Page 37 of Myla: The Hawthornes

“Me and Aunt Ashley switched places. She’s at home with Sean,” Saoirse said, getting to her feet. “You found Aisling?”

I nodded.

“Is it bad?” she asked softly.

“Pretty fuckin’ bad,” I confirmed. “But she walked out on her own two feet.”

“Thank God,” she whispered, her voice wobbling as she dropped back onto the couch. “Fuck. I thought she wasdead.”

“I’ve got her,” Ronan said as Saoirse started to cry. “You go in with Richie.”

My gut churned with nausea as I walked toward Richie’s room. One of the nurses behind the desk pointed me in the right direction, but for a split second I thought I had the wrong room—I didn’t even recognize him at first. He was out, a tube down his throat, IVs and wires coming from under his blanket like a bunch of loose threads. He looked like shit.

“Hey, Pop,” I said, leaning down close. He didn’t even twitch. “Aisling’s okay. Not sure if anyone’s told you yet. I went and got her. She’s safe.”

I sat down in the chair next to the bed and leaned my elbows on my knees. “Aoife’s with her—that’s why she’s not here right now. She’ll be back in a little while, though. Sean’s at home with Aunt Ashley. He’s fine.”

I didn’t know what the fuck to say, so I stopped talking. It killed me that I didn’t know what had happened when Richie had gone to get Aisling. If he couldn’t hear me and leaving Aisling in danger was the last thing he remembered, then wherever he was, he was panicking.

“I’m still here,” I said after a while. “Not goin’ anywhere until Aiofe gets back, all right?”

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there. A couple hours at least. Every once in a while, I’d say something so he knew I was still with him.

Finally, the curtain was pulled aside, and Aoife stepped into the room. “Hey,” she greeted softly.

“Hey,” I said with a groan, sitting up. “Aisling?”

“She’s all done.”

“They discharge her?”

Aoife’s face was blotchy and pale. “I don’t think they wanted to,” she replied, looking at Richie. “But they knew she’d just be on a different floor of the hospital.”

“Here,” I said, standing. “Sit. Did she say anythin’ about what happened to Richie?”

“She hasn’t said much,” Aoife replied, walking to the bed. Her hand slid over the dull white blanket, her hand wrapping around Richie’s ankle. “She’ll tell us when she’s ready. Can you go get her? She wants to come back.”

I bit my tongue instead of telling her that Aisling would be talking soon whether she wanted to or not. I needed to know what the fuck was going on.

“No problem.” I muttered, turning to Richie. “Takin’ care of things here. Don’t worry.”

I walked to the door as Aoife moved into my place and leaned down to kiss her husband. “Hey, baby. Got our girl back. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

The waiting room was deserted except for my siblings. Aisling and Saoirse sat close together and Roman was across from them, his head resting against the wall.

“No change?” Saoirse asked.

“Not that I can see.”

“They said the next couple of days are the most important. They were able to repair everything, but now his body has to actually start doing all the shit it’s supposed to be doing again.” She reached out and gently rested her hand on Aisling’s back.

“Mam asked me to bring you in to see him,” I told Aisling. She looked like a ghost, her face was so pale and drawn. “You ready?”

Her hands were visibly shaking as she rose to her feet. “Yeah,” she rasped. “I’m ready.”

Chapter 7

Myla

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