Page 84 of Black Roses

“At Cassidy’s . . . uh, Ms. Whitmeyer’s apartment.” She rattles off the address of a building I’m familiar with. Skylar lived there when I came back for Baylor’s wedding last year. I stayed with her. It’s within blocks of a hospital.

I still hear Hailey’s cries so I know she’s conscious. “Is she bleeding?”

“There’s a cut on her head above her eye and she’s holding her arm.”

In my mind I try to calculate the time it might take for an ambulance to get there. I make a split-second decision. “Amanda, I’m Piper Mitchell, Mason’s girlfriend. He’s not here right now, but I want you to listen to me. You need to take her to Lenox Hill Hospital. It’s only two blocks from where you are. Hang up and take her to their emergency room right now. I’ll find Mason and meet you there. Do you understand?”

“O-Okay. I think I can do that,” she says tentatively.

“Amanda!” I command her attention. “You just take care of that little girl. I’ll find Mason and Cassidy.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she says, right before I disconnect the call.

I leap out of bed and pull on some clothes that are still neatly folded in my dresser, never having had a chance to pack them in my haste to leave New York. I put my messy hair into a ponytail and pick the phone up off the bed when unease strikes me.

Oh, God. Did I do the right thing?What if she has a neck injury and Amanda moving her is a terrible idea? I take a deep breath and call Baylor as I go downstairs.

“Shouldn’t you be otherwise occupied at this hour?” she asks, laughing through her greeting.

“Baylor, you have to go to Mason’s apartment and get him.” I grab my purse off the table and dart out the front door. I’m surprised to see the sun has just now set, the sky still a purplish hue of brilliant colors. I realize my body clock is still out of whack, having traveled to Spain and back in less than a week.

“Find him? God, Piper—you’ve been back together for one day and already you’re fighting?” She huffs an exasperated big-sister sigh into the phone.

“No, we’re fine. He left hours ago, but he left his phone with me. I have no way to contact him.” I run out of breath, talking too quickly while my feet propel me as fast as they can towards the subway. “It’s Hailey. There’s been an accident. She fell down the stairs and the sitter can’t reach Cassidy.”

Baylor draws in a sharp breath. “Oh my God. What can we do?”

“Go find Mason. He was going for a run at the gym but he should be home by now. Do you know the address?”

I hear her relaying information to others in the background. “Skylar does. We’ll call Gavin and leave right now. But, Piper, why aren’tyougoing to find him?”

“I’m going to Lenox Hill to meet Hailey and the sitter.”

“Good. Good,” she says, pride coming through in her voice. “I’ll call you when we find him. You’re doing the right thing, little sister. You can do this.”

It takes me twenty minutes to get to the hospital. Twenty minutes that feels like an eternity. She’s not even two years old yet. In fact, I’m pretty sure her birthday is next week. What if she’s badly injured? It will devastate Mason.

I call Cassidy from Mason’s phone. It rolls to voicemail. I don’t tell her who’s calling, but it won’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. “Cassidy, get to Lenox Hill Hospital as soon as you get this. Hailey’s had a fall.” What else could I say? I don’t have any more information.

Running into the emergency room, I barrel past people waiting to register. “I need to find a little girl,” I say to the nurse behind the glass partition. “Hailey Lawrence. Is she here yet? Is she okay?”

The nurse, who is obviously overwhelmed by this Saturday-night influx of people, gives me an annoyed look.

“Are you Piper?” a voice calls from behind me. I turn around and gasp at what I see. A girl, who can’t be more than sixteen, has blood all over her shirt.

“Amanda?” In absolute horror, my wide eyes trace the smeared blood that spans her chest and stains her arm. My hand meets my chest, my heartbeat thundering against my palm. “Oh, God. I thought you said she just had a cut.”

“She did. She does.” She stares down at her clothes as if just now realizing how bad it looks. “Hailey was scared. She was crying and rubbing her head on my shirt as I carried her here. I think it looks worse than it is. At least I hope so.” Her eyes fall to the floor. “I had just arrived at Ms. Whitmeyer’s place. I was only there for five minutes. It’s my first time sitting for her. I swear I didn’t even know therewasa gate, or that it was open. I went to put my books down and she walked away for a second.One second.”

I pat her back. “It’s not your fault, Amanda. The gate should have been closed and you should have known about it. Is Hailey okay? Where did they take her and why aren’t you with her?”

“They took her back a few minutes ago. They wouldn’t let me go with her. Plus, I don’t think it would have helped. She doesn’t know me. She kept screaming for her Mama and Dada.”

I turn around and ask the perturbed nurse at the desk, “Can I please get some information about Hailey Lawrence?”

She shuffles around a few clipboards before turning her attention to me. “That’s not my job, Miss. Somebody should be out shortly. But unless you’re family, it won’t matter anyway. Are you family?”

I ignore her question and point behind me. “I’ll be right over here. Please have them come get me.”

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