“She answer?” Cara asks.

“No. Nothing. You have no idea where she could be?”

“Calm down. I’m sure she ran a quick errand or got held up at the library. I shouldn’t tell you this, but there’s a spare key hidden underneath the heater in the hallway, the one you’re probably sitting on top of.”

I get down on my hands and knees and reach under the old metal heater. It takes a minute, but I find it. Thankfully it’s hidden well and nobody would ever spot it unless they knew it was there. It’s still not the safest thing for two girls to be doing though. “I got it. We’ll discuss the key after I find Sophie.”

“See, this is why I don’t tell you things. You get all worked up. It’s better than being locked out of your room in your damn towel and flip flops because you left your key inside your room.”

“Yeah, I get it, but we can come up with something safer I’m sure.” I stick the key in the lock and push the door open. My heart plummets to the floor. “Sophie!” I run over to her body, lying awkwardly on the shaggy rug in front of her closet door. “Baby, no. Wake up, Sophie!” I yell louder. I hang up on Cara and dial 911. Holding Sophie’s lifeless body in my arms, I rock back and forth on the floor as all signs of life appear lost on my beautiful girl.

With the direction of the dispatcher, I’m able to detect a faint pulse on her neck and I pray I’m not imagining it.

I turn around and the hallway is crowded with shocked expressions and tears. Everyone’s staring but nobody is helping. “Someone fucking get some help. Please!”

As I finish screaming, Cara and Drew come barreling in the room. Cara’s immediately on her knees next to Sophie, tears streaming down her cheeks. Drew’s on his phone with campus security rattling off instructions and information. I’m glad he’s here.

“What happened to her, Kippy?” Cara’s shaking, obviously in shock from the sight of her unconscious best friend.

“I don’t know Cara. I don’t fucking know.” I continue to hold her close to my body, keeping her warm. Cara grabs a blanket from her bed and lays it across the both of us. My hands are shaking as I brush my knuckle across her cheek. Shaking her I start to freak out when she still hasn’t woken up. “Sophie, please. Open your eyes. I need to see your beautiful eyes.” There’s no response from her.

After several excruciatingly long minutes, the paramedics arrive. They take her out of my arms, immediately hooking her up to machines and poking her with an IV. In what seems like seconds, they have her on the gurney with her neck and back stabilized. Moving down the hall, I follow after them, leaving the door to their room hanging wide open. “Where are you taking her?” When nobody answers me, I lose my cool and grab the arm of one of the medics. “Where are you fucking taking her?”

“Son, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down.”

“That’s my goddamn everything you have laying there. I’m not calming down until you tell me what’s going on. Why isn’t she awake?”

“Kipton, it’s okay man. Let them do their job,” Drew says as he puts his body in between me and the medic. “We can follow the ambulance to the hospital.”

“I want to go with her.”

He puts his hand on my shoulder, the other on my chest to hold me back. “They’re not gonna let you in the ambulance while you’re losing your shit.”

Realizing he’s right, I apologize to the medic I was harassing and follow them outside. Other students have filled the perimeter of the dorm to gawk at Sophie like she’s on display. I’m relieved they don’t have to take her all the way up the hill. Instead, they’ve already driven the ambulance around to the delivery entrance.

“You’re good?” Drew asks. “We’ll follow you in my car to the hospital, okay?”

“Yeah. Make sure my sister’s okay, Drew.”

“I will, man. She’s my number one.”

Climbing in the back of the ambulance, I can’t handle the site of Sophie lying helpless and unconscious. Praying to God my girl will wake up, the doors slam and I sit in silence, horrified that I wasn’t there to help her sooner.

“Kipton is it?” The medic asks.

“Yes, my name’s Kipton.”

“I’m going to need whatever information you can give me about her, okay?”

“Sure, yeah. Okay.” We hit a few bumps and I’m tossed around. Holding onto the side wall of the ambulance, I steady myself.

“Has she ever passed out before? Any previous conditions that could have caused this?”

“I don’t think she’s passed out before. She gets lightheaded sometimes.” He jots down my comments on the clipboard.

“Do you know any of her medical history? Anything we should know?”

“Shit, she had a concussion a few months back. She hit her head pretty bad. I know she’s been having migraines and getting dizzy still. But she said it was getting better each week. Could that be what caused this?”

“It could have, I can’t rule that out. But let’s let the doctors examine her before we jump to any conclusions. The important thing is that although she’s unconscious, her vitals are stable. That’s a great sign.”

Thank God for that.

“Is there anything else I should put on her paperwork, Kipton?”

“No. I don’t think so. She doesn’t take medicine for anything. But I’m not sure of her allergies. Shit, I should know that.” I run my hands through my hair, frustrated that I don’t know everything about the girl I love. I rest my head against the wall of the ambulance and close my eyes. I open them when I remember more. “She’s in therapy, too, because she throws up. Between the concussion and her past, she’s been having a hell of a time.” I ramble. He adds my comments to her list and scans my face wearily making me even more nervous than I already am.

I can’t see out the window and each turn seems to be taking forever. “Are we soon there?”

“Yes, it won’t be more than a minute. You did well, Kipton. Thank you.”

“She’s not crazy,” I blurt out.

“I didn’t say she was. But the doctors will make sure she has everything she needs once she’s inside. After that, it’s up to her.”

I glance at Sophie, silently pleading with her to wake up; to open her eyes and show me she’s okay. But she doesn’t. Fight, beautiful.

Arriving outside the emergency room, I hop out of the ambulance the second the doors open. They pull Sophie alongside me and rush inside. I’m stopped before I make it to her room. “Young man, you’ll need to wait in the waiting area. The doctors will address you after they tend to her.”

“I don’t want to leave her,” I protest.

“I promise she will be okay. Have a seat and I’ll update you the second they give word about her condition.”

I’m pushed out and left staring at the rustling curtain divider. A nurse escorts me into the sterile waiting room. “Kippy, is she okay?” Cara rushes to my side and hangs on my arm. I wrap it around her needing the comfort as much as she does.

“I don’t know. She never woke up.” We sit in a couple uncomfortable chairs next to the vending machines. Drew sits Cara on his lap and holds her. The sight of them together makes me want Sophie.

“She’ll wake up, guys. She’s tough. Just give her a little time,” Drew adds.

“I called Mom, Kipton. She’s on her way.”

I’m surprised, but I shouldn’t be. My mom took to Sophie immediately. They have some kind of unspoken connection I don’t understand. “Thanks.”

The seconds and minutes multiply and I become restless. Pacing back and forth, I notice it’s dark outside—a much starker contrast from the sunshine of our arrival. It shouldn’t be taking this long. If she was okay, they would have come out by now.

“Kipton, honey.” I turn to the sound of my mom’s voice, thankful she’s here so I don’t have to hold the weight of the world on my shoulders all alone.

“Mom.” I kiss her cheek and get lost in her hug like a lost little boy.

“Any word?”