She calls her mom

We got to the hospital, and thankfully, the emergency department wasn’t very busy.

Sarah was checked in quickly. A nurse took her back, asked a few questions, and got her settled while they prepared to take some X-rays.

I stayed beside her until they had her comfortable.

Sarah pulled out her phone. “I should probably tell my mom.”

“Yeah.”

She called her mom and explained what happened. I could hear the concern in her mom’s voice even from where I was sitting.

After they hung up, Sarah looked at me.

“She’s trying to get here, but she doesn’t have a car.”

“Okay.”

“The hotel is kind of far from here.” She hesitated. “Would you mind going to pick her up?”

“Of course.”

“You sure?”

“Sarah, don’t worry about it. I’ll go get her.”

She smiled, relieved.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

I gave her hand a quick squeeze before standing up.

As I walked toward the hospital entrance, I couldn’t help thinking about the fact that I was about to go back to that hotel.

Back to the room where I’d seen something I still hadn’t figured out how to process.