Page 83 of Hot and Bothered
“I’ll be there right away,” I promised. “Text me the address.”
“Is everything okay?” Jacob asked after I hung up.
“I have to go to the hospital,” I said. “A friend needs help.”
“I’ll drive you,” he offered immediately.
“What about dinner?” I asked.
“Forget dinner,” he said. “You just tell me where to go.”
30
We arrived at the hospital in record time. Jacob asked if I wanted him to go in with me, but I told him it was okay. Besides, he had to get back to that dinner and try to mitigate the damage I’d left in my wake.
I texted Christie to let her know I was here, then took a seat in the waiting area. It wasn’t long before she came hurrying out. She launched herself into my arms, squeezing me tight. I hugged her back, both surprised and heart-warmed.
“Thank you so much for coming,” she said effusively. “Evan’s been a mess for days, and then everything happened with Mom, and now—” she shook her head sadly. “Come on, I’ll take you to him.”
“If you’re sure I won’t be a bother,” I said, hesitating.
“I don’t know what went down between you two,” she said, “but I do know Evan could use your emotional support right now.”
Christie led me down a maze of hallways until we turned a corner and saw Evan. He was slumped over in an uncomfortable looking plastic chair, scrolling around on his phone with his thumb listlessly. His eyes were red-rimmed and his hair stuck up in every direction as if he’d been running his hands through the strands all night. From the nervous tapping of his toe and the anxious way he chewed his bottom lip, he probably had been.
“Look who I found.” Christie tried to sound bright and chipper, but she couldn’t muster enough good cheer to fake it. She was still too worried about her mother. Who could blame her?
“Alice?” Evan’s eyes went wide as he looked up from his phone and saw me standing there next to his sister. “What are you doing here?”
“I called her,” Christie said. “Don’t complain,” she continued, cutting off Evan’s objection. “I’m going to the nurse’s station to see if there are any updates.”
With that, she turned around and left us alone together.
The twist of Evan’s mouth told he was displeased with Christie’s interference, but the tense furrow of his brow eased and his eyes softened.
“I’m so sorry about your mom,” I said.
“Did Christie tell you what happened?” he asked.
“She said something about a manic episode,” I replied. “That’s all I know.”
Evan slumped against the back of the chair again. I took a seat next to him carefully.
“Because she has bipolar disorder, her depressive lows are usually followed by a manic high,” he explained in a monotone voice. “I thought that getting her back on the medication would help, but it obviously didn’t kick in fast enough.”
“What did she do?”
“Tried to throw herself out the window.”
I gasped. “What?”
He lifted a shoulder. “She thought she could fly.” He leaned forward and rested both elbows on his knees. “Luckily, I heard the commotion of her wrenching the window open before she could actually do it.”
“That’s awful,” I whispered in horror.
“She’s going to be okay,” Evan said. “They just need to monitor her until she comes down, however long that takes.”
“I’m so sorry.”
