Page 44 of Lily In The Valley
He didn’t ease into it. “It’s Kelly’s mom. She collapsed this morning. Paramedics brought her here. They tried reviving her…but” he choked. “She didn’t make it.”
Everything slowed.
In front of me, Kelly was leaving the restroom, stopping by a kiosk hawking plastic nothingness. I turned my back on her and gripped the handle of her suitcase.
“Say that again,” I whispered.
“She’s gone, bruh. I—Me, Nessa, her parents. We’re all here. It happened so fast.”
I shut my eyes. Every muscle in my body clenched.
Xavier exhaled shakily. “Nessa says don’t tell her. Just bring her straight here. We’re at Memorial. Emergency entrance. Nessa said she’ll meet you there and tell Kelly the news.”
I swallowed hard. “I got it.”
“Say, Khalil—” Xavier’s voice cracked. “She’s gonna need you.”
“I know.”
I turned back toward Kelly, who was now walking toward me, an easy grin on her face.
“You good?” she asked, eyeing me.
I nodded too fast. “Yeah. Car’s almost here.”
She narrowed her eyes but didn’t push. Just kept walking ahead of me. The ride was quiet, but not in a bad way. Kelly rested her forehead against the window, fingers tapping absently on her thigh to some invisible rhythm. I stared out the opposite side, phone clutched in my palm like it might crack open and scream.
“Heard from anyone today?” she asked eventually.
My body stiffened. I cleared my throat. “Zay called me. Asked if we were on our way back yet?”
“Can’t spend three days without each other, huh?” She laughed, then rested her head on my shoulder. “Nessa’sprobably blowing my phone up. She’ll have to wait.” She smiled faintly. “She’s probably freaking out over her pregnancy. Or names. Every day I wake up to a new name suggestion. Just last week I had to talk her out of naming the baby something like Lavender.”
My chest ached. “Khalil Junior is a strong name,” I said, forcing a smile.
She laughed again. “We agreed you don’t get naming rights until you’re someone’s husband.”
“Technicalities.”
She looked up at me then. Real soft. Real curious.
“You sure everything’s okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah,” I replied, then kissed her forehead. I hated how easy it was to lie when the truth would shatter her.Nessa said she’ll tell her. But I didn’t want to hand her off. I didn’t want her finding out from anyone but me. Still, I promised. So, I sat in silence while she hummed along to the radio, completely unaware that her whole life had already changed.
As we got closer to the hospital, her body became tense, alert.
“Khalil, why are we headed to the hospital?”
I was frozen, stuck with how much, if anything, I should share. Instead, I decided to reply, “Nessa wants us to meet her there.”
“Why? What happened? Is she okay?”
I wrapped my arm around Kelly’s shoulders, pulling her close. “I’m not sure. She just said to head that way.”
What was once an enjoyable moment soon became tense. Kelly’s shoulders squared, her defenses heightened no matter how much I rubbed her shoulders. Her eyes flitted between the windows on either side of the car. Gone was the gentle humming from earlier. She sat there, furiously twiddling her thumbs, rapping of her fingers against whatever surface she could get her hands on. Muscle memory caused her to check her pockets forthe phone she’d tucked away into her carry-on in the trunk of the car.
When we pulled into the entrance of the hospital, Kelly hopped out before I could even finish tipping the driver.
