Chapter 2 - The Phone Call
I was at my desk at work when my phone buzzed. The screen showed the school's number. I picked up without much thought — a forgotten permission slip, maybe, or a kid who'd thrown up in gym.
"Hello?"
"Is this Nora and Claire's mother?" A woman's voice, tight and careful.
"Yes. Who's this?"
"This is Ms. Delaney. I teach their math class." She paused, and in that pause I heard her breathing shake. "Something's happened with Nora."
I was already standing. My chair rolled back and hit the filing cabinet.
"What do you mean, something happened?"
"She said she felt dizzy. She stood up to go to the nurse and she — she went down. She collapsed. We called an ambulance right away."
"Where are they taking her?"
"Bellhaven Medical Center. Ma'am, I'm so sorry. Please drive safe."
I don't remember grabbing my keys. I don't remember telling my boss. I remember every red light, though — each one felt like a hand holding my head underwater. I kept whispering, "Come on, come on, come on," to a windshield that couldn't hear me.
At the hospital, a woman at the desk pointed me toward the emergency wing. Claire was already there, sitting in a plastic chair next to the school counselor, her backpack still on both shoulders like she'd forgotten to take it off.
She saw me and ran. Slammed into my chest.
"Mom."
"Where's your sister? Where's Nora?"
She shook her head against me. "They won't tell me anything. They just keep saying wait."
Her face had no color in it at all.
I went to the nurses' station. I asked. I asked again. I asked a third time, until a woman gently told me to please sit down, someone would come. Time did that thing where it moves too fast and too slow at once — I couldn't have told you if I sat there ten minutes or an hour.
Then the doors opened and a doctor came through, still pulling off his gloves as he walked. He looked tired in a way that went past his eyes.
I knew. Before he opened his mouth, I knew.
"I'm so sorry."
The floor tilted.
"Her heart stopped very suddenly. We worked on her for a long time. We did everything we could, but we weren't able to bring her back." He hesitated. "Is there any history of heart conditions in your family? Anything with the girls?"
"She's twelve." My voice came out flat and strange. "She's twelve years old. No."
May you like
He didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say.
I found out later my knees hit the floor. I don't remember that part. I remember Claire screaming somewhere above me, and the counselor trying to hold her, and a nurse crouching down next to me, saying my name like it was a question.
