Any time I saw the hospital's number appear on my phone, my heart would freeze, and I'd instantly assume the worst - that my sister's test results were bad, or that she needed to be examined further for this issue or that problem. So needless to say when I was jolted awake by my phone buzzing on the pillow beside me and the hospital's number blaring in my face, anxiety crashed and rolled through me like the ocean waves in a storm.
"H-Hello?" I answered, trying to keep my nerves from reverberating through my voice.
"Natalie Owens?" the woman on the other end droned in a nasally voice.
"Speaking." I swallowed hard, bracing myself as if I was about to be hit by a train.
"I'm calling in regards to Melanie Mazza," the woman continued in her monotone voice. "She has you listed as her emergency contact. It says she's your maternal aunt, is that correct?"
I had to close my eyes and lay back in my bed to dull the throbbing in my body. My pillow still smelled like Brooklyn, all musky and warm. I exhaled. For just a moment, I actually had to remind myself that Melanie Mazza was indeed my aunt.
"Miss Owens?" the voice on the other end thrummed in my ears, breaking me from my daze.
"Yes uh...yes, she's my aunt," I croaked out. "Has something happened? Is she alright?"
"Can you confirm that you both still live at 65 East 10th Street in Devils Point?"
I exhaled sharply out of my nose and clenched my jaw. "Yes, now can you tell me what's going on?"
"She had a fall this morning walking into the Devils Point community center. We are waiting for the x-ray results, but we believe she fractured her ankle. If you could please get to the ER as quickly as possible, we can give you more details then."
I groaned as I hung up the phone and dropped it into my mess of sheets. It was nearly 11 am, but dreariness of the rain outside made it feel like perpetual night. Thunder rattled my window frame. I managed to rouse myself from bed, then padded down the hall to my sister's room. The only light in the room came from Nikki's phone screen, bathing her tan skin in a frosty blue glow. She laid in bed surrounded by purple pillows, mindlessly scrolling her social media. I scowled and flicked the light on.
"What the hell Nat?" she groaned.
"I'm going to the hospital." I said curtly.
Nikki moaned again, rubbing her eyes. "I don't have any appointments today."
"I just said I'm going." I picked up what looked to be a clean shirt from off the floor and threw it at her. "Aunt Mel like...broke her ankle or something walking into the community center."
The news didn't seem to phase Nikki at all. She snorted out a breath. "Probably still just drunk from last night. Did you see the way she was "
"Whatever, I'm just letting you know I'm leaving."
I knew I was being short with her, but I couldn't bring myself to just let it go. I couldn't ignore her either. That's the kind of thing you regret in the end.
Nikki finally sat up and glanced at me with furrowed brows.
"Are you still mad at me about last night?" she gave me a dramatic pout.
"Yes, I'm still mad at you," I snapped, turning my shoulder towards her. "What you did was just...uncalled for."
Nikki pulled her wrinkled grey beanie down further on her head. "Give me a break, Nat. It's not like you to hold a grudge. Besides, two months ago you would have said and done the exact same thing."
"Well I've learned better," I insisted, silently trying to convince myself of that fact. "Brooklyn's a good person, and he's trying, but he still needs support. Which means not accusing him of doing cocaine in the bathroom, or whatever ridiculous thing you said to him."
"Alright, whatever," Nikki groaned and rolled over.
"I take if you're not coming then?" I tried to steady my tone, but Nikki knew how to get under my skin.
Nikki shifted under her comforter. "I'm not going out in the rain."
"Fine. I'll be back." I gave her a quick nod before leaving and shutting the door to her room behind me.
As I trudged down the steps and grabbed my rain coat from the hallway closet, I shot a quick text to Brooklyn asking him to meet me at the hospital.
"Remind me again, how did you manage to bust your ankle up walking into the community center?" I gazed at Aunt Mel through the rear view mirror. She had to sit sideways in the backseat so her leg could be properly elevated. It had already been a project getting her discharged from the hospital, since someone had mixed up her records with some guy who was in a car crash and whose leg needed to be amputated. Then we had to drive all the way across town to a specific pharmacy to fill the prescription for her pain medication.
I'd texted Brooklyn again, but it had been radio silence all day. The more knots twisted up my stomach, the more I realized that I wasn't worried because he wasn't answering me - I was worried why he wasn't. I tried to wrack my brain for any logical explanation to the vague and slightly ominous text from an unsaved number that he'd gotten early that morning. I couldn't find one.
