“Well I think—“ I stop, because my phone is ringing. When I go to answer it, I realize that I’ve been talking with Finn for almost an hour and a half. Mandy must have told Bradley, because she’s the one calling. “Sorry, I just need to— hello?” I say, answering.
“Hi, is this Kenley Sullivan?” the person on the other end says. It’s not my sister; my chest tightens. Formal voice, first and last name, calling from Mandy’s phone…something is very wrong.
“This is she,” I say hurriedly.
“Hi, Miss Sullivan. This is Kelly Sharpton, I’m a nurse in the Piedmont Women's’ Clinic. Your sister is here— she’s fine— but she would like to see you.”
I go silent, eyes wide, heart racing— how does one form words, again? I can’t seem to remember. I can’t seen to remember anything—
“Miss Sullivan? She’s not in any life-threatening danger, but she isn’t feeling well. Can you come here?”
“Yes. Yes, yes,” I stutter frantically.
The nurse goes on to give me Mandy’s information with the calm clarity of someone who has made this phone call plenty of times before. By the time that I hang up the phone, it feels like someone has siphoned all the blood from my body. I must look it, too, because I’ve never seen Finn appear so worried.
“What’s going on?” he asks before my phone hits the table.
“Mandy’s in the hospital— I need to go— I need to pay—“
Finn’s already reaching for his wallet; he tosses cash down on the table and rises. “I’ll drive you.”
Chapter 18
I don’t exactly process getting to the hospital, going to the desk, walking through the labyrinth of halls looking for room 603— I know it had to have happened, but it all feels faded and dreamlike. The first thing I really comprehend is the sight of my sister in a hospital room, wearing a white gown with pale lavender polka dots.
“Mandy!” I say, voice strangled.
“Hey, hey— I’m okay,” Mandy says swiftly, turning away from the television. I run up to her and wrap my arms around her, inspecting her for signs of injury.
“What’s going on? The nurse called and I freaked out— are you okay? Was it something with Bradley? He didn’t—”
The careful smile Mandy is wearing falters a bit, then she looks away as she releases me. “I just got really dizzy and passed out. And since I’m…well. You know. Bradley called an ambulance.”
I sit on the edge of her bed. “But you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Probably just a panic attack or something. Telling Bradley wasn’t exactly drama-free,” she says, rubbing her eyes. The remnants of eyeliner are clinging to her eyelids, and now that I’m not looking for a missing limb, I can see they’re pink from crying.
“What happened?” I asked quietly.
“He…did not take it well. At all. He said I did it on purpose.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I ask.
“He said I must have done it on purpose, because no one else is stupid enough to get pregnant these days. He didn’t believe the thing about the antibiotics,” Mandy says, jaw trembling a bit. My stomach clenches in fury, and I lean forward to hug her again. She whispers, almost more to herself, “I didn’t think it would be that bad, telling him.”
“It shouldn’t have been,” I answer.
“Yeah but— oh. It’s you,” Mandy says. She’s looking over my shoulder— I turn and see that Finn is standing in the doorway. I’d more or less forgotten about him entirely, but now that I can see his face, I remember running down the corridors with him, searching for Mandy’s room.
“I was with Finn when the nurse called. At Suns Up,” I add quickly, just in case she thinks I mean Finn and I were together in a very different way.
“I drove her. Not trying to interrupt or anything— but we left the car in the loading zone. I’m going to go move it, then wait for you in the lobby,” Finn says to me.
“Sure—“ I start.
Mandy cuts me off. “You don’t have to wait in the lobby. Come back up here, okay? And thanks for driving Kenley.”
“It wasn’t a problem,” Finn says, looking a little surprised. He vanishes, and Mandy watches the doorway for a moment even after he’s gone. “Bradley called the ambulance when I fainted, but didn’t even come to the hospital with me. He thinks I’m just trying to get money out of him and his dad.”
“I can’t believe he’d be like that,” I say.
“Really? Because I sort of can. Now that it’s happened,” Mandy says slowly, running her fingers across the television remote buttons absently. “He doesn’t like it when stuff doesn’t go his way. He was controlling, sometimes. He was bossy.”
“He was condescending. And entitled,” I add. Mandy gives me a small smile. “What? If we’re being honest about him, I might as well come out with it: That guy has been an entitled douchebag since day one. I bet his family has like, a ‘house on the cape’. Oh, and they probably ‘summer’ somewhere, right?”