I wait for him, I keep calling that number that called me, but nobody answers.

“Kenzie, I’m here.” Jace bursts through the door and finds me on the couch, the phone in my hand. He sits down next to me. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“Someone called and said my mom is hurt. They said she’s in the hospital, but the phone kept cutting out and then it disconnected. I keep calling but nobody answers. She’s hurt, Jace. My mom is hurt, and I don’t know how bad or what’s wrong. Nobody will tell me anything!” I’m talking fast, tears running down my cheeks.

“It’s okay.” He pulls me into his arms. “We’ll figure this out. Take a minute to breathe, then tell me exactly what happened.”

Just having him here calms me, like it always does, like it did when we first met. There’s something about him that makes me feel better, and for whatever reason, only he can make me feel this way.

I tell him what happened, then call the number again and this time get a voicemail message from the hospital.

“At least you have the hospital name now,” he says, getting his phone out. “I’ll look it up and we’ll find a different number to call.”

He finds one and I call it. A woman answers, but I can barely understand her and she doesn’t know anything about my mom.

“She hung up on me,” I say, holding my phone out. “What the hell? Why won’t anyone tell me anything?”

“We’ll find a different number. What about the school where your mom works? Do you know anyone there?”

“No. And I don’t have their numbers. Why don’t I have this stuff? My mom should’ve given it to me before she left!”

Jace rubs my arm. “Try to relax, okay? We’re going to figure this out, even if it takes all night. Even if we have to fly down there ourselves.”

“You’d fly to South Africa with me?” I ask.

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