“And you’ve told all this to my sister, right? Paige? She knows what’s going on?”
“Initially, yes.” He sounded surprised. “But I haven’t spoken to her recently.”
“Hasn’t she been at the hospital?”
“I haven’t seen her myself, but sometimes I don’t even start my rounds until after visiting hours are over.”
I called Toby again, but this time his phone went to voicemail.
It seemed like years before I reached the North Carolina state line.
Morgan called again, maybe an hour after I crossed into North Carolina.
“Hey,” she said, sounding sleepy. “It’s a long drive and I know you’re upset, so I just wanted to check on you.”
“I’m fine.” I briefed her on what the doctor had said, or as much of it as I could remember.
“How far away are you now?”
“Two hours or so?”
“You must be exhausted.”
When I didn’t answer, Morgan went on. “What did Paige say?”
“I still haven’t been able to reach her.”
Silence stretched out over the line, to the point where I wondered if we’d lost the connection. Finally: “Is there something you’re not telling me, Colby?”
For the first time since I’d known her, I lied.
“No.”
I could tell she didn’t believe me. After a beat, she said only, “Keep me informed, okay? I’m going to have my phone with me all night. You can call me no matter how late it is.”
“Thanks.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too,” I responded automatically, though my mind remained elsewhere.
Southeast of Raleigh, while still on the interstate, I knew I had a decision to make. I could keep going a little farther and take the highway that led to Greenville and Vidant. Or I could take a different highway, one that led back home.
I doubted visitors would be allowed into the hospital at this hour, but even if they would allow me in, my gut told me that I needed to head home first.
Just in case.
I followed the highway I’d driven thousands of times, only half aware of the turns I was navigating. Lightning flickered in the distance, remnants of a passing storm. As I eventually neared Washington, it was coming up on eleven, and I could feel the tension building in my shoulders and my neck.
After exiting, I made the final turns, one after the next, until reaching the gravel road that separated one side of the farm from the other. The moon had drifted below the horizon and the gravel was slick from a recent downpour. In the darkness, it was difficult to make out the shape of the blackened house, but I thought to myself that it looked as deserted as Toby had said.
As I neared, however, I realized that wasn’t wholly correct; there was a faint light from the kitchen, barely noticeable through the bushes, which would have been easy to miss.
I wheeled into the drive, going so fast that I had to slam on the brakes, the truck sliding in the mud-slicked dirt. I jumped out, splashing in a puddle, and noted the absence of Paige’s car even as I raced along the path that led to the small front porch.
I burst through the door, and a single glance in either direction was enough to confirm my worst fears. I tore through the bottom floor, searching everywhere, then finally bounded up the stairs, horror taking hold.
I found Paige on my bed, looking at first as though she was sleeping. I shouted her name as I rushed toward her, loud enough to wake her, but there was no response. A bone-deep chill flooded my body when I saw an empty prescription bottle on the bed beside her—and other scattered prescription bottles on the floor—and I began to scream.
Her chest was barely moving, and I couldn’t find a pulse when I checked her wrist. I put my fingers over her carotid artery and felt something thready and weak. Her face was gaunt and deathly pale, and after grabbing the prescription bottle and shoving it into my pocket, I scooped her into my arms and carried her down the steps. Unsure whether she would last long enough for an ambulance to arrive, I hurried to the truck, buckling her slumping body into the passenger seat.
I backed out with the engine roaring, then gunned it down the gravel road. As soon as I reached asphalt, I pressed the emergency button on my phone.
My call was answered by the dispatcher right away, and I explained what I knew. I recited my name and my sister’s information and said that I was rushing for the hospital now. I told them the name of a physician I knew from Vidant. The woman on the other end reproached me for failing to call an ambulance; ignoring the comment, I pled with her to let the emergency room at Vidant know I was coming. Then I disconnected immediately, focusing all my energies on the road.