CHAPTER 35
The information desk lady directed us to the emergency waiting room where we found everyone still waiting. My eyes locked with Olivia’s.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Just tired,” she said. She had a good-sized knot on her forehead from the fall, but no cut or anything.
I took in the others, trying to gauge if she’d said anything. If they knew the bigger picture here. They looked worried but not sad. My guess was she hadn’t told them yet, but maybe I was wrong.
Skyler, who’d been sitting next to her, stood, then hesitated. Had we just been friends, he could’ve given me a hug, but now that everyone knew we were more than that, I could tell he didn’t know what to do. And that hurt more than I wanted it to.
I was not going to make this about me. Skyler was allowed to feel however he felt right now. “I saw the cafeteria was open. Can I get anyone anything?”
“I’ll come with you,” Mom said.
“I’d love some coffee,” Olivia said.
The rest of the group shook their heads.
“We’ll text you some of their offerings in case you change your minds,” Mom said.
As we left the others, I felt like I was leaving my heart behind. As soon as we were in the hallway leading to the main entrance again, and well out of earshot, I said, “Did she tell them?”
“No.”
“Do you think she will?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe it will depend on what the doctor says when she gets seen.”
“Did anyone…Did Olivia say anything about…”
“About you and Skyler?” Mom asked, her voice making it perfectly clear that she was irritated. “I think everyone was too worried about Olivia to think about that.”
I was just wondering if a discussion had happened and that’s why Skyler had been standoffish in the waiting room. “I know you think it’s a mistake.”
“Iknowit’s a mistake. At least right now, but apparently you stopped taking my advice.”
“Mom, it’s not like that. We were…I didn’t know about Olivia when I kissed Skyler.”
“But now you do. Now you do.”
***
An hour passed, maybe two, as I sat in the RV and sketched to try to get my mind off everything. I sat out here because I didn’twant Skyler to have to worry about how to act around me or feel awkward. I wanted him to focus all his attention on his mom.
So I was surprised when a knock sounded on the door, followed by Skyler’s smiling face appearing as he opened it. “You really should use the lock when you’re sitting alone in the middle of the parking lot.”
“Hi,” I said, and then stupid tears sprang to my eyes and down my cheeks.
“Oh no,” he said, rushing inside, the door swinging shut behind him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, no, nothing. Are you okay?” I tossed my sketchbook onto the couch next to me.
He sat down and pulled me into a tight hug. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry I was a spaz back there. In all the stress, I had forgotten that they knew we were kissing now. It’s like my brain forgot to store the two minutes before my mom’s fall.”
I nodded. “You don’t need to apologize. What’s happening inside?”
He released me and leaned back, one arm resting along the cushions behind me. “My mom is finally getting seen but they wouldn’t let us all in with her, obviously. She only wanted your mom to go.”