Susan Mallery - When We Found Home

“You’ll get it.”

Keira was a sweet kid, Delaney thought. Funny, smart and, despite her feelings about her brother, kind. She always asked about Delaney’s life and remembered what they’d talked about.

From what Delaney had pieced together, Keira had moved to Seattle from Los Angeles where she’d been living in foster care. But after that, the details got fuzzy. Apparently she lived in a big house with her grandfather, her older half brother and a housekeeper. Why the older brother wasn’t on his own but instead lived with his grandfather was something of a mystery. Delaney wondered if maybe there were mental or emotional issues, which might explain his inability to connect with his sister.

“About your friends,” Delaney began. “Are you hanging out with different people every day, like we talked about?”

“I am. Sometimes they just ignore me, but a few are talking back.” She sighed. “It’s hard. I’m not charming. Angelina was charming.”

“Angelina is...”

“The drag queen who took me in when my mom took off. He was born Carl, but in his heart he was always meant to be an Angelina. After Angelina Jolie. He, I mean, she totally respects Angelina’s life choices.” She lowered her voice. “Not counting Brad Pitt, of course. Because I mean really. Why? But all those children and the work she does around the world? That’s why she took me in. I didn’t have anybody.”

“You have family now,” Delaney said, not sure how much of the Carl/Angelina story was true. She wished she could talk to the asshole brother and tell him to step up and take some responsibility. Keira was desperately lonely. Why wasn’t anyone looking out for her beyond paying for private school and giving her a roof over her head?

Keira ignored the family comment and said, “Angelina wants to transition. Carl/Angelina, I mean, not the actress. She’s saving for the surgery, then wants to move to Hawaii because everything is beautiful there and she loves beautiful things.”

Keira opened her mouth to say something else, only instead of speaking she jumped to her feet, screamed “No!” at the top of her lungs, then raced out of the lobby.

Delaney was so stunned it took her a full second before she could move. She ran after Keira who was barreling out the doors and into the busy street. Before Delaney could figure out what was happening, she saw Keira bend down and pick up something from the street, then turn back toward the safety of the sidewalk. But before she could make it, there was a hideous screech of brakes followed by a horrible thud as a Prius struck Keira, sending her into the air, then back onto the street where she lay lifeless, a tiny kitten cradled in her small hands.

The world went silent. All Delaney heard was the beating of her own heart. Everything moved in slow motion as the driver flung open the car door and ran toward the fallen girl. People emerged from everywhere to surround her. Phones were pulled out as dozens called 9-1-1.

Shock later, action now, Delaney thought, willing her limbs to move. She stumbled to Keira’s side and fell to her knees next to her. Keira’s eyes fluttered open.

“Take care of the kitten,” she murmured, passing the small animal to Delaney before groaning. “I hurt.”

“Just stay still, Keira. It’s okay. An ambulance is coming. I’ll take the kitten.” The tiny creature trembled in her hands. “I’ll stay right here.”

“You know her?” a woman asked.

“She’s a friend of mine. She, ah, goes to the private school. Keira...” Delaney swore. “I don’t know her last name. She has a brother and a grandfather.”

Her brother! Delaney had to call him. Only where was Keira’s phone?

She looked around and realized the girl’s backpack was still next to her chair in the lobby eating area. Before Delaney could figure out what to do, Luzia ran out with Delaney’s purse in one hand and Keira’s backpack in the other.

“Are you going with her to the hospital?”

Delaney hesitated for only a second before nodding. “I’m going to call her brother to meet us there.”

Delaney dug for the phone while a man yelled he would go tell someone at the school that one of their students had been injured. Delaney found the phone just as an ambulance pulled up.

She scrolled through the short contact list, then, despite everything, smiled. Right under the As—Asshole Brother.

As the EMTs began to work on Keira, the girl called out. “Delaney, don’t leave me.” She looked at the guy helping her. “She’s my sister and she has to come with me.”

“Sure. No problem. Now tell me where it hurts. Can you move your toes? Not your legs, just your toes. We’re going to stabilize you, then get you to the hospital.”

“I can move my toes and it hurts everywhere.” Tears seeped out of the corners of Keira’s eyes. “Delaney!”

“I’m right here. I’m calling your brother to let him know what happened.”

“Don’t bother. He won’t care.”

The tears came faster now and she started to sob. “It hurts. It hurts. Make it stop.” The sobs turned into screams.

Delaney’s own eyes burned as she pushed the button on the phone. Pick up, pick up, she thought frantically. The kitten stayed perfectly still, huddled against her chest.

“Hello?”

“Are you Keira’s brother?”

“What? Yes. Who is this?”

“A friend of hers. Look, she’s been hit by a car. She’s conscious but I don’t know how badly she’s hurt. They’re taking her to the hospital. Hold on.” She turned to the EMTs who were loading Keira on a stretcher. “Which hospital?”

She repeated the information to Keira’s brother. “I’m going with her so she won’t be by herself. I have the kitten, too.”

“Kitten. What are you talking about? Who are you?”

“Delaney, don’t leave me!”

She saw that Keira was in the ambulance. She ran toward it. “I have to go. I’ll meet you at the hospital. Hurry.” She ended the call and started to climb in the back. One of the EMTs protested, but Delaney stared him down.

“She’s a kid who was just hit by a car. Give us both a break, okay?”

He nodded and helped her inside. Delaney sat close to Keira.

“It’s going to be okay,” she told the still-crying girl. “I’m right here.”

She shrugged out of her sweater, folded it up and put it in her tote, then settled the kitten on top of it. “Once I know you’re taken care of, I’ll see to our little friend here. Do you trust me to do that?”

Keira nodded, even as she cried. “It hurts so much.”

“I know, sweetie. I’m here.”

The EMT in the back started an IV, then the sirens came on and they were moving. Delaney knew what was next—the hospital, where the sounds and smells would bring everything back. She mentally braced herself for the onslaught, even as she hung on to Keira’s hand. For all she knew, she was all Keira had.

* * *

Malcolm barely glanced in his rearview mirror before performing an illegal U-turn. He’d been on his way to the company’s SoDo warehouse when he’d gotten the call about Keira. As he calculated the best way to get from here to the hospital in morning rush hour traffic, he pushed the button to activate his Mercedes’s voice control.

“Call home.”

“Calling home. Landline. Dialing.”

Seconds later he heard ringing. Carmen picked up. “Hello, Carlesso residence.”

“Carmen, it’s Malcolm. Someone just phoned to tell me Keira was in an accident.” He hesitated before saying she’d been hit by a car. He had no idea how bad things were or what was going to happen. “I’m on my way to the hospital right now. Please call the school and find out what they know. And don’t tell my grandfather until I get to the hospital and figure out what’s going on. He’ll get upset.”