One Moment (The Little Hollow Series Book 1)

by Danielle Dickson

  Drying myself off and throwing on some of my comfiest pajamas, I pulled out my laptop and typed Connors name into the search engine. I tried to get in touch with him for the first few months, I thought something had happened to him but then I just got angry and gave up when I couldn’t find any trace of him and tried to convince myself that I didn’t care.

  Since then, I hadn’t bothered. I guess I’d tried to lock him away in the back of my mind not wanting to drag up old memories but I was curious now.

  I scrolled through the thousands of results that came up but I couldn’t see anything that related directly to him. I wonder what he did? I thought. It had to be something with his hands. I shivered as I remembered the roughness of his palm cupping my cheek.

  ‘Hartley’s Construction’

  Well this looked promising. I clicked on the link and it brought up a website with a bunch of impressive reviews splayed across the homepage. Looking through the rest of the site, I stopped on the ‘about’ section where there was a big picture of Connor in all his finery, standing outside a newly built house.

  I stared at the photo, he sure knew how to fill out a suit jacket.

  He’d done really well for himself and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling a little before remembering the situation we were in.

  I was supposed to be upset with him but I was tired. Tired of being angry at everything. I closed my laptop down feeling emotionally drained and bundled myself under the covers. I wasn’t cold in the slightest but having something to wrap around myself made me feel safe. Kind of like a cocoon.

  I heard the apartment door open and footsteps coming towards my room. “Knock, knock.” I felt tears prick my eyes again at Kee’s voice. A tightness spread upwards from my belly.

  I suppressed another sob and felt the bed dip as she climbed in the other side. “Oh, sweetie.” Shuffling over to me, she motioned for me to lie on her chest.

  “I’m exhausted, Kee, it’s been a long day and I’ve cried too much over this but I just can’t seem to stop.” She stroked my hair.

  “Then cry a little more and get it all out of your system. Nothing can be changed now and as much as I want to sit here and bad mouth that son of a bitch, I actually don’t think I could. But if you need me to listen to you, you go ahead. It’s just, I really do think he had your best interests at heart, Sam. And I think he still does.”

  I thought about that for a moment. “I don’t even have the energy to sit here and tell you how angry I am with him. I told him I wanted him to leave so that’s good enough.” I felt her chest rise and fall quickly with a sigh, she moved slightly and came back with a tissue for me.

  “I thought so but is that what you really want?” I didn’t know what I wanted. “Or is that just what you thought you should say? You know he loves you, right?” My heart seized, he’d told me he used to before he left.

  “Loved. Past tense.” Or had he said he’d always loved me meaning that he still did? “I don’t even want to talk about it. He’s gone back to his perfect life now. He probably has a girlfriend anyway.” I cringed at the thought and Kee looked at me with a sideways glance.

  “You’re right, he’s gone now and there’s nothing you can do about it.” I arched my brow at her, well of course I didn’t want to do anything about it, I was the one that sent him away in the first place.

  “I looked him up.”

  A shocked look crossed her face. “You looked him up?” There was a burst of laughter and I half laughed, half sniffled with her.

  “I did. I couldn’t find much at first but then his business website popped up after a while.” I thought back to the photo of him on there. “I can’t help but feel really bitter towards him. He’s done really well for himself, he got away from here and all the shit that came with it.”

  Kee patted my hand. “What do you think you’ve done here?” She waved her arms about the place. “You’ve not done too bad for yourself. We’ve not done bad and despite everything you’ve been through, look how far you’ve come. I think you forget to give yourself credit, Sam. You staying here dealing with the aftermath on your own, now that’s something to shout about.” I guessed she was right, comparison was, after all, the thief of joy. “You’ve got to let yourself move on and embrace the next chapter in your life instead of holding onto grudges.”

  If only it was that easy.

  The silence in the apartment was broken by my cell ringing. I looked at my watch, great. It could only be one thing at this time of night. I picked up my phone and frowned at the withheld number on the screen.

