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“Agitated how?”
“Agitated is a watered-down word for what happens. The bullet also changed his temperament, so he gets violent. It’s why we had to put him in this facility and why Andi must keep her visits short.”
“Is it the same when you visit, too?”
His question sliced across her chest, only it didn’t draw blood; it cut another piece of her soul away. “I’m not allowed to visit him anymore.”
“You’rewhat? Andi won’t—”
“No, not her. The doctors. I can call him, but this is the only way I get to see my brother anymore: through a damn sheet of glass.”
The sob clawed at her throat, but she fought it back. She’d cried enough the past twelve hours to last a lifetime. Besides, tears wouldn’t help her brother; only a miracle would do that.
Or those nanochips.
“Why can’t you visit him in person anymore?” Noah asked, his hand moving comfortingly over her back.
“Because the last time I did, he got super agitated. I can’t even remember what set him off, but he lunged at me.”
Noah pushed her to arm’s length. “Your brother attacked you?”
“No, but that was only because Andi was there, and she tackled him before he could and wrestled him to the ground.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry.” Drawing her back into him, he kissed her forehead. “How long ago did that happen?”
“Almost two and a half years ago.”
Emma kept breaking his heart.
Noah glanced at Andi and Preston as they sat at the table, hands clasped, heads close. Only the clueless would look at them and not see the love between them; their affection was as beautiful as it was heart-wrenching .
“When’s the last time you spoke with a surgeon or received a second opinion?” he asked. “Breakthroughs in medicine happen all the time.”
“We’ve had second, third, and fourth opinions at this point. I’d sell my left kidney if it would make a difference, but we keep getting the same answers: additional surgeries would have too high of a negative outcome. Without a miracle, this will be his life.”
Noah made a mental note to call Braydon as soon as possible. Regardless of whether they kept the rights to the Lone-Star Tech chip, creating this technology was now one of Whitlow Group’stoppriorities. Noah might not be able to go back in time and keep Emma’s brother from being shot, but he’d do everything in his power to heal him, and if Noah had to give Braydon the authority to hire whoever he needed to make this breakthrough, then so be it. He’d tell Braydon the one thing that would make his day:money is no object.
After leaving the Commons,Noah drove Emma to her house so that she could see it—or what was left of it, anyway. Crime scene tape extended to the sidewalk. She couldn’t go inside, but that was okay. She’d just needed to see what was left, but after seeing the remnants of her home, she wished she’d have put off the visit a few more days.
The best she could say of her house was that it still had four walls. Mostly. The front had caved back in on the rest of the structure. She couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, but the back of the house looked as if it had missed the worst of the carnage, not that that was saying much. Black marred the rock, and vast swaths of siding had melted away. Puffs of insulation stuck out between structural posts like burnt cotton candy.
At her side, Noah wrapped an arm around her. Without asking, he offered the one thing she’d needed and so rarely received since Preston’s shooting.
Support.
“I’m not sure I’d feel safe going back in even when I’m allowed,” she said.
“We’ll figure something out,Bomboncita. Don’t worry.”
We.
Emma couldn’t help but wonder how long there would be awe. Noah wasn’t exactly famous for his long-lasting relationships, but that was turmoil for another day. Today, her Tragedy Meter was all maxed out.
She pointed to the right of her house. “Even the garage caved in. I wonder if my car’s salvageable.”
“I’d say there’s a fifty-fifty chance. It really depends on how hot the fire got.”
“I hate this.” She fought a wave of anger. “Ibuiltthis house. Not with my own two hands, but I picked out the flooring, the rocks, the siding, the appliances, the kitchen cabinets, everything. And I know things could have been so much worse, like you and me being trapped inside, but I’m seriously gonna miss this place.”
