Page 7 of The Refiner

“Ms. McKellan, we need you to come down to the hospital.”

“Oh, I’m coming down to the hospital, don’t you worry. This kind of phone call deserves a swift kick to the pootnanny.”

The line goes quiet again.

“The vagina,” I clarify, in case the slang term is a little confusing. “Piper is getting a running shoe in the vag for scaring the hell out of me. What did she do anyway? Take another case with Dr. Cox and needs to cancel tonight too?”

I’m already putting this woman on speaker so that I can text just those words to Dr. McKellan. She’s gotten too big for her doctor britches if she thinks she can have her nurse buddy call me to grovel. She’s sadly mis—

“Your sister had an accident. She’s slipped into a coma.”

I don’t think either of us breathes after she says the words. Not even one little gasp of air escapes us.

“What do you mean Piper is in a coma?” I recover enough to ask. “I just talked to her last night. She was fine.”

The woman on the other end of the phone clears her throat. “I think it would be best if you could come to the hospital. The doctor can explain better than I can.”

I sure the hell hope so because she’s giving me nothing but panic. “It’ll be three hours before I can get there, but I’m on my way.” Every moment I spend on this phone with this woman is another minute I’m not by my sister’s side.

The nurse tells me where I can find Piper and where to park. Honestly, I don’t remember a word of it. All I know is my beautiful sister is lying in a bed, and no one can tell me why until I get there.

Tossing a bag in the back seat of my car, I call the only person I know—the one who I ended up leaving last night, opting to sleep in my own bed instead of his. “Kenny,” I leave on his voicemail. Unlike me, he doesn’t need to be back at work until tonight. “Piper is hurt. I’m on the way to the hospital. Call me, okay? I know you don’t do tears, but I might need a friend later.”Mightis a loose guess. I will most definitely need a friend, and unfortunately, the only other friend I have is the one I’m going to see. “Okay.” I fight off the tears as I pull out onto the road. “Bye, Ken-sue.”

Pressure mounts behind my eyes.

Suck it up, Keys. Piper will be fine. She’s like a cockroach; an atomic bomb couldn’t kill her. She’s too stubborn.

And human.

As much as I joke, my sister is just as human as everyone else. Her bones break. Her body gives out. She isn’t made of superhuman parts. She’s just my sister, the human hero.

“No!” I scream, banging my fist on the steering wheel. “You will not pull this shit on me, Piper! You will not leave me, too! I won’t allow it.”

I don’t care that I’m not making any sense. For all I know, Piper is in a medically-induced coma. Maybe she annoyed Dr. Cox, and he knocked her ass out for a few hours. Piper can drive you to do crazy shit.

Deep down, though, I know this isn’t a simple matter. If it were, the nurse would have told me on the phone. I know the protocols. Piper has told many stories of families being brought in to make final decisions for their loved ones.

My heart beats faster.

No, this isn’t the case with Piper. They just need me to come and sign the paperwork to give her CPR or something. She’s gonna pull through whatever this is. I’ll make sure of it.

But first, I need to call my boss. They will expect me to be there and lead the team on the new project.

My stomach clenches as I think about Ass Face. He won’t hesitate to step up and take over my new position.

Don’t worry about things you can’t control, Keys. Get to Piper, get her better, then you can deal with Ass Face and the project.

Dialing the office, someone picks up on the second ring. “Yeah.”

Ass Face. The last person I wanted to deal with this morning. “I need to speak to Archer. Get him on the phone.” I don’t have time for pleasantries.

“Hey, Keys, I hear we owe you a thank you.”

Don’t respond. You seriously don’t have time to go to jail today.

“Who knew anyone could blow the boss so well that he would start blubbering out promises of promotions.”

Do you see why he’s called Ass Face?

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