Page 82 of (Un)Spoken

“This wasn’t your fault,” I whispered, dropping my head on his shoulder.

Adam sighed, his eyes turning red as he glanced down at me. “That’s what I keep telling myself, but everyone is in this mess because of me. Theo’s hurt because of me. Calla…” His voice cut off. “I just need to know he’s going to be okay.”

I nodded, hating that I didn't know how to help him. None of us knew what would happen when Theo got out of surgery, and even though I refused to think of the worst possible outcome, it was lurking in the back of my mind, making my stomach swirl with fear.

All I could do was hold his hand and pray we all made it through.

“Calla…” Cole called out, shifting Alex out of his lap. He nodded to the doors to the surgical wing, where two doctors were heading in our direction. Calla exhaled slowly, Devyn’s grip tightening on her hand.

When they crossed through the doors, Adam closed his eyes, but I held fast, trying to give him the strength to get through whatever came next.

As the first doctor approached Calla, a slow smile formed on his face, “Your husband is going to be fine.” He continued speaking, but none of us heard anything else. We were too busy breathing loud sighs of relief. Calla collapsed into her sister’s arms, sobbing at the news. Devyn held her tight, whispering quiet reassurances in her ear.

The doctor waited, pulling off his skull cap and running his hand through his hair. “Mr. Ayad’s still sedated, but he should be waking up any minute. If you’d like to see him…” We all stood at once, but he just shook his head. “I’m sorry, only family right now. The rest of you can visit in the morning.”

“They are our family,” Calla said, shaking her head. “Please…” Her voice cracked as she looked up at him. “Can they please stay?”

The doctor sighed and looked at their partner. The other doctor just shrugged, so they nodded. “I don't see why not. The rest of you can wait out here. Only two people in the room at a time. He’s going to be groggy and medicated, so try not to get him too excited.”

Calla looked at Devyn, and she nodded, both of them following the doctor through the automated doors. The silence that followed their exit could have been cut with a knife. Exhaustion ached deep in our bones, and we were the ones watching from the outside. I had no idea how Adam was still functioning.

I turned to him, softly wiping away the tears that gathered in the crease of his eyes. “Theo’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah…” he cried, rubbing his eyes on his thumb. “Thank god.” He chuckled, and it brought some lightness into my chest. When Adam shut down, I was terrified that he would never recover, that Eloise would have taken my beautiful, kind man and traumatized him into a shell of himself. But with that one light laugh, my fear started to dwindle. “I’m going to give that guy the biggest fucking raise.”

A couple of hours later,Calla finally emerged, a large smile covering her face. She’d washed up somewhere, all the blood and carnage from the night now erased from her skin. She came up to us, lightly shaking Adamawake from where he slept on my shoulder. “Hey,” she whispered, trying not to wake everyone else around us. “He’s asking for you.”

Adam nodded, wiping his hand down his face as he stood. He glanced back at me, then over to Calla. “Can Tori come with me?”

“Of course.” She grinned. “Just…be warned. He’s on some very heavy pain meds, and they’re making him a little more…vocalthan normal.”

Adam’s brow furrowed as he took my hand, following us down the hall. When we reached the room in the ICU, Calla motioned for us to head on in. “If he asks, I’m going to get one very, very small cup of coffee. No more than eight ounces, I swear.”

We nodded as we stepped inside. While the room had the same pastel tones as the waiting room, the air in here felt much more sterile. Machines beeped from Theo’s side, various tubes and wires attached to his body. In the middle of the bed, Theo smiled up at us, his face tired but very much still with us. I let out a sigh of relief, so happy to see some color back on his face. As much as I tried to stay strong for everyone else, seeing him so pale would probably haunt me for the rest of my days. If I hadn’t spoken to him, I would have thought he was already dead, looking more ghostly than alive when I left him behind.

He smiled brightly at Adam. “God, I am happy to see your pretty face.”

“Right back ‘atcha,” Adam sighed, stepping up to take Theo’s hand in an awkward handshake-fist bump. He pulled up a chair, his eyes looking down at his friend’s bandaged side. “How are you feeling?”

“Not feeling much of anything,” Theo chuckled, but the sound felt forced. “Luckily, she had terrible aim, so shemissed anything vital. Should be good as new after a couple of weeks.”

Adam cleared his throat, nodding along with his friend’s words. “Theo… I’m so sorry you got involved in this. It should have been–”

“If you finish that sentence, I’m going to make Calla hit you.” He motioned to his middle. “I don’t have the best range of motion right now. Otherwise, I’d do it myself.”

“It’s my fault.”

“No,” Theo said. “It was that psychotic bitch’s fault.” He grimaced as he tried to sit up, and I reached over to help him. “I don’t hold you accountable, not even for a moment. If anything, I blame myself.”

He cleared his throat, his face contorting with pain as he tried to reach out and grab his water cup. I jumped up, holding it out for him as he sipped through the straw. His eyes met mine, filled with kindness and gratitude. “Thank you, Tori. For coming to rescue us. I don’t know if I’d be here right now without you.” He turned toward Adam. “Without both of you.”

Adam shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Bullshit,” Theo hissed. “You fought like hell, Adam. Stop beating yourself up over what happened. You couldn't have known what she was doing. We’re both here; we’re both alive. That’s what matters.”

Adam just stared at him, taking in his words. Because as much as anyone else could try to say them, Theo was the only one who was there during the whole ordeal. I reached out and squeezed Theo’s hand. “Thank you, too. If it wasn’t for your hunch, we never would have put the pieces together.”

He smiled so wide, he looked like a different person. Calla was right; the meds were definitely kicking in.There was no sign of the usual grump who wore his frown like a badge of honor—or maybe surviving the night had given Theo a new outlook on life. It didn’t matter. I was just relieved to see him and to know he had many years left with his wife at his side.

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