Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 70092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
I grab the phone again from beside me, dialing her again, expecting it to ring four times before going to voice mail, but this time, it doesn't. The minute I hear someone say, “Hello," I sit up and my heart speeds up again.
"Presley?" I say her name even though I know it's not her. She probably lost her phone, which is why she hasn't been calling me.
"No, it's Clarabella." Everything in me turns cold, yet I have no reason for it. The way she is talking is very soft and feels as if she's trying not to be heard.
"Hey." I try not to sound so anxious. “Sorry I didn't recognize your voice. I was looking for Presley." I swallow the lump that has now moved from my stomach to the middle of my chest, and now it's stuck in my throat. “Is she there?"
"Yes," she says, and I hear rustling on her end. “But she can't come to the phone right now."
I'm about to say what the actual fuck out loud, but instead, I reel it back in, but not as good as I had it planned in my head. "Okay," I snap. “What the fuck is going on?" I close my eyes, ready to kick myself for how that came out.
"She's," she whispers softly and then I hear the sound of her heels clicking on the floor. “She's with the doctor." The hairs on my neck stand up when she says those words.
If I thought I was ready for whatever she was going to tell me, I was wrong. My feet are moving even before I realize what is going on. I'm out the door and in the car. “Where are you?" So many things are going through my head, but none of them good. All of them bad and all of them lead me to be without one of them, and I can't even fathom that thought. The thought alone feels like razor blades cutting into my flesh.
"She's going to kill me," Clarabella huffs, and I can hear her voice tremble, and my heart breaks. "I don't—"
"Clarabella," I cut her off. “You can either tell me where you are," I say between clenched teeth as I back out of the driveway, “or I call your mother." I know it's a low blow, but I have no choice. “And then spend the rest of the time calling every single hospital until I find her."
"Wow,” Clarabella says. “I'm at Memorial." She names the hospital, and I don't even know if I say goodbye. All I know is that I hang up. I rush over there, and the whole time my head is screaming that she didn't call me. Why didn't she call me? I shake my head, and the fear that I had before now turns into nerves. I pull up into the emergency parking lot and pull in the first open spot I find. Grabbing the keys and my phone, I don't even know if I close the door before rushing to the entrance.
I run all the way to the door, rushing in sideways as the door opens at a snail's pace. I look around the room with brown chairs everywhere, not seeing Clarabella. My eyes look everywhere to see if there are signs to direct me to maybe a maternity ward. I look down at my phone, calling Presley, but it goes straight to voice mail. I take a couple more steps into the room, and when I spot a woman sitting behind a glass window, I walk over. “Excuse me," I tell her, and she looks up from her computer. “I'm looking for Presley Baker.”
"Are you family?” she asks as she turns to the computer.
I swallow before answering her. “I am not."
"We can't give out personal and confidential information to non-family members," she tells me, and I know that she is sticking to protocol, but right now, all I can think about is getting to Presley.
"They just called me from here,” I lie just a bit. “I'm the father."
She looks me up and down, and it feels like she's judging me for not being here before now, and if I were here, I would probably be doing the same. "Wait here." She pushes away from the desk and gets up, going I don't even know where. I run my hands through my hair. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I call Presley, but it goes straight to voice mail this time, and I'm about to throw the fucking thing against the wall when I hear my name being called.
"Bennett." I look over and see Clarabella coming out of a hallway. Her face is streaked with tears as she pretends she is okay. I look around to see if Presley is with her, but she's alone.
"Where is she?" I ask. My mouth suddenly goes dry, so dry I can't swallow.