The Deep End » Outer Banks [JJ Maybank] BOOK ONE

VI: Tidal

"I'll be waiting," Harsha joked as she rounded the desk to go find the doctor. "Speaking of hospital bills, your benefactor isn't here yet. Do you want to start without him, or wait a moment?"

Lee ground her teeth as her mother pursed her lips. "Let's wait. He's probably just running a moment late—traffic on the bridge was pretty dreadful today."

"Everyone's trying to go somewhere where there's still power," Harsha said, nodding. "Well, I'll be back in a minute. Lena, do you want to come back with me? I'll let you into the break room so you can get that cappuccino you like."

"Oh, heck yeah!" Lee exclaimed, jumping up from her polyester chair and walking over to Harsha with a bounce in her step.

"Grab me one, too, Lee!" her mother called.

Lee waved over her shoulder at her mom as Harsha scanned them into the main hospital. As a kid, Lee had hated coming to the hospital. After their visits for her mom's chemotherapy, her mom would always end up lethargic and weak, and Lee never understood why. She only had the hospital to blame for her mom's illness. Years later, Lee was sitting in a hospital bed when her mom told her that her father was dead. Her time in hospitals had only been filled with pain and heartache. Everything about hospitals, from the smell of hand sanitizer to the glare of fluorescent lights to the silent tension of waiting for news, seemed designed to bother her.

Now, after her mom's relapse, Lee had started to find better things about the hospital. She had come to appreciate the kindness and patience of the nurses that they had met, who put up with more in a day than she would in a decade. She was grateful for the diligence of the hospital staff to not pass germs between patients and to make everyone feel comfortable in a place built on discomfort. And, most importantly, she had discovered the cappuccino mix in the nurses' break room. The first few times that the friendly nurses had brought Lee back to the break room, she'd been nervous. Now, she strolled in like she owned the place.

As soon as Harsha opened the door, Lee made a break for the kettle.

"Make sure you clean up when you're done, Lee," Harsha said firmly. "I don't know how you manage to make a mess just mixing that powder in, but last week Sandra was very upset when she had to clean it up for you."

"Understood," Lee said, saluting Harsha as she smiled. Harsha rolled her eyes. "You won't even know I was here."

"I find that hard to believe," Harsha muttered, shaking her head as she smiled.

"Believe it," Lee said, shrugging.

The door shut behind Harsha and Lee turned back to the counter, pouring the designated amount of cappuccino mix into the flimsy foam cups as she waited for the water to boil. She pursed her lips as her mind wandered to the Pogues, wondering what they could be getting up to without her. They always joked that it was her that got them into trouble, and Lee always pointed out that it was her that got them out of it, too, so hopefully her absence would simply mean no trouble. Lee rolled her eyes at the thought. There was no way they wouldn't get into trouble without her.

The kettle began to whistle and Lee poured water into the cups, cursing as she spilled some on the counter. She made quick work of wiping the counter and grabbing the two filled cups before exiting the break room and wandering back to find her mother.

Turning the final corner to the waiting room, Lee came to a sudden halt when she saw Ward Cameron sitting with her mother. Even though she knew that he was going to come to every treatment, as promised, it never failed to surprise her. She grimaced when he looked up and noticed her.

"Lee! Good to see you, as always," Ward exclaimed, standing up and giving her a one-armed embrace as she approached him and her mother.

Lee forced a smile as her mother gave her a pointed look. "You too, Mr. Cameron." Lee took a seat next to her mom and handed her the extra cappuccino that she had made, still holding a tight-lipped smile.