Page 75 of Drawing Home
“Please. I’ve been playing darts here so long, I can hit the bull’s-eye blindfolded.” And then she remembered the first night she saw him at Murf’s, the night her game was off, and the way his casual toss of the dart landed right on the mark.
“I am open to that handicap,” he said.
Emma’s phone rang. She squinted at the incoming number and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Emma, it’s Jim DiMartino. Penny’s been in an accident.”
She jumped up, losing her balance.
Kyle reached for her arm. “Are you okay?”
She waved him off and ran outside to hear Jim DiMartino better. With her head cloudy from alcohol, it took an effort for her to process the details: A party. A boat. Drinking.
“I’ll be right there,” she told him and ended the call.
“What’s wrong?” Kyle said, startling her. She hadn’t realized he’d followed her outside.
“Oh my God,” she said. “I need my keys. I need…damn it! I can’t drive.”
“I can drive,” Kyle said. “Where do you need to go?”
“Southampton Hospital,” she said.
There was no traffic at that hour of night. Emma was thankful Kyle didn’t try to talk to her during the twenty-five-minute drive that felt like two hours. He did, however, pat her leg in some effort to comfort her as she sobbed.
“She’s going to be fine,” he said. And it was true; Jim had said Penny’s injuries were not life-threatening, maybe a few broken bones. “She was very lucky.”
Maybe a few broken bones!
Kyle pulled up to the entrance. “I’ll meet you in there after I park,” he said.
“No—no. I’ve got it from here. Please. You should go.” She closed the door on his protests.
Inside, a woman at the information desk directed her to the emergency department, where a nurse sent her to a waiting room.
“A doctor will be out as soon as possible to speak with you.”
A bunch of other people were in the waiting area, a large room with couches and tables filled with magazines and wide windows facing the interior hallway. Emma spotted Robin McMaster’s mother and father. Emma sat as far away from them as possible and grabbed a copy ofTimemagazine to hide behind. She didn’t want to talk to anyone.
Sitting alone, she realized there was one person she couldn’t avoid talking to; she had to call Mark and let him know that Penny was in the hospital. After all, he was—as he’d made such a big point of saying—her father. She’d told him she’d keep him in the loop. Now she had to make good on that promise.
She walked out of the waiting room for a more private spot in the hallway, dialed his number, and, thankfully, got his voice mail.
“Mark, I hate to leave a message like this but I wanted to let you know that Penny was in an accident. A…boating accident. She’s going to be fine but she’s at Southampton Hospital. I haven’t seen her yet but when I do I’ll call you with an update. Okay…bye.” She looked up to see that Kyle, completely disregarding her instructions, was heading toward her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m not leaving you alone. You’ll need a ride back. I drove you here in your car, remember?”
What a night to decide to get drunk.
He followed her to the waiting area. She sat in the same seat as before and he offered to go find a coffee machine.
“That would be great,” she said.
She watched the door. A woman in a white coat opened it and called out a name; a couple jumped up and followed the doctor into the hallway.
