Everyone in the small town of Hull knows two things. One: Jill Williams doesn't date, and two: Carson Blue is addicted to drugs.
When Carson decides to clean up his act and apply at Jill's family restaurant, she's less than enthused. Between school...
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THEY SAY THE COCAINE had lethal amounts of fentanyl in it. Three people died at the party, but in the waiting room of the hospital—as I teeter between crying, pacing, and pulling at my hair—I hear they're losing more.
Nobody will tell me who.
Not when I cry and beg. Not when I keep it together and calmly ask, "Is it him?"
"I'm sorry, but we can't release names until families are notified," a nurse tells me as she rushes down the hall.
Defeat cripples me. I shouldn't bug them while they're working, but this has been the worst night of my life, and there's no end in sight. Through the windows of the waiting room, the amber sunrise creeps through the blackness of the night. I fall into a chair. My gut alternates between clenching and squeezing, nausea and an achy emptiness.
I'm not alone here. Parents, siblings, other people from school—anyone who woke up from the calls from the hospital is here. I keep looking for Garnett and Lucas, maybe even Dorothy, but none of them show.
Grandma used to say it was a sin not to pray. With everything I went through as a kid, I'm not sure I ever had any faith—but please, God, anyone who will listen: don't let Carson die.
"Jill!"
I stand, just as Val hurries into the waiting room and slams into me with a hug. Sobbing uncontrollably, I hug her back.
"Jesus Christ, what happened?" She holds onto my arms as we break apart, dark eyes hardened and serious.
"I—I don't know," I stammer. "They did bad coke. They died, Val."
"Blue?"
"No, I don't know." I cover my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket and cry more. "Val, I don't know."
More people rush in, hugging each other and crying just like Val and I.
"Okay, come here," Val says. We sit down, and she holds both my wrists in her cold hands. "Just tell me what happened. Why were you even at the party?"
"I had to find Carson. There's so much more to him than I ever realized. I forgive him, Val. For everything."
"Please tell me he's okay."
"I wish I knew."
More than anything, I wish I knew.
When a doctor holding a clipboard emerges from the hall, the whole room stands. I hold my breath. The doctor's eyes lower as he reads off, "Guardians of Daniel Pope?"
A couple steps forward. Gary and Marie Pope, who own the florist downtown. They come into Dee's for Saturday morning breakfast sometimes with their daughter, Alise, and their son, Dan, who was in my English class this year. Gary holds up Marie as her knees buckle.
