Page 19 of Anything For This Love

“Thank you for being there and for bringing us home.”

“Of course.” She reaches over and wraps me in a tight hug and sniffles. Ethan has always been like an annoying little brother to her, but she cares about him. She’s practically family, so I know she’s hurting, too. “You are the best friend a girl could ever ask for. I love you.” A pained look crosses her tired features and she looks away. She’s never been comfortable with declarations of affection, but I’ve managed to wear her down over the years.

“I love you, too.”

With that, I exit her car and let me and my grandmother into the house, crashing as soon as my head hits the pillow.

My head poundsfrom lack of sleep and a desperate need for caffeine as I stumble out of bed. For a few blissful seconds, I forget why I’m so sleep deprived. It all comes crashing back to me when I glimpse myself in the mirror and notice my puffy eyes and disheveled hair.

Ethan.

My chin quivers at the thought of him lying in that hospital bed all alone, hooked up to all those wires and tubes. Since I didn’t see him last night, my imagination is running wild. I picture him like my grandmother was after her heart attack: a tube sticking out of her mouth, lungs filling only by the force of a ventilator, and a machine helping her heart pump blood. With trembling hands, I smooth my hair into a ponytail, tucking it into a shower cap, and take a quick shower before anyone else wakes. Jacob is perched on the end of my bed, waiting for me with a cup of coffee when I return to my room.

“Good morning.” He offers me a sweet smile and I go to him and throw myself into his arms, searching out his comfort as I bury my face in his chest. He snakes his free arm around my back and kisses my hair. “Shh, it’s gonna be okay.”

“I’m so scared for him,” I confess. There are too many unknowns when it comes to head injuries. Even once the swelling is gone, Ethan could be left with deficits the doctors can’t anticipate.

“I know,” he soothes, “but he has all of us. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he has the best care possible and the best chances of a full recovery.”

I look into his eyes, appreciation shining in mine. “Thank you.” His gaze drops to my mouth and flares with longing. If the situation wasn’t so dire, I’d let myself get lost in him. I yearn for a distraction, a temporary escape from the fear and worry, but we’re not alone and my grandmother will be up soon. Add to that the mounting anxiety threatening to cripple me, and I’d never be able to let go enough to enjoy our connection.

“I need to get to the hospital. Visiting hours start soon.” I slip off his lap and dress quickly, leaving my face bare and my hair piled atop my head. There’s no time to waste on fixing myself up, especially since I’ll be a mess when I get done anyway.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“What will we do about Chloe? I’m sure my grandmother will want to go, too.”

“She’s going to stay with Chloe and give you a chance to see your brother since she got to see him last night. She came into the kitchen while I was making coffee and grabbed a glass of water to take her pills. She said her blood pressure is up and she wants to give her medicine time to kick in before she goes in to see him.”

A new set of worries knots my stomach as I pull on my socks. My grandmother’s heart acting up is thelastthing our family needs right now. It’s best that she take care of herself and let me take care of Ethan.

“Okay,” I agree.

The early morning sun casts the fall landscape in a halo of muted, golden light as we drive to the hospital. It’s early enough that we have no trouble finding a parking spot close to the entrance. We make our way to the ICU, finding the doors that were shut tightly last night, blocking the mysterious space beyond, standing wide open. The sign next to it announces visiting hours and restrictions. Since it’s past seven a.m. and we’re both over the age of twelve, we stroll up to the nurse’s station and wait for the secretary to look up from her computer screen.

“How can I help you?” she asks with a tired smile.

“We’re here to see Ethan Harris.”

She taps away on her keyboard and a few seconds later, looks back up at us. “He’s in room six,” she informs us, pointing toward his room. “There’s a two-visitor limit though, so one of you will have to wait in the lobby or send his current visitor out.” My brows furrow, confusion replacing apprehension.

“Who’s in there?” My grandmother’s at home and as far as I know, Ethan’s bandmates haven’t been notified of his accident yet, so who could it be?

“It was a young woman; I didn’t catch her name. She was waiting to get in at seven.” The woman shrugs, unaware of the turmoil this information has caused.

My mind races as I cross the unit on unsteady legs. Who is in my brother’s hospital room? Is Ethan seeing somebody he hasn’t told me about? Dread fills my veins like an icy shot of adrenaline. My heart plummets when I step inside the open door to find a familiar blonde head resting on the bed next to him, her face pressed to his hand as she sobs.

“This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.” She sucks in a breath, her shoulders shaking. “I shouldn’t have lied to you. Idolove you. Please, just wake up. Wake up so I can tell you how much I love you.”

My world collapses as all their carefully constructed lies and half-truths crumble around me, brick by brick until the destruction lays at my feet. I stand there in stunned silence for a moment before the sting of betrayal turns to boiling anger.

“Howcouldyou?”

Her body stiffens and she sits up, slowly turning her head toward me. Tiff’s face is bare of makeup, her typically luminous eyes dull and rimmed in red. Terror and shame war in those deep blue depths.

“Abby,” she pleads, her face pinching with pain.

“No,'' I whisper, shaking my head and taking a step back.

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