Page 113 of Overtime
Those two words penetrate through my mind, and I blink hard. An older nurse gently leads me to a chair in the waiting area. I feel like I’m nine years old again, except this time, it doesn’t take two people and a syringe to calm me the hell down. I comply, and the fight drains out of me when I park my ass on a chair. For a moment, I feel like I’m going to pass out too.
“That’s a good boy,” the woman says with a kind but firm voice. “Now, can you tell me exactly what happened? It will help us treat your friend.”
I open my mouth, and nothing comes out. After shaking my head hard enough to hurt, I tell her what I saw and what I did.She asks for her information, but all I can give is her name, age, and weight because she told me that once.
“Do you know her emergency contact? Her insurance provider?”
“I—No.” I rub my forehead. “But her things are in my car.”
“Bring them over, honey. We may find the information in her phone or wallet.”
I do. At this point, I can’t think any longer. I don’t even want to. I’m terrified my mind will transport me back in time again. So I follow the woman’s instructions like I wouldn’t pass a Captcha. We go through Maddie’s wallet and find an insurance card. Turns out she had her mom listed on her iPhone’s emergency contact, and the nurse can access it without knowing the password. I bundle everything back into her purse and wait by the counter while the nurse enters the data into a computer and calls Maddie’s mother.
When the nurse is done, she turns to me again and smiles. “Take a seat, honey.”
Honey this, honey that. What makes her think I’m sweet? I’m so bitter right now, it’s all I can taste in my mouth as I return to my chair.
Was this my fault?
If I hadn’t tried to approach her… Am I such persona non grata that she can’t stand the sight of me anymore? No, I’m being a damn fool. This wasn’t my fault, but maybe something’s wrong with her, and that’s even worse to think about.
I set her bag on the chair beside me and lean my arms on my knees, bending over until my hands hold my head. I don’t know how long I stay like that, but I only come out of it when a vaguely familiar voice goes off nearby.
“Where is my Maddie?”
Slowly, I lift my head. A red-haired woman stands at the information desk. I see her in profile. Some of Maddie’s featuresare etched on her face, and the same panic I felt earlier is there too. The nurse talks for a good moment, but I’m too far away to hear her calm voice. After a moment, though, she points at me, and Maddie’s mom glances my way. Recognition flashes in her eyes, and she starts heading over. For lack of anything else to do, I get to my feet and wait.
“You’re Maddie’s plus-one,” she says, still a few paces away. But then when I think she’ll stop, she doesn’t. Instead, she squeezes her arms around me hard enough to crack ribs. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“I—uh?—”
Then she sniffles, and I have no choice but to stay still.
Fortunately, that only lasts a second before she steps away. Her chin trembles the same way as her daughter’s does when she’s crying. “The nurse told me what you did. Thank you so much for taking care of my Maddie.”
I rub the back of my head, pressing hard. Something about the wordsmy Maddiehas shut down my brain.
Ironically, I’m rescued by a doctor striding over with a flip chart in her hand. “Madeline Berkley’s guardians?”
Her mother basically teleports to the doctor’s side and pours some verbal vomit on her. “Yes, I’m her mom! Is she okay? What happened with her? Is it bad? Will she recover?”
All questions I also want the answers to.
“Yes, she’s fine. It’s a mild concussion,” the physician says offhandedly as she flips the chart open and checks something. “Her sugar and iron were extremely low, and there’s something else in her bloodwork we’ve sent to a specialist to check.”
A spe?—
Before I can even formulate the question in my mind, Maddie’s mom asks, “What kind of specialist?”
“A gynecologist.”
“A what?” While she screeches, the woman turns to me. “You didn’t get my daughter pregnant, did you?”
“What? No!” I gape.
“No, she’s definitely not pregnant,” the doctor cuts in before this can escalate. “Her hormones just look off, but it doesn’t seem like a thyroid issue. Anyway, the gynecologist will diagnose her accordingly.”
This is all going over my head but… it doesn’t sound like Maddie’s in danger.
