Page 58 of Touch in the Dark

“Yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can, thank you Ida. I appreciate it. Thank you for calling.”

I reach over and touch his arm as he hangs up. “Nick, is everything okay?”

He shakes his head, looking dazed but… scared too. I shift a little closer to him, as much as my seatbelt will allow.

“I need to get to the hospital, I can drop you off, but it would need to be in midtown, at a subway station or somewhere…”

“Tell me what’s going on, Nick. Don’t worry about me, just tell me what it is, let me help.”

He squeezes his eyes shut and takes a shuddering breath. When he opens them, he looks like a lost little boy, who has no idea what to do. “It’s Doris… My grandma. She’s been in an accident, they’re taking her to the hospital now.”

“Which hospital,” I say, sitting up straight. Nick tells me and I turn to Max. “Take us there, right now,” I say.

“You don’t have to come,” Nick says, his fist clenching on his lap.

I couldn’t possibly leave him, not like this. Doris is his only family and the terror at not knowing if she is alright is written all over his face. He starts to protest but I take his hand in mine and make him look at me.

“I’m coming with you,” I tell him.

He squeezes my hand and whispers a thank you.

I look back at Max. “As fast as you can, Max.”

“I’ll get you there,” he answers and the car speeds up slightly.

We don’t talk but I hold his hand all the way there.

Chapter Fourteen

Fuck, I’m about ready to lose my mind as we finally see the hospital in the distance. No one went with Doris, it was only that her neighbour had my number and called me, I even knew what happened. Of course, once she got to the hospital, they would have eventually come across me as her next of kin and called, but that would have taken longer. I don’t even know if she is okay, what kind of accident it was, or how badly hurt she is. Another squeeze of my hand and I look at Elsa. She nods slightly at me, letting me know she’s here and isn’t going anywhere.

I should have got Max to drop her off when we went through Manhattan but a part of me didn’t want to do this alone. And she offered. God, I feel like I’m about to throw up as we finally pull up at the hospital entrance. I can’t think about anything other than getting in there to Doris. I don’t even care that I’ll be recognised.

“Thank you, Max. I’ll get my friend to pick them up from you.”

I hear Elsa say, but I don’t know what she is referring to. I just want to get out of the car, right now. I practically spill out onto the pavement. Elsa is there in the next second, putting one hand on my chest, taking my hand in her other one and lifting it up so that it is on her chest.

“Take a breath,” she tells me. I almost drag my hand away and run inside but she stops me with a gentle tug. “As hard as it might be, you need to take a breath and slow your heart rate before you pass out. Okay?”

“Elsa, she’s in there. She’s…” my voice cracks but I haven’t moved, I’m standing here, breathing, just like she is asking me to do.

“We’ll go in and find out where she is, what happened and then you can see her. In that order, okay. If you go running in there, you’ll make a scene.”

I know what she is saying. If I go in there panicking and shouting, I’ll draw attention to myself and within minutes the damn paparazzi will be popping up, recording me in my distress.

“Here,” she hands me a ball cap.

I’ve no idea where it came from, but I put it on. She drops her arm but keeps a tight hold on my hand. I don’t know how she is doing it, but she is grounding me. The sheer panic is still there in the pit of my stomach but her soothing voice and gentle hand in mine, really is helping slow my heart rate.

“Now, let’s go see Doris,” she says, then leads me inside.

I shouldn’t be relying on her to get me through this. But I haven’t let go of her hand and I get the feeling she won’t let me if I try. We get to the information desk, and I give in Doris’s details. The lady is inputting the information when she glances up and her eyes narrow slightly, then widen.

“Oh my-”

“His grandmother has been brought here in an ambulance, we don’t know how serious her injuries are. Could you please not let everyone else here know who he is. Please,” Elsa says. “We just need to know where she is.”

It could have come across as arrogant or bossy but the tone she speaks in and the look on her face has the lady’s own expression softening. She nods and goes back to her computer, then tells us where we can find Doris.

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