Forever, стр. 67

“Wait, what?” I say and sit up in bed. I toss my legs over the side as my chest heaves. I can’t believe my ears. My brain tries to process what I’m being told.

“Listen, I’m new. I don’t want to lose my job. I was told if there were ever any changes to call the doctor first. Then to call the next of kin, in the order in the book, until I reached someone. Your name was next.

“Wh-where are you calling from?” I almost whisper.

There is a moment of hesitation on the other end. For a moment, I think she has hung up on me. I lick my dry lips when I hear her sigh on the other end.

“I’m at the private residence of Mrs. Kennedy. I’m just one of the private nurses from Loving Arms Home Care,” she finally answers on a shaky breath.

“Okay, okay,” I say to my own thoughts. If it’s possible she’s telling the truth, I need to see proof with my own eyes. I need to get to the bottom of this. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Can you give me the address?”

There’s another pause. “Listen, lady. You called me to tell me my mother has woken up from a six-year coma. I was sixteen when she went into that coma. Give me the damn address, so I can see my mom,” I say heatedly.

My patience is shot. My face and ears are burning. If I could reach through the phone and shake her, I would. She is either one, fucking with me and telling me some complete bullshit in which case I do plan on beating her ass or two, telling me the mother I thought I lost is alive and has woken up from a coma. Which means, right now, this woman is standing between me and my mommy.

I swipe at a mix of scared, angry, and hopeful tears. When she starts to give me the address, I rush to grab a pen and flip to a page in the back of an old journal on my nightstand. I hang up without saying goodbye and tear the page right out.

I’m up off the bed tossing on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. I shove my feet in a pair of sneakers and grab my purse. I know I have to figure out a way out of here. We’re still on lockdown.

I bite my lip as I make the decision to go to King. Mom was like a mom to him too. The woman on the phone said she couldn’t reach him, but she had to have had a wrong number or something.

I pass King’s office and just as I thought, he isn’t in there this early. I head down the corridor where King’s bedroom is. He and Misty are probably still in bed. That sounds so weird in my head.

Now that I know they’re together, it doesn’t seem like a far stretch. I’ve always known Misty had a thing for King. I just didn’t know she took things into her own hands to make good on that crush.

When I get to King’s bedroom door, I don’t even hesitate to bang on it. When I don’t get an answer right away, I bang again. This can’t wait.

An annoyed voice sounds through the door. “Hold on a minute. The hell.” I recognize Misty’s grumble.

She pulls the door open, looking irritated, tired, and as if she might have been in the bathroom blowing chunks again. I peek behind her, looking for King. The room seems to be empty.

“Where’s my brother?” I rush my words out.

“He rode out not that long ago. Some fire or something at one of the warehouses,” Misty mutters as she props herself against the door. “What’s going on? You okay?”

“No, I just got some random call from some woman saying my mom is alive and she just woke up from a six-year coma.” I have a hard time hearing my own words out loud.

Misty nearly falls off the door. “What?” she gasps in shock.

“I have to get there and see for myself,” I tell her as I turn to head for the garage. With no King here to stop me, there’s no way I’m not leaving.

“Eva, wait,” Misty calls from behind me.

“No, I have to get there.” My back is still to her as I shake my head and keep moving.

“Eva, you can’t go alone. Let me get dressed,” she says.

I spin around. “You are in no condition to come with me,” I protest. “I’ve got to go.”

“Go where?” I turn to find Sal looming in the hallway, looking at me curiously. “I thought we were on lockdown. What’s the matter?”

“Oh, God, Sal. I just got the weirdest call. Some lady says she’s Mom’s nurse and Mom just woke up from a coma,” I tell my baby sister.

Sal’s face turns pale and she stumbles back. Gutter seems to appear out of nowhere, shirtless, in a pair of low-hanging jeans and barefoot. It’s than that I realize the oversized shirt Sal has on must be Gutter’s missing shirt.

“What?” puffs out of Sal’s mouth as if she’s just able to find air.

“You can’t go alone,” Misty calls from inside the room behind me. She’s moving around inside. No doubt trying to get dressed to come with me.

“You’re not going anywhere. You three are under my watch until King and Brick get back.” Gutter frowns.

“Oh, the hell I am. I need to go find out what the hell is going on,” I demand.

“Calm down, Eva. How do you know you can trust this woman? I mean, this just sounds crazy. You can’t go running off. Think about the baby,” Sal says with worry and shock written on her face.

“What if she’s telling the truth?” I stomp my foot in frustration. “I can’t not go. It’s Mom.”

Sal nods at me with tears gathering in her eyes. She turns and looks up at Gutter, which I note is amazing, because my