"It's not a big deal." Aunt Mel sighed and rubbed at her temples. "I'm just clumsy sometimes, right? I wasn't watching where I was going and I tripped."
"You need to be more careful." I felt like I was the parental figure, scolding my child. "You're not a senile elderly woman."
That got a small chuckle out of my aunt. "Not yet, at least."
When we pulled into the driveway, my heart jumped into my throat. Brooklyn was parked at the curb across the street, leaning against the passenger door of his car with two coffees in his hand. He had swapped out the dapper look from last night and reverted back to his baseball hat and Nike shorts combo, with a pair of large black aviators on. I nearly choked on my own breath as a sigh of relief escaped me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aunt Mel grin slyly at me. "I can make it inside. I already texted Nikki, she'll come down."
I nodded at her and slammed shut behind me. When I walked closer to Brooklyn, something seemed amiss. His face was flushed, and I could hear the strain in his breathing.
"Everything alright?" I was too apparent of the unease in my voice. "You were ignoring my texts, I thought something might have been wrong."
I hated how I felt. I cared, maybe too much. I gulped hard.
Brooklyn let out a heavy breath. "I'm really sorry. Can we talk?"
"Yeah," I gave him a curt nod. "I think we should."
We walked over to my front porch and sat on the cushioned swing by the door. He handed me a large iced Americano, and despite everything, the fact that he knew my go-to coffee order lifted my mood.
"Trying to bribe me?" I chided with a grin.
"It's a start," he shrugged. "Look, Natalie, I really am sorry, I didn't mean to be so weird today, I just..."
Without giving it a second thought, I felt compelled to reach over and give his hand a gentle squeeze.
"I just had it out with my dad today, that's all," he continued.
I didn't want to say it, but I couldn't help it, it just came out like word vomit. "Does this have anything to do with the text message you got this morning?"
He let out a sharp exhale. "You saw that?"
"I didn't mean to," I insisted. "Your phone was going off, but I didn't know it was your phone and I just grabbed it and...there it was."
He tensed up beside me, dragging his teeth along his lower lip.
"Brooklyn, if you're in some kind of trouble-"
"I'm not," he bit back, uncharacteristically venomous. When he saw me recoil just the slightest, he eased up. "Not anymore, anyway."
"What happened?"
He shifted his body to face me and slid his sunglasses up to rest on the brim of his hat. When I saw the hurt in his eyes, my heart clenched.
"I just...I owed some guys some money. My dad got involved, and...it just turned into a shit show. My dad and I don't know how to have a normal conversation, it's all yelling and screaming and threatening to throw chairs at each other. But it is handled."
I rolled my shoulders back as I processed Brooklyn's story. I only really wanted to know one thing. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
Brooklyn ran a hand down his cheek. "Look Nat, I don't know if I've made it obvious enough yet, but...I really like you. And I don't want you to just think I'm this fuck up."
"I don't think that at all," I insisted. "Brooklyn, I trust you, but you need to talk to me if you want this to work."
I still didn't even know what this was. We'd passed a point of no return, but I'd been so caught up in the moment, I didn't think about what came after.
"You're right." Brooklyn nodded. "And I'm gonna do better, okay? I promise."
He reached up and gently caressed the side of my cheek.
"Okay," I sighed out. "Because I really like you too."
All of the tense, hard edges of us fell away, and it was like the rain had come to extinguish a fire.
"Go on a date with me," he said softly as we separated, but just far enough that his lips still brushed against mine when he spoke.
"A date?" I echoed, amusingly arching my eyebrow.
"Yeah," he finally pulled away, and his eyes twinkled in the sunlight. "Like an honest to god, hold my hand, I'll even wear a button up shirt kind of date."
I smiled and reached down to intertwine my fingers in his. "Well I already hold your hand...but I'd like to see you in a button up shirt."
He chuckled. "Yeah yeah, don't get used to it."
Hey y'all! If you're reading this message, thanks for sticking with the story so far! We're about halfway through it, so at this point I did want some general feedback from you guys, mostly concerning the pacing of the story, the character dynamic, and anything else you find necessary or important. You can comment below here or send me a DM if you'd like. I'd really love to hear from you guys and hear your thoughts! Feedback is so important, especially when I'm making so many huge changes to a story that's already been written. Thank you!
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