Page 86 of Broken Bonds

SIX MONTHS AGO

The frail-looking blonde in the hospital bed was not the strong girl I knew her to be. Celine had become a shell of the girl I grew up with since Ace left. I barely recognized her anymore.

Growing up, she always reminded me of sunshine. She always had a big smile on her face. Even when I got us into trouble with our parents, she’d stand behind me and giggle or hold my hand to let me know that she was there, that we were in this together.

Now, her eyes were dark and downcast, her eyebrows always furrowed in pain, a frown permanently etched onto her face. She didn’t speak unless spoken to, and often, I saw her looking off in a daze, her mind far away from the white hospital room. I only hoped that it was the pain medicine making her feel and look so disoriented.

I didn’t like seeing my sister in so much pain, and I wanted to take it away. I wished more than anything I had gone to the beach house that day instead of her. She was in this positionbecause ofme, and the guilt ate away at me every day, only intensifying and choking me when I looked at her small, frail body in the big, white bed.

I knew the real reason behind her forlorn looks and sad eyes. I had seen it before. I watched Aidan break her heart once. This time, I was the reason it had been broken a second time. I let her and Ace grow close, and then, I pushed him away when it was too late. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.

I thought back to yesterday when Ace finally pitched up to the hospital after being absent for days. He didn’t answer any of my calls and avoided class all because of a phone call from his grandmother about his mother.

That woman was bad news. Why he couldn’t see that, I had no idea.

She had abandoned Ace at his weakest moment, when he needed his mother the most. And even though I had never met the woman, I had no time for useless mothers. Ace needed a mother’s love after his brother died. The loss of his brother messed with his mind and made him the wrong guy for my sister. He wasn’t healed, and Celine wasn’t either. Forming a relationship would only be toxic and unhealthy for them both.

I stopped Ace from entering the room and saw the anger immediately flash through his blue eyes. For as long as I had known him, he hadn’t had a handle on his temper. I didn’t want him near my sister until he learned how to control it.

All I could see was her suffering from another broken heart caused by Ace.

“This isn’t going to work, Ace, and you know it.” Pure rage flickered through his eyes as he narrowed them at me. His fists were balled at his sides, his body tense.

I had to protect Celine. I had to protect her from him.

I was the only one who could keep her safe. I told him that, and he listened and left. Without even saying goodbye. He could have at least given her that much.

And now, I had to look at my little sister, who was falling apart at the seams. I had to look at her, knowing I pushed away the guy who was making her happy just so I could keep her safe, to protect her heart. But had I really protected her from anything? Because now, she was a ghost of the girl I knew.

Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I looked at the beautiful redhead sitting next to my sister with a big smile on her face as she showed Celine some fashion magazine. Amber, the little spitfire with a mouth to match her flaming hair and personality, had been the center of my attention lately. She was always at the house, walking around in those tiny, jean shorts with her long, freckled legs on display. And God, did I love a girl with long legs.

She was covered in freckles—her face, her arms, and I assumed underneath the t-shirt and shorts she always wore, I would find more. I tried to fight the instant attraction, but it was impossible. Her no-care attitude was a major turn-on, and that mouth that continuously spewed random shit was hot, too.

The only person stopping me from pursuing the spitfire was my sister. The two had quickly become inseparable, and for the first time, Celine finally had someone she could share all her secrets with. Emily had never been that great of a friend, but for a while, she was the only one who’d stuck around. And now, she was gone, too.

Often, I heard the two whispering into the night, and it made me like Amber even more for finally being the right person for Celine, for finally being the best friend my sister always wanted.

As much as I liked the spitfire girl, I couldn’t pursue something with her—not now at least, not when Celine needed a friend. My little sister always came first. She had been throughso much pain and loss; I couldn’t take another person away from her… Not like she’d lost Aidan, and not like I’d driven away Ace.

Amber sat beside me when the nurse came into the room and fussed around Celine, giving her more pain medication, which put her to sleep within minutes. Mom and Dad were outside talking to the doctor and getting us lunch while we stayed here, trying to be some form of support when, in reality, neither of us knew what the fuck we were doing.

“Does it get easier?” Amber whispered to me, her thin, red lips that matched her hair curving into a frown.

“Does what get easier?” I followed her gaze to my frail-looking sister.

“Seeing her like this.” The pain in her voice surprised me.

“No—not as her brother, anyway.” And then, in the corner of the room, on a hard plastic sofa, Amber’s cold hand slipped into mine and squeezed, her nimble fingers sliding through mine.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Her voice was so soft and caring—like a lullaby. Our gazes remained transfixed on the broken girl in the too-large, white bed.

“It should’ve been me at that house, not her. I should have?—”

Amber interrupted me, her vibrant, green eyes focused on my face. “Everything happens for a reason, Ryan. You can’t beat yourself up about this. From what I’ve heard, this could have happened if she went to a theme park and just walked too much. There was nothing you could have done. She doesn’t blame you, Ryan.”

Shaking my head, I looked at the spitfire beside me, pain reflecting back at me from the depths of her eyes. The threat of tears made them shimmer in the low lighting. “It should’ve been me, Amber.”

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back against the wall, breathing in the scent of chemicals and listening to the sound ofCeline’s deep, even breaths. Amber didn’t let go of my hand, and the feelings I was trying so hard to keep at bay surged.

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