Chapter 40 #2
Not a problem. She’d get a taxi. An Uber. Borrow a bicycle. Find a magic carpet. Whatever it took, Jessica would get to Sam. She had to get to Sam.
“Where are you?” Eloise asked.
“Somers Gully.”
“Nate can come and get you.”
“Really? He’s not mad at me? Because of the wedding?”
“Of course not! Nate knows Teddy wouldn’t do something he didn’t want to do. Sit tight. He’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Right. She might as well make herself useful while she waited. Jessica sighed and reached for her phone again. There were three messages from Teddy.
Teddy: We’re headed to the Children’s in case he needs surgery. Promise I won’t leave his side.
Teddy: Shit. Really hoping you’ve spoken to Eloise and that message makes sense???????
Teddy: I’m so bad at this. Fuck. Okay. In case you haven’t: Sam fell at training. He’s broken his arm. He’s had some pain meds and is doing well. I’m so sorry, Starshine. This is all my fault.
And then, Teddy: He’s going to be okay. Just in case you needed to hear it again.
Followed by, Teddy: And I’m so fucking sorry. I should’ve been watching him better. I love you.
She swiped at her eyes and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. Took a few deep, steadying breaths.
Three bouncing dots appeared on her screen, indicating that Teddy was typing again.
If he could text, he might be able to talk. She hit call and Teddy answered on the first ring.
“Hey.” Teddy’s tone was hushed, but she knew him well enough now to recognise he was barely keeping himself together.
“Hi.” She sniffed. So much for maintaining her composure.
Teddy cleared his throat. “I promise he’s alright, Starshine. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Please.”
She pushed her curls off her face and sucked in a deep breath as she stared up at the sky and made wishes on the stars that weren’t visible yet. They had to be up there somewhere, right?
“Mummy?”
I will keep it together. I will not cry and scare Sam.
“Sammy!” It was too bright, too cheery, but it would have to do.
“I broke my arm.”
“I heard. That’s unfortunate.” She cringed at her word choice. Turns out, in a crisis, Jessica’s default was to be too formal.
“I threw up on Teddy, but he said it was okay.”
Of course, Teddy did.
“Can you come get me?” Sam whimpered, and Jessica’s heart broke in a way it hadn’t ever before.
“I’m on my way. I promise. It’s all going to be okay.”
“And Daddy?”
Shit. She needed to call Rob. If he was at work in the city, he could meet them at the hospital.
“I’m about to call him. I’ll see you soon, okay? I love you so much.”
“Love you.”
“Can I talk to Teddy again?”
There were a few muffled noises followed by Teddy’s tired “Hey”. Quickly, Jessica filled him in on her plan to contact Rob and about her car and then ended the call.
She dragged her foot through the gravel of the car park while she waited for Rob to pick up.
“Hello?” The concern in Rob’s tone wasn’t a surprise.
They hadn’t exactly had a casual phone call relationship …
well, ever. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d called him.
Texting made so much more sense because then everything was in writing and everyone had a record of what was discussed.
But this wasn’t a text conversation. “Is everything okay?”
“Sam’s going to be okay.”
“Thank God. The places my mind immediately went … Wait. What do you mean, ‘he’s going to be okay?’”
She explained quickly, giving Rob all the information that she had, proud of herself for keeping her voice calm. Her stomach rolled when she said Sam might need surgery.
Rob made a noise that was a cross between a groan and a huff when she said Teddy was with Sam, and she braced, waiting for the accusations of blame to come.
The ‘I told you so’s’ about how Teddy couldn’t be trusted.
Oh, God. What if Rob used this to say that Sam wasn’t safe in her custody?
They were supposed to go to mediation in a few days.
But all her ex said was, “Which hospital?”
“The Children’s.”
“I’m heading there now. I’ll meet the ambulance. How far away are you?”
“Hopefully, I’ll be there in about an hour.”
As soon as she disconnected her call to Rob, Jessica’s phone rang with an unknown number. Normally, she’d avoid these, but what if it was Nate? Or the hospital?
“Hello?”
“So you won’t answer my calls when you know it’s me. That’s hurtful,” Cara said. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep this short. You’re clearly too busy for me.”
Shit. She couldn’t deal with Cara right now. “Now’s not a good time, Mum.”
Cara laughed. “Why are you such a hard girl to get in touch with these days? Hey? When did you get important?”
“Sam’s had an accident—”
Cara cut her off before Jessica could even finish her sentence. “I just need my rent money.”
A new layer of sadness—albeit one that felt familiar—blanketed Jessica, and suddenly she was so angry. “Did you not hear me?” she spat. “About Sam?”
“Please. Kids have accidents all the time. They bounce. I’m sure he’s fine. But my rent is overdue and my landlord’s threatening to evict me.”
It wasn’t just that Jessica couldn’t deal with Cara right now. She couldn’t deal with her ever.
Nate’s dark green Pajero pulled into the car park, its headlights swinging across the gravel, and Jessica hitched her tote bag higher on her shoulder. Here Nate was turning up to help, and her own mother—Sam’s grandmother—didn’t care that her grandson was hurt.
She’s never cared.
And she never will.
Jessica swallowed and said as clearly as she could, “That sounds like a ‘you’ problem, Mum.”
It was hard to enjoy Cara’s shocked silence over the pounding of her heart, but Jessica tried.
“Excuse me?” Cara spluttered.
“That’s something you’ll need to sort out for yourself. I don’t want you to contact me again. Ever.”
Cara’s shock was replaced with venom. “I see how it is. You’re too good for me now? Forgotten where you came from, hey?”
Nate pulled to a stop in front of Jessica, and she pulled open the door, scrambling into the passenger seat.
“I’m choosing myself, Mum. This—how we interact—has never been healthy, and I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to. I don’t need to. I’m done. Don’t call me again.”
Cara’s laugh was cruel. “I knew you’d turn out just like your father eventually, even though I did everything I could to protect you from him. This selfishness is all Richard.”
Jessica swiped at her eyes, furious that it had taken so long for her to stand up for herself. “You never protected me. You never even loved me, did you? I’ve never been anything but an inconvenience.” She laughed bitterly. “Actually, I take that back. I was an inconvenience until I became a bank.”
She could practically hear her mother’s eye roll. “Honestly, Jessica. Get yourself together.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t hear from me ever again, okay?” Calmness was already seeping through her body, a visceral reaction to the fact that she was free.
“You say that now, but eventually you’ll come crawling back to me.” Cara’s tone was derisive and—sadly—exactly how Jessica would always remember her mother.
“Goodbye, Mum.”
“Whatever.”
Cara hung up without another word, and Jessica nodded to herself a few times before shoving all her feelings way down low and wiping her eyes. Sam needed her.
“Thanks for this,” she said to Nate once she could trust her voice. She kept her gaze away from his, even though she was sure he could tell she’d been crying. Probably because she’d been crying right in front of him. “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”
“Jess?” Nate asked quietly. “Are you okay? Do you need a hug?”
Christ. The Jameses were all so nice.
“No, but thanks. I’m okay. Just the shock of it all, you know. I do really appreciate you doing this for me, and Sam.”
Nate shrugged before he navigated out of the car park. “We’re family now, Jess. And just because Mum needs a bit of time to absorb everything doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t happy for you and Ted. This is what our family does. We look after each other.”
This was what family was supposed to be.