Page 251 of Time Stops With You

Josiah pats my back again. “We’ll be alright, Nardi. I’ll take care of you and mom.”

I smile at my little brother who sounds like a fifty year old. “Right now, all you need to take care of is your homework.”

Josiah scowls at my command. “Someday, I’ll have a company like Cullen Tech, and I won’t have to do homework anymore.”

Andthereis the eleven year old I know and love.

“Until then, homework is non-negotiable.” I give him a little shove. “Buh-bye. I’ll bring you a plate in a minute.”

He rolls his eyes but obediently scampers back to his room.

I sit in the silence and realize that there’s a smile on my face.

Maybe Josiah’s right.

Maybe I will be okay.

For a few days, I’m in a great mood.

Even mom comments on how different I seem.

But grief is a wicked and sly monster. Just when I think I have a handle on it, just when I think I’ll be strong and make it through, it crashes into me like a wave. It destroys the walls around my heart like they’re sandcastles.

My eyes linger on the X symbol in my phone’s calendar.

That date was two weeks ago.

The smile I thought I’d rescued sinks back into the depths. Each step is labored. Each breath rattles through my lungs.

Time stretches to a crawl.

I hear each tick of the clock.

I’m on edge all day, waiting for news, for a call—from Cullen or from the hospital. Any one will do.

There are none.

I text Sunny and then I text Darrel.

Neither of them have heard from Cullen.

I ask Sara to text Asad and Dr. Young under the guise of bringing Cullen Tech lunch as I’d promised after they helped at the school.

None of them have any clue where he is.

Sara, in particular, bursts out crying at the very mention of his name.

I give up and tear through the packet Cullen left me until I find Richard Sullivan’s number. At first, he has no idea who I am, but the moment I mention Cullen’s name, he comes alive.

“Oh, you’re Cullen’s girlfriend,” Sullivan says.

“I’m so sorry to bother you but… by chance, have you heard from Cullen?”

“I haven’t.” He clears his throat. There’s a brief, emotional pause before he says, “I’m sorry, Nardi. Cullen was getting worse. That day at the party, he admitted that he’d coughed up blood.”

“I…” My throat bobs. “I didn’t know.”

“It wasn’t something he wanted you to be aware of.”

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