Page 88 of The Two Last Moments

I can’t bring myself to go in there. If she doesn’t make it…

Matteo comes out into the hall. “Lark, you should go in,” he murmurs. His olive skin has gone pale. “Nina might not have long.”

Oh, God. I clasp my hands over my mouth. “Isn’t there anything they can do?”

“Ryan and Danny are doing what they can to make her comfortable. She’s still breathing, but it’s touch and go.”

“But whathappened? How could she have overdosed?”

“I don’t know.” Matteo’s phone makes a noise, and he glances at it. “That’s Angela. I need to call her back. Do you need anything?”

I shake my head. What I need is for Nina to be all right. “No, go ahead.” Matteo steps into the living room. I keep vigil in the hallway because I just can’t go in there and see Nina lying unconscious in her bed. I can’t bear it.

How could everything seem so wonderful this morning and fall apart so fast? It really was a Cinderella moment. A fantasy.

And you always fall for it.

“She’s going to be okay,” I mutter, pacing. “She has to be.”

I didn’t even get the bouquet for her. I left the roses and dahlias behind. And that makes me think of flowers at a funeral, on a grave, and I just can’t let my mind spiral. Ican’t.

My chest is too tight. I can’t breathe in here, can’t handle the fear that Danny will walk out of Nina’s room with a heartbroken look on his face.

Get away from here. That’s what my instincts are telling me. I have a tendency to run away from things. I know that. But right now, the impulse is too strong to ignore.

Just for a minute. So that I can breathe.

I open the front door and step outside, gulping down fresh air. My feet take me out into the yard. Normally, the fresh smell of greenery steadies me. Since the moment I arrived here, I’ve loved all the trees and plants that surround Nina’s house. This place has felt like a refuge. Even knowing about Nina’s illness, I still convinced myself that nothing could touch us here.

But that’s always been a lie.

The front yard has never looked so dark before, filled with so many pockets of shadow between the trees and the hedges.

My eyes are drawn down the street. I can’t see the skid marks on the concrete. Hedges block the stretch of road where that car ran into me. But my heart races, picturing the scene.

Then I get that eerie feeling. Eyes, studying me. As if someone’s watching me, closing in. But is itreal? Or just fear playing tricks on me? Like seeing that man on Ocean Lane this morning when I was at the flower shop…

My phone rings, the sudden shrill sound jolting my entire body.

Jeez, I amwaytoo wound up.

It could be Danny calling me from inside the house with news. No matter what’s happened, I need to be there for him. I scramble to take out my device. My screen says,Cam. Maybe I should let the call go to voicemail. But I find myself swiping the screen to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey. How are you?”

My eyes are still darting around, searching the shadows of the yard. For what, I don’t know. “Did you need something?”

“You sound upset.”

I grit my teeth. “There’s a lot going on. If this isn’t important, then it’s really not a good time to—”

“Lark, wait. I’ve been thinking a lot since you called yesterday. There’s something I didn’t tell you before.”

“Yes?”

“I still have a box of things of yours, stuff you left behind. A sweatshirt and a shell necklace I bought for you. I’d like you to have them.” I don’t respond, and he rushes to go on. “And there’s a planner too. Like a calendar? Where you kept track of your schedule. Since you’re trying to figure out how to get your memories back, I thought this could help.”

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