Page 101 of You Met Me There

Juliet rushes through the house, grabbing the essentials for a flight. She’s upstairs for a total of three minutes, probably telling Cam about what happened and why she needs to go with me.

Dad hugs me tight, tucking my head under his chin. “He’ll be okay, sweetheart. He’ll be alright.”

I try to believe him.

Juliet’s feet pound down the steps. She turns the corner, a backpack slung over her shoulder and a coat and purse in the crook of her arm.

“I’m ready. We’ll take your car.”

When I don’t move, she takes the keys from my hand and guides me to the door, an arm around my back. I’m completely catatonic, moving through a fog of fear and unknowns. It’s like my dream come to life. I’m in my nightmare where the darkness is closing in all around me, threatening to pull me under, where I’ll never see the sunshine again.

I fumble with the seatbelt. Juliet drives us to the airport, calling the airline to book our flights simultaneously. As soon as we get there, I’m hyperventilating.

“Natalie, I know it’s hard,” she says, pulling my hands away from my hair and holding them in my lap. “But you have to breathe. That’s it. Put your head down and breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Yup, do it again.”

I breathe again and again. My hands tingle and my chest is tight.

“You’re doing great. Just keep breathing. You can do this. Calm your breaths.” Juliet checks her phone, the screen lighting up the cab of the SUV in the dark parking garage. “Our flight is boarding soon. We have to go now if we’re going to get on that plane.”

My breathing has slowed. I take another shaky breath and open the door.

We rush through check-in and security with no holdups. When we make it to our gate, groups are already being called for boarding. We stand in line when we hear them call our assigned group.

Juliet does all the leading. I follow as she tugs me along. In the plane, she leads me to a row near the middle. We were lucky to snag two seats beside each other.

Juliet shoves her backpack in the overhead storage compartment. A woman sitting in the window seat smiles as we tuck our purses under the seats in front of us.

“Just breathe,” she says as she buckles herself in. “We can’t do anything to make us get there any faster, so just relax now. As best as you can.”

I nod. “Yeah.” Exhale. “You’re right … Thank you for coming with me. I’m a mess. I can’t imagine getting through the airport without you.” I dab at my wet eyes. I haven’t stopped crying since the phone call from the hospital.

“I want to be here for you.” She clears her throat, then reaches out and places her hand over mine. “I missed getting to be there for you. No matter what it’s for, big or small, I’m with you now.” Her big brown eyes hold my gaze.

“This is definitely something big,” I whimper.

She squeezes my fingers. “And I’ll be here the whole time.”

A few unbearably long hours later we touch down in Miami. We rush through the airport like we’re late for a connecting flight, passing the baggage claim carousels and waiting passengers. We don’t rent a car. On the curb outside the airport we wave down a taxi and tell them to go straight to the hospital.

Juliet speaks to the nurse at the desk when we arrive, and she tells us where to go. We can’t see Luke yet, so we’re guided to the waiting room where the doctor will meet us when he has some news following Luke’s surgery.

Luke’s parents, Mike and Samantha, are already here. They sit on blue chairs that don’t look comfortable. Samantha’s blonde hair falls loose and curly around her shoulders but shows signs of tangles, like she’s been running her hands through it aggressively. Mike doesn’t look much better with half of his collar sticking up and his button-up plaid shirt half untucked from his slacks.

Samantha stands when she sees me and rushes over, crushing me in a viselike hug. Luke’s dad stands behind her. I reach out to him over her shoulder, and he takes my hand. Redness rims his eyes. These two have been the closest thing I’ve had to parents for the past decade. Luke may be my husband, but he’s their son. I can’t imagine the whirlwind they’re going through not being able to help him, unable to see him.

I introduce Juliet in a quiet tone. They’re excited to finally meet her, although it’s not a happy meeting under these circumstances.

“Has the doctor come out yet?” she asks them.

They collectively shake their heads and wring their hands.

“A nurse told us he was stable during surgery, but we haven’t heard anything else yet,” says Samantha. “That was about an hour ago.”

While we drove to the airport after the call, Juliet informed me of what the nurse on the phone said.

Luke was walking across the street, but the driver didn’t notice the crosswalk. They were probably on their phone. They hit him going thirty miles an hour, throwing him over the hood. He rolled over the car and hit the ground. He had to be rushed into immediate emergency surgery for a punctured lung, and he broke multiple bones, including his leg and ribs which caused the lung to deflate.

My heart pounds again just thinking about it.