  “Who is it?” Kee asked, moving towards me.

  “I don’t know, it’s a withheld number. What if it’s him?” I wasn’t sure I could talk to him again so soon.

  “Just answer the phone!”

  I rolled my eyes before sliding the green phone along and pressing it to my ear. “Hello?” There was a crackle before a woman cleared her throat on the other end.

  “Hello, can I speak to a…Samantha Reynolds please?”

  Oh no.

  “Speaking.”

  “My name’s Addison Tate and I’m a nurse here down at St. John’s. I’ve got you listed as an emergency contact for a Cindy Reynolds, is this correct?” My world stopped spinning, please god, no.

  “Yes, that’s correct, I’m her daughter. What’s happened? Is she alright?” Kee squeezed my arm before walking to my drawers and pulling a tee and jeans out for me.

  “She was brought in earlier this evening after being found unconscious. I’m sorry to have to say this over the phone but we’ve had to pump her stomach, she was in a bad way when she was brought in.”

  “But she’s okay though?” My heart clenched waiting for her answer.

  “She’s stable so please don’t worry, she’s in good hands.”

  “I’m on my way,” and with that I hung up and started pulling on my clothes. Kee came in dressed in her own pair of jeans and ushered me out the door.

  “I’ve only had one beer so I’ll drive, where are we headed?” I was in so much of daze that I had to pause on the stairs to gather my thoughts.

  “Erm, St. John’s hospital. My mom was taken in earlier and had to have her stomach pumped.” Kee swore before locking up the salon and unlocking the car. “She was fine earlier, Kee, sober as a nun and all pumped up about this potential new job. I don’t understand.” I shook my head.

  “That’s the thing, it never makes any sense.” She looked in a daze. I kept forgetting Kee had been through all of this too. But now, not only was she fighting with her own memories, she was dealing with my current situation too.

  I felt physically sick. What if mom didn’t pull through this? She wasn’t much in the way of family but she was all I had. I put my head between my knees and blew out a long breath.

  “We’ll be there in twenty minutes, hold tight.” I felt her hand on my shoulder, she gave it a quick squeeze before concentrating on driving again.

  I couldn’t do this. How much more was life going to throw at me before I finally relented and let the negativity consume me?

  Twenty minutes later, we parked and ran into the emergency room and up to the front desk. “Hi, my name is Samantha Reynolds and I’m looking for my mom Cindy Reynolds? She was brought in earlier.” The nurse pressed some keys on the computer before looking up at me.

  “Room two-twelve; up this corridor then take your first right and it’s down there.” She smiled sympathetically at me and I managed to thank her before briskly walking off. We got to the room and the blinds were drawn so I couldn’t see inside.

  My hand was stuck on the doorknob; I couldn’t open the door.

  “It’s okay, Sam, just take a deep breath; you can do this. I’m right here with you.” I thought about it for a moment.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go in alone.”

  She squeezed my arm. “Of course. I’ll be in that waiting room over there if you need me.”

  I nodded before pushing down on the ha
ndle. The beeping of the machines assaulted my senses first, along with the sterile smell.

  Walking into the room, I could now see my mom lying in the hospital bed with tubes coming out of her mouth and a bandage wrapped around her head.

  She looked so fragile, nothing compared to the feisty woman she usually was. I sat down by her side and took her hand, she didn’t even flinch as I squeezed it.

  “It’s alright, I’m here now. You’re going to wake up and we’re going to get you help and don’t even bother trying to tell me no. You’re going to rehab whether you like it or not.” I giggled nervously before my emotional barrier came down and the tears that had built up started to fall. “How could you do this to me? To yourself?”

  I let go of her hand and wiped furiously at my eyes as someone cleared their throat behind me. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m the doctor on call tonight the nurse let me know you were here. Can we have a word outside please?” She asked, waving her left hand towards the door.

  Was it necessary to go outside? She didn’t look like she was going to be waking up any time soon but I followed her out without any complaints.

