“Sorry. Only one at a time.” Her blue eyes were sad. For such a young person, she’d probably seen this all too many times.
“Thank you.” I pulled the chair beside the bed again and slid out my phone. I opened a text to Sarah.
ME: I’ll be a while yet. Are you okay waiting?
SARAH: I’m okay. Stay with Damon.
ME: Love you.
SARAH: I love you, Drey. So much. You are such a strong person. Great brother. Damon’s lucky to have you. I love you, respect you. Stay with Damon.
Maybe I should sneak out there. Five minutes. I needed to hold her. Kiss her quick. I stood up, deciding to do that. I had to see her green eyes. It was going to be a long night, so I would need that as fuel.
The machines connected to Damon started buzzing and beeping. An alarm sounded. I whipped around, and Damon was twitching on the bed. His body flailing.
The doors burst open, and a team of people in scrubs stormed in. “Get out!” they yelled in unison at me.
Screw that. I stepped to the door but stayed inside.
One guy pressed his fingers to Damon’s neck. “No pulse.”
A nurse pushed by me and said, “Get out now.”
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Outside. Let us work.” With surprising force for such a small person, the nurse ushered me out and slammed the door.
I recognized the two things in one of the nurse’s hands, though. Damn it, they were going to shock my brother back to life.
She placed them on his body and time froze for a breath before Damon’s body jerked. The nurse checked a screen and her mouth opened. I didn’t read lips, but her eyes were focused and her brows furrowed, so I assumed it didn’t work.
She shocked him again.
My soul ripped in half as my little brother’s body jerked. Images of him flashed in my mind. Growing up. Me stealing food to feed him. Me kicking his ass the first time he was caught stealing something. He’d fought back, saying I did it so he could, too. He’d wanted to help.
Dumb fucking kid.
Tears welled as I paced outside the door. I buried my hands in my hair and pulled until my scalp stung. Damn it. First Mom, now…wait, the nurse who threw me out pointed to the screen, and I saw a blip. She gave me a thumbs-up and turned back to my brother.
His heart had started again. I sighed and crumbled to the floor.Please, God. Please. Don’t take him.
I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I rested my head against the wall and closed my eyes, sending up silent prayers to whoever might be listening to save my brother.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d sat here, other than long enough to know my ass hurt when my phone vibrated. I dug it out, hoping to see Sarah’s face on my screen, but it was Hunter’s ugly mug.
HUNTER: Come out here.
ME: Damon just almost fucking died. I need to stay here.
HUNTER: Sarah’s gone.
That had me to my feet. I bolted through the doorway to find Hunter, Bill, and Marshal, standing there. Marshal? What the hell?
“Where’s Sarah?” I asked, staring at Hunter. The fact that Marshal was here…I wasn’t sure how to interpret that. He worked for the FBI.
Oh shit.
“Do you know this guy?” Marshal handed me an iPad with some dude’s face on it.