The One Who Waited novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: Hospital, Again
I called him back four times.
It went to voicemail four times.
At ten I called Tamara.
"I need your car."
"Merry. You haven't driven since the guardrail."
"I know."
There was a pause on her end.
"Keys are under the mat. I'll text you the garage. Call me from every rest stop or I'm calling the state police."
I left the Navy Yard at five in the morning.
The dog rode in the back seat, because nobody had told me what else to do with him.
My hands were wet on the wheel by the Bronx.
On the West Side Highway I didn't look at the guardrails.
On the Thruway, once the city was behind me, it got easier.
The dog put his chin on my shoulder somewhere past Albany and kept it there.
I called Tamara from every rest stop.
The hospital in Utica was a tan brick building on a hill, with a parking lot full of pickup trucks.
The nurse at the desk said Mrs. Darrow was in the cardiac unit, resting. Family only.
"I'm family," I said. "I'm her son's wife."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The One Who Waited are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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