Page 28 of Dangerous Love

“Riley, I’m sorry, but Seth passed away last night.” Jarryd’s words buzzed through my brain, like a bomb went off in my body, annihilating every neuron in the process.

I shook my head. “No way. You saw him too. He’s awake.”He got it wrong. He’s better. Seth is better.

Jarryd’s eyes glistened, and he blinked a couple of times before he continued. “Sometimes when patients get better—”

I jumped to my feet, my fists clenched. “Stop calling him a fucking patient, Jarryd,” I screamed. “That’s my brother. He’s awake. I spoke to him yesterday.”

“Your brother was better, and he woke up. Enough to have the energy to hurt himself.”

A strangled pitch came out as I swiped my desk with my palm, my carefully planned lists flying across the room. “He didn’t hurt himself. He’s better. He’s awake, Jarryd. I spoke to him yesterday.” I repeated the mantra as if it was a lifeline.

Jarryd’s face morphed until it turned blank. He pressed two fingers into the corners of his eyes. “Riley, I love you like a son. You know I do.” His voice grew thin as a board. “Seth hung himself with his bedsheet overnight.”

A thousand knives stabbed me through the heart as Jarryd’s words sunk in.Seth is dead.

I fell back on my chair, a dizzy spell catching me as Sienna’s arms pulled my head against her chest. “No, Jarryd. No. He can’t be.” Tears welled in my eyes, and though I fought hard at containing my emotions, they spread inside me like a bushfire in the middle of summer.

Sienna’s hand pressed against my shoulders, her chin resting on the top of my head. “I’m so sorry, Riley.”

Flashbacks of my brother invaded my mind, as if a sick movie played out in my subconscious until reality hit.Seth’s really dead.

Snippets of us playing board games, our first motorbike ride, even how he’d paid some girl in his class to do our homework flickered in front of my eyes. Pain sliced through me until I was nothing but raw flesh. My eyes met Jarryd’s, and when his Adam’s apple bopped up and down, I surrendered to the darkness lacing his pupils.

Jarryd was telling the truth. I’d let my brother die. I was too late…

A guttural cry shot up from my stomach, and like the world had stopped making sense, I no longer cared who was in the room. I turned to Sienna, and she clutched onto me as my arms gripped her waist. I pulled her against me as tight as I could, my face buried in her chest, while I cried like a broken man. She placed her hands around my head, pressed kisses all over my face, and hummed soothing words by my ear.

Sobs shook me as my fists clenched on her back, and she kneaded my neck while I tucked myself inside her. My eyes closed, my whole body tensed, and my muscles solidified against her as I ignored the sound of the door softly closing from across the room.

“I love you,” Sienna whispered in my ear as she rubbed my forearms. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault. I abandoned him. I left him with Hal.” My chest hitched as I forced deep breaths to settle my lungs.

“Shhh.” Sienna kissed me on the lips, paying no attention to the wetness on my face. “You didn’t. None of it is your fault.”

I loosened my grip on her. “He was better. I don’t understand what happened.”

Her fingertips raked through my hair as she murmured, “It’s not fair. And it doesn’t make any sense, I know.”

I swiped my hand over my face, inhaling a deep breath until the slicing in my chest eased off. Jaw clenched and heart bleeding, I lifted my eyes until I met Sienna’s glistening gaze. “I’m sorry for losing it.”

Her arms rushed around my shoulders, and she hugged me tight. “I love you, Riley. I’m here for you.”

I sighed. “I need to speak to Jarryd and find out more.”

“Of course.” She extended her hand and we staggered through the door as I braced for the answers.

As soon as we entered the lounge room, I spotted Jarryd sitting on the couch, his hands over his face. When he registered our footsteps, he straightened and gave me a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. I collapsed on the seat next to him, Sienna settling across from us.

“How are you holding up?” he asked, his tone soft.

I shook my head, forcing air into my lungs. “What happened?”

“His neuroveg symptoms improved over the last few days, and the new treatment gave him energy he hadn’t had in months. But as he got stronger physically, he also became more determined. I assessed him after you left last night, with both a registrar and the nurse in charge. He was clear-headed, but he was in turmoil. He talked a little about your father.” Jarryd paused when I flinched. “He remembered you and Trey being there all the time, and he was so grateful for you guys.”

My chest froze as I forced down the knot in my throat, and my stomach heaved as I pictured him remembering what Hal did to him.

Jarryd continued. “He denied having a suicidal plan, but he had some intent, so I requested visual obs be taken every thirty minutes. And between two rounds, Seth had time to hang himself in his bathroom. When the nurse checked on him, he was already gone.”