Page 92 of Noah

Thirty minutes later, I was racing through the doors of the emergency department. I burst past the lineup of people waiting for the concierge and got in the man's face.

"I'm looking for Brody Carlisle. He was brought in by ambulance. He's in surgery."

The concierge scowled at me, obviously annoyed I'd jumped the line.

"I'll go back there and check," he replied then turned and walked through a set of double doors leading into the emergency treatment area.

When he returned, I was ready to leap on him and shake the information out of him.

"He's in surgery," he reported.

"Yes, I know."

"He's already got two people back there. We're limited with space. Are you family?"

Lie.

"I'm his fiancé."

The concierge grunted and sighed. "All right. Follow me back." I was right on his heels as he led the way past curtain after curtain of treatment beds. We went straight past those and down an empty hallway until we eventually came to a waiting area. There were five people there.

I was immediately able to pinpoint Brody's brother. Next to him, a frail older woman with an oxygen tank. They both had Brody's dark curly hair and mahogany eyes.

Charlie looked up at me. "Noah?"

"Yes. Yes, I am." I felt ready to burst or break down. Or both. "Any news?"

"A nurse just came out and told us he's doing well in surgery," Brody's mom said.

What on earth does that mean?

Is he going to make it or not?

I sank into a chair at Charlie's side.

Brody's mom leaned forward, looking past Charlie.

"I'm Brenda. Brody's mom."

I took her fragile extended hand and shook it. "Noah."

Then we were quiet. So quiet. The whole waiting area was silent. It was eerie. All of us dreading word that our loved one had passed.

Everyone's head jerked up when a woman in scrubs appeared.

She looked at us. "Are you Brody's family?"

Brenda gripped Charlie's hand. "Yes."

"I'm happy to report, he's doing well. He's in recovery right now. We're going to keep him there for a while, but we have a room for him that you can wait in."

Charlie and I rose to our feet. After the woman told us the room number, Charlie helped his mom stand and rolled the oxygen tank cart for her as we made our way there.

There was already a small hard couch in the room but one of the nurses brought us in an extra chair. Again, we were quiet for a while. Still in shock, I suppose.

I decided to break the ice.

"How did you know where to find me? Did Brody tell you about the pub?"

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