Page 41 of On the Bright Side
Hey, are you on your way?
She’d waited a half hour before sending the next at 9:45.
ELLIE:
Is everything okay?
Then a final message at 11:00.
ELLIE:
I guess we’re not going…
What do I even say? First things first. My hand is shaking so much that autocorrect has to do some heavy lifting with this message.
JACKSON:
I’m so sorry for this morning. Something came up.
That sounds flaky. I’m tempted to just call and explain, but I don’t even know if shedoesphone calls. That doesn’t seem like the right move.
JACKSON:
I had to go to Urgent Care.
Her response comes quickly now.
ELLIE:
Are you okay??
JACKSON:
Yeah, I’m fine now.
Should I offer to still meet up with her today? I sit down on the bed, getting ready to send another text, and exhaustion hits. Hard.
JACKSON:
Sorry, I’ll explain more on Monday.
Even though I still need to eat something, I toss my phone to the side and crawl under the blankets, immediately falling fast asleep.
Chapter Nineteen
Ellie
Yikes, Jackson hadto go to the doctor. I feel bad about how much I was building him up to be some sort of villain in my head. Of course he didn’t stand me up. He wouldn’t do that.
Maybe he twisted an ankle or stepped on a nail or something painful. I’m curious to know what happened, but we can perhaps leave out any of the grisly details. I really can’t do blood. Or needles. I was young when I got my CI, and it turned out fine, but I still have nightmares if I think too hard about it—surgery on your head isn’t exactly a fun time.
Jackson doesn’t want to explain more now anyway, so I won’t press.
I’m not sure what to do with myself for the rest of today. It’s almost six, and I’ve pretty much just sat around worried and waiting, even after resigning myself to the fact that the Sign Museum wasn’t going to happen.
I get another text, but it’s not from Jackson.
SHAY:
