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Glancing at my surroundings I tried to recall more but nothing came to me. Nothing except the warm, light pressure wrapped around my hand. With effort, I forced my heavy eyelids open.
Seraphina sat beside my bed. Both her small hands clasped around mine. Her head was bowed, eyes closed. She looked as beautiful as ever. It had been too long since I last saw her—we’d promised to visit each other often, but life got in the way.
When I tried to speak, my throat felt stuffed with cotton balls, painfully dry.
“Sephie?” I rasped out.
Her eyes flew open at the sound of my voice. There were dark circles under them, and her face looked thin and drawn. But her expression flooded with relief. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around me in a gentle hug.
“You’re awake,” she breathed, kissing my forehead and cheeks. “You’re finally awake.”
“Hi,” I tried to sound upbeat even when I felt like a train had run over me. “Fancy meeting you here, beautiful.”
Her cheeks heated up, and I loved to watch her being flustered. But that smile, that smile relaxed the tension inside my chest.
“I’m just glad you’re awake,” she stated, running a hand through my hair as if she couldn’t believe I was here. “The doctor said it could take weeks . . .”
My mind felt sluggish, clouded. “What . . . what happened?” I managed to ask.
Instead of answering, she pushed the call button next to my bed. “We need to get the doctor in here. They have to run tests, assess the damage.”
“What damage?” I asked, fear spiking through me.
She gave me a sad smile. “You were hurt in the accident,” she stated softly. “The band’s plane crashed three weeks ago.”
And that’s when it hit me, the accident, Zane . . . It all came back to me in flashes. The snow, the violent turbulence, and blinding pain. Zane’s panicked shouts over the roaring wind. After that, we nose-dived and . . .
“Where is Zane?” I asked urgently, panic rising.
Sephie’s face fell. She glanced away, and I noticed the sheen of tears in her eyes before she blinked them back.
“No—no,” I trembled, because it couldn’t be true. He stayed with me until they rescued us, I remembered it well. He was able to move. He stood and kept me awake. He made me promise to hold on, be strong, and take care of Sephie who would need me.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“He has to be okay,” I insisted, agitation mounting as the heart rate monitor began beeping rapidly. This couldn’t be real. We made it through together, we had to.
Footsteps came rushing in as nurses and doctors flooded the room. But I barely registered them, lost in desperate denial, clinging to the hope my best friend had somehow made it out alive.
“Brahms, don’t leave me,” Seraphina pleaded as a nurse asked her to step back. “You can’t leave me too.”
Her words cut through the panicked haze. The raw fear and devastation in her voice pierced my heart. With great effort, I focused on slowing my breathing and my racing heart. For her sake, I had to try and hold on.
Seraphina stepped back to a corner, tears flowing freely down her cheeks now, as the medical staff worked to stabilize me. I kept my eyes locked on hers, using her gaze as an anchor. I would not slip away and leave her alone. Not when she needed me.
The anguish was still there, threatening to crush me. But I pushed through it, for her. Each breath was a choice. And right now, I chose to keep breathing. As long as she needed me, I would find the strength to fight.
Once I was stable, Ellington, Dad, and Bartók were in the room. My other two brothers took Seraphina with them, insisting she needed to eat.
“Where . . . where is everyone?” I asked, my throat still painfully dry.
Ellington shook his head grimly. “Only you and Fifi’s dad survived the crash. How much do you remember?”
I tried to think back, but my memories were fragmented flashes. Before I could explain, the doctor came to take me for tests. As they wheeled me out, Ellington gripped my arm, expression intense. “Don’t tell anyone what you know. Keep your mouth shut, do you hear me?”
I didn’t understand his request. It seemed like I had survived, but there was more. And what was Ellington so desperate to keep hidden? My fractured mind strained to make sense of it all. But for now, I was simply too weak and weary to discuss anything with him. Later, once I was out, we would talk.
* * *
