A week passed and then another with no word from Peter. If she could go back in time, Ellie would have asked him to tell her when he arrived in Granton. At least then she'd know he was alright. But she didn't want to bother him now.

What if she had gone with him? That wouldn't have made sense. After all, they weren't anything in particular to each other. He couldn't have asked it of her, and it wasn't something she could suggest. But Ellie's thoughts were flooded with the notion he'd gotten in some accident because she let him drive off in that state. And even if he arrived safely, what pain was he facing now?

During the days, Ellie did her chores as usual. She tended to the cows and chickens and to her siblings, and took Fancy and Jenny out for exercise. She was actually becoming a pretty good rider. At night, she prayed for Peter and his family. What more could she do? She felt lost.

Finally, Ellie sent Peter a text.

"How are you doing?"

It was all she could come up with. She sent it in the morning, but the whole day passed with no response. She stayed up late that night. He could respond at any minute and she didn't want to miss it. Her mom saw the light of her lamp under her door.

"Why are you still up, sweetheart?"

Ellie thought carefully before she spoke. "I want to go to the hospital in Granton."

Her mom sat on the edge of the bed. "To see Peter?" She thought carefully before continuing. "Ellie, there's nothing you can do for him. He's with his family, and he will get through this."

"I know that. And I might just be in the way, but I have to know how he is. Not for him, really, but for me."

"Oh, honey. I thought you might like him a little, but—" She cut herself off and patted Ellie's hand. "Well, I wouldn't be able to stop you. Get some sleep and take my car first thing in the morning."

Ellie didn't know exactly where Peter's family lived, but she knew what hospital his mom was at. She put in the directions and set out as soon as she could the next day. For three hours, she drove without stopping.

"Excuse me, I'm here to see Lydia Reid," she asked at the information desk.

"Room 317 on the third floor."

"Thank you." Ellie's heart was beating fast. She got in the elevator. It was both good and bad news that Peter's mom was still a patient here. It meant the worst had not happened, but also that it still could. Ellie didn't know what to expect when she got to the room, but prepared for the worst. When her aunt and uncle had passed away, it was like her world and the world of everyone in her family just crumbled. She imagined Peter and his father may not want to see her at all.

Ellie hesitated outside the room. Just by coming here she could be burdening this family. Finally, she willed herself to knock. She'd come this far, it would be a waste to go back.

She slid the door open.

"Ellie!" Peter was standing right there. And he was... smiling? He looked happier than she'd ever seen him. Ellie was speechless. He flung his arms around her and lifted her right off the floor. He spun her around, and she heard laughter behind her.

"I—" Ellie was still stunned when he put her down.

"Oh, don't make me laugh! It hurts to laugh!" The woman in the bed looked frail, but had a smile nearly as big as Peter's. A man in a chair by the bed stood up and approached Ellie with his hand out. She was confused but took it, and the man shook vigorously.

"You must be the illustrious Elinor! It's a pleasure to meet you!" the jovial man said.

"It's nice to meet you," Ellie replied. Could he really be Peter's dad?

"Call me Nathan."

"Nice to meet you, honey, I'm Lydia." Peter's mom, the woman in bed, reached up her hand and Ellie went over to take it. It was still weak, but Ellie could feel that she was energetic and full of life.

"Please just call me Ellie." The unexpected joy in the room was startling, and she couldn't find any other words.

Peter pulled a chair over for her. He saw Ellie's expression and thought she might need an explanation. "Mom woke up just this morning. I actually called you, but you must have been on the road already. I'm sorry, I should have contacted you sooner."

"Really?!" Ellie rushed to take her phone out of her pocket. There was one missed call from Peter. "If I had put off coming for just an hour I probably wouldn't be here at all." Ellie finally broke into a smile in response to both the irony and the good news.

"Well I'm glad you're here." Peter beamed at her, and she felt all the reassurance in the world. His parents nodded.

"We needed something fun to happen." Peter's dad said. "Nothing like a good friend to pull you out of a hard time."

The Reid's told Ellie everything that had happened. Peter's mom had lost a lot of blood from the stab wound, and had fallen and hit her head. She was in a coma for two weeks, and until that very morning, they thought she might never wake up.

Then they just chatted for a while about this and that. The drive, the traffic, the weather. Peter's parents were already elated with Lydia's improvement that morning, and the arrival of an unexpected guest put them on top of the world. Ellie took to them quickly. Peter's father made more dad jokes in an hour than she'd probably heard her own father make in his whole life, and Peter's mother enjoyed them all. Peter mostly listened, but he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from pulling into a smile. The room was full of laughter and excitement.

"Nathan, it's way past lunchtime, why don't you get us something from the cafeteria," Peter's mom said.

"I'll go with you." Ellie stood up.

"No, I'll go Ellie," Peter said.

"Actually Peter, can you stay?" Peter's mom asked, "I need you to ask the nurse something."

Ellie and Peter's dad walked down the hall toward the cafeteria.

"Peter has told me a lot about you over the last few days," he said.

"Good things, I hope," Ellie said. Why would he tell his dad about me?

Nathan nodded. "I need to thank you for everything you've done for Peter. He's very lucky to have met someone like you."

"Oh, I don't think I've done all that much."

"When he went off on his own to start this horse thing, his mother and I were so worried. Not just about running a business on his own, but being alone in general."

"Really? I mean, Peter's a great guy, everyone in town likes him." Ellie wasn't sure where he was going with this. Nathan paused for a while.

"I don't know if Peter's mentioned this, but I'm an accountant. When Peter was in high school, I was doing the accounts for what I would later find out was a very sketchy firm. I uncovered some very serious embezzlement. There was nothing I could do without losing everything. At least, that's what I felt at the time. Long and depressing story short, I turned to alcohol, to cope." He took his time talking. "I am ashamed of the pain that I put my family through. Eventually, though, I was able to get sober and find work again."

Ellie didn't know what to say, but some things about Peter clicked into place. "I know Peter doesn't drink, but I didn't know the reason."

Nathan nodded. "It affected him a lot. He swore he'd never take a drink in his life. And he never has. In college though, there's so much social pressure. He ended up isolating himself from everyone around him. He'd go to class and work part time at the stables, and he had a few friends, but he wouldn't really get close with anyone. Not anyone he could rely on.

"When Peter graduated, we realized he was serious about this farm thing. I was scared that it was his way of pushing everyone away. But I'm very glad I was wrong."

Ellie nodded, processing.

"Well! Enough of that," Nathan said. "We've had enough sadness and drama in the last couple weeks to last a lifetime. Let's go get some food."