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“What happened?” I’m not even going to ask if she’s okay. It’s pretty clear she’s upset.
I swallow my own rampant emotions which isn’t an easy thing to do.
Leigh looks dazed as she stares impassively at my chest.
“Uhm… Marcus,” she whispers. “Can you call Marcus and ask him to bring her home?”
“Sure,” I say.
She shakes her head, and a devastated look crosses her features.
“Leigh,” I whisper, leaning in as I try to catch her eyes. “What happened? Is it something I can help with?”
She shakes her head again and turns away from me. When she reaches for the door, I move fast and grab hold of her hand.
“Where are you going?”
“The apartment. I’ll wait there for Willow.”
I hate the hollow sound in her voice. There’s no way I’m letting her walk back to the apartment with the state she’s in.
Wanting her nowhere near the front door, I pull her into the living room. I frame her face with my hands, forcing her to look at me.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
Her breathing hitches and she grabs hold of my wrists.
“She had an accident,” she groans, and it sounds so painful, I feel it in my gut.
“Who?” I ask, immediately worried about Evie and Della.
She moves slowly as if it’s too much effort to even talk. She looks up at me, her eyes filled with devastation. It makes them look bruised, as if someone has crushed her spirit. I move closer to her, wanting to fix whatever’s wrong.
Her nails dig into my skin and her face crumbles.
“She’s dead, Jaxson,” she cries. The words rip through me like a hurricane.
“Who, Doc? Who’s dead?”
I dread hearing her say that it’s Evie or Della.
&
nbsp; “My mom.” Her breathing comes in bursts as the shock hits her again. “Mom’s dead,” she groans, and her body convulses from the hurt tearing through her.
This is the first time since Marcus that I can actually feel someone else’s pain. I felt sorry for Rhett and Mia. With Marcus, and now with Leigh, I can feel what’s happening to them.
I feel the blow of the words as if someone punched me. I feel the hopelessness knowing there’s nothing I can do to ease her pain.
My heart breaks under the heavy weight of her grief.
“Fuck, Doc,” I breathe the words past the pain. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
I pull her into my arms and press her face against my chest. I hold her tightly, wishing there was a way I could take this pain from her.
“Jaxson,” she gasps as her hands clutch my sides. “My mom died. She’s gone, and there’s nothing I can do to bring her back.”
I hold her tighter, pressing my lips to her hair. She must’ve just found out. She’s bouncing between shock and the horrible reality of what happened.
