Midnight Run

Chapter Nine

Nora's hands were shaking as she punched in the number her dad had given her; neither of her parents had a cell phone, something which she'd teased them about mercilessly for years, but when a strange woman answered with the words, "Mercy Hospital," all thoughts of teasing fled.

"My dad called," she stammered. "His name is Richard Willson."

"Hang on a minute." Hold music filled the line, and Nora jiggled her leg nervously. A couple walking into the diner glanced at her before moving away quickly, and Nora slid down the building to a spot in the shadows.

"Peanut, is that you?" Her dad's voice was scratchy, almost as if he'd been crying, and Nora felt her whole body clench in fearful anticipation.

"Dad? What happened?"

"Your mom had a heart attack."

Nora stared at the dark city street, unseeing. "What?"

"She's still in the ICU, but I'm hoping she'll be better soon. The doctors are running some tests; we should know more in a few hours."

"But, Dad, how? Mom won't even touch fried food!"

She could practically hear his shrug over the phone. "Like I said, we don't know much right now. Can you come home?"

She paused, remembering suddenly that she was supposed to start her new job in a few hours. "I'll have to see."

"Peanut, I don't want to worry you," he stopped for a moment. "But the sooner the better," he finally said.

Nora's throat constricted. It's that bad? "I'll catch the train into Philly first thing in the morning."

"I might not be able to drive out to pick you up."

Nora shook her head impatiently. "I'll figure something out." Her voice started to break, but she pushed the words out. "Dad? I love you. Tell Mom I love her, too."

"We love you, too."

Nora hung up the phone fighting back tears. "Damn it!" Her words were loud on the deserted street, but Nora didn't care. Her brain still couldn't quite grasp everything her dad had said, but it was having an even harder time sifting through what he hadn't said. One thing was certain; if her dad was pushing her to come home immediately, her mom was probably worse off than he was letting on.

Quickly, Nora fired off a text to Todd letting him know that she'd had a family emergency, and then she poked her head inside the diner. Lynne looked up immediately and frowned in concern, but Nora didn't want to talk about it. "A family thing," she managed to say. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go."

"Of course! Let us know if you need anything." The words should have sounded empty coming from a near stranger, but Nora could tell that Lynne meant it.

"Thank you." She hesitated. "I might not be at the run for a few nights."

"Don't worry about that. We'll see you whenever you're able to come out."

Nora nodded, almost smiling. She wasn't really big on sharing the details of her personal life, but she had a feeling that if she kept up with the running group, she and Lynne could become friends.

Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, Nora hurried across town. When she got to her dark apartment, she hesitated for a moment. Part of her wanted to wake Carl up; she was feeling desperate for someone to talk to about the whole thing with her mom, but since she barely knew anything, she decided to let him sleep. I can always call him from the train, she reasoned, tossing some clothes into her shoulder bag. She didn't bother checking online for tickets; trains ran every few hours from Grand Central to the 30th Street station in Philadelphia, and she knew she'd be able to catch one, even at such short notice.