  “My name is Doctor Cromwell. Like I said, I’m the Doctor on call tonight and I was there when your mom got brought in. She was in a pretty serious state. Her oxygen levels were severely low and alcohol poisoning was definitely a factor. We were also worried about the contusion on the side of her head so she was sent for a CAT scan before she started vomiting. It was deemed necessary to drain her stomach of any remaining alcohol but her blood pressure and heart rate dropped and we had to revive her during this process. I know this is hard to hear but I want you to be fully aware of how serious a situation this was.” Staring, horrified, my hand flew to my mouth. “I made the call to put her in a medically induced coma to help her system recover. When the test results come back we should know more but until then we’re going to be vigilant with her care. I know this may seem like a lot of information to take in at the moment but I assure you, we’re doing everything we can to help her make a full recovery.”

  She took my hand and squeezed it. Looking up at her she had gentle eyes, most doctors I’d seen weren’t like this they were always in a rush and had fatigue etched onto their faces from seeing so much pain every day. “You’re welcome to stay the night if you so wish, we have family rooms just across the hall and number three is free. I’ll tell one of the nurses to come wake you when we have her test results back.” I shook her hand and thanked her before heading towards Kee.

  She got up and gave me a hug before stepping back. I repeated what the Doctor had said and we made our way into one of the family rooms.

  It had a double bed pushed up against the far wall, a bedside table with a lamp on top and a chair in the corner. I put my purse down on the chair and sat on bed.

  “She’ll be okay, Sam, she’s a tough cookie. Do you need anything? Coffee, food, water?”

  I rubbed at my temples. “Some water would be awesome, thank you, Kee. You don’t have to be here you know but thank you all the same. I never would’ve been able to drive here earlier.”

  Squeezing my hand, she told me that it was her best friend duties to be here before picking up her purse and shutting the door behind her.

  I flipped off my sneakers, lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. If I thought I was exhausted earlier, it was nothing compared to now; I couldn’t keep my eyes open and within minutes I was gone.

  I wrote a letter to Lyle and Betty after I’d packed up all of my things. No one was on the desk as I came into the B&B tonight and I was hoping it would be the same for on the way out.

  I didn’t want to say any hasty goodbye’s and I didn’t want to have to tell them why I was leaving so abruptly.

  Slipping the money for my few days stay in the folded up piece of paper, I also hoped they weren’t downstairs because they would never take it from me. I gave the room one last look over and picked up my duffel bag to head downstairs trying to make as little noise as possible.

  I made it down without alerting anyone of my presence and left the letter and money inside a book one of them was currently reading. I looked around the reception area before placing the keys for the room on top of the book and made my way out the door to my truck. I sighed and started it up.

  An hour into my journey my cell started vibrating in my pocket. Pulling over, I didn’t recognize the number. Could it be Sam? Probably not but my heart still picks up a wicked pace in my chest.

  “Hello?” Hoping to hear her voice, I was disappointed that it was Lewis’s.

  “Hey, man, it’s Lewis. I don’t know if you’ve left yet or not but Cindy’s been rushed to hospital to have her stomach pumped. I know Sam told you to leave but I just thought you should know and maybe make your own decision, you know?”

  I was in a catch twenty-two.

  “Shit! What hospital?” I didn’t even have to think about it, I was going back whether she wanted me there or not.

  “St. John’s. I don’t know anything else right now but I’m headed there as soon as I get off the call with you. Keeley’s with her so she will be fine but I just thought you deserved to know. I’ll meet you in the emergency waiting room?”

  “Yeah, I’m on my way. Thanks, Lew.” I hung up and made a U-turn towards the hospital.

  I arrived outside a half hour later spotting Lewis’s car, with the hospital being twenty-minutes away from Little Hollow, we’d made it around the same time. I looked at the entrance with a big weight on my chest.

  What if my presence here made things worse for her? I didn’t want to cause any distress I just needed to know she was going to be alright.

