Poppy felt her world start to turn upside down at the mention of her brother’s name.
“—his dad was brought in with a massive cardiac event. They rushed him up to six for emergency cath.”
“Oh, thank God.” Poppy exhaled in relief. “I mean, not, thank God, that’s horrible, but I thought…”
For a split second Poppy thought something had happened to her brother. He was the first and only stable man who had ever been in her life. She did not know what she would do without him.
“Zeta said he was going to the observation suite. She tried to stop him.”
Poppy didn’t say anything, she rushed out of the room and back to the elevators. She pressed the up button several times. Yes, she knew that pressing it repeatedly didn’t make it come any faster, but it didn’t stop her from doing it. When it still hadn’t arrived after what felt like an hour but was probably thirty seconds, she ran up the stairwell three flights. Liam should not be alone, and he definitely should not be watching his family member in open heart surgery.
When she got to the observation room, she scanned her badge and the doors opened with a whoosh. She walked in expecting to find her brother staring at a screen in silence. His posture stiff, his jaw tense, his fists clenched. On the way there she’d been running through all the arguments she’d have to plead her case for why she was not going to leave when he inevitably told her he wanted to be alone, she had her reasons locked and loaded, but there was no one to debate.
The room was empty, but on one of the screens she saw Dr. Kahn and Dr. Valdez working. They were two of the bestin cardiology. Dr. Sterling was in good hands. Literally. One of them was holding part of his body that is normally inside of him. Before leaving, Poppy checked the time stamps and saw that the last time Liam had swiped his badge into the room was nearly three hours earlier. It appeared he’d only stayed for about five minutes.
She doubled back to the nurses’ station. “Has anyone seen Liam?” she asked, barely keeping the desperation out of her voice.
“Nope,” replied Gita, the circulator nurse, barely looking up from her screen.
With no other good ideas, she headed down to the ER. Maybe he was with his family, or maybe he was hiding out in one of the on-call rooms, trying to process the news in his own brooding, solitary way. She shot off a quick text to her brother first.
Poppy:Just heard about your dad. Where are you?
No read receipt. She tried calling. Voicemail after a single ring.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. She knew that one of the security guards had always had a thing for Liam, so she doubted she would mind breaking the rules for him.
Poppy:Hey, is my brother in any of the on-call rooms?
A few seconds later, she got a response.
Simone:No, ma’am, he is not… I heard about his dad, tell him I’m sorry.
Poppy:Will do.
She fought the urge to panic that he wasn’t there. There was probably a logical explanation. She was sure he was with his family and his phone was dead. But as she rode the elevator back down, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was seriously, terribly wrong.
When she got to the first floor, she started down the hall, and at the end, she saw Frankie, Liam’s sister, sitting against the wall. Zion was holding her, and it looked like she was crying.
Shit. Shit. Shit.This was bad.
“Frankie! I just heard. Are you okay? Is Liam okay?”
Frankie lifted her head.
“I haven’t heard from Liam or seen him since we got here.” Frankie shook her head, and she wiped her cheeks as Zion stood and helped her up. “He’s not answering anyone’s texts or calls.”
“He’s not with you guys?” Poppy didn’t understand. If he wasn’t with his family and he wasn’t on six or in an on-call room, then where was he?
“No.”
“Oh.” That made no sense whatsoever. Poppy’s stomach performed a sickening loop-the-loop.
“Why?” Frankie asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just…I checked the observation suite, where Zeta said he was going, and he’s not there. According to the log-in times, he hasn’t been there for hours. I just assumed he was with you guys.”
“Can you look for him?” Frankie pleaded. “Can you ask around?”
