Page 137 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
Was I overreacting?
Maybe… I didn’t know. But what I did know was that I was going to have to have a very serious talk with Sadie. If this was going to work, there was no way that I could go through this. If she wasn’t going to be somewhere or was running late, she’d have to remember to charge her phone or find some way to let me know.
My mouth was dry and my palms tingled. My anxiety was taking over. I tried to remember what my therapist had told me to do when that happened, but I couldn’t. This was too overwhelming. What I was feeling wasn’t going to pass. Not until I knew that Sadie was okay.
Beside me Maddox made small talk. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to distract me, but it wasn’t working. I wasn’t even listening to him.
I pulled out my phone and tried to call Sadie. It went straight to voicemail. Again.
I was just putting my phone back when I saw that I had a voicemail.
Thank God. It had to be Sadie. She must have called me when I was calling her.
I pressed play expecting to hear Sadie’s voice, but it wasn’t her.
“Hi, Alex. This is Monica. Um, there’s been an accident. Well, I don’t know if it was an accident. Sadie was found in the alley unconscious. She’s on her way to San Francisco General. I didn’t have another contact number for her and I know the two of you are… friends. Anyway, I just thought I should let you know and see if there is anyone I should contact. Give me a call back. Thanks.”
All of the blood in my body ran cold. I stood and started walking past the other parents as I called Monica back.
I pushed the door open and walked outside, gasping for air when she answered. “What happened? Is Sadie okay?”
“I don’t know. Christopher, he works in the kitchen, he was taking out the trash and he found her. She’s not conscious. One of our nurses sat with her until EMTs arrived. She has an abrasion on her head and wasn’t responsive.”
Everything around me was spinning. The entire world was going round and round in circles.
“She’s in an ambulance on her way to San Francisco General.”
I hung up the phone and was turning back to get Lexi when I walked straight into Maddox.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Sadie—” I tried to tell him what I’d just heard but all of the oxygen had left my lungs. “She’s…I don’t know. They found her unconscious. She’s at the hospital. I have to go.”
“I’ll drive you.” Maddox offered.
“No. You stay with the girls. Take Lexi to pizza. Tell her I’ll come get her as soon as I can.”
“Are you sure, man? I don’t think you should drive.”
“Stay with Lexi. Take care of Lexi!” I shouted as I ran to the parking garage.
The drive to the hospital felt eerily familiar. I’d made the same drive after Mia had come in and told me that Ash and AJ had been hit by a car. I’d made the same drive from the airport when Mrs. G had a stroke.
I knew that I shouldn’t have been with her. I knew that things had been going too well. I just wasn’t made for happily ever after and the people around me suffered.
I’d made a huge mistake, and now Sadie was paying for it.
