Page 66 of Tell Me Lies

“Judy?” I say, only half sure that’s her name. I mean, it’s been three and a half years since I saw her the day Amelia was born, and I didn’t really expect to see her in the ER.

She gives me a slight nod before kneeling down and putting her hand on Amelia’s back. “Yes, sir. I move from the OB department to the ER every so often. I hear we have a sick little princess. Let’s get her fixed up.” She stands back up, waving toward the doors she just came from. “Right this way.”

I glance at the restroom as I stand. “My … friend is in the restroom. Can someone show her where we are?”

“Sure thing,” she says quickly. “Follow me, and I’ll get Connie to bring her back.”

As I trail behind her through the doors, Amelia coughs harder—this time gagging more severely, causing Judy to glance back at us.

“Poor sweet baby. We will get her feeling better soon, promise.”

God, I hope so.

A woman dressed in colorful scrubs leads me toward the double doors. When she holds her badge up to the metal reader, slowly, the doors open, and I follow behind her.

“They are just down here,” she says, looking back at me and smiling. “Poor little lady is coughing up a storm, huh?”

“Yeah, she isn’t herself—that’s for sure,” I answer, trying not to look into the rooms we walk past, though I hear people in them.

One man is crying out in agony, and it seems as though the nurse’s feet move quicker to get us away from the sound.

Finally, she stops outside the second-to-last room and waves her hand toward the door. “Right in here, love.”

“Thank you,” I say before she turns and walks back toward where we just came from.

Peeking into the room, I see Logan sitting on the bed with Amelia in his arms. She stirs, rubbing her eyes slightly, but not fully waking up.

“Thank you,” his deep voice whispers. “For being here. For staying with her while I was gone.” He stops, glancing down at her and swiping his thumb over her fist. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” I say honestly, taking a seat next to the bed just before another nurse comes into the room.

At first, her head is down, and I don’t notice it. But when she looks directly at me, my stomach drops, and my heart lurches. Today is about getting Amelia feeling better, and I just pray she doesn’t recognize me.

As she heads to the corner of the room and opens a cupboard, she grabs a few things before studying me and shifting her eyes to Logan.

“I haven’t seen the three of you since Amelia was born. How have you all been?”

Right away, I can see Logan’s head turn toward me from the corner of my eye, but I refuse to look directly at him. Now is not the time to get into the past. This day is stressful enough for him and Amelia without adding my big pile of shit onto the top. But as Judy stares at me, waiting for an answer, I don’t know what to do.

Not in a million years did I think this would be a risk, coming here with them today. I never even gave it a thought that the same woman who had assured me the baby in the accident was okay would be the same nurse at the emergency room. And yet I should have expected it. Because I guess karma will always catch up to you.

“We’ve been good,” I peep, knowing that if I say nothing, I’ll look more suspicious. “Just ready to get Amelia feeling better.”

She slides an oxygen reader to the end of Amelia’s tiny finger, holding it in place and watching the small screen as it reads numbers. “I bet you are. It’s good you guys brought her in. Thereare a lot of nasty sicknesses going around right now. Seems as though they’ve hit earlier in the season than normal,” she says, but there’s no mistaking the sudden worry on her face as she reads the oxygen level.

I make a mental note of the numbers so that I can ask my mom if it’s normal. With her being a nurse and all, she’ll know better than me.

Removing the small machine from Amelia’s finger, she gives us a look of reassurance, though it’s clear she’s concerned. “Dr. Cashman is in tonight and will be in shortly. He is amazing with kids—in fact, probably the best in the entire hospital as far as I’m concerned. She’s in good hands.”

“Should we be worried?” Logan blurts out, looking down at his daughter. “I mean … she’s going to be okay, right?”

Judy thinks about her response for a moment, which I’m sure only makes Logan more anxious. But eventually, she pats him on his shoulder. “We’re going to run some tests just to see what exactly is going on. This little lady has been through far worse, but I think it’s good you brought her in. Now, she can get the medicine she needs for her body to fight off whatever this is.”

After taking her temperature and doing a few other things, she heads toward the door, stopping on the way out to sanitize her hands. “The doctor will be in shortly.”

Once she’s out of sight, I can feel Logan’s eyes on me.

“What did she mean by that?” His voice isn’t its normal carefree tone, but instead, he sounds confused and maybe … angry? “That she hasn’t seen the three of us since Amelia was born. Not two, butthree.”

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