Page 127 of Winning Brynn

She blames herself for what happened.

She doesn’t need to.

Even if I was pissed off that she’d left Isabella alone with Salem to take a phone call—albeit, an important one—knowing that she’s the reason my daughter is safe and alive in my arms negates all that.

“I know,” I respond to the EMT, but I’m talking only to Brynn when I say, “I owe her everything.”

"Daddy Sully and the bros" group chat

Leo:Won’t be at practice tomorrow, boys.

Alex:Are you deliberately trying to get benched?

Roman:Shut up, Alex.

Roman:Is everything okay, Leo?

Leo:Salem’s in the hospital. She’s okay. They’re just checking her over.

Alex:Oh shit, man. Can we get you anything? Is Say Say really okay? I’m worried.

Roman:What happened?

Leo:She choked on a grape, but she’s okay. I promise. All thanks to your sister. She saved her life.

Alex:Dare you to tell me that hiring Brynn wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.

Leo:I can admit it. It was the best idea you’ve ever had.

Alex:I’m so smart. I’m basically Stephen Hawking.

Leo:Alright, don’t let it go to your head.

Alex changed the group chat name to “Stephen Hawking and the bros”

Leo:Never mind.

Chapter Forty

Brynn

Salem sleeps soundly inthe hospital crib, despite the ceaseless sound of metal wheels dragging across cracked linoleum and the unforgiving glare of the ceiling lights. I guess she needs the rest. My poor girl has had one hell of a day. The sky outside has long turned black, the stars hidden from billowing storm clouds that leak rain over the city.

It must be approaching midnight, yet neither Leo nor I are able to sleep.

Leo sits in the chair closest to the window, his eyes trained on his daughter, never wavering, even when a nurse comes over to offer him a coffee and another approaches to clumsily ask for an autograph. It doesn’t seem to occur to him that he’s too big for the seat. It must be wildly uncomfortable, but he hasn’t complained once.

I get it.

There’s too much hanging over our heads to rest anyway. “You doing okay?” I ask him finally after a long period of silence.

He sits forward and forces a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Ah.” I nod knowingly. “Me too.”

Dragging a hand down his face, he sighs a sound of heartache and defeat. “I don’t know what to feel right now. It’s like my brain is full of relief, but my body is still in fight-or-flight. The panic hasn’t left my system yet, even though I can see that she’s here, and she’s okay.”

“I get it,” I say from my seat on the other side of Salem’s crib. I’m closest to her, but Leo has a clearer view of her in the back corner, diagonally across from me. “It’s been hours now, and I can still feel the adrenaline in my veins, like it’s electrocuting me.”

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