“Scared,” she says. “Freaked out. Climbing the walls. I think he’s glad I’m almost there so he doesn’t have to deal with my dad by himself any more.”
We drive through city, then through a tunnel under the Chesapeake Bay. I swear it’s ten miles long, and by the end of it, my palms are sweating on the steering wheel from the thought of being surrounded by that much water.
Finally, we pull into the parking lot of Randolph General. Thalia grabs her backpack, pulls it onto her lap.
“You can just let me out by the doors if you want,” she says.
I almost don’t dignify it with a response, but then she looks over at me as I keep driving.
“I didn’t take this road trip to just push you out of the car and drive away,” I tell her. “I’ll walk you in.”
That gets half a smile, even as her hands twist in the straps of her backpack.
I park. We get out. She puts her backpack on, looks toward the looming hospital. Then she looks at me, and I hold my hand out.
She takes it, and we walk toward the hospital doors.
“They’re in the fourth floor family waiting area,” she says, looking at her phone. “In the north wing.”
The closer we get, the tighter she holds onto my hand until finally, we’re standing in front of two big white double doors, a red-lit keypad on the wall next to them. Thalia looks down at her phone.
“Bossy’s gonna come let me in,” she says.
“I’ll wait,” I tell her.
Thalia turns to me.
“Did I say thank you yet?” she asks.
“I think you did,” I say.
“Thank you,” she says, and her eyes fill with tears again before she turns away, dashing them away with the back of her hand. “Thank you for the ride, and thank you for keeping me company, and thanks for taking my mind off this a little bit, and —”
She stops, takes a deep breath.
“Sorry,” she says, shaking her head. “Thank you for everything, Caleb. No, wait.”
Thalia lets my hand go, then reaches up and very, very gently, lifts my glasses from my face, pushes them until they’re resting on top of my head.
“Now you’re Caleb,” she says, her hands still gently resting on the frame of my glasses. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, and my whole body feels like a neon sign that’s just been switched on because suddenly I’m aware of her nearness, of the way her lips are just barely parted, of the fact that my blood is pumping through my veins so hard they must be able to hear it in North Carolina.
I know what’s going to happen a second before it does. I have a second to stop it, to back away, to leave and preserve myself.
I don’t take it.
Thalia kisses me. She winds her fingers through my hair, stand on her toes, pulls me down to her. She kisses me and I kiss her back, one arm around her waist, one hand cupping her face, and it feels like something inside me unravels, something I didn’t even know was knotted.
It’s a fierce kiss. It’s needy, tinged with desperation. There’s a manic energy to it that presses her teeth against my lip, makes her pull my hair a little too hard, but I don’t mind. I savor it all the same, knowing I should pull away, trying to memorize every second of her lips on mine.
Finally, she ends it. She keeps her hands on my face, her eyes searching mine, and we stand there, locked in the moment.
Then door opens, and we both turn toward someone who looks like Thalia but taller and wider and male.
“Ollie!” he says, and then he’s wrapped Thalia in a huge hug and she’s crying again and he’s squeezing her so tight that I get a little worried, but I step back, out of the scene.
“What’s happening?” she gasps when he finally lets her go. “Is there anything new yet?”
“They just wheeled her out of surgery,” another voice says from the doorway, older, deeper. “We can see her once she wakes up.”
“Dad,” Thalia breathes, and then she’s in his arms, in another tight hug.
“I’m glad you made it,” he says into her hair.
“Me too,” she says, her voice muffled.
Quietly, I take a step back, not wanting to intrude. Still holding the door open, Thalia’s dad releases her, then looks at me.
It’s an appraising, not-particularly-kind look. Thalia clears her throat.
“Sorry, this is Caleb,” she says, holding one hand out to me. “Caleb, this is Bastien, my brother, and Captain Lopez, my father.”
Her father holds out his hand, and I shake it.
“Thank you for giving Thalia a ride all the way here,” he says, looking me dead in the eye.
“My pleasure, sir,” I say, and I think I see Thalia almost smile at sir.
I turn, shake Bastien’s hand.