Separately Together

Chapter Five: Old Wounds 1/2

The following Monday I was working on a cake for a baby shower when I got a call.

I look down at my new phone with puzzlement on my face, causing my brows to raise and my forehead to crinkle. Finnic...

He knew I was at work, what was he calling about?

I take my gloves off my hands not wanting to get icing on my phone or germs on the cake. I'm not quick enough so I go to his number to call him back when his name flashes again. Finnic normally didn't call twice. Something was wrong.

I answer, "Finnic?" I question trying to hold hope that he just really wanted to talk to me, or maybe something dead lining with the wedding.

"Maddie, Mama is in the hospital." My heart drops into my stomach and I rush out of Peaches Bakery ignoring the calling of my name from Debra my boss. My mom was my lifeline, she couldn't leave me here without her. I needed her here.

"I'm on the way," I say and then hang up as I jump into the driver's seat, not even bothered by the fact that my boss was watching me drive away. My mom was more important than all of them, she was more important than nearly everyone.

~.~.~.~.~

After breaking a few traffic laws, I made it to the hospital and found my brother's truck quickly, courtesy of living in a small town.

He wasn't in it, but I spotted him walking into the hospital, if I was quick, I would catch up to him. I slam the car into park and shut off the vehicle, then I jog to catch up to him, my dark auburn hair bouncing with each step. There was no doubt that I looked like a mess but that was the least of my worries right now. I would worry about everything else when I knew she was alright.

My heart was still pounding as hard as when he first called and told me, my mind in a frenzy not wanting to believe she was in the hospital. She had astounding health, she rarely ever got sick.

"Finnic! I called out so that he would hold the elevator door for me. Just as it was about to close his hand shot out and held it open for me. He wasn't in much better shape than me, his hair a mess and his eyes tired.

"How is she? What's wrong with her?" I quickly ask all in one breath, taking in a big gulp of air having exerted myself by running up here.

"The doctor's saying it's nothing serious she fainted, just dehydration," Finnic says while he pulls me into a hug.

"Oh, thank god, I was worried it had been something serious." He soothes my hair down, his signature move when he's trying to get me to calm down.

"Just take a deep breath, Maddie. She's okay." He holds me until the short elevator ride is over and the doors open once again.

"They said room two thirty-five." We walked the halls letting our eyes glance at the numbers attached to each door until we were finally standing in front of it.

Finnic takes the lead and opens the door wide enough for both of us to get in and I close it behind us, not wanting to be too loud for the nurses trying to do their job.

She was asleep on the bed looking slightly pale but not in a dangerous way. Still, mine and Finnic's mouths dropped but it wasn't for the woman laying asleep, it was because of the man sitting in the chair beside her.

Blonde hair, the exact shade of Finnics. He was tall and stout to be his age. I knew without ever having met the man that this was our father because he looked like an older copy of Finnic.

He left when I was only a baby, but Finnic was old enough to remember bits and pieces of him.

I was in shock because it was a face that I thought I would never get to see in anything other than pictures my mother kept hidden away. He was here now staring at the two of us with sorrow and worry in his eyes. Like he cared about us when it was impossible. No one could just up and leave their wife and kids like that and genuinely care for them.