“What happened?” he demanded as he barreled into the waiting room. Lee stood and hugged our brother.
“We don’t really know yet. Someone from the police called the moms,” Lee said in a calm voice. I’d never seen my oldest brother look so… sohelpless, before. He stood in the waiting room, his hands gripping Bishop’s shoulders as he tried to reassure him. “The doctors are working on them now.”
“Here’s what we know. They were found outside the store by a passerby. It looks like they were hit by a car when they were leaving,” Mama D said from her spot next to Mama K. Her arm was wrapped around my other mother, pulling her close. Mama K was the physically stronger, more wiry of my two parents, but this was the first time I realized that her strength could be brittle.
“Sonny is in surgery. He has a compound fracture of his leg. Hicks…” she choked for a minute before continuing. “Hicks has bleeding on his brain. They are doing surgery to release some of the pressure in his skull.”
Fuck.
I knelt down at Mama K’s feet and took their hands in mine.
“They’re strong, Mama. Both of them. They are fuckin’ ferocious when they want to be, and neither of them would leave us,” I whispered, staring into their tear-filled eyes. Mama K looked into my eyes for a moment, her normally strong spirit seeming lost and fragile. Then she closed her eyes and nodded, tears spilling from the corners. When she opened them again, I saw some of her normal strength returning and she tried to smile. I hugged them both and had just stood back up when I heard another pair of footsteps approaching us.
I turned and saw Nicki enter the waiting room, his hands clenching and unclenching with nerves, as if he wasn’t sure of his welcome. I was still so angry at him for making us leave when we weren’t sure whether he was in danger or not. We glared at each other for a moment, and I saw something shift in his gaze.
Mama K and Mama D had stood when I did, and I remembered one of the family mottos we’d been taught growing up—You mess with one Devereaux, you mess with us all.
Nicki looked around the room for a moment, then his eyes met mine. I felt that familiar spark, the piercing feeling of the other half of my soul connecting.
He held my gaze for what seemed like forever, until it seemed like he couldn’t stand being apart a moment longer. He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around me.
I sighed as his arms circled me. It just felt so fucking good to have him there. As a friend. As something else. Whatever he was going to be to me, I was just happy he was there.
“How did you know?” I whispered.
He looked up at me, his blue eyes glittering in the waiting room lights.
“Bishop accidentally texted the group text we set up when we shared our phone numbers,” he said. I glanced at my younger brother.
I saw Bishop watching us, something pained in his gaze, and it tore at me. Something… hungry. Hurt. Lonely. Which was ridiculous, because Bishop was probably one of the most social members of the family. I still couldn’t deny the look in his eyes.
I looked at Nicki. He had followed my gaze and now stared back at me, and I think he saw the same thing I had, because although he looked puzzled, he nodded slightly at me and we both held our arms out to Bishop at the same time. Bishop sighed and stepped into the circle, which quickly grew to hold all the Devereaux clan. Soon only Mason now stood outside the circle, as if he wasn’t sure what to do. Then Mama K opened her arms further and gestured him in.
“Mijo, you belong in here, too,” she said, waving him forward, her eyes glittering brown with unshed tears.
He walked forward reluctantly, his head bowed, like he felt out of place, but he was soon embraced into the circle, Mama K on one side, Lee on the other.
Mama K’s voice began whispering a prayer in Spanish. My Spanish was a little rusty, but I could understand most of what she’d said.
“Lord, you love our sons as You love all children. Please stay by their side in their hour of need. Comfort them and help them heal. Keep them ever mindful of Your loving presence. Bless us with Your powerful healing and comfort us also…”
It was a mother’s prayer for beloved, injured children, a voice thick with the fear of loss.
I looked around that circle of chosen family. My eyes staring into each face. Lee, his face strong and powerful, but tight with his own remembered loss. Mama D, her gentle eyes red, her blonde hair in a messy pony tail. Bishop’s hair was its normal, wild mess. Mason, whose face looked frightened, but somehow defiant at the same time. Nicki… Nicki just looked beautiful to me. His eyes were closed, his own lips moving in a silent prayer. I remembered his mom used to take him to church with her when he was young. I wondered if he still went.
We broke apart a few minutes later, all of us wiping away tears. Mason offered to fetch coffee from the cafeteria, and we all laughed at the face Bishop made at the thought.
Twelve hours later, we were still waiting. Hicks’ surgery had been completed and he had been transferred to the ICU. Sonny was still in surgery. A nurse had come out to speak to us a few hours before just to let us know it was going to be a while before we got another update.
We found out from the EMS workers that somehow Hicks had managed to get his belt around Sonny’s leg and create a tourniquet before passing out. They said he probably saved Sonny’s life, because the broken bone had nicked his femoral artery. Unfortunately, they weren’t sure whether he’d had enough blood flow to keep the cells in his leg from dying. They had taken him in to try and repair as much of the damage to his leg as they could, but we didn’t know yet if they would have to amputate.
We were all bone tired from a night in the waiting room. People came and went, some sick or injured, their families rushing in to check on them. There was an ebb and flow to the traffic all that made it seem almost surreal. The faces behind the check-in desk changed, the doctors and nurses that came out to speak with us, but through it all a terrible fear of loss gripped my chest that only eased when I was close to Nicki.
Mason had been kind enough to bring back food and gallons of the horrible cafeteria coffee. Bishop was right about how bad it would taste, but we drank it anyway. The food mostly went untouched, though.
Nicki, Bishop and I had stayed close to my parents, with Lee and Mason on the other side of them. There was definitely something going on between Lee and Mason. I watched Mason hand my brother’s phone to him, and saw Lee place a gentle kiss on his hand as they smiled sadly at each other.
It was around noon and we were still in the waiting room. Hicks had been taken to the intensive care unit where he wasn’t allowed visitors yet. Sonny was still in surgery. The surgeon had come out once and told us things weren’t looking good. He asked my parents for permission to amputate his leg if necessary. I’ll never forget the anguished look on Mama D’s face as she signed the papers.
