Page 13 of The Lucky List
My heart stops. “I wasn’t, but now I am. What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“I’m at the hospital with Micah?—”
“What!”
“He’s okay, but Mike thinks he might have a broken arm.”
“What? Who’s Mike?” I press harder on the accelerator, trying to get to Levi’s school faster.
“Hardy’s coworker, Mike. Mr. March in the calendar. The one with the Irish accent.”
I know exactly who she’s talking about.
“He was the one that found Isaac during the school fire, remember?”
“I remember, but why does he think Micah’s arm is broken?”
“He fell at recess. Or jumped? Anyway, I had to call 911, and he’s who they sent out. I know Micah doesn’t like men, but he was the closest.”
“And he didn’t freak out?”
“He was a little unsure at first, but Mike’s been really good with him.”
“I’m getting Levi now, then I’ll head to the hospital. What happened?”
“Everyone was playing, and the recess monitor was distracted by two kids fighting over a pack of Gushers. Apparently, some of the first-grade boys challenged the kindergarten boys to a contest to see who could jump off the highest playground item. Micah ran to the top of the blue slide and jumped off it.”
“Oh my God, the really big one that we wish they would tear down for that very reason?”
“That’s the one. Anyway, he landed on his arm. The monitor sent some kids to come get me after it happened, and I’ve been with him ever since. He’s doing really well. You’d be proud.”
“Okay. That’s good.” My mind is racing a mile a minute.I’ve got to get Levi and make it to the hospital and figure out how I’m going to occupy him while we wait on Micah to get checked out.
A horn honks behind me, and I notice a plain white car with a police light pulling up on my bumper.
“Fuck, I’m getting pulled over.”
“Oh shit! I’ll let you go. Don’t worry, I can hold things down here. Do what you need to do. Just be safe.”
“I’ll call you back.” We hang up, and I pull to the side of the road. Could this day get any worse?
Leaning over to root around in my glovebox and purse, I’m distracted as I fish out everything I need to give the officer, when a tap on my window startles me.
“Oh my God, Doug! You scared me.” I roll down the window as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“License and registration.”
I blink at him in confusion. Is he pranking me?
He thrusts his hips out slightly, and the sun gleams off the badge clipped to his belt. He definitely wasn’t wearing that earlier.
“Are you a cop?”
He frowns at me. “State trooper.”
Man in uniform. My mom group DMs make a lot more sense now. State trooper is technically a uniform, even if he isn’t currently wearing it. I really should have gotten more details from Summer. Or paid attention to him when he talked about what he did. I at least should have said goodbye. His interaction with Susy is starting to make more sense now.
“I’m sorry to ditch you like that back there, but I got a call from my friend that my kid got hurt at school and I’ve got to grab his brother and head to the hospital.” I try to look sweet, but my heart is racing, and I feel like my face is twitching.
