Chapter 8: Ride With Me
Haper’s POV
The words barely registered before instinct took over.
"Miss Harper, your mother has been rushed to the emergency room."
Everything inside me went cold. The pen slipped from my fingers and landed somewhere near my feet, but I didn’t even hear it hit the floor.
"What?" My voice sounded small. Fragile.
"There were complications this afternoon. The doctors are attending to her now. Please come as quickly as you can."
The call ended before I could ask another question. For a few seconds, I simply stared at the black screen of my phone, unable to think, unable to breathe.
No. No, no, no. Not now. Not today. Not when everything else in my life was already falling apart.
"Harper."
Justin’s voice sounded distant. Almost muffled. I blinked and looked at him, only to realize tears were already streaming down my face.
"My mum..." I whispered, struggling to get the words out. "She’s in the hospital."
I reached for the door handle with trembling hands. "I have to go."
Before I could push the door open, Justin’s hand gently wrapped around my wrist.
"Wait."
I looked at him impatiently. "I don’t have time."
"I know."
"Justin, please."
"I’m taking you."
I shook my head. "I’ll get a taxi."
"You’ll spend the next twenty minutes trying to find one."
"I’ll take a bus."
"Not faster than my car."
I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing came out. Because he was right. Every second mattered.
He had already started the engine. "What hospital?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "St. Catherine’s."
He nodded once. Then the SUV shot out of the parking lot.
The drive felt endless. Every red light became my enemy. Every slow driver made my heart race faster. I couldn’t stop imagining the worst. What if I was too late? What if she had called my name and I wasn’t there? What if the last conversation we’d ever had was me rushing out of the apartment because I didn’t want to be late for class?
I pressed my hands together so tightly my fingers began to ache. Please. Please don’t let anything happen to her. Please.
Beside me, Justin remained unusually quiet. No teasing. No sarcastic remarks. No smirking. Every now and then, I caught him glancing in my direction before returning his attention to the road. He didn’t tell me everything would be okay. He didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. For some reason, I appreciated that.
When the hospital finally came into view, I didn’t even wait for the car to stop completely. The moment Justin slowed near the entrance, I threw the door open and jumped out.
"Harper!"
I heard him call after me. I was already running.
The smell of disinfectant hit me the second I stepped inside. Nurses hurried past. Wheelchairs rolled through the corridors. Doctors spoke in rushed voices. Everything felt loud, chaotic, terrifying.
I rushed toward the reception desk. "My mum!" I blurted out, breathless. "Margaret Brooks. They called me. Where is she?"
The nurse typed quickly before looking back up. "Third floor. Room 317."
I didn’t wait for anything else. I sprinted toward the elevators, pressing the button over and over as if that would somehow make them arrive faster. When the doors finally opened, I rushed inside, tapping my foot impatiently as the numbers crawled upward.
Three.
The doors slid open. I ran again.
Room 317.
There.
My hand trembled as I pushed the door open. The sight inside stole every ounce of strength from my body.
My mother lay motionless on the hospital bed. Machines surrounded her. Wires. Monitors. An oxygen mask covered half her face. The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor filled the room with a sound I wished I never had to hear again.
"Mum?"
No answer.
I hurried to her bedside and grabbed her hand. It felt so cold. Far colder than it should have.
"What happened?"
A nurse standing nearby lowered her voice. "She slipped into a coma a little while ago."
The world stopped.
A coma. No. That couldn’t be right. Not my mum. Not the woman who still smiled every morning despite living with constant pain. Not the woman who kept apologizing for being sick. Not the woman who kept telling me everything would be okay even when nothing was.
My knees gave out. I collapsed into the chair beside her bed, still holding her hand. The tears came instantly, hot, uncontrollable.
"Mum..." My voice broke. "Please don’t leave me." Another sob escaped before I could stop it. "I promise I’ll find the money. I’ll work more. I’ll figure something out. I’ll get enough for the surgery." My words dissolved into broken cries. "You just... you just have to stay. I can’t do this without you. I can’t."
The room blurred behind my tears. I had no idea how long I sat there crying. Minutes. Maybe longer. Time no longer existed.
Eventually, I heard soft footsteps behind me. I wiped at my face before looking over my shoulder. Justin stood quietly by the door. He hadn’t said a word. He hadn’t interrupted. He had simply waited.
I frowned. "What are you still doing here?"
He looked at me as though the answer was obvious. "My girlfriend’s mother is in the hospital."
Despite everything, I managed a weak laugh through my tears. "You know I haven’t accepted your offer yet, right?"
"Yet is doing a lot of work in that sentence."
"And you know this whole thing is fake."
"Fake hasn’t stopped me from driving like a maniac to get you here."
I looked around the empty room. "No one’s watching us now."
A small smile tugged at his lips. "I wasn’t aware I needed an audience to care."
The words caught me completely off guard. I looked away before he could notice how much they affected me.
"I’ll be okay."
He didn’t argue. Didn’t insist. He simply nodded once. "I’ll be back."
I frowned. "Where are you going?"
"Coffee."
I blinked. "What?"
"You’ve been crying for almost an hour."
"I never said I wanted coffee."
"You didn’t have to."
Before I could stop him, he quietly slipped out of the room. I watched the door close behind him. For several seconds, I simply stared at it. He was impossible to understand. One minute he was teasing me until I wanted to throw something at his head. The next, he somehow knew exactly what I needed without me saying a word.
I looked back at my mother. Then toward the door again. A small, reluctant smile found its way onto my face before I could stop it. It disappeared just as quickly.
What was I supposed to do with a man like Justin Hayes?
A sharp knock echoed against the half-open hospital door. I quickly wiped the remaining tears from my face.
"Come in."
The handle slowly turned.
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