Page 42 of Noticing Natalie
“Oh, of course. That was stupid of me.”
“It really was,” I joked.
He laughed, and the twinkle in his eyes was so familiar it felt like coming home.
Had I completely forgiven Tim Summers? No. But I could be friends with him again.
In fact, I think I needed his friendship.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Natalie
I tried not to speed into the hospital parking lot, but it had been a crazy morning. I took Sabine to the airport in early morning Atlanta traffic which is always a mix of native Georgians who wave you in politely if you need over—and trust me you will need to change lanes at some point—transplants who will flip you off and scream at you if you try to cut in front of them, people just passing through on their way to somewhere else who look like they’re on the verge of tears as they beg you to let them over, and tourists who aren’t looking at the road at all. They’re just pointing at all the sights around them.
In other words, it’s super fun.
Sabine, normally unflappable, always looked terrified in downtown Atlanta traffic. “How do people live like this?” she had gasped out as I saw an opening and shot over a few lanes. I had given a quick ‘thank you’ wave in my rearview mirror to the person behind me who had honked for ten full seconds and flipped me off. Sabine had then stared behind her, horrified. “I think that little old lady said she wanted to kill you if I was reading her lips correctly.”
“Probably,” I’d said, unfazed. I’d noticed her hands shaking. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just like this. If you grow up with it, you get kind of used to it. There are so, so many things I loveabout Atlanta. Driving on I-75, I-285, I-85, or I-20 is not one of them.”
“So… all the roads?”
“Mainly just the interstates. But a lot of the roads are pretty treacherous, too.”
“In Paris, I walk everywhere.”
I had looked around me. We’d been about to go under the Fifth Street Bridge with Georgia Tech on our right and the iconic Atlanta restaurant The Varsity on the left. “Would you like to walk here?”
“Um… no.”
I’d laughed and shot over another lane or two while she’d grabbed the ‘oh, shit’ handle. “Don’t worry it’ll get better when we get closer to the airport. And then it’ll get worse again. Oh, and it will look like planes are about to land on top of us on the interstate.”
Sabine had looked noticeably paler. “I’ve been through all this before; I think I block it from my mind as soon as I’m safely on the plane.”
“Good idea,” I’d smiled at her.
“I don’t see how you do it.”
“Like I said, I’m used to it. And Atlanta’s worth it. There’s so much to love here.” I’d paused while waving a crying woman over in front of me. She’d looked younger than me and terrified. She had a Wisconsin license plate, and I wondered if it was her first time through Atlanta. “Still, I’m glad I live in Indigo Falls and only come to Atlanta a few times a month.”
It had been hard saying goodbye to Sabine. I’d held onto her for an extra moment or so before leaving her at the airport.
And now I was about to start my first day of work. I sighed as I pulled into a parking spot and immediately got out of my new car. It was strange driving it. There were maybe two thousand miles on it, so I knew Dad had barely driven it. It was nice, too.It was a cherry red Lexus NX that he’d obviously picked out for me. Dad had driven only white, black, or gray cars his entire life.
It made me feel like he was still watching over me a bit to be driving the car he’d wanted me to have. Lost in thought, I didn’t even notice where I was going or that a man was pulling a door open for me.
So, that’s how it hit me, I guess.
“Shit!” I cried, seeing stars as I took a door to the face. He’d been swinging it open with a flourish, too, so he’d really whipped it right into me.
Everything went black for a moment, and I toppled to the ground.
***
I came to in what looked to be a small exam room. I tried to sit up, grabbed my head, and decided to lie back down for a bit.
“Hey, there,” a sweet gray-haired nurse said. “I’m Maxine. Can you tell me your name?”
