“Hi, is this Sewanee Chester?”
“Yes?”
“Hiya, this is Adaku Obi’s manager, Manse Rollins, how ya doin’？”
“Uh. Fine.”
“Good, good, glad to hear it. So, listen, we have an issue.”
An issue? An issue a talent manager would be calling her about? Did they want her for the role, after all? The thought made her stomach flip. But, interestingly, not in joy or excitement. In something uncomfortably close to dread.
And in that instantaneous gut check, her relationship to acting became clear: she didn’t want it anymore.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Well, Adaku’s in the hospital.”
Chapter Nineteen
“The Reconciliation”
SEWANEE LANDED AT LAX AND MADE ONE STOP BEFORE GOING TO THE hospital, where she showed her ID at three different desks, and was admitted to Adaku’s private room. When she tentatively stepped inside, her breath caught at the sight of Adaku sitting up in bed, alone, looking out the window. It was as if she’d booked a tragic role in some medical drama. But the room, the smell, the monitors, the gauze patch on her right eyebrow, the IV drip taped to her hand made it all too real.
Sewanee wasn’t sure what to do. Approach her silently? Announce herself? She swallowed and, with a voice that sounded like placing a hand gently on her friend’s back, said, “Adaku?”
Her head turned slowly to the door. She blinked. “Swan. What are you doing here?”
Sewanee held up the small, white cardboard box. “Just thought you might want some In-N-Out.”
The smile was not Adaku’s usual blindingly bright one. It was more a bleed of sunlight in an overcast day. “You always could make an entrance.” Sewanee crossed to her and handed over the box. “How did you–”
She wanted so badly to talk, she answered before the question was finished. “Manse called me. I’m your emergency contact, remember? I would have been here sooner, but I was in Venice.”
“Traffic is terrible on the West side,” Adaku said automatically.
Sewanee chuckled. “Not Venice Beach. Italy. I was in Venice, Italy.”
“What? What are you–how long have I been here?”
Sewanee took in Adaku’s bloodshot, watery eyes and understood this was worse than she’d been told. On the first call, Manse had said they didn’t know what was wrong, just that she’d been admitted. That was enough. Sewanee had thrown her things together and rushed to the airport, Nick in tow, doing his best to calm her. He offered to go, too, but she thought it better he stick to his plan to see Tom in Dublin and he agreed. By the time she’d landed at her layover, Manse had left a voicemail: actually, Adaku was only a little dehydrated, and anything Swan could do to get her back to Georgia as quickly as possible would be super appreciated.
She sat down on the edge of the bed. “It’s been about eighteen hours. The nurse said you’ve been asleep for most of it.” She opened the box. “Double-Double, fries extra crispy.”
Adaku slid her hand under the paper-wrapped burger and lifted it from the box like an Oscar. She took a bite, closed her eyes, and moaned. She grabbed some fries and stuffed them into her burger-filled mouth. Sewanee enjoyed watching this as much as Adaku enjoyed doing it. She rested her hand by Adaku’s hip, purposefully not touching her even though she wanted nothing more than to do just that.
“Oh my God, cheese. Grease. Bread. So good.” At least Sewanee thought that’s what she said. “And the way the burger mixes with the fries in your mouth?” She swallowed and opened her eyes. “Thank you.” The pleasure that had lit her face a minute before slid away. “Swan, I don’t know what to say–”
Sewanee interrupted again. “I’ll talk, you eat.”
Adaku smiled weakly but wryly. “You know how to shut me up.” She picked the burger back up and took another eager bite.
Sewanee breathed. “First the easy part. I’m so sorry, A. And those words don’t come close to describing how badly I feel about everything I said. I was in a horrible place. For a much longer time than I even knew. And when that role came along, I . . . it was like throwing a drowning person a life preserver. It was going to save me. Save us. We could be us again.”
“I want that so bad.” Adaku swallowed. “When I watched that propeller . . . I couldn’t do anything to stop it. This was how I could finally do something. Go back in time and make it go away,” Adaku whispered and Sewanee’s heart broke.