Page 111 of Broken Empire

Wehead into the emergency room andIcollapse into one of the chairs there.Huntertakes care of all the paperwork sinceIcan’t seem to function right now.

“Ican’t lose him,”Imumbled, not even aware thatIwas speaking.

“We’renot going to lose him.He’llbe just fine.You’llsee,”Huntersays, trying to reassure me asIsit there with my head in my hands.

Ican’t believe thatIwas so fucking careless.Ishould’ve been watching over him more.Ishould have known that he was lying to us and that he wasn’t fine.There’reso many thingsIshould’ve been doing thatIdidn’t and if he dies,I’llhate myself for the rest of my life.

“Whatif he doesn’t?”

“Hewill.Anddon’t beat yourself up.Hehad us both fooled and when he wakes up,I’mgoing to kick his fucking ass!”Huntergrumbles.

Aboutan hour later the doctor walks over to us andI’mnervous as fuck to hear what he has to say.

“Wehave some good news.He’sgoing to be fine.Wepumped the pills out of his stomach.I’mglad that he missed the arteries, so we sutured the cut on both his arms.He’llmake a full recovery in no time.He’sresting now if you want to see him.We’regoing to keep him here until he sleeps off the effects of all those pills and then we’re going to have a psych evaluation done on him,” the doctor says.

“Thankyou,Doctor,”Isay with relief likeI’venever felt before.

Wemake our way to his room andIinstantly hate the sight of him with all those wires attached to him.ThoughIguess that’s way better than him being dead.HunterandItake a seat on the chairs in the room and we just stay there in companionable silence.Abouttwo hours later is the first time he shows signs of life,Iquickly jump to my feet and rush over to his bedside.

“Ugh, why doIfeel so tired?”Masonasks when he opens his eyes.Theyaren’t quite clear yet, soI’mguessing he’s still under the influence of the sleeping pills.Ihug him as the tears start to fall again. “Whyare you crying?”

“Whywould you do such a fucking stupid thing?”Iyell at him, asIstand to my full height again.Hewinces, probably becauseI’mso loud, butIdon’t care.NowthatI’mnot scared anymore,I’mfucking pissed. “Anddon’t ask fuck stupid questions.Howcould you leave me like that without any care in the world?DoInot mean anything to you?Whatif we didn’t get there in time to save you, you asshole?”

“Youweren’t supposed to,” he mumbles.

“Areyou kidding me right now?Don’tmake me punch you in the face.IfIdidn’t love you so much,I’dmurder you myself for being such a dumbass!”Isnap at him.

“I’msorry.Inever meant to hurt you but my pain was too much,” he whispers.

“Howon earth could you think that trying to kill yourself wouldn’t hurt me, you damn inconsiderate jackass!”Isnap and he grins at me through his oxygen mask. “Whatthe fuck are you grinning at?”

“I’msorry.Pleaseforgive me?” he asks with a pout.

“No.”

“Comeon, you can’t be mad at me whileI’min a hospital bed.”

“Andwhose fault is that?”

“I’msorry,” he says with a sigh.Iwatch as his eyes start to flutter a moment later. “I’mgonna go to sleep.Ifeel sleepy.”

“Yeah, get some rest.We’llbe here when you wake up,”Itell him as he closes his eyes.Iplace a kiss on his forehead and then take a seat next toHunteragain.

“Lookat this,” he tells me and then proceeds to show me the videoMasonmade and posted online.It’sfucking viral already.Iwant to be mad at him but whenIlisten to it, it breaks my fucking heart.Ihonestly hope the two of them can fix their shit and soon too. “I’llbe back in a sec, let me callWinterand tell her that he’ll be okay.”

It’sbeen a few hours ofHunterandIsitting here whileMase’sstill asleep.Hehasn’t woken up again from the first time.Iwas worried, but the doc said that he’s just sleeping off the effects from the sleeping pills.

Amoment later,Winterbursts through the door, looking wildly around the room.Hereyes land onMasonand she bursts into tears as she rushes over to him.Shehugs him, holding onto him with her face buried in the crook of his neck, as she completely breaks down.Ican barely make out the words she’s started chanting over her sobs, but eventuallyIfinally do.She’ssaying “I’msorry” over and over again.

Aftera few minutes of this,Huntergets up from his seat and goes over to her, gently pulling her away.

“Calmdown, sis.Thinkabout the babies.Thedoctor assured us that he’s fine, and he just needs the rest.Wegot to him in time,”Huntertells her and she bursts into more gut-wrenching sobs.

“Thisis all my fault,” she wails asHunterplaces her on the chair between us.

“Shh,”Itell her, asIwrap my arm around her, soothing her asIrub her back. “He’llbe fine once the effects of the pills wear off.We’veall made mistakes, but it’s time to move on now.Wecan’t keep hurting each other like this.Weneed to all find a way to put things behind us.”

“Iknow.Iwas already doing that.Ilove him andIcan’t lose him,” she sobs. “Iwas already packing to come back home when he sent me that video andIwas so scared.”

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