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"I need you to listen to me, Evie." She takes a step forward just as a chill run through my body. I take a step back, uncertainty rattling through my bones. "Eve, no!" She yells just as I slip my hand from Amiri's loose grasp.
The effect is immediate; my body loses all palpability at the same time, ice shoots through my veins, and my eyes roll back into my head.
My last thought before the memory shuts down is how nice it was to hear her voice, even if it wasn't real.
Chapter 16
Nolan
Why haven't we heard anything? It's been fucking hours, and my family is crumbling under the uncertainty of what the hell is going on behind those damn doors. Ryan sits horrifyingly still and quiet next to me, Amiri sits with his head hanging on my other side.
I huff out an annoyed breath thinking about how Korren sulked his way out of the waiting room after I called him out on his bullshit. God, I can't fucking believe how he was talking to Ryan. We all know better than to assume trauma affects everyone the same. I'm not saying that it's not horrifying and devastating to see our golden boy shut down and lock himself away from us, but we can't fucking turn on each other.
God, it was literally the worst timing. Moments before Korren woke and started yelling, Ryan had just gotten off the phone with his mom.
Peeking out of the corner of my eye, I watch Ryan retreat into himself. I nibble on the inside of my mouth until I rip too deep, and blood coats my tastebuds. Cringing at the metallic taste, I almost miss Ry pulling his cell phone out of his pocket with a dead stare.
"Hello, Charlotte." With no inflection in his tone, he greets his deadbeat mom. I observe him carefully, knowing how awful his mom was to him after his dad passed.
They were a happy family until James died of cancer when Ry was fourteen. Everything changed from what I know...his mom turned into an emotionally abusive alcoholic who never wanted anything to do with her son.
Photos of James show how identical he and his son were...the pain of losing her husband and being surrounded by his doppelganger every day made her snap—in turn, making a young Ryan fracture as well.
Boys, girls, tattoos, alcohol, piercings...thankfully, never drugs, though. Before he became my man, the boy broke at the loss of both his parents before the age of fifteen. I will forever be grateful to the brothers and their parents for that.
"Don't use that tone with me, you little shit. I saw you on the news." Even from my place next to him, I can make out the slur in her words as she shouts down the line. "I see you are friends with that drama queen everyone is so worried about."
Blood fills my mouth again at the forceful bite I give my tongue. Ryan doesn't take the bait like I would have. "Why are you calling, Charlotte?"
She only calls maybe once a year, and he picks up each time to tell her to go to hell when she asks for money.
"You owe me money; I need it."
"I owe you nothing, Charlotte." The continued use of her name serves to keep his guard up as a reminder that this woman is no longer family.
"RYA-"
The shrill screech of the woman who gave birth to my Ryan is cut off by his thumb hitting the end button.
Phone safely tucked back into his pocket, he goes back to staring blankly at the wall with no emotion in sight.
Lost in my thoughts, I completely miss the person walking in from the set of doors we have been staring at forever.
"Is there a Mr. Kellar?" The man who calls out Amiri's last name is tall and built, probably upper fifties if his greying hair is anything to go by.
I scramble out of my seat behind Mir, praying like hell that there will be good news. Out of the corner of my eye, I register Ryan standing stiffly and following our rushed movements to the doctor on the other side of the room.
"I'm Amiri Kellar," his voice is firm, like he's preparing himself. The man looks Ry and me over with a critical gaze, unsure if he should divulge information in front of people not vetted for. "They are my family, E-Eve's family. Please tell us what's going on." The headache behind my eyes grows at the crack in Miri's voice when he says her name...there's just so much that keeps hurting.
"Alright, gentlemen. My name is Dr. Ellis, and I'm the lead surgeon for Ms. Miller." He hasn't even gotten to the hard part yet, but I still feel like I could throw up.
The sound of a door bursting open behind us draws my attention, only to find Korren rushing toward us with a hopeful look. "What's going on?" He asks as soon as he takes his place beside me with wide eyes.
"This is my brother, Korren Kellar," Amiri rushes to say before we can waste any more time with the doctor's questions.
He nods. "Right, okay. Anyone else we should be waiting for?" We shake our heads. "Okay. We had some complications..." His concerned pause makes me want to lash the fuck out.
"What kind of complications?" Korren's voice resembles a growl as he steps toward the surgeon.
