Chapter 50

Austin

I get the message as soon as I arrive at Brayside on Friday. I haven’t even taken off my backpack when Artie passes it to me. “Maggie called first thing this morning. This is her mom’s cell. She said it was serious.”

It has to be something about Harvey. Was he hit by a car? Lost again? A bunch of ideas run through my head, which makes the twenty seconds I wait for her to pick up seem even longer. “Austin?” she says.

“Yeah. It’s me. Are you okay?”

“Yes. No. I mean, I am, but Harvey’s not. We’re at the animal clinic.”

“What happened?”

Artie is watching my reaction and Mary Rose is there too.

Their faces are pulled tight with worry.

“He got in a fight with a raccoon and got bit. He’s hurt really bad.” Maggie’s voice cracks and she takes a shuddery breath. “They had to sedate him and he needed surgery.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know. The bite might have hurt his spine.”

“Where are you?”

Maggie takes a breath. “Southside Animal Hospital.” I grab a piece of paper off the desk and write down the name. “I’ll see if my grandpa can take me. I’ll call you back.”

I hang up and tell Artie and Mary Rose what happened. “Oh, poor Harvey!” Mary Rose says. “Those raccoons! I just hate them.”

“I need to see him.” And the truth is I want to see Maggie too.

“Your grandpa’s at the new building site,” Artie says. “He’ll be there all afternoon.”

We look up Southside Animal Hospital. It’s too far to walk to. My stomach is twisted in knots worrying about Maggie and Harvey. “I wish one of us could take you, but we have to stay here,” Mary Rose says.

“I know,” I say.

“There is someone else who has a car though.” Artie and Mary Rose look at each other.

“I bet she’d do it too.”

Artie prints out a map while Mary Rose heads down to the suite at the end of the hall.