Nobody else said anything, so she continued with rising desperation. She explained that a boy she liked was going to call her in twenty minutes and that he would think she was ignoring him if she didn’t answer. She was convinced he would ask another girl to the dance if she missed the call.
Rick muttered something about teenage emergencies, but he said it with a fond smile. I opened my eyes and croaked out the word “hospital” one more time. Meredith and Rick exchanged a look that I recognized instantly.
It was the look they used when they were calculating whether I was worth the effort. My mother pointed through the windshield and noted that there was a TechPoint store right at the next intersection. She suggested they stop for two seconds to grab a portable charger for Chloe.
I felt like the pain had finally caused me to lose my mind. I asked “What?” in a voice that was louder than I had intended. My mother turned around fully and asked me what I had just said.
I told her no and begged her to take me to the hospital instead. Chloe leaned forward and insisted that it would literally only take five minutes. Rick looked at me in the mirror with flat, uncaring eyes.
He told me to stop being dramatic and said that five minutes wouldn’t kill me. That specific sentence would later be repeated in courtrooms and in the whispers of relatives. Rick believed it when he said it, which was the most horrifying part of the entire ordeal.
He turned the SUV into the TechPoint parking lot. The store was bright and modern, filled with displays of technology that promised convenience to everyone else. The parking lot was half-full as snow began to drift down from the sky.
Meredith unbuckled her seatbelt, and I begged her not to leave me. She paused for a second with her hand on the door handle. I told her I was serious and asked her not to leave me alone in the car.
Something shifted in her expression, but it wasn’t concern for my safety. It was anger at being forced to feel guilty for her choices. Rick opened his door and told her to come on, and Chloe was already out of the car.
My mother looked at me one last time and told me they would be right back. Rick clicked the lock button on his key fob, and the sound was sharp and final. The doors sealed, the windows remained up, and they walked away together.