“Famished. I slept for a while, and I’m feeling much better. You’ll have to get In-N-Out when you’re here. You’ll freak over it. Hey, did you know that all these people are tagging me on Facebook and Twitter? Lots of supercool foster kids. And, like, a gazillion people who have cancer and are rooting for me. So crazy, right? I’m digging this.”
“Okay.” I’m a little confused. “Love, Esben is back with coffee. I need to see if he’s heard from Kerry.”
“All right. Tell him thanks for making me famous. I want pictures of everything, okay? And video. Post it all, or at least show me when you get here. I don’t want to miss anything. I can’t wait to see you. I love you so much, and I’ve missed you. You’ll have to catch me up on you and Esben, but obviously things are supergood.” She is rambling so fast that I can hardly keep up. “Oh, one favor? See if he can get Colton Haynes to tweet me. I love that cutie. Oh, oh! Or Norman Reedus! Or Dave Grohl! You know how I love older men! God . . . can you imagine? They’re so crazy sexy.”
I laugh again. “You got it.”
“Off to ask for, like, five burgers. Bye, Allison. Talk to you soon!”
I hang up and look at Esben. “Huh.”
“What’s up?”
“Something is weird. Steffi is . . . chipper. I’m going to call one of her nurses.”
“We’re boarding soon, so be quick.”
I call Steffi’s nurse Jamie, and she answers almost immediately. “Allison,” she says warmly. “Steffi gave me your number. I was debating whether or not to call you.”
“I just talked to Steffi. She . . . she sounds energetic. And hungry. Sort of happy, even. Is this a good sign? I know she can’t really be getting better, but . . .”
There’s a brief silence. “This happens on occasion,” Jamie explains. “I’ve seen it plenty. Patients get a burst of energy. A little euphoric. Kind of like an adrenaline rush. It can last a few hours or even a day or longer, but, no, I’m sorry to tell you that it’s not a good thing. It’s . . . a sign that the end is coming.”
“Oh. Okay.” I walk numbly into the boarding line.
“But for right now, she’s feeling good. This burst she’s in, it’s because she’s very excited to see you. Let’s focus on that. It’s nice to see her so happy.”
“Okay,” I say again. “You’re going to watch over her?”
“Yes, I promise. Rebecca and I are here all night. Both of us care a lot about Steffi, and we’re doing everything to make sure she’s comfortable.”
“Thank you. That means a lot. Jamie, I have to go. We are boarding now and will land in Chicago at about ten.”
“Everyone here is following you guys online. You can do this.”
We hang up, and Esben and I work our way to our seats on this second flight.
“Please have Wi-Fi. Please have Wi-Fi,” he says over and over.
“Any leads from Kerry or Jason?” I rest my head against the window.
He snatches the card from the seat pocket, and this time he smiles. “Not yet. But we’ve got Wi-Fi. Why don’t you try to sleep a bit, and by the time you wake up, I’m going to have something for you.”
I’m too tired and stressed to disagree, so I hand him my coffee. There’s no way he’s going to do anything but stay online for the duration of this flight, so he needs the caffeine more than I do. “Sleep would be good. Esben?” I can’t help but smile. “Steffi would like Dave Grohl and some other celebrities to tweet her.”
“Yeah?” He laughs. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Also?”
“What is it, sweets?”
I turn my head and look into his eyes. “You’re astounding.”
He runs the back of his hand over my cheek. “No. The world is astounding. I told you people are mostly good. They really are.”
“I just didn’t grasp . . .” Words truly fail me. “I couldn’t have begun to predict . . .”
“I know,” he agrees. “As much wonderful stuff as I’ve seen before, this outweighs it all. It’s the silver lining, maybe.”
“It is,” I say firmly. “It is.”
Just after the captain announces we’ve reached cruising altitude, I zonk out and sleep dreamlessly, for which I am grateful. I wake to Esben gently shaking me. We’ve already landed.
“Listen,” he says. “The flight attendant is talking about you and Steffi.”
I rub my eyes. At the front of the cabin, a woman stands, holding the PA. She catches my eye. “This song goes out to Allison and Steffi. Love and peace from the airline and all of our passengers. We’re with you.”
Softly and beautifully, she begins to sing “Amazing Grace.”
Esben holds my hand, and, together, we listen. I inhale sharply when a few passengers join in and again when I realize that the entire cabin is singing. My heart is simultaneously breaking and soaring. The overwhelming level of humanity and care coming from strangers is simply daunting. Because I know this is important, and that I’ll want to see it later, I ask Esben to film it, which he does.
Outside the gate, I find the nearest bathroom, where I splash cold water on my face. I will not cry now. It’s not the time.
As I’m drying my hands, I hear Esben call into the women’s room. “Allison? We’ve got to go. Now!”
I move quickly, and I start running beside him without question.
“We have to get to Midway. It’s about forty minutes from here,” he says. “Flight leaves in fifty-five minutes.”
“Oh no.”
“We just need to haul ass.” He guides us through travelers to a moving walkway where we continue to run and dodge people. “We’ve got a ride, though, and I think you’ll like it.”
This airport is frustratingly huge, and it feels like forever before we reach baggage claim. Suddenly, he stops and casts his eyes over the crowd, searching hard.
“What are we looking for?”
He smiles, bends over to both catch his breath and laugh, and then points. “God, this is nuts. But there.”
A man in a suit and black chauffeur hat is holding up a sign with our names on it.
“A limo? Is that a limo driver?” This is crazy.
“It certainly is,” he says. “It certainly is. Come on.”
The man shakes both of our hands quickly. “I’m Leon. The cop outside let me leave the car out front, but he only gave me five minutes. Hurry.”
We get outside to the white stretch limo in record time, and even after we pull out of the airport, I’m still not processing what’s happening. Dance music is blasting, and I am officially on sensory overload. There are slick black leather seats, colored lights on the ceiling, two bottles of champagne, and . . . garter belts around the bottle necks.
“Leon?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“This limo? Um, was it scheduled for something else tonight?”
“A bachelorette party, ma’am. The bride-to-be transferred her rental over to you.”
“That was very generous of her,” I reply. “Please thank her!”
Esben puts his phone in front of me. “You can thank her yourself. She used the hashtag for you and Steffi and wished us safe travels.”