“Andy had an allergic reaction.” She swallowed. “He’s okay, but we’re at the ER.”
He accelerated without a thought. “Which one?” When he had the name of the hospital, he planned the fastest route in his mind, ticket be damned. “I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”
Scenarios of what could have happened ran through his mind the entire way. By the time he pulled into the parking space outside the entrance, he’d run through so many what-ifs and contingency plans that he was shaking.
“Andre Gomez?” he snapped at the woman behind the desk. He winced and tried again. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for his room.”
The older woman smiled sympathetically. “Will Evans?”
He nodded.
“His sister said you’d be coming. Go through that door and make a left.” She pointed. “He’s in room three of peds.”
With the press of a button on her side of the desk, the door opened, and Will hurried through it. The smell of antiseptic hit him hard as he raced down the white hall, desperately looking for numbers.
“Room three?” he asked a woman in green scrubs.
She pointed to a door across the hall.
Without knocking, he flung the door open. Andy was curled up on the bed, asleep under a thin white sheet. He was pale, and his lips were cracked, but his chest rose and fell with each breath. The tight fist that had squeezed his heart since Aly told him they were in the ER released, and he swallowed hard.
Andy was fine.
“Will.”
His attention snapped to the corner, where Aly was slumped in a chair. She looked as pale, if not more so, than Andy. His heart clenched again.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“What happened?” he demanded, moving to squat in front of her.
Her hand shook as she pushed her hair off her face. “I was distracted, and he was hungry. He wanted to eat something, so he grabbed a sandwich.” She shook her head.
“Did you check that it was okay?”
Aly shook her head and ducked her chin, avoiding his gaze.
His jaw clenched. They needed a more solid plan for eating out. This couldn’t happen again.
“At least you had his EpiPen.”
Shaking her head, Aly blew out a breath and ran her hands through her hair. “I didn’t though.”
“Didn’t what?” he asked.
“Have an EpiPen, and I thought—”
“How the hell not?” he demanded, pulling himself to his feet and pacing. “We have eight of them. How the hell did you not have one with you? Did you forget your purse?”
She pulled her shoulders back and tightened her hands into fists.
“It was me,” Andy croaked from behind him.
Will spun toward Andy, hands on his hips.
“I dumped her purse out in the car. It rolled under the seat. I couldn’t reach it, and I didn’t tell her because I was excited about picking out a present for you and didn’t want to wait.” Andy swallowed hard. “I’ll never do it again. I promise.” His voice broke.
Will strode to the bed to wrap Andy tight in his arms. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” And it wasn’t. It was Will’s job to take care of his family. And he’d failed. While he sat in a class that’s entire focus was on emergency response, he hadn’t been there for Andy or Aly when they’dhadan emergency. They needed better plans. He thought back to Thanksgiving. He hadn’t even confirmed ahead of time that no one was bringing nuts to dinner. And he hadn’t focused on teaching Andy to ask before he ate either. That needed to become priority number one. “It’s not on you, dude. We’re responsible for taking care of you, and we’re going to do better.”