Page 66 of Someone Like You

Bri sat down beside me and, after a brief hesitation, took my hand in hers. “The police arrested someone, but they wouldn’t tell me who. Do you know who would do this?”

“It was Gavin. Gavin Forster,” I gritted out, a deep pit of hatred opening inside me. I wanted to hurt him, in that moment. My blood began to boil in my veins, bubbling and frothing with a heat that felt like it would sear right through me.

“Why—” Bri started, but my phone started ringing in my pocket. I pulled it out, saw Jordan was calling, and swiped to answer. I was thankful he started speaking right away, because I had no idea what to even say.

“Isaac! Oh my fucking god, are you okay? I’m on my way to the hospital right now, Cam and Josh are coming too, and Jamie said he would be there right after his class ended. Isaac, everyone is fucking talking about this. What did Gavin do to you? Whathappened?”

He was speaking so fast, his voice so high, I was having a hard time following every word. “He just came at me out of nowhere. For no reason. What—how do you know about this?”

“It’s all over social media!” he yelled. “There are videos everywhere and—oh my god, is Brody okay?”

I could feel my face crumpling. “No,” I said on a wet sob. “He’snotokay! He’s in surgery because his heart was failing!”

Jordan took the phone away from his mouth and said something to someone else, then to me said, “Okay, honey, we’re almost there. Just hang on. It’ll be okay. He’s in good hands, okay?”

I wheezed out, “Okay,” told Jordan we were in the waiting area and hung up. Bri was still holding my hand, and I was beyond grateful to have her with me in this moment.

“My uncle will be here in a few minutes. They called him since he’s Brody’s emergency contact, so he shut the shop down for the day. Isaac…” I’d never heard Bri be so serious, which only made this whole situation worse because it was fuckingdireif she wasn’t joking around or being weird. Just like that first time he’d been in the hospital. “Why would this guy do this?”

I stared at our hands and said, “Because he’s a piece of shit homophobe who used to live with Brody. He was talking shit about Brody right to my face so I went off on him, and then Jamie came and they got in a huge fight and the entire house kicked him out during the snowstorm. I guess he was holding a grudge.” Guilt that my big mouth had led to this moment began to surge. Fuck, this was all my fault, wasn’t it?

Bri squeezed my hand. “Well, I hope he’s got a good lawyer because we’ll be suing the shit out of that cunt nugget. And we know thebestlawyer.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Why don’t we all wait together, after your friends get here? I know Brody will be happy to see you when he’s…when he’s…” Her voice hitched, she let out a quiet sob, and when I turned and wrapped my arms around her, she let me.

“He’ll be okay,” I said into her hair. “He will.”

Because there was no other reality I would let myself live in.

The waiting was interminable,and the updates were few and far between. At one point, I found myself with a vengeful thirst and went looking for a vending machine. When I finally found one in some far-off hallway where the lights kept flickering, making me feel like I was in my very own horror movie, I got a crumpled dollar bill from my pocket and tried to flatten it against the edge of the machine.

Standing at the vending machine took me right back to the first day I met Brody. When I knew he’d been having a horrible day without even knowing him at all. When he’d been so angry, and yet so gentle with me. When I’d first looked into those eyes and known I was a goner. He’d turned my reality on its head and dragged me from the pit—kicking and screaming, but I went with him all the same. He’d fucking saved me. Changed me. For the better. And now…now he was fighting for his fucking life and here I was, getting a goddamn soda.

I slid the bill into the slot, pressed the numbers for a Dr. Pepper, and waited. The coils holding the drink spun, spiraling back, and right when it was about to fall down the chute, they stopped. The drink was tilted forward, the cap hitting the scratched glass, but the coils didn’t move again.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I said. I pounded a fist into the glass, but the drink didn’t budge. I hit it again and again, but it stayed stuck. “Fuck!” I said, slamming my foot into the machine.

And then I started laughing at the absurdity of it all, long, manic bouts of laughter that quickly turned into gut-wrenching sobs.

“Life, you’ve got a shitty sense of humor,” I blubbered. I gave the machine one last pound, and to my surprise, the drink slipped free and clattered to the bottom.

“Huh,” I said, wiping my eyes and slipping my hand through the slot to grab it. That was a good omen, right?

When I got back to our group—Brody’s uncle, Bri, Jordan, Cam, Josh, and Jamie—it was past nine o’clock and there hadn’t been an update for two hours.

“Did anybody come while I was gone?” I asked Bri. She shook her head no.

Brody’s uncle—Boone—had been sitting with his head down for most of the time. He was a huge guy, maybe six and a half feet tall and made of pure muscle, and his eyes were the same striking color as Brody’s. We’d made quick introductions, but I think both of us knew that this wasn’t the time or place for an actual get-to-know-you session, and while I did want to know the man who’d mostly raised Brody, I was also deeply ashamed that it was because of me Brody was here in the first place.

I just sat staring at the wall, not processing anything that was happening around me, and willed time to move faster. When midnight rolled around, a doctor—not a nurse—approached us. I sat up straight, my heart pounding and an unwanted sense of foreboding dragging down my spine.

“Good news,” he started, and I let out a harsh breath. “Mr. Correlli is out of surgery and is in a recovery room. The surgery went well, but he’s still out at the moment. He should be coming around in the next hour or so, and if you’d like to go back and see him, despite visiting hours having ended a while ago, we can let family members back. Everyone else, we ask that you wait out here until visiting hours start again at seven tomorrow—or, no, this morning now,” he corrected with a glance at his watch. “If you have any questions for me, I’m happy to answer them.”

My heart sank, and I wanted to scream. But then Bri grabbed my arm and yanked me up with her and her uncle, raising her eyebrow at me.

The doctor said, “Uh?—”

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