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I nodded and followed the nurse down several halls lined with rooms until we stopped in front of one.
“He’s still groggy,” she warned as she knocked and pushed the door open. I hurried past her and entered Holt’s room. Some color had returned to his face, which I assumed was because he wasn’t in as much pain. There were bandages covering his left shoulder under a sling. Holt’s eyes were closed but opened slightly as soon as I sat on the edge of his bed and picked up his hand from where it rested on his stomach.
“Hi,” he said hoarsely.
“Hi, yourself.” I smiled back at him, biting my lip to keep from crying.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, except I’m worried about you. But the doctor says you’re going to be just fine.”
“Been through worse,” he chuckled, grimacing as it jarred his shoulder. “At least this time I know I’ll have a good nurse to wait on me.” He tried to wink, but since his eyes were only half open, it looked more like a one-eyed squint.
Another knock sounded at the door, and a different doctor stepped in and introduced himself as Dr. Zadar. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I understand your family of Ms. Stone?”
I stood. “I’m her sister.”
“Would you like to talk in the hallway?”
There was no way I was leaving Holt. “It’s okay. You can tell me here. Is she okay? Can I see her?” Holt’s hand tightened on mine as we waited for the news.
Dr. Zadar pulled a chair from the corner of the room and placed it in front of me. He straddled it backward. “As you may know, your sister was shot in the abdominal area. Unfortunately, it perforated her liver. We did everything we could, but we weren’t able to save her. I’m very, very sorry.”
38
Holt
“You’re…you’re saying she…died?” Maddy choked.
The doctor nodded. “Yes. I’m afraid the damage was too extensive.”
My heart broke at her expression. I tried to squeeze her hand, but she jerked it from me to slap both hands across her mouth. I knew she was about to be sick as she scanned the room frantically before bolting for a bathroom door. The doctor seemed to grasp what was happening and left to check on her as vomiting sounds echoed from the bathroom.
“Maddy?” I called as she continued to be sick. “Maddy, if you don’t answer me, I’m coming in there.”
Dr. Zadar came out. He assured me Maddy was alright, just in some shock and she’d be out soon. He expressed his apologies for our loss once more and left. The only sounds coming from the bathroom were some sniffles I could hear over running water. Damn it; she needed me. I hurt like a sonofabitch, and I was still woozy from the surgery, but I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and was wrestling with the IV pole when she came out of the bathroom.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Get back in that bed.”
She hurried to my side and tucked me back into bed. I didn’t miss the slight trembling of her hands or her pale and clammy face. “Maddy, tell me what the hell’s going on?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean, it was a shock to see her. We had a few minutes together where she said she was sorry and that she was protecting Lily, her daughter. I didn’t even know she’d had a baby.” Watery eyes stared across the room. “I’ve always imagined what I’d say to her if I ever saw her again, but it was never under these types of circumstances. This time, I only wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be alright. I had so much to say to her, to ask her, and now I…I can’t. I wanted to hate her, Holt, but seeing her, knowing she threw herself at you to save you, I…I don’t know what I feel except sadness for all that could have been.”
“Come here, baby.” I lifted my good arm, and she lay down on the side of the bed. There wasn’t a lot of room, but turned on her side and rested her head on my chest.
I tried to choose my words carefully, knowing the history between the sisters. “Whatever else you know about your sister, she saved my life tonight. That’s what I’ll be focused on, because if it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I’d be laying here tonight, holding you in my arms. And I’ll forever owe her a debt.”
I felt her head nod against my chest. “Charly made me promise to look after Lily. I don’t even know where to find her. And I’m a stranger to her, although Charly said Lily knows about me. I have no idea what to say or what to do.”
“Don’t worry about all the details, sweetheart. When the time comes, you’ll know what to do.”
A knock at the door interrupted our conversation. My mom’s head poked inside, and she rushed to my free side followed by my dad and brother. My mom didn’t bat an eye at seeing Maddy curled up intimately by my side, but my brother shot me a raised eyebrow as well as a grin. My dad’s face remained neutral.
“Oh, my sweet children,” my mother gushed. “Are you okay? Let me see both of you.”
Maddy had shot up from the bed as soon as they walked in. Reluctantly, I had let her, but only so my mom could fuss over me like a mom needs to do. “Just a shoulder wound, Mom. I’m sore, but I’ll be fine.”
“Holten Andrews, you’re cheating me out of a full life. This is the second time you’ve scared years off it.” She turned to Maddy and wrapped her in a huge hug before stepping back and using her sharp eyes to inspect every inch of Maddy. “And you, young lady, are you okay?”
