I swallow hard and grab his sleeves when he launches forward.
“I’m sorry,” Emmett yells. “I’m so sorry, Tristen.”
There’re already tears streaming down his beautiful face, like maybe he hasn’t stopped since I left and my heart tears right down the middle.
“Em, listen to me.”
His breath sticks, his shining eyes flicking between me and Hatley.
“You’re here to kick me out, aren’t you?”
I shake my head and smooth my hands down his sleeves at his side. “We can talk about that later, okay. Right now, I need you to come with us.”
His lip wobbles and I nearly break on the spot.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he cries, and my eyes burn. “I didn’t mean to be just likehim.”
The sob that wracks him leaves him pitching forward to bury his face in his trembling hands.
My chest cracks wide open at his admission and I look to Hatley with tears in my eyes.
What does that mean? Like him?
Likewho?
“We can’t talk about that right now,” I say just above a whisper, my throat so damn tight. “You need to come back to the hospital with us.”
“I said I didn’t mean to!” he sobs and balls his hands tight.
“It’s your mom, Em,” I choke out. “She was brought in.”
“Wh-what?”
Those sweet, sweet eyes slowly rise to meet mine, so full of pain that it cripples me.
“It’s your mom, baby. She needs you.”
“No …Nononononono.”
I watch as he breaks right in front of me, his features crumbling, his eyes leaking, and he dives for me, hands clawing at my uniform.
Wrapping him up around his shoulders, I walk him back. Hold him close as he sobs into my neck.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to his temple. “I’m so sorry.”
“Is shedead?” he cries as I get us into the back of the rig and Hatley jogs around to the front. “Did he finally kill her?”
He who?I want to ask but I don’t.
“No … but Em … she’s not … she’s not well.”
The sounds that crest his cracking lips echo in my hollowed-out chest.
“Please don’t leave,” he begs, the rig bumping beneath us, jostling him against me. He holds me tighter. “Please don’t leave me.”
He’s chanting it over and over like a prayer, like the last thing he wants is to lose her.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it wasn’t her.
