I wonder what’s going on.
I look up to ask Ruby if she’s heard from either of them, but she’s talking to a customer. I move to the back of our booth where it’s a little quieter and dial Charlie.
He picks up right away. “Parker?” he asks. But the connection cuts out with a beep.
“Ugh.” I dial right back and am relieved when he picks up. “I just lost you. What’s going on?”
“Um, I was with Finn . . .” His voice cuts out for a good ten seconds. “. . . to the ER at Bethesda North.”
ER?
“What?” My vision narrows in on the overflowing trash can in front of me. “You’re cutting out. Did you say ER?”
“. . . in the ambulance . . .”
“What? Charlie, I can’t hear you!” I say louder this time, clenching the phone.
Ruby shoots a worried glance over her shoulder.
“ . . . wouldn’t stop bleeding . . . going to be okay . . .”
The phone beeps as the call drops.
“No. No. No.”
I hit redial, and the call goes straight to Charlie’s voice mail.
I hit redial again.
Ruby’s at my side.
“Can you try Charlie?” I ask, voice shaking.
As she dials, I try Finn, but he doesn’t pick up.
Ruby shakes her head. “Voice mail. What’s going on, Parker?”
My heart is racing, and I dial Charlie again, then again, sucking in air, but it’s not enough.
All my breath swoops out of me, and I’m sweating everywhere, my eyes watering, but I can’t talk. I lean against the building, my hands on my knees. My heart is coming straight up my throat, out of my body.
He was fine at the Fourth of July.
He was finally okay again.
I start gasping for breath.
But he’s not okay.
Nothing’s okay.
No matter what I do to save Charlie, it’s not enough.
“Parker?” Ruby asks, but she’s eight million miles away. I hear her bark out a sharp “Help!” and then Henry’s got my arm and is leading me to a shady spot against a store, making me sit down and rest my head between my knees.
“In and out, in and out,” he says, rubbing my back, and the small part of me that’s watching from a distance recognizes how calm he is, how he knows what he’s doing, how he was probably a very good doctor.
Ruby has my hand.
From the tent of my head against my knees, I see Carla come over. She squats down. “Parker, can I help?”
I hear Lorna ask Henry what’s going on and Harriet snapping at a passerby to mind his own business.
When my heart finally finds its way back to me, I feel mortified at the scene I’ve caused, and it takes me a second to work up the courage to look up.
“I need to get to Charlie. He’s at Bethesda Hospital,” I say.
“Is he okay?” Ruby asks, her hand squeezing mine harder.
“I don’t know.”
“Parker, you should rest a little longer,” Henry says.
“I can’t. I need to go.” I try to stand, my legs shaky.
“I’ll go with you,” Ruby says.
“Of course. I’ll take you both,” Carla says immediately. “Harriet and Lorna, can you help Miss Peggy at the booth while I drive Parker to the hospital? Ruby, can you get Parker some water?” She hands her a five.
Ruby nods, running to the refreshment booth.
“I’ll bring the car around,” Carla says.
Before they leave for the booth, Lorna smiles at me, and Harriet gives me a gentle pat on the back.
After they all leave, I can’t bear to look at Henry. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
I shake my head.
“Look at me. Look at me,” he says.
When I do, his eyes are bright, his face furrowed in concern. “I think you had a panic attack. It’s not your fault. Has this happened before?”
I nod slowly, thinking of the day I got my Harvard acceptance letter, my valedictorian speech, my first day at the internship, the night at the bridge with Finn. “But not this bad. I thought I was dying.”
“You’re not, but you should talk to someone. Are you seeing a doctor?”
I shake my head.
“I can give you some names. It can really help to talk this stuff out, Parker.”
“I don’t know.”
I hear a short honk and then see Carla waving from a car at the curb, Ruby jumping into the backseat.
“I need to go see my brother. But thanks, Henry.”
“Promise me you’ll think about it at least?”
But I can’t promise Henry that right now. I just need to get to Charlie, to make sure he’s okay.
Fifty-Two
CARLA PULLS TO THE edge, her car idling, as I finish my message to my parents. Neither of them are answering their phones, and I feel bad letting them know Charlie’s in the hospital over text, but I don’t know what other options I have.
“Are you sure I can’t go in with you guys?” Carla asks.
“We got it,” Ruby says, jumping out of the car and starting toward the door.
I unbuckle my seat belt and lean over, giving her a quick hug. “I’m fine. My parents will be on their way soon, I’m sure. Please, go back to the art fair. But, Carla, thank you.”
She hugs me back. “Anytime, Parker.”
I run into the lobby after Ruby. We dodge around people in the hallway until we reach the check-in desk of the very crowded emergency room.
“We’re here for Charlie McCullough,” Ruby says.
The nurse checks her database. “I don’t have anyone by that name.”
“It’s McCullough,” I say. “M-c-C-u-l—”
“Parker? Ruby?”
Charlie’s standing behind us, his face confused, and Ruby throws herself into his arms, scrunching her face against his chest, holding him tight.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
He nods, his head down against Ruby’s. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m okay,” he says to her.
He gently separates himself, holding her shoulders and giving us a baffled look.
“I was so worried. You said ‘ambulance. . . .’?” My words trail off as I take Charlie in. “You’re really fine?”
Understanding dawns on his face. “It’s not me. It’s Finn. Something happened at the boxing gym, and he was out for a long time. The gym manager called 911, and I came with him in the ambulance.”
Ruby gives Charlie a confused look.
“What?” I shake my head. “No.”
“The doctor said it’s a severe concussion. He’s got a broken nose, a few broken ribs.”
“I don’t understand. Wasn’t he wearing all his protective gear? How could that happen?”
Charlie shakes his head. “He wasn’t in the ring. I found him on the locker room floor. The gym manager thinks someone attacked him.”
I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sick, but right then a nurse comes by, touches Charlie on the arm. “You can see your friend. One at a time.”
“I’ll go,” I say.
“Of course,” Charlie says.
Ruby lets go of him and comes over and gives me a hug.
“I’m really scared,” I whisper against her ear.
She steps back, eyes glistening. “I know. I’m here for you, okay?”
I nod, then follow the nurse down the hall into the room.
Finn’s stretched out on the bed. He looks awful. Most of his face is swollen into reds and purples, and his bottom lip is huge. There’s a cut on his cheekbone, another on his chin.
I cover my mouth with my hand, my eyes welling up.
“Bird,” he whispers with a drowsy smile. “Hey.”
“Only a few minutes,” the nurse says. “He’s on some pain medication and needs to rest.”
I pull over the chair, leaning forward, my hands in a knot.
“Who did this?” Even though I’m crying, my voice is steady. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anyone call the police?”
He shakes his head.
“We should call them. Does the gym have security cameras?”
“I’m okay,” Finn whispers.
“Finn, you have broken ribs. It’s not okay.” I wipe my eyes with my arm. “I’ll go to the gym and ask them to call the police. We’ll find out who did this.”
“Parker. Please. You have to let this go,” he says, and I’m surprised at the hint of desperation I hear in his voice.
I straighten, my voice cautious. “Why should I let it go?”
He shakes his head slowly.
“Finn, tell me now, why?”
He sighs, turning his head away from me. “Maybe you should leave.”