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“Come on, we need to go. He’s going to need us there when he wakes up,” Ace says, sounding way too put together. Although when I pull myself from James and take in the harrowed look on his face, I know it’s all a front.
He’s crumbling as fast as I am.
He wraps his arms around my shoulder, and the two of us follow James toward the car.
“Wait, one of us needs to go with him. He can’t be a-alone.”
“I’ll go,” James states, leaving little room for argument.
I want to tell him no, that it’s not his place. It should be one of us. But as he looks between the two of us, all my fight falls away.
He looks devastated, and right now, he just needs to be the father he should have been all this time.
I nod. “Go. Tell him we’re right behind him.”
“I will.”
“Give me your keys,” Ace demands, taking them from me when I pull them from my pocket, never more grateful for the fact I’ve got a decent car to drive and don’t have to worry about the thing starting.
Ace immediately goes for the driver’s side. I don’t even bother trying to argue. I don’t have it in me.
The silence is heavy as we make our way out of the drive until Ace’s deep, grief-stricken voice fills the space around me.
“What happened?”
“I… uh… I don’t know. Remi called me. Said something had happened with Hadley and that I needed to check on Cole. That’s how I found him.”
“Fuck,” he barks, stuffing his hand into his pocket and pulling his cell out. “Fuck,” he roars. Glancing over, I see his screen filled with missed calls. “Fuck, it was on silent.”
He finds her name and immediately hits dial.
The call connects through the car, and Remi’s fearful voice rings out loud and clear.
“Ace?”
“We’re on our way to the hospital.”
“Oh my God,” she whimpers.
“Is… is he?”
“He’ll be fine,” Ace states like he has all the answers, which of course he doesn’t.
“We’re on our way too. Ten minutes out.”
“We’ll see you soon.”
His thumb hovers over the end call button, but he changes his mind at the last minute. “Princess?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Ace. Now hurry.”
On any other day, their declaration of love would bring on a wave of jealousy that I feel like I’m constantly battling with when I see my brother’s happy with their girls. But right now, I barely even register their words.
“I should have gone and checked on him. Fuck. I just thought…”
