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As soon as I stepped foot in the room and saw her lying in that hospital bed like a fragile, broken doll, all the feelings I’d tried to keep at bay came roaring to the surface. I’d sat in the corner of the room for at least twenty minutes before she woke up as I tried to get myself under control.
It took everything I had not to let her see the truth on my face.
I hope it escaped her notice that I went to see her first. She didn’t ask about Vaughn’s condition. Probably because she’s secretly hoping that they’re already preparing a body bag. I can’t exactly blame her for that, Vaughn was stupid and reckless.
I might just strangle him myself if I get the chance.
But as I raced across town on my way to the hospital, I didn’t once think about the fact that my best friend is also here, likely in worst shape than her if they have him up in the ICU.
Evangeline was all that consumed my thoughts.
Finally laying eyes on her, assuring myself that she was still alive, had only made it worse. Every bruise on her face, the rattling timbre of each breath, each injury I noticed made me wish I was the one suffering it.
Somebody tried to kill her, and I couldn’t stop it.
Someone in Havoc House tried to kill her.
She could have died and I wouldn’t have even known it was happening until it was too late.
Evangeline has to get as far away as possible from here for her own sake, even if it means she walks away hating me.
A small part of me, the one that still remembers what it was like to see wonder in the world, wants to go with her. I know it isn’t possible, but my vivid imagination hasn’t gotten the memo. We could forget all of this and just be together.
But where would that leave Mama and Felicia?
Dependent on the merciful nature that my father has never had. Without me, they’ll have nothing.
I have to keep my father happy or else all the time I’ve already spent will have been for nothing.
The ICU is two floors up from the floor where Evangeline is and down a long, sterile hallway that reminds me of something out of a movie about the zombie apocalypse. As I get closer, the general level of activity gets busier and louder. Even though it’s the middle of the night, nurses buzz in and out of patient rooms. There is a constant background noise of ventilators and other machines that makes me think that this part of the hospital is never entirely quiet.
As I enter the unit, I feel even worse that this isn’t the place I came first. The rooms are all walled in glass. They have curtains that can be pulled for privacy, but most of them are open to my view. Probably so the nurses have an easier time of monitoring people.
My gaze flicks into each room, even as I try not to stare. It’s just row after row of people who look like they’re literally at death’s door, with machines pumping mystery substances into their bodies and breathing for them.
A painful sensation starts up in the pit of my stomach. As I get closer to the nurse’s station, the patients seem to be in worse condition.
I haven’t passed Vaughn’s room yet.
A middle-aged, Hispanic woman in blue scrubs sits at the desk. She types at the computer with one hand while the other brings a fork with a mouthful of salad on the end to her mouth.
“Excuse me.”
She finishes chewing before looking up at me. “Can I help you?”
Her tone is polite, but impersonal.
“I’m looking for Vaughn Ashbridge.”
“Are you family?”
“I’m his brother.” I have no idea if they have a rule against letting people who aren’t family visit, and it isn’t exactly a lie. She doesn’t need to know that our connection is more water than blood. “Is he up here?”
“He’s in the room right behind me.” Her gaze returns to the computer screen as I turn away. “We have a fifteen minute time limit for visits after hours.”
When I finally get a good look at my best friend, I’m not sure I’ll make it through fifteen seconds, much less that many minutes.
Vaughn looks horrible. Dark purple bruises cover most of his face and a long cut slashes across his forehead, his skin puffy around the stitches. One leg is up in traction, so I can only assume it’s broken and his arm has a cast on it.
