Page 25 of Margot
CHAPTER SEVEN
LENNOX
I’d just sent off an email confirming another showing of a million dollar property when my cell phone buzzed in my pocket.
“What’s up, Ebony? Why aren’t you in the office yet? How does your husband get here before you?”
“Lennox, you need to get to the hospital. One of Sutton’s friends took her to the emergency room. Something happened outside of Tuesday’s Café,” her words came out like she was out of breath.
The more she talked the more my head spun. I shook my head against the phone and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Ebony, wait a minute. What the fuck happened to my wife?”
“I don’t know!” She snapped far too aggressively. Fuck that. I wasn’t relying on secondhand information. Sutton only had one person she would even remotely call a friend and I had Sarah’s number in my phone. I didn’t even put on my damn coat before I told the front desk secretary that I was leaving because of a family emergency.
I made it to my car just as Ebony’s Navigator pulled up.
“Lennox, I need to talk to you!” She called out, throwing her hands in front of me. I didn’t have time for that shit.
“Ebony, not now. Whatever you have to say isn’t important.” I got into the car and sped off. The tires cried as I mashed my foot down on the gas and headed toward John Hopkins Hospital.
Panic ate my insides for breakfast, feasting on my stomach and leaving behind rocks. I zoomed in and out of traffic while calling Sarah. She finally answered on the third call.
“Lennox? Oh my god, I’m so glad you called.”
“Sarah, can you tell me what happened to Sutton? I’m on my way to John Hopkins. Is that where you guys are?”
“Yes, that’s where we are. Please get up here. Sutton is devastated.” Sarah’s voice was small and sad. It made my heart twist in my chest but nothing prepared me for the next blow she was about to deliver. “Lennox, I think she broke two of her fingers.”
“What?” I sped through a changing yellow light and hightailed it to the ER. “How the fuck did that happen?” I was shouting. I hoped Sarah knew it wasn’t geared towards her.
“I don’t know exactly, Sutton will barely talk. She just keeps crying. People at the café said someone let the door slam on her fingers right when she reached for it.”
Barren trees looked like blurs as I whizzed down one street after another until my tires had eaten up all the space between me and the hospital. I pulled into the parking lot and told Sarah I’d be inside shortly. I ended the call and fisted my hands. I needed something to punch. I clenched my teeth as I exited the car and headed across the parking lot, ignoring the icy winter air as it sliced me in two.
The double doors parted the moment I walked up and it took a five-second scan of the waiting area to find Sutton. I ran to her. Nothing could keep me away from my wife right then.
I fell to my knees in front of her and cupped her face in my hands. She was vacant. Her entire face was flat and emotionless. A knot lodged itself in my throat at the sight of her.
“Baby, what happened?” I moved the icepack from her hand and she flinched. Her index finger and middle fingers were swollen, black and blue. It felt like a gut punch. I placed the ice pack on her hand gingerly and shut my eyes.
“What am I going to do?” She whispered with tears saturating her voice. “I’ve lost everything, Lennox.”
“No, baby, you haven’t. This is temporary. You’ll heal and be back on the keys, I swear to god.” I made her look at me. I hated the shimmering tears in her brandy eyes.
This entire situation tore my fucking heart open.
“What if my fingers don’t heal right?” She whispered. I glanced over at Sarah, and she smiled sympathetically before heading over to the vending machines. I sat beside Sutton and held her uninjured hand.
“They will. Now, this might set things back a little bit but you’re brilliant and that’s never going to change.” I leaned over and tried to kiss her temple but she jerked away from me like I was a fucking stranger and it knocked the wind out of me.
People seated across from us gawked like we were a sideshow or something. “Sutton, I was just trying to give you some love. Jesus.”
“I know but I don’t want that right now. I want my fingers to not be broken.” The way she snapped gave me pause. I pressed my palms together and blew out a long breath to calm myself down.
“Sutton English?” A triage nurse came out and looked around for Sutton. I lifted my hand and helped my wife to her feet even though I knew the last thing she wanted was me touching her in any way.
Sarah came over and handed me a sandwich from the vending machine and I thanked her. “Hey, if you want I can take off and let you two have this time alone. I know how private Sutton is.”
