Seasons of Ferne, Summer's Passion

Chapter 38

Evelyn was beginning to freak out. She had been officially discharged for nearly three hours, and yet there was still no sign of Lenny or Becca. "Call them again," she pleaded, nervously eyeing the nearly empty parking lot. When they hadn't shown up during the day Evelyn didn't give it a thought, even though it was a bit unusual. In fact, she was secretly grateful for the extra time to compose herself. But to not show up or call this long after Brandon had left a message telling them to come pick her up?

"Still no answer," Brandon groaned. He dropped into the seat beside Evelyn and put his arm around her. "Don't worry, they'll be here," he assured her. Brandon was doing his best to hide his nervousness, but even he was at the point of freaking out.

Evelyn jumped up, unable to keep herself still. "I'm going to go ask the front desk if they've heard anything," she announced.

"You just asked less than ten minutes ago," Brandon sighed. Evelyn shot him a venomous look. "Ok, ok, I'm coming," he said, pulling himself to his feet.

The nurse behind the counter gave Evelyn as welcoming a smile as she could. "I'm sorry, dear. We still haven't heard from your parents."

"Is there anything you could do? Anyone you could call?" Evelyn asked.

The nurse sighed. "I'll call over to the emergency reception to see if maybe they went there by mistake, but other than that there's not much I can do. I'm sorry."

"Alright, thank you," Evelyn said. "Can we wait inside for now? Just in case they come down the hall or something."

"Of course, dear. If I hear anything I'll wave to you."

Evelyn smiled her thanks and pulled Brandon into the waiting area. The noise of people and announcements combined with the smell of burnt coffee would hopefully be a bit of a distraction. Brandon was on the phone again trying to reach them, but Evelyn could feel his disappointment the moment the call went into voicemail. "No luck," he groaned as he plopped down beside her.

"I gathered that," Evelyn snapped. The look on Brandon's face made Evelyn feel instantly guilty, he was only doing the best he could after all. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just getting really anxious. This isn't like them at all."

"I know it. Don't worry, I'm sure everything's OK and they're just stuck in traffic or something."

"I hope you're right," Evelyn whispered, not really believing it.

As minutes continued to tick by Evelyn's nerves seemed to kick into overdrive. Each time the sliding doors of the hospital hissed open she jumped out of her seat, each time the phone rang behind the nurse's station her heart leapt into her throat. Brandon did what he could for her, calling every few minutes and reassuring her often, but there was little he could to set her mind at ease.

The doors hissed open again, this time for two police officers in full uniform. Evelyn's heart sank and her blood ran cold. She watched them walk to the nurse's station almost in a trance, as if they were harbingers of death. "Please don't come over here, please don't..." Evelyn whispered to herself, as if in prayer.

After a few moments conversation the nurse pointed to Evelyn, and the officers began to make their way over. "Oh God no. No, no, no..."

She hardly heard Brandon's intake of breath, but when he slipped her hand into her own and squeezed she squeezed back, grateful for his presence. Evelyn reached out and felt the weight of the officer's emotions as they solemnly approached, their expressions both stern and lamentful. "Evelyn Jensen?"