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“I know the guilt,” I confess. “We let him down.”
He takes a step back to rub a hand over his cheek. “His folks have reached out to me. They told me to forgive myself.”
They’ve done the same to me.
Mr. and Mrs. Taake lost their only child when he was seventeen – when we were seventeen.
“Is it time?” he asks me. “Is it time to let himrest in peace?”
I tap the tattoo covering my bicep. Logan does the same to the one wrapped around his. It’s always hidden under his white coat or a button-down shirt. I only saw it once. That was the night of Rudy’s funeral when we convinced a guy who owned a tattoo shop on the Lower East Side to ink our late friend’s name on our bodies.
I rake a hand through my hair. “I know you blamed me for letting him near that river.”
“I blamed myself more for bringing the beer and weed.”
It was a recipe for disaster. Three teenagers on summer break with a penchant for pushing the limits. We took Logan’s dad’s car and headed to a river that our friends used to cliff dive from.
It wasn’t even a cliff. It was more of a hill, but you had to aim just right because the rocky shoreline wasn’t forgiving.
I went first and nailed my landing. Logan followed with a double summersault before he hit the water. Rudy Taake tripped and dropped headfirst straight to the shoreline.
By the time we got to him, his head was bleeding profusely and his heart had stopped. I performed CPR since my dad taught me months before. Logan ripped off his T-shirt to hold it against the wound on Rudy’s head, but it wasn’t enough.
Our best friend died that day,
Our friendship died the night we got the tattoos, when we argued about who was more to blame.
We never worked that out. Instead we walked away from each other.
“It’s time to let him sleep well.” I wrap a hand around the back of Logan’s neck. “Let the guilt go before you son gets here.”
“Rudy Sexton.” He smiles. “It has a nice ring to it, right?”
“The best.” I take a deep breath. “I’ll keep your secrets until you’re ready to share with the staff, but just know, I’m happy for you, Logan.”
“I’m happy for you, too.” He bows his head. “Eloise is strong as hell, and one day you’re going to have it all with her.”
“I already do,” I tell him. “She’s alive and I think she loves me. What more could I ask for?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Gaines
I strollthrough the ED after meeting with Eloise’s parents and her brother. Draco took the news that his sister was brought in by ambulance hard. I sensed that he’s the type of brother who would move heaven and earth to put a smile on her face.
I shook his hand, told him I loved her, and vowed to do right by her.
She hasn’t woken yet, but I won’t break that promise.
I just need to figure out what I’m going to say to her when she opens those beautiful blue gray eyes.
I glance up as I get closer to trauma room one.
Eloise hasn’t been moved up to CCU yet because we’re waiting on a bed.
A man in his early twenties is staring at the door to her room. I approach himcautiously, convinced that he’s looking for a relative or friend who is in the ED.
It’s not uncommon for people to lose their way in the corridors of this department.
