Sophia, who art thou?

26. OLIVIA

"Drew's out of surgery," Jade whispers to me as she sees me stir. God knows I don't like the guy, but for what it's worth, I'm glad he's safe.

"Good. Are Avery or Theo here yet? I thought I heard Soph call them."

Jade nods. "Avery's on her way. Theo said he'd drop by in a couple hours."

"Alice?"

"They don't want to call her here until Drew's up."

"That makes sense," I whisper. No mother should have to see her child like that. "Has Soph seen him yet?"

"She's there now."

"Roman?"

"Hasn't left since we got here."

I smile faintly. I know he's the only reason Soph's managed to stay sane today, but something about this seems wrong. I want to talk to Jade about it but... not now. It isn't right to do this now. I see a familiar face come out of what Jade told me is Drew's room. Dr. Olvera. She was Ace's doctor. The Ace I haven't seen in over a week. "I'll be right back," I whisper into Jade's ear as I pace walk to the good doctor.

She isn't stopping, so I guess we're walking now. "Dr. Olvera? Remember me?"

"Ah, Miss Cassidy. Sorry, Olivia. How could I forget? But we really do have to stop meeting like this."

"I'm here with Sophia. Her fiancé was in a car accident."

"Yes, like I told her, Mr. Bexley will be just fine."

I chuckle to lighten the mood a little. As much as I can with people dying all around me. "No, no. this isn't about him. I wanted to ask about Amelia."

We're at the nurses' station as she taps the counter getting the attention of the head nurse. "Amelia..."

"Yes, Amelia Celine Fontaine."

She opens the file the nurse hands him. "Looks to me like she was discharged four days ago."

"Was she okay?"

It's Dr. Olvera's turn to laugh. "We did discharge her, so yes. She was absolutely fine."

"Okay. Okay," I sigh. Ace is okay. That's all I needed to know.

"Anything else, Olivia?"

"No, umm...no. Thank you, doctor."

I fidget with my hands as I walk back to Jade.

"Ollie, you okay? You're so pale."

"Don't you say I'm always pale?"

"You're usually oatmeal pale. Right now you're pancake batter pale."

I smile weakly. "Did you know Ace was discharged four days ago?"

"What? No. I... I did get a call from her but I didn't pick up."

"She called me too, but I was with a client."

"Do you think she's okay?"

"The doctor said she was fine when they discharged her but I don't know what happened after that. She hasn't come by the house, has she?"

"I don't think so."

I can see Jade's genuinely worried now. Her eyes keep darting from one object to the other, her leg jiggling up and down. I want to tell her Ace is fine but I'm not sure I'd be able to say that convincingly. I'm about to say something, but a breathless Avery appears before us.

"I need to know what room he's in. Do you guys know? The nurses aren't telling me-"

Avery looks like she'll break right now. She's always held it together for everyone and now she's being pushed to the edge. I point straight ahead. "Room 204. Soph's in there too, okay? She'll tell you everything."

Avery's gone, before we can say anything else and I don't blame her. She's worried about her brother. Like Jade's worried about Ace. I turn over to look at Jade and I feel my heart break a little as I see her eyes twitch, her lips quivering.

"That's how I should've been with Ace. I should have been here and I just left when she needed me-"

"Oh, shut it," I scold as I wrap her in a tight hug. "It is not your fault, okay?"

"How am I supposed to believe that, Ollie?"

"I'll prove it to you."

"How?"

"I'll find her."