Page 355 of Small Town Firsts

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Did you look at it?"

"No. It came during dinner, and Mom hates phones at the table. Plus, I typically ignore unfamiliar numbers. Why?"

"Okay, good." A fraction of the weight on my chest eases. At least Stella didn't see the video with her own two eyes.

"You're freaking me out."

"There was an accident."

"What kind of accident?" she asks, a wobble to her voice.

"Emmalyn overdosed." The words sound as unfathomable and foreign now as they did the first time I said them.

"What? Wait, what?"

"We don't know anything yet. We're at Central North."

"I'm on my way," she says and the line goes dead.

I slide my phone back into my pocket and lean my head back against the wall, wondering how tonight went so sideways.

Rob. It all comes back to Rob.

While I'm not exactly spotless, he's the real reason we're here. He's utterly unhinged and is in need of some serious help.

With the way money talks, I doubt he'll ever see any jail time, but I'm damn sure going to push for him to face the consequences of his actions to the fullest extent possible. Be that from a rehab facility, or monetarily, he will pay.

Fifteen minutes later Stella, along with a man I don't know, bursts into the waiting area. "Have you heard from the doctor?"

"Not yet," Gabe says.

Her friend takes a seat but she begins pacing anxiously in front of the row of chairs we've claimed as our own.

Back and forth she paces, well as best she can her walking boot, until the man she brought with her reaches out and grabs her by the shoulder and forcibly seats her down onto his lap.

"Let me up!" She struggles against his hold.

"Sit down, Luna."

"So help me God, if you don't let me up right now?—!"

He bands his arms around her, making an X over her chest. "You'll what?"

Before she can reply, a man in a white coat walks out from the double doors behind the desk. He's heading straight for us, and I stand so quickly my chair rattles. "Are you the family of Emmalyn Price?"

"I'm her husband," I say, the lie falling smoothly from my lips.

He nods. "Come with me please."

I follow behind him, back through the double doors he came out of, down a hall and around a corner, finally stopping outside of a closed door. "How is she?" I ask, unable to wait for him to speak first.

"Stable. We administered charcoal, and she's now stable."

"Is she awake?"

"Sleeping."

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