Page 36 of Isabella and the Slipper

“I don’t understand. You’re smart, funny, and talented. Guys should be all over you.”

“I’m invisible.” She didn’t mean to say it—it just slipped out—and she wished she could take it back.

“I hope I’ve never made you feel that way,” he said, quietly.

Only every day. She swallowed the words back and decided to change the subject.

“What’s your deal-breaker?”

He sighed, and she could hear something going on in the background. Maybe his mother talking.

“I can’t stand shallow. The girls who only care about hair and makeup, or who talk on and on about the outfit they want at the mall. I once went out with a girl who only cared about her nails. I mean, seriously. With everything going on in the world, she literally only talked about her fingernails. I asked her opinion on politics, and she said, ‘It’s boring.’ That’s it. She had no opinion on national health care or immigration.”

Isabella was glad the spotlight was off her. “I hate shallow, too. Unfortunately, I live in a house full of it.”

A female voice shouted in the background and rustling noises came over the line.

“I have to go,” he said, his voice urgent. “My sister is having a seizure.”

Chapter 11

Chase hung up and ran to the couch. His mouth went dry. His sister lay on the couch, convulsing, his mother by her side, brushing her hair out of her face. “Gary! She’s burning up. We need to go to the emergency room!”

His father rushed into the room, pulling his jacket on. “I’m on it.” He grabbed his keys and headed for the front door. “I’ll pull the car out of the garage and come back for her.”

The seizure didn’t last long. She stopped convulsing and lay still.

“Cora? Honey?” His mother tried to get her to respond. Cora stirred and moaned. “Thank goodness,” his mother said under her breath.

His father came back inside and scooped Cora up. Her nightgown hung down as he walked to the door with her.

“I don’t know how late we’ll be,” his mother said. “Just go on to bed and I’ll send you an update when we know something.”

Chase grabbed his jacket, his heart pounding. “No, I want to come with you guys.”

“But it’s late, and you have school tomorrow.” His mother opened the door for his father.

“Do you think I’ll be able to sleep with Cora in the ER?” He followed them outside.

“He’s got a point,” his father said, laying Cora on the back seat of the car. “Let him come.”

His mother climbed into the car. “All right. Get in.”

He slid in next to his sister and rested his hand on her head. She was hot. Too hot. She stuck her thumb in her mouth, something he hadn’t seen her do in over a year. His mother had had a terrible time breaking her of that habit. He didn’t tell his mother she was at it again.

His father drove the car faster than he’d ever seen him drive. They arrived at the hospital in twenty minutes. His father took Cora out of the back seat. They rushed inside.

A nurse helped them get Cora on a bed while his father talked to the people at the front desk. Soon, they whisked his sister away and Chase was left to sit in the waiting area. His mother was allowed to go with Cora, but they didn’t want all of them in the patient area.

He sat on a hard, plastic chair and stared blankly at a television screen. They were showing some news report, but he couldn’t process what they were saying. He tuned it out. His father finished at the desk and joined him in the waiting area. “They’re running tests.”

Chase ran his hand through his hair. “Will she have any damage from the seizure?”

“They don’t usually cause any lasting damage.”

“Does she have epilepsy?”

His father shook his head. “I doubt it. You can have a seizure just from a high fever. We hadn’t realized it had gotten that high.”

---