A woman who can’t be much older than me, approaches. “I’m Tilly Wolf.”
Tilly.
We’ve met. I swear that I’ve met her but her name was…
Tilly Baker.
“My friend, Kate, owns the bridal shop next door to your store.” She sighs. “She’s the one who realized we’ve been looking for you. All we had to go on was the name Athena.”
I step around Liam’s mom to stand in front of Tilly. “Please tell me what’s happening. Is he alright?”
Her hands find mine. She gives them both a squeeze. “He had surgery, Athena. Open heart surgery yesterday.”
My chest feels like it’s collapsing from the inside out. I struggle to find my next breath.
“Sit.” She tugs on my hands. “Sit.”
I lower myself into a chair. “Surgery? I don’t understand.”
“He went into cardiac arrest on the sidewalk a block from his apartment a few days ago.” Tilly looks to Sebastian before she turns her attention back to me. “Luckily, a doctor was one of the first people on scene. He performed CPR until the EMTs arrived.”
My hand jumps to my mouth as I let out a sob.
“Liam has a heart condition. It’s called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,” Tilly goes on. “Part of his heart had become thickened.”
“None of us knew.” Sebastian crouches in front of me. “He found out a couple of years ago and kept it to himself.”
“I was having coffee with him a few weeks ago when he felt faint.” Tilly shakes her head. “I insisted he come in to be checked out. I left him here alone in the ER because I was feeling so nauseous. I had just found out I was pregnant the day before and the morning sickness was beating me up. I wish I had stayed. Maybe he would have confided in me.”
Sebastian reaches for Tilly’s hand. “You brought him in. You did your part.”
Tilly nods. “When I checked in with him that night he said it was nothing. I didn’t push. He’s been dealing with this all alone for so long.”
Tears fall down my cheeks.
“They had to stabilize him before they could perform the surgery.” Sebastian smiles. “He’s going to need some time to recover, but he’ll get through this.”
Relief pulls me forward on the chair. “Does he want to see me?”
A chorus of laughter echoes off the walls.
“Does he ever.” Another man with black hair steps forward. “I’m Nick. Wolf’s other brother.”
“We figure he was out for a run the morning it happened.” Sebastian sighs. “He didn’t have his phone or ID on him. His wallet was in his apartment but the phone is gone. It looks like someone grabbed it when he collapsed. It took some time for us to connect with the doctors here. He came in as a John Doe.”
I bury my face in my hands.
All those voicemails I left and the text messages.
None of those were reaching Liam.
“He’s sleeping.” Nick moves to stand next to me. “He’d like if it you were there when he wakes up.”
“I’d like that too.” I push to stand.
“We’ll get you a gown and a mask.” Sebastian motions to a woman wearing green scrubs. “He may look a little different than the last time you saw him, Athena.”
I run a finger down the front of my sweater. “Is the scar from the surgery large?”