  I walked into the emergency room and immediately spotted Keeley and Lewis deep in conversation. I walked up to them trying to make myself known before I invaded their privacy.

  Clearing my throat did the trick and Kee looked up at me confused before turning to look at Lewis. “You called him?”

  She wasn’t angry, she was just puzzled as to why I was here. She looked at me again, exhausted. “She asked you to leave, Connor. You shouldn’t be here.”

  Running a palm over her face, she stood up to face me and I put up both my hands in surrender.

  “I’m not here to cause trouble. I just need to know she’s alright then I promise I’ll leave.” She studied my face before sighing.

  “We’ve been allowed to stay in a family room across the hall from where they’ve got Cindy. I’ll take you to her but if she starts freaking out, you need to leave. Got it?”

  I nodded seriously and followed her down a long corridor. “I can only guess what’s happened but do you mind filling me in? Lewis told me that Cindy had to get her stomach pumped but what has the doctor said?”

  She had a faraway look in her eyes as she told me that they’d had to put her into a medically induced coma.

  “Shit. I didn’t know it was that serious. That woman needs help.” Kee kept facing forward as we walked but I could swear her eyes had a sheen to them.

  She cleared her throat and said, “I told her I’d get her some water, give her this.”

  I took the bottle then froze outside the door she was pointing at. “Well, go on then. You made your bed, now go lie in it.”

  She had a smirk on her face as she turned and walked back in the direction of the emergency waiting room.

  Pulling on the door handle, I opened it just a fraction before tapping my knuckles against the wood. I couldn’t hear anything so I pushed it open a little further so I could peer into the small space. I breathed out a small sigh of relief as I noticed she was sleeping.

  I walked into the room and moved her purse off the chair opposite the bed. Sitting down as silently as possible, I looked over to her, she looked so peaceful and untroubled; this was what I needed to see. I knew she wasn’t doing okay right now, but a good night’s sleep is what she needed.

  “You’re so beautiful, Sammy,” I whispered under my breath. I rolled the bottle of water
between my hands for a few minutes as I watched her. “I knew I missed you but until we got to speak again, I didn’t realize how much.”

  I stood up and moved closer to put the water by her bedside. “I just hope you come to realize how much you meant and still do mean to me. I had a funny way of showing it but it’s always been you.”

  I knelt down and kissed her head softly before padding across the room. I reached for the door handle, took one last look at her sleeping form and then left.

  I blinked my blurry eyes open at the silhouette of a man walking out of the room. Where was I?

  Feeling disorientated, I rubbed at my eyes. I must’ve been dreaming; why would Connor be here? I shook my head as I came to. I was questioning my sanity. But what if he was here?

  My heart clenched before I jumped off the bed and shoved my feet into my sneakers. I barrelled out the door frightening two nurses walking down the hall.

  “Sorry!” Which way did we come in from again? I chose a direction and walked in it until I recognized the emergency room.

  “Kee? Lewis?” They turned my way, both with suspicious looks on their faces telling me everything I needed to know without me having to ask. “I thought so,” I said and Kee stood up.

  “Don’t blame me, blame this goon here who called him.” She swatted at Lewis’s shoulder.

  “Sorry, Sam. I thought…ah, I dunno what I thought. That it would’ve helped?” I waved my hand in the air dismissing him.

  “Where is he?” They looked at each other then back at me.

  “Well, he left.” I felt a strange wave of sadness.

  “So, he’s really gone then?” I felt myself deflate, was it worth holding onto this grudge?

  “Lewis.” Kee nudged her head in the other direction and he stared at her. “Men!” She rolled her eyes at me then turned back to him. “Would you go get us a cup of coffee please?” She smiled sweetly at him and he stood up. “Thank you.” I chuckled as I watched him walk away and I sat down.

  “He drove back here to make sure you had everything you needed. He wanted to make sure you were okay. He didn’t want to upset you, Sam.” She stared at me intently.