“Aunt Linda told us a month ahead of time.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Yes, Mom. She did.”
“Oh. Now that I think about it, your reactions did seem a little fake.”
“Exactly. The Navy will make an official statement once we’re back in the States. It’s two days—you can talk to her about it then.”
“Is that why Addison didn’t tell us what she was doing?”
Braedon sat on the chair next to the bed. “Would you have believed her if she had?”
“I…”
Devon heard her sigh from his position by the door.
“No,” she said. “We all thought she just couldn’t accept your death and was imagining what she was feeling. You have to understand, Braedon. It’s not that we didn’t want to believe her—we couldn’t. The Navy told us you were dead. Couldn’t tell us how or where, only that you’d been killed during a mission. Addison insisted they were wrong, and we couldn’t…I…”
Her voice broke. As much sympathy as Devon felt for their mom, it pissed him off to hear her talking that way about Addison. As if she’d been a nuisance that wouldn’t go away instead of a sister that had been grieving the loss of her brother.
“I understand, Mom, I do. But when we get back to the States, you and Dad need to apologize.”
“I know. We will.”
“Good. The doctor’s here, so I need to go.”
Devon glanced over his shoulder, but there was no one there. He smirked when he turned back around to see Braedon making a wrap it up motion with his hand.
“All right. I love you.” His mom sounded like she was either crying or close to it.
“I love you too, Mom. I’ll see you in two days. Bye.” He touched the phone to end the call and stood. Walking over to Devon, he pulled him into a spine-crushing hug. “Fuck, man. It’s good to see you.”
Devon hugged him back. “You too, brother.”
“I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it was you.” He pounded him on the back a few times and pulled away. “How’ve you been?”
“Good. I’d ask how you’ve been, but…you know.”
Braedon laughed and returned to the chair, collapsing into it. He tossed the phone onto the bed. “My mom has not stopped calling since this morning.”
Devon took a seat at the end of the bed. “She’s happy you’re alive. Probably wants to reassure herself it’s real.”
“Yeah, I get that part. It’s the part where she asks if she can tell everyone. I almost wish we hadn’t told them until we were back in the U.S., but that would have been an asshole move.”
“When did Addison tell them?” He hadn’t seen her since the VTC two days ago. She’d stayed in the hospital instead of the hotel to be closer to Braedon.
“She didn’t. She asked the general to have the military officially inform them. Kind of a reverse notification of death. I was surprised, honestly. I got the feeling she took a lot of crap from them about not believing I was dead. Me personally, I would have rubbed that shit in their faces.”
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “You’ve spent a lot of time with her the last week—how is she really?”
Shit. How much had she shared with Braedon? They were close, but had she told him everything?
“I don’t have a before to compare it to, but she’s been…focused. She wasn’t going to let anything or anyone stand in the way of rescuing you.”
Braedon smiled. “That sounds like Addy. Nothing will stop her once she sets her mind on something.” His smile fell. “She’s different, though. I don’t know how to explain it, but I think my parents not believing her broke something in her. She hasn’t talked to them yet. Granted, she gave me her phone so I could talk to them, but anytime I mention calling them, she has to be somewhere else.”
“I don’t know what to tell you about that. She didn’t talk about your parents other than to say she hadn’t told them what she was doing. Where is she now?”
