Page 57 of My Merry Mistake
This emergency room is an unwanted reminder that not every story has a happy ending.
The exterior door opens again, and Raya’s sisters rush in. They rush toward us in silence, and confronting the “what ifs” no one wants to voice aloud.
There’s overlapping commotion, a series of questions from both Poppy and Eloise, all directed at me.
What happened?
Is she going to be okay?
Do you really think she had a stroke?
There were signs. Why didn’t we see the signs?
Finally, Eloise puts her hands up in front of her, as if to take the floor. “Thishasto be because she never takes a day off. I told her to get out and touch grass once in a while, butwhywould brilliant Raya Hart listen to her stupid little sister?” She rolls her eyes.
“Don’t call yourself stupid, Eloise,” Poppy says, signing. “We should’ve known when she fell asleep at Dallas’s the other night. That isnotlike Raya.”
Eloise waves her off. “Finn, what happened?”
I explain what I know, which sadly isn’t much. Black spots. Tingling face, numb lips and hand. Bad headache. Nausea. They’d already gotten the SparkNotes version of all of this, but as I lay it out for them, their expressions go from worried to panicked.
And I know what they’re thinking. It sounds like a stroke.
“The good thing is, by the time we got here, she was much better,” I say, hoping to reassure them. Poppy signs my words for their father.
“Shouldn’t one of us be back there?” their mom asks. “I hate that she’s alone.”
“You know Raya,” Eloise says on a sigh. “She probably prefers it that way. You know she’s back there, right now, trying to tell the doctors how to do their jobs.”
The phone in my pocket starts vibrating, but when I pull it out, I see it’s not mine. “Oh, shoot. I’ve got Raya’s phone.”
“She let you have her phone?” Eloise asks, back to signing the words. “That’s crazy. Her whole life is on that thing.”
“No, I grabbed it when they wheeled her out,” I say, dumbly. “I thought she might need it. You know, once she was feeling better.” I flip it around and show her the incoming call.
“It’s Justin,” Poppy says.
I try not to make a face.
Eloise snatches it out of my hand and answers. “Hello?”
Pause.
“No, it’s her sister, Eloise, sorry. Raya had a sort of . . .” She looks at Poppy like she has no idea how much to say, and I wonder if she regrets answering the call.
Poppy mouths the wordepisode.
“Episode,” Eloise says. “We’re in the emergency room waiting to find out. Someone mentioned maybe it was a—” She pauses again. I wish she’d put the guy on speaker. I want to make up my own mind about him. “Oh. Right. Yeah, we don’t know yet, but we hope so.” Pause. “Right, okay, I’ll let her know.” She looks up. “Okay, bye.” She pulls a face.
“What did he say?” I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.
“He said to tell her to text him when she’s better,” Eloise says.
Poppy and I look at one another.
“That’s it?” Poppy says.
Eloise shrugs.
