With great reluctance, she reached for her phone. After she arrived at the hospital the previous night, she put everyone and everything out of her mind, except for Graham. She tapped the screen and groaned at the number of text messages. She opened the app and expected to find at least one from Theo, but there was none. Graham, Brooklyn, Brystol, Ester, and a couple other coworkers. She opened Graham’s first and read it: in Grady’s room with my mom, text me when you’re awake. Rennie did. She opened Brooklyn’s next, expecting to read a long rant about missing their shopping trip: Let me know if you need anything. Even though Brooklyn hadn’t put her feelings into the text, Rennie knew she was upset, and rightfully so. They’d had plans, and she had pushed them aside. Rennie replied: Thank you. I’ll call you soon. She opened Brystol’s next: OMG! I’m working at the bar today! Rennie was confused because her niece wasn’t old enough to be in a bar, let alone work in one. However, she let it go because she didn’t want to bother Brystol at work or whatever she was out doing.
The double doors swung open, and Graham walked out. “Good morning,” he said to her as he walked toward her. He stopped shy of giving her a hug, which Rennie desperately wanted but couldn’t bring herself to initiate either.
“Morning. Any update on Grady?”
Graham shook his head slightly. “No, still in the coma.”
“Well, I suppose that’s for the best. His body needs time to heal. How’s your mom?”
“All things considered, she’s okay. They gave her a cot to sleep on, and one of the nurses brought her breakfast.”
“That’s sweet of them. Want to go grab some coffee?”
Graham motioned for Rennie to lead the way. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. When they were out in the hall, away from the ICU, the hospital seemed livelier. People milled about. Patients walked up and down the hall with their IV carts, there was an orderly singing as he came toward Graham and Rennie, and an expectant mother was waddling her way toward the maternity ward, yelling at her husband because he was doing tricks in a wheelchair.
“I’m going to use the restroom,” Rennie told Graham as they approached the door. She went inside, used the facilities, changed out of her jeans and into her yoga pants, which she should’ve done hours ago. At the sink, she washed up, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair. Rennie glanced in the mirror and recoiled. She looked tired, with dark bags under her eyes. She pinched her cheeks to bring some pinkness to them and smoothed tinted moisturizer all over her face to give her pallor some color. When she opened the door, Graham was resting against the wall with his phone in his hand.
“Hey, what’s this about Brystol working in a bar? I’m assuming it’s the Whale Spout?”
Graham pushed away from the wall and met Rennie in stride as they headed toward the elevators. “Krista called this morning to tell me the busboy called out sick.” Graham paused and rolled his eyes. “Brystol likes to come down and help out occasionally, so I asked Bowie if she could work today.”
“You’re paying her, right?” As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Rennie regretted them. She knew Graham would do right by Brystol and pay her.
“Of course.” He laughed. “I would never expect her to work for free.”
“I know. I don’t know why I said anything.”
They stepped into the empty elevator, and Graham pressed the button for the basement. He continued to look at his phone while Rennie watched the floor indicators light up quickly and then dim. When B lit up and stayed, she clutched the strap of her bag and waited for the doors to open.
They stepped out and got right in line with the rest of the people. The smell of eggs, bacon, freshly baked pies, and coffee made Rennie’s stomach growl. She placed her hand over her midsection and looked around to see if anyone had heard the loud rumblings.
Judging by the look on Graham’s face, he had. “We might as whale eat while we are down here.”
“Did you say whale, or do I hear things?”
“Nope, I said it.” He shrugged.
Rennie laughed. “You’re a nut,” she told him. Once it was their turn in line, they each took a tray and set it on the tubular tray slide. Each station she came to, Rennie wanted whatever was cooked there. Hash browns, pancakes or french toast, fruit, yogurt, and oatmeal. With so many options, she had a hard time choosing, so she took one of everything. By the time she reached the cashier, her tray was nearly overflowing. Rennie looked down at her food and started to question her decisions.
She found a table with a view of the snowcapped mountains. Graham sat across from her with nothing on his tray. “Where’s your food?” she asked.
He tilted his head slightly toward her tray, and her eyes followed. She had heaps of food, most of which she wouldn’t eat. “I figured you had enough for the both of us and knew you would be mad at yourself for being wasteful.”
Graham was right. Rennie slid her tray to the middle of the table. “Everything looked so good. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“No worries,” he told her as he pierced a piece of sausage with his fork.
“How was Thanksgiving? I meant to ask earlier.”
“Fine, given the circumstances of Grady not being there.”
“How’s your mom? I mean, how has she been? I’ve been meaning to stop by when I visit.”
Graham stilled. His fork lingered between food and nothingness. “She’s probably the strongest person I know. Do you remember the night we left to drive to Cape Harbor?”
Rennie nodded. She would never forget that night or the drive back to Washington. For hours upon hours, silence filled the car. They only spoke when it was time to stop or eat or when Graham suddenly slammed his hand against the steering wheel and screamed out “Why?” over and over again.
“We didn’t know all the details on the drive home. We didn’t know that my brother had been pulled from the water by a rescue boat and given CPR. The medics revived him, and once they were back to the dock, instead of getting into the ambulance, Grady dove back into the water. Friends, people who were there because word spread fast that there was something wrong, went in after him. He fought people, screaming at them to let him go. It was only then that he mentioned Austin.” Graham used the fork to move eggs around on the plate. It was as if he was trying to avoid making eye contact with Rennie.
“Why didn’t Grady tell them about Austin as soon as he was conscious?” Rennie leaned closer to Graham. “Why didn’t the rescue crew know about Austin?”
Graham looked up and set his utensil down. “I don’t know. I’ve asked Grady over the years about that night. He’s never come clean about what happened.”
“I feel like there’s something you’re trying to say here.”
He shrugged. “We know Austin left Brooklyn that night, broke up with her. We know he called Bowie and told him to go to Brooklyn. Grady has said it was Austin’s idea to take the boat out, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was Grady’s idea? We’ve had many accidents with our fishermen before, but none of them have turned out like Grady. Ren, he’s so far gone. What if this is guilt eating away at him?”