Page 74 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

I pulled out my phone. I wouldn’t call—that might interrupt something with his grandparents—but I could send another text.

The front door opened with a long creak and my head shot up, craning to the side to see into the entryway better. I stood up.

“Finn?”

He appeared in the doorway, and everything about him was wrong. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week, his hair was mussed as if he’d just woken up, and his shoulders were slumped. Worst of all, though, his smile was gone, replaced by worried lines.

My heart fell to my toes. “What happened?”

He shook his head, dropping onto the couch and cradling his face in his hands.

I sat beside him on the edge of the couch, my hand rising to his upper back. “Pops… he…” he spoke to his knees.

My heart clenched at his words. Had his grandpa… had he…

“A coma. He’s in a coma. They… they don’t know if he’ll wake up.”

The full force of the situation slammed into me.

As if on autopilot, my hand ran the length of Finn’s back, creating long, oblong movements up and down and around, trying to comfort him when I hardly knew how.

“What happened?” I finally managed.

His hands clenched in his hair, and my stomach mimicked the action.

“They say it’s sepsis. They’re treating it, but… he might not make it.” He finally lifted his hands just enough to turn his head and look at me. The pain in his eyes cut through me. “He might never wake up, Lucy. What am I going to do if he doesn’t wake up?” His voice broke, and I felt heat rush to my eyes.

I kept on trailing my hands up and down his back. I didn’t know if it was helping, I just wanted to do something, and I had nothing else.

My complete uselessness here was crystal clear. But if I could provide even the smallest bit of comfort, I wasn’t leaving.

“Oh, Finn.” Saying sorry felt so empty. “And Gram? How is she coping?”

“She just stands next to his bed, holding his hand. Watching him as if she can’t miss a single breath. For hours, she just stood there, wouldn’t even sit.”

The image was more than heartbreaking.

“She finally gave in to the exhaustion and fell asleep. I came back to grab some stuff for her. I think I’m going to go stay at the hospital. I want to be there when… if…” He couldn’t finish the statement. I didn’t want him to.

“Let me drive you. You have to be exhausted.”

“Okay,” he said, not even fighting it. “Let me get Gram’s things.”

I quickly packed up my things and ran them upstairs, grabbing a jacket, my wallet, and the keys to my rental car I hadn’t touched all week, then taking the steps two at a time on the way back. My mind swam, but for some reason it had latched onto this idea that I wanted us gone before anyone came back to the B&B. I didn’t want Finn to have an audience or have to explain anything to anyone.

He was only a few minutes behind me, coming out of a room past the kitchen, holding a little duffle bag in his left hand.

“I need to grab a few of my things too,” he said, meeting my eyes with that same hollow look he’d worn since he walked into the house.

I nodded, holding out my hand. He took it in a firm grip, as if I were a lifeline he needed. I could feel every inch of his fingers and palm on mine as he wrapped them around me. Every callous and groove. Tears kept surging, but I pushed them back. It wasn’t my grief to show right now. I needed to be here for Finn.

I put his Gram’s bag in the back and started the car while he ran into his house. Minutes later, we were on the road. I vaguely remembered the way we were headed and assumed he would direct me if needed, so I just stayed on the main road north out of Victoria.

He reached across our seats, grabbing my hand back in his, and tilted his head against the headrest. I thought maybe he’d sleep, and I was considering using a voice command on my phone to give me directions when he spoke.

“He’s too young to die,” he said, his voice sounding as if he hadn’t used it in hours. “They’ve just always been there. Up until my dad’s incarceration, every holiday and birthday, they were either there or called and sent a gift… and then after… I mean, you know. They were always there. Gram came that night, and Pops navigated all the legal stuff to take me home with them. They were the one future I never needed to worry about planning for.”

I wanted to provide comfort, distraction, or whatever he needed, but I didn’t know what that looked like here. In that moment, as much as I wanted to help and be here for him, it was blatantly obvious how much I didn’t know how. What would he want right now?

---