Page 148 of Before We Break

Familiar arms band around my legs, and I look down to see Auggie clinging to me. I blink back tears and lower myself to his level.

“Hey, Super Auggie,” I say with all the strength I can muster.

“Hi, Cici. I missed you.”

I pull him into my arms and soak in what little comfort I can. “I missed you, too.”

“I’m looking for the family of Noah Weston.” The nurse from last time looks at me with something like recognition.

Before I can respond, Emma steps forward. “How is he?”

“Are you his next of kin?”

“Yes. I’m his sister.”

“He’s been moved to the ICU. He has several broken ribs and a punctured lung. His right arm was broken in several places, and he has severe road rash. The doctors have placed him in a medically induced coma. He has a chest tube, and his arm has been placed in a cast.”

“Can we see him?” I ask.

“I can take one of you there now.”

Emma and Jonah exchange a look. “Clio should go.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

She nods. “If I know my brother as well as I think I do, he’d want yours to be the first face he sees.”

I follow the nurse back through a familiar corridor, but instead of going left this time, she turns right and takes us to an elevator, stopping on the second floor. The rooms here are much more private with four walls you can’t see into.

The sterile scent of the hospital room suffuses me, and I tamp down on the memories creeping to the surface.

I follow the oppressive beeping sound to Noah’s body sprawled out in the hospital bed. The door snicks closed behind me, and I stand there for a long while with my heart beating out of my chest.

Of all the ways I imagined seeing him again, this was never a fleeting thought. His right arm is in a cast all the way up to his bicep, and he’s connected to a bunch of machines by tubes and wires.

I walk toward him on leaden feet and perch beside his hip, tracing my fingertips along the contours of his beautiful face, now marred with cuts and bruises. He looks so feeble, and my heart shatters for the second time in as many weeks.

I can’t lose him again.

Time passes in a blur. People come and go, checking his vitals and administering more pain medicine. At some point they allow a second visitor. Jonah and Emma start taking shifts, but I can’t bring myself to leave his side. They don’t say anything. I think they know it's futile.

Lexi comes by with food and practically forces me to eat, but everything tastes like ash in my mouth. She stays for a while, and then she’s replaced by Quinn. I think they’re all waiting for me to break, but I hold onto my strength with both hands, knowing the alternative is hopelessness. I won’t add this event to the others that haunt me. I won’t let Noah Weston become another nightmare.

NOAH

I blink my heavy eyes open to a sterile room with harsh overhead lighting and an irritating, persistent beeping sound. Each breath takes a herculean effort. A flash of memory rushes back—the deer, screeching tires, asphalt, and pain.

So much pain.

“Welcome back,” a gruff voice says.

I lock eyes with my brother, and I remember he was there too. He must’ve witnessed everything.

I try to move my hand, but it’s trapped beneath something warm and soft.

I look down.

Clio’s here.