Page 75 of Not As Advertised

“It’s Heath, man. I’m with Claire, and we’re at the hospital.”

“What the fuck is going on?” I couldn’t keep the anger out of my voice that he was there with my sister, and I didn’t have the slightest clue what was happening.

“Whoa, take it easy. I’m just trying to explain…” Heath’s voice came out in a defensive growl.

For a guy who I had heard say about a dozen words to me in the decade my sister had been hanging out with him, the abruptness in his voice shocked me into momentary silence.

Heath took that as his opening to elaborate.

“Listen, man, Claire got a call from Isabel about two hours ago saying that Rennie was being rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Last time we hung out with them a week ago, she was a bit crabby, and Isabel thought she was coming down with something. Apparently, she’s been sick all week with a fever and cough, but tonight, she acted listless while watching TV. She kept saying she was so tired and then stopped responding to Isabel at all.”

My heart seized when I thought of what could be happening to my niece.

“Oh fuck!”

“Yeah, they’re covering all the bases, apparently, checking her out. They’ve been waiting in the ER, and she’s just being admitted now. They are going to run some tests, so we won’t know what’s going on for a while yet. We’re at the children’s hospital.”

“I’m coming. Tell Isabel and Andreas that I’m taking the next flight out.”

I heard more rustling, and it became clear that Claire had taken back her phone.

“Aiden… I’m scared. What if it’s something awful?”

“I’m sure she will be okay.” I wasn’t sure of that at all. But Claire was my baby sister, and I needed to be strong for her at this moment.

I tried to inject more confidence in my voice than I felt. Internally, I was panicking as badly as Claire was, maybe even more.

I felt every mile of distance between my family and me at that moment. A sinking feeling of guilt started to build in mystomach. Why had I let myself be so distracted that I forgot my phone downstairs? How long had Claire been trying to reach me? The sick feeling grew layer by layer in my gut.

Since the age of fourteen when my stepfather died, I’d always made sure I was available to help my family at a moment’s notice. Losing my stepfather to a drunk driver had shown me that nothing in life was guaranteed, and I needed to be ready to take care of my loved ones when they needed me.

And here I was, sitting in the dark hundreds of miles away, having failed to even answer the fucking phone in an emergency.

These were the actions of someone who made their family a priority.

“Hang in there. I’ll see you soon. Make sure Heath stays with you, okay? Love you.”

“Love you, Aiden.”

I needed to do everything possible to never fail them like this again.

I was woken by Aiden’s urgent tone on talking to someone downstairs. Wasn’t it the middle of the night? What was happening?

Confused and worried, I got out of bed and headed quietly to the stairwell. I heard him mention Claire’s name. My anxiety increased. Turning on the hall light, I moved quietly down the stairs. I didn’t want to startle Aiden with my presence.

With nearly silent footsteps, I made my way into the living room. Aiden was staring straight ahead, focusing on nothing. The side of his face was visible from the light in the hall. He looked frozen with worry.

“Aiden, what’s happening?”

I went to sit beside him on the couch, but he stood up before I could reach for him. His abrupt motion took me by surprise.

“Aiden, baby?” I tried again to bring him out of whatever this state was. I noted absently that this was the first time I’d called him that endearment, never having been confident enough before, and I wasn’t even sure he’d heard me.

Dragging his hands over his face, Aiden met my stare.

“I need to leave for LA right now. My niece is sick, and I need to be there for my family.”

I gasped. I knew how much he adored his niece from our many hours of quiet conversations huddled under the covers of his bed. Not to mention that I’d never stayed over on a Sunday night because those nights were reserved for his weekly video calls with his family.

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