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Stuffing away her hurt feelings from earlier, she nodded “Thank you”
“Then let this officially establish that I’ht I’m sorry” He s her close and brushing a kiss across the top of her head “Everything’s gonna be okay”
God, she hoped so
Linus ht possible They scrambled out of the car and took the express elevator to the roof where the helicopter aiting Her stomach shimmied and shook at takeoff but settled as they fleest away from Harbor City She and Sawyer had earphones and a mic so they could talk over the roar, but he didn’t push conversation Instead, he held her hand as one fishing and she’d rolled the canoe, getting both of the the intricacies of football and the beauty that was a baseball stat sheet The fact that when she’d declared she wanted to live in Harbor City and go on adventures around the globe for a few years after graduation, he’d supported her even as her e her mind
Her dad had always been there for her And what had she done in return? Left town Rarely visited Limited phone calls to once a week All because she was afraid that Sparksville would suck her back in and she’d never nant unexpectedly and married soon after No adventure Just day after day of packing school lunches, the PTA, and eating chicken pot pie every Thursday night because it was her husband’s favorite Guilt, regret, and fear slashed at her like knives, cutting her up from the inside out
Her roiling stomach let her know they’d started their descent before she noticed the water toith the Sparksville High School bulldog painted on it The , but there was plenty of space for the helicopter to land She and Sawyer got out,chopper blades, and hurried over to a nondescript sedan parked on the tarmac
Sawyer threw their bags in the trunk while she got in the passenger seat, too jittery to handle driving She’d just clicked her seatbelt shut when he slid behind the wheel and started up the car The dashboard navigation unit lit up, showing the step-by-step direction to the hospital that the rental e the keys in the visor
The drive to the hospital was a blur Before she knew it, she and Saere rushing through the autoency rooht at Harbor City General There was a teenager feeding the candy machine a dollar, but no one else was in the small room packed with chairs
“Jane?” a woman called out
Heart haainst her ribs as she prepared for the worst, Clover turned and spotted Mrs Here, one of her mom’s best friends, behind the intake desk on the opposite side of the rooht in a moment of pure panic, she forced herself to take a deep breath If her faht? Her , Sawyer led her over to the intake desk
“Oh, honey, I thought that was you” The other wo before sitting back down “I haven’t seen you in forever”
And noas not the tiesturing to the sliding doors with No admittance without authorization painted on it
Mrs Here shook her head “They’ve taken hiht of observation It wasn’t a heart attack, just a nasty case of angina I can’t give you any ht up if I spotted you She dropped her phone in her coffee and the darn thing went on the fritz Nobody knows anybody’s actual phone number anymore”
All the stress and fear fro with the adrenaline that had kept her functioning She stumbled back, but Saas there to catch her He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close, and she let hier ahead
“Do you know the room number?” Sawyer asked as he herded Clover toward the elevators