Blame The Weeds (gxg)

13

Freya floored it to the hospital. Rue's weeping in the back, while quiet, was incessant. I continually talked myself down: Don't get mad, she's scared. If it bothered Freya, I'd never have known; she had two hands on the wheel with a blank expression.

When the Jeep jerked right into the parking lot, I clutched the seatbelt across my chest. It bit into my palms. Freya parked, shut off the vehicle, and was out before I could breathe. Next was Rue, who groggily staggered out like a child. As for me, I would never have let go of that belt had it not been for Freya. She opened my door, gently took my hands away and unbuckled me. Once I had my feet on the ground, I exhaled.

We hurried toward the front doors of the emergency centre. Two of us tracked mud, and one, tears, onto the mat under the fluorescent light.

"I don't know where he is," Rue said hoarsely, looking around as if a clue might reveal itself.

The lobby was surprisingly empty, housing a few nurses hovering around a gigantic circular desk and a vacant waiting area with unoccupied chairs.

Freya squared her shoulders, smiled, and strode to the visitor's desk.

"What's s-she doing?" Rue asked, her lungs hitching still.

"She knows the way around," I said. I followed her in time to catch a part of their conversation.

"Are you family?" one petite nurse asked, jutting her chin toward me. Her blonde bob swayed with the motion.

"Yes," I said. "My name is Kareena Hoffmann. My brother Lukas Hoffmann. Do you know where he is?"

The nurse took in the three of us white, black, and brown kids. None of us particularly looked like Luke, but she didn't have to know that.

"Wait over there—" she pointed to the waiting area "—and I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks very much," Freya said, putting both hands behind Rue and me, guiding us to the chairs before contention.

One, two, three chairs in a row, we sat, staring at the abstract art on the opposite wall. The blacks and greys were stark against the sterile white.

"Do we have to wait here?" I asked Freya.

"It's procedure," she said, hands folded tightly in her lap. "Odds are his parents never mentioned their other kidwould show up." She threw me a look. I cursed, cracking my knuckles. My knee bounced as I tried to stop my mind from wandering into the dark.

"Do you think they'll get the note?" Rue asked, pulling her knees up on the chair. I shrugged. Gabrielle and my father either chose the right—or very wrong night to go on their date.

~

Nothing went as planned. We still waited, no one took us, and my fear only swelled. Gabrielle and my father appeared through the front doors long before that nurse glanced in our direction again. Dad wore a black suit, and Gabrielle wore a long orange sundress that matched my shirt. It was too bright.

Rue wasted no time running to her mom, rushing to tell her what had happened. Dad set a hand on her back to calm her down. As our party of three became five, and I garnered the backbone to explain my lie, my father shook his head and walked to the front desk. He came back with visitor's passes for the lot of us. Freya took two with a thank you, slipping one around her neck and the other over my frizzy curls. She'd worn one a thousand times, but I hadn't, and I didn't want to. I wound my arms around my torso like I'd blow apart if not held together. I needed to see Luke. I needed to know he was okay. I wished to crush the fear, to stand straight like everyone else, but I couldn't move my arms. I couldn't even open my eyes. When someone touched my wrist, I expected to open my eyes and see Freya, but Rue's face came into view.