The Carolina Variant by Brooke L. French

Author:Brooke L. French [French, Brooke L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2023-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

The room hadn’t been made for two beds. They sat against opposite walls, the foot of one extending past the other, like snaggleteeth in a clenched jaw. Tess sat on the one she’d been assigned, cheap hospital sheets crinkling beneath her as she pressed the phone to her ear. “I’m fine. I promise.”

“I must have tried to call you a dozen times.” Gran’s tone struck an even balance between anxiety and annoyance.

“I’m sorry I made you worry. My cell’s broken, and I didn’t have a way to reach you until now.” She glanced up at her hospital roommate. Rachel sat on the other bed leafing through a battered copy of Us Weekly. Tess adjusted the phone. “They say I’m in the clear. They’re gonna release me any minute.”

Rachel gave an exaggerated eye roll and tucked a strand of dark, pink-tipped hair behind an ear. She’d been cleared that morning. But when they wheeled Tess into the room at quarter past seven, Rachel was still waiting to be discharged.

She didn’t feel great about lying to her grandmother again, but if the alternative was making her worry, it seemed like the lesser evil.

“Are you sure you don’t need us to come there?” The sound of dogs barking muffled Gran’s voice, followed by the clunk of the kennel door closing. “Pop just put new tires on the truck. We could be in Atlanta before breakfast.”

“No, Gran. Please don’t come here. I know you don’t like to drive at night, especially not in Atlanta traffic. And I couldn’t bear it if you guys got sick.”

Gran went quiet.

Oh no.

“Gran?”

“I’m here.” She sniffled into the phone.

“Don’t cry.” Tess scrunched her face up in a grimace. Gran wasn’t usually one for tears.

More sniffling and the metallic twang Tess recognized as the hinges of the trailer door.

Tess softened her tone. “I’m fine, I promise.”

“Teresa Marie, this is your second time in the hospital in a week. That is not my idea of fine.” Gran’s voice broke on the word “fine.”

“I love you guys. Everything is going to be okay. Really. I’m going to head straight home as soon as they bring by the discharge paperwork.”

After I figure out how to get there with no car.

And no money.

And somehow pick Tater up on the way.

“I love you, too, sweetheart. Please be careful out there.”

She disconnected the call and glanced up, meeting Rachel’s gaze across the room. Tess tilted the phone in her roommate’s direction. “Thanks for letting me borrow this.”

“No problem. But I don’t think we’re getting out of here anytime soon.” Rachel fiddled with one of a series of hoops running from the cartilage of her ear down to the lobe. “I overheard a nurse saying they’re about to shut the hospital down. No one leaves, not even the doctors.”

That didn’t make any sense. “But we were cleared.” Tess crossed her arms over her chest. She’d known it would take longer than she’d told Gran, but they couldn’t force anyone who was healthy to stay who didn’t want to.

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