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“I just … long story. I—”
But he was already gone, barreling down the stairs.
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked Chloe’s mom.
She stood up straight, her eyes darting around the room. “Um … get Chloe’s bag! She packed a bag for the hospital. It’s purple and it’s at the foot of her bed.”
“Okay!”
I sprinted down the hall, grateful to have a job. I grabbed the bag from the floor. As I turned toward the door, I noticed the teddy bear in the center of her bed and grabbed it. I don’t even know why.
Downstairs, Mr. Appleby was helping Chloe into her coat. I walked over with the bag and the bear, and her mom snatched them out of my hands. Chloe was panting, scared out of her mind, from the look on her face.
“Let’s go,” Mr. Appleby said.
Chloe took the bear and clutched it to her chest. We started out the door.
“Not you,” her dad grunted at me.
I froze.
Chloe shot me a helpless look. “But, Daddy—”
“No! I don’t want that kid anywhere near you or me or the baby,” he said gruffly. “No arguments. Now let’s get in the car. We’re wasting time.”
I stood in the open doorway as Chloe was dragged off by her parents and helped into the car. I wanted to go with them, but at the same time I wanted to stay here and not have to deal. Right after her door was closed, Chloe lowered the window and stuck her head out. I took a step forward, ready to give her whatever she wanted.
“Call Will,” she said. “Tell him to meet us there.”
I tasted bile in the back of my throat. I couldn’t think of one thing I’d rather do less. But I nodded.
“Okay,” I said, my voice harsh.
Then her dad took off, peeling out of the driveway and slamming on the brakes as he saw the mess on the street. He managed to maneuver his way out somehow, but I imagined he was cursing me the whole way. One more reason for him to hate me.
I tugged my phone out of my pocket and opened my contacts, then stopped. Who was I kidding? I didn’t have Will Halloran’s number. I tipped my head back and groaned at the sky. One thing. She asked me to do one thing and I couldn’t even do it.
I imagined going back to my house and waking up some Norms to see if they had the kid’s number, but that might take too long. I could have driven to the hospital and asked Chloe for it, but her dad wouldn’t let me near her, plus I was drunk, plus my car was blocked in, plus Chloe was a little preoccupied right now. I pressed the heels of my hands to my forehead.
“Think, moron, think,” I said to myself. Who did I know who would have Will Halloran’s number?
And then it hit me. Just like that. I hit the speed-dial button. Ally answered on the fourth ring.
“Jake?”
She was half-asleep.
“Ally,” I said, warmth rushing through me at the sound of her voice. “I know you hate me right now, but I need your help.”
ally
Will and I ran into the emergency room entrance at the hospital, out of breath from our sprint across the frigid parking lot. For the middle of the night, there sure were a lot of cars parked out there. It had taken us the ten longest minutes of my life to find a spot, and the whole time Will had been rocking forward and back in his seat, muttering something under his breath that sounded like a prayer.
“Whoa, whoa! Can I help you?”
A ski
“My girlfriend. She’s in labor,” Will said, panting. “What room is she in?”
The woman shot me a curious and kind of judgey look over Will’s shoulder.
“Her name’s Chloe Appleby,” I said.
“Hold on. Let me check.”
She moved over to the desk at roughly the speed of spilled pudding and tapped a few keys on her computer.
“Here it is,” she said. “And what’s your name, son?”
“Will Halloran,” Will said.
“You’re on the list of approved friends and family.” She looked me up and down as she slowly wrote out a pass for Will. “And you?”
“Oh, I’m not going up,” I said. “I’m good.”
“She’s Ally Ryan,” Will blurted, wiping his palms on the butt of his jeans. “Allyson Ryan.”
I shot him a look like What the hell? And he shrugged. Panic was coming off of him in waves and I got the feeling he was just terrified of going anywhere alone.
“Is she on there?” Will croaked.
The woman’s eyes flicked over the computer. “Why, yes she is. It’s your lucky day, kids. You get to witness the miracle of childbirth.” And then she snickered.
My heart, which was just starting to calm down from the midnight cardio, started to pound anew. The woman handed over two passes and nodded at the door. “Elevator’s that way.”
Will started through the door, but I hesitated, shifting from foot to foot. “Is she … like, did she have the baby yet or is she still—”
“In labor?” the woman said, clearly amused. “I don’t have that kind of information, kid. You’ll have to see for yourself.”
Right then an ambulance came tearing up to the glass doors, sirens blaring, and Will yanked me through the door and into the hallway. His finger trembled as he hit the up button for the elevator. Suddenly a wheelchair slammed through the door we’d just come through ourselves, with a hugely pregnant woman panting like a dog. An orderly pushed the chair in our direction, while a beefy dude—her husband, I guessed—shoved a Flip camera in her face.
“How’re you feeling, hon?” he asked as they barreled toward us.
“I’m feeling like I’m going to take that camera and shove it up your ass!” she shouted back through her teeth.
Will and I gaped. The elevator pinged and opened. The orderly shoved the woman inside, while her husband, now looking a tad green, trailed behind her.
“You two coming?” the orderly asked.
“We’ll wait for the next one,” I heard myself say.
As the doors slid closed, the woman started screeching.
“Um, I don’t think I want to go up there,” I said, clutching my pass with both hands as Will hit the up button again.
“Don’t make me do this alone,” he replied.
His plea was so sincere, so childlike, so not-manly-three-varsity-letter-athlete, that I couldn’t turn him down. The second elevator pinged and we stepped inside. Mercifully, it was empty.
On the fifth floor, a nurse directed us to Chloe’s delivery room. Mrs. Appleby met us outside. She looked freaked, but determined. Like she was steering an out-of-control bus full of kids.
“Good, you’re here,” she said to Will. “She keeps asking for you.”
Will glanced warily at the closed door. “Is she okay?”
At that moment, the door opened and a nurse stepped out. Chloe’s cries of pain filled the hall. Will looked like he was about to fall over.
“She’s doing fine,” Chloe’s mom assured him. “Come on. I’ll take you in.”
I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “So I should just …”
“You can wait out here, Ally. Thanks for bringing Will.”
“Yeah, thanks for driving me. I don’t think I could have—”
“It’s not a problem.”
I waited until the poor guy was through the door, then sat down in one of the waiting area chairs. My knees were weak. My hands were quaking. I felt both tired and completely alert at the same time. Figuring our friends would want to know what was going on, I sent a quick text to Faith and Sha
Jake had called me. I’d woken up in the middle of the night to see his face on my phone for the first time in over a month. I didn’t even know what I thought he might have been calling to say, but I did know I grabbed the thing and answered it so fast I clearly wanted to hear whatever it was. I hadn’t been prepared for the panic.