Page 90 of Free to Dream
“There’s no time. I heard what Mildred said to her in the headpiece. I know why this happened. I’m going to have to stay and talk to the police.” I give him a hard stare. “But I heard her tell Cassidy she’s your Riley. Your sister.”
Hearing it confirmed brings Keene to his knees next to me.
I grab his shirt. “Just one thing. Don’t you dare let her fucking die on me. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I release him. “We’ll get into why you didn’t tell me later, but there’s no fucking time now. I know you two share the same blood type and she’s going to need a transfusion.”
He nods. Almost hesitantly, Keene reaches for his sister’s hand for the first time in over twenty-five years. Phil can he heard sobbing quietly in the background.
The entire atmosphere in the room changes. The sounds from Mildred turn into animalistic howls as the police storm the house. Jason starts tossing out orders like he’s in the middle of an ER.
And me, I begin begging God for a chance to make all of this right.
Hoping I have a chance to atone for not explaining everything in the beginning.
38
Keene
As I sit in the back of the ambulance on the way to Greenwich Hospital, I break down. Completely break down.
After twenty-five years of promises to find her, Riley’s here. I hope she knows I never stopped loving her.
After seventeen years of my actively searching, Riley’s here. I hope she knows I never gave up on her.
After knowing her for two months, I hope she can forgive me for being such an asshole. God, I was such an asshole.
As I listen to the blips and bleeps, my heart starts to go into overdrive. They need to move faster! What if I lose my sister before I ever truly get her back?
“Will someone drive this fucking ambulance faster? My sister is dying back here!” I scream, tears rolling down my face.
And then I feel it. A miniscule squeeze of my hand. She’s not done fighting yet.
Riley…Cassidy, isn’t going anywhere.
39
Caleb
It’s been three days since Cassidy was brought to the trauma unit.
After dealing with the police at the house, and a second ambulance to take Mildred to the hospital under police guard, I made it there just in time to watch Cassidy be wheeled in for surgery to close her neck and her head. She did, in fact, require a blood transfusion. In one sense, Mildred being as drunk as she was saved Cassidy’s life. She was actually aiming for the center of her chest.
I shudder to even imagine it.
The biggest issue is the head trauma. When Cassidy fell and the bullet hit her, she tripped on the edge of the carpet as she instinctively tried to move from it, and ended up knocking her head on the edge of the stone desktop in the library. That, more than the neck wound, was concerning the doctors. They had to shave a six-inch band of her hair above her tattoo in order to close up the gash with about fifty stitches. There was also a small drainage tube placed to pull blood away from her head so it didn’t build up against her brain.
The first time I heard that, I think I met Phil and Keene in the bathroom as all three of us vomited.
She still hasn’t woken up.
Between Cassidy’s family, Keene, Charlie and I, we’ve taken over the trauma care waiting room at Greenwich Hospital. I’ve personally taken up residence in her room. Just let someone try to kick me out.
I have to figure out a way to beg for her forgiveness.
I have to explain what I’ve actually known since before we met. Because right now, it’s probably so twisted with Mildred’s lunacy, I imagine she’s thinking the worst.
I still have no idea how.
My head bows to rest on the bed while I think about what’s happened since Cassidy was settled into this room.
