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DECLAN
12:30 PM
He was laughing.
He looked beside himself with happiness.
Every time he was with his kids, he couldn’t help but smile, even now as he was teaching both Ethan and Wyatt how to bandage their own wounds. Dona sat beside them, watching, and every once in a while he’d reach over and brush her hair back. They were in pain, all three of them, Ethan, Wyatt and Dona, but they still listened carefully, watching as he showed them how he wrapped his arm with one hand.
“Wyatt, you’re a natural.” Liam laughed.
“Of course.” Wyatt puffed out his chest, wincing once but still holding up his bandaged hand with pride. “Ethan, having trouble?”
Ethan ignored him and tried to focus on wrapping neatly. Giving up, he sighed and held out his hand to Wyatt. “Do it for me.”
“What? No!”
“Teamwork, remember! Right, Dona?” Ethan grinned and I could see the same look in his eyes that Liam had whenever he was up to something.
“Right!” Dona threw her fist up. “Come on, Wyatt.”
“Dad!”
Liam just shrugged. “Are you really going to let your brother suffer alone? He’s useless without you.”
“Hey! Don’t give him a big head!” Ethan hollered. Wyatt grabbed his arm. “Ouch!”
“You big baby,” he muttered to his brother, laughing.
Finally, Liam glanced over to me. Kissing Dona’s forehead, he got up, and I wished he hadn’t. I wished he had just stayed in that moment with them for another second, another minute; the closer he came to me, the farther into hell he was.
“Ethan knows how to tie it,” he muttered more to himself than to me, glancing over his shoulder. “He knows but he just wants Wyatt to feel good about himself. I think I overreacted to Wyatt. Ethan loves his brother, and I don’t think anything can ever change that.”
I said nothing, just stared at him, my heart ringing in my ears. He was going to kill me for hesitating but I…I knew what would happen when I said the words.
Finally, he turned back to me. His eyes looked me over once, his body tensing up as he saw my face. “Declan. What is it?”
Fuck.
“Declan—”
“Mel.” The moment I said her name, his green eyes widened. “She was shot…I don’t know how bad but…Mina was screaming and she’s in surgery.”
He took a step back from me, a small smile on his lips as he shook his head. “What are you talking about? Mel went to take a shower. We are all having lunch—”
“Liam.”
“Don’t fucking play with me, Declan!” He grabbed my throat, slamming my back up against the elevator doors. “Don’t joke like this, Declan. I will kill you!”
“Liam!” Cora screamed, running over to us. I wasn’t sure how I had missed her standing there…actually, that was a lie. For the first time since I’d met her, she wasn’t important right then; Liam was.
“She’s at Merry West,” I whispered.
He just stared at me for the longest time, his grip never loosening, not even once. Again he shook his head.
“Cora…kids…safe…house.” It was the last thing he said before he let go of me. Getting into the elevator with his head down, I wasn’t even sure if he was breathing.
“Liam, I’ll drive—”
