In the background my phone rings, but I don’t care. His clouded stare and the slow smile that crawls across his face read pleasure-high. With both hands on my cheeks, he pulls me in for yet another breathless kiss. Then he slides one hand between my legs, and I’m crying out in an instant. But then he stops.

“Is that your phone that keeps ringing?” he pants.

I say a quick apology, then swipe my jeans from the nearby pile of clothes. I dig the phone out of the pocket. “I’ll turn it to silent. Sorry.”

But then I see a slew of missed calls and texts from Mrs. Tokushige.

“Hang on,” I mutter, swiping my finger across the screen. “This is so weird. It’s my mom’s friend.”

I pull up the text messages and almost drop my phone in the hot tub when I read Mrs. Tokushige’s text.

Your mom was rushed to the hospital. Please call me as soon as you can.

A shriek lodges in my throat. Callum clasps my hand. When I look at him, the inky, enlarged pupils of his eyes read sheer panic. “What’s wrong? What is it?”

But I can’t talk. I can only cry and scramble clumsily out of the tub, grabbing at my clothes. I drop the phone in his hand and watch all the color drain from him when he reads the text. And then I feel his steady touch on my arm. He speaks. But all I can do is cry and hope to God he’s telling the truth, that it’s not just empty words to make me feel better, like I suspect.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Chapter 16

Callum leads me through a long white corridor with his massive hand pressed on my back. I’ve lost count already of how many of these sterile tunnels we’ve walked through since arriving at Maui Memorial Medical Center minutes ago. The same ball of despair and nerves that hit when I would visit my dad as a patient here takes hold. We pass the corner where he lost consciousness while being wheeled to a nearby exam room for an MRI. That was a month before he passed, when he was so weak that walking was almost too much for him most days.

My heart thuds, my head spins, my palms sweat. Just the thought of Mom being here makes me want to puke. This cannot be happening.

We make it to a random waiting room with green chairs, and I spot Mrs. Tokushige sitting in the corner. She stands as soon as she sees me.

“Oh, my dear,” she croons while pulling me into a hug.

I fought the lump in my throat the entire drive here, and I don’t have the strength anymore. When I speak, my voice finally breaks. “What happened?”