26 Bianca
Fear. That’s what gripped Bianca first.
It seemed to grab her with its icy clasp. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t move.
She stood frozen in the middle of the lobby, still holding her phone in midair, like she couldn’t even move enough to let
it drop limply by her side. She wasn’t sure if she blinked. It was like every function in her body had been stunned into a
stupor.
Since all the speeches were over and dinner was in the process of being served, there were more people walking in and out
of the ballroom between courses. The lobby wasn’t busy, but it wasn’t as vacant as it had been during her fight with Cora.
If that could have been considered a fight. It was really just Cora yelling and stomping off.
Was it deserved? Probably.
Okay, fine. Yes, it was deserved. Once again she, Bianca the baby, had messed up. But she would’ve liked the chance to talk
it over instead of watching Cora walk away without any sort of explanation.
And now there was this.
Several people passed Bianca as she stood like some sort of living statue. No one said anything to her. If anyone even cast
a questioning glance in her direction, she didn’t notice. Although to be fair, her brain wasn’t functioning, either. The only
thing she could think about was the fear.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing like that when Jax walked past and did a double take. “You okay?”
“I’m... It’s...” She licked her lips, trying to get her brain to start again, but the fear seemed to have stolen her
voice. “My sister,” she whispered.
A concerned look wrinkled Jax’s forehead.
He took a step closer and lowered his voice.
“You’re still upset about the thing with Cora?
Because I’m working on it.” He ran a hand through his hair and stared off in the distance.
“I think if I can just get her to talk to me, we can figure it out. But the valet said she took her car. Any idea where she’d go? ”
“The hospital.” Her whispered voice sounded choked, which was probably about right because it felt like the fear was squeezing
every part of her.
Jax looked confused. “What?”
“There’s been an accident. I have to go to the hospital.” Tears began to slide down her cheeks.
Jax went pale. She could almost watch the color drain out of him from his head down to his feet, like someone had pulled a
plug. “Who’s been in an accident? Cora? Is Cora hurt?”
Bianca squeezed her eyes shut. She gave her head the slightest of shakes. “Savannah.”
“Savannah,” he repeated in a voice that sounded like half an exhale. A beat passed before he spoke again. “So Savannah had
an accident and is in the hospital?”
With her eyes still shut, she nodded.
“Is she okay?”
Bianca shrugged. She wasn’t sure why her eyes were still shut, except everything seemed less real when she was surrounded
by blackness. Like maybe it was all a dream.
She felt Jax rub the outside of her arms. “Okay. No problem. I’ll drive you there. Come with me.” His voice was more confident
now, more in control, and she felt some of her own shock start to wear off.
With one hand on her back, he led her toward the front door. “How about Cora? Does Cora know?”
Bianca nodded, the tears flowing in a steady stream now. “She called because Chris couldn’t get ahold of me. I didn’t answer.
I didn’t think it was important.”
“It’s okay,” Jax said again in a calm, confident voice. “Let’s get you to the hospital, and we can figure it out when we get
there.”
He left her standing just outside the door while he talked to someone. In what seemed like an instant, a black sedan pulled up and someone was opening the passenger side door for her.
“This is us,” Jax said. He gave her arm another encouraging rub, then walked around and got in the driver’s seat.
They drove in silence. Now that she was moving forward, some of her fear started to melt away. That was always how it worked.
Maybe doing something gave her more of a sense of control. There was a plan.
Or at least when she was with a person who had a plan. Jax seemed to know what he was doing, and she was hitched to his plan,
which seemed to be her go-to strategy in life. When things went sideways, find someone else to straighten them out. Was it
a winning strategy? No. But it seemed, at least at the time, like an easier strategy.
And her life was going sideways in so many different ways, most of which were thanks to her stupid attempts to try to fix
her own broken situation. And, if she were being honest, her own situation was only broken because she’d messed that up, too.
She stared out the window and watched the world speed by. There were a lot of things she needed to make right, but she needed
to start with Cora and Savannah because family was the most important. And Bianca was most upset that she’d put that at risk.
They pulled into the emergency bay at Sunnyside Memorial Hospital, and Bianca was out of the car before Jax even had it in
Park.
She went through the automatic doors, her head swiveling in every direction to figure out where she needed to go. Her heart
thundered in her chest as she stopped at the counter with a giant Information sign. It seemed like a good place to start.
“Hi. I’m here for my sister, Savannah.”
The lady behind the desk smiled brightly. “Who?”
“Savannah. Savannah Glasner. She’s here. Maybe... I mean... Can you tell me where to find her?”
“We can try. Is she a patient here in the ER or at the hospital? Because that will change how I look for her.”
“ER, I guess. I don’t know.”
“And was she a self-admit or brought by ambulance?”
“Ambulance, maybe?”
The woman tapped on the computer in front of her. “How do you spell that last name?”
Bianca was about to lose her patience when she spotted Cora on the other side of the large waiting area, in front of a set
of swinging double doors, talking to some official-looking woman wearing scrubs. “Never mind.”
She rushed across the room to where Cora was standing. “I’m here. What happened? What’s wrong? Where’s Savannah?”
Cora thanked the scrub-clad lady and waited until she walked away before she turned to Bianca. “All I know is they found Savannah
unconscious and think maybe she blacked out and fell. She’s stable and awake, but they’re running tests. CT scan, X-rays,
echo-something or other.” Cora seemed shakier than Bianca had ever seen her, which did nothing to help her own fear. If strong,
confident Cora was shaken, then...
“Is she going to be okay?” Bianca didn’t really want to go there either, but she needed to.
Cora shrugged again. “All they’ll tell me is that she’s stable, which I guess is good.” She let out a frustrated huff. “But
it’s hard to get anyone to talk to me in this place.”
“So, what? We just... wait?”
Cora huffed again, then walked over to a row of empty chairs. She slouched down in one of them, her dress pooling on the floor
around her feet.
“Look, Cora, about earlier—”
Cora held up a hand. “Don’t.”
“But—”
“Not right now. Not here.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared straight ahead.
“I’m sorry,” Bianca whispered. Then she joined Cora in the row of uncomfortable hospital chairs to wait.