“Whatever,” Niko cut in dismissively. “You haven’t even seen them together since they were…since Frankie graduated high school, and before then Liam was at college.”
“When Frankie fell out of the tree and hurt her knee, who helped her?”
Niko thought about it for a second, most likely trying to remember the time he bet Tristan that Frankie couldn’t climb up Frankenstein, a tree in the forest that their property backed up to. Which she tried, but fell and hurt herself. Liam rode up on his bike, took her back to the house, and took care of her, while Niko pouted.
“Liam, but?—”
“When she cried because her bicycle painting got second place in the art show, who dug it out of the trash because he knew she’d want it later and it was good?”
“Liam, but?—”
“When she was scared at night because Mom was drinking or crying because of Dad whose window did she crawl in?”
“Liam’s but?—”
“When she got into that college art program at fourteen that didn’t get out until ten at night across the city and we worked until midnight, who went and walked her home every night because he didn’t want her taking the bus alone?”
“Liam, but?—”
AJ had been using examples in the past, and his brother was still not getting it, so he decided to take a different tactic for Niko to do some critical thinking as they continued to speak in below a whisper, at a volume only they could hear. It was literally the only “twin power” they possessed.
“Remember when Frankie’s place got burglarized the year she graduated from college and Tristan was on his extended guy’s trip, so Zion came and stayed with her for a month? If she was with Liam, what do you think he would have done?”
“Oh shit.” Realization dawned on Niko’s face. “He would have been on the next flight. He would have swam across the ocean if he had to. Nothing would have stopped him from getting to her, from protecting her.”
“He would have never gone on an extended guy’s trip,” AJ pointed out.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“He never deserved her.” AJ turned his head making sure there was no way Tristan could read his lips, not that he actually cared if Tristan knew what he said, especially after it was clear he’d cheated on his sister. But he didn’t want to be disrespectful in the current climate, with his father’s life in jeopardy.
His mom returned to her chair and explained they still couldn’t reach Liam, but she relayed to AJ what the doctors had told her before taking Dr. Sterling to surgery. She used phrases like “severe blockage in the left anterior descending artery” and “myocardial infarction.” AJ never lied because he didn’t see the point, but this time he did. What she was describing was commonly referred to as a widowmaker. Telling a bride on her wedding night that her husband had just suffered a widowmaker heart attack was not something he was going to do.
Every time a door opened, AJ found himself looking up, expecting to see Poppy. It was not something he was used to experiencing. He was worried about Dr. Sterling, whom he respected and, after losing Papou, was the only other male role model AJ had, but he still found himself thinking about Poppy. His mind was hyper-fixated on her, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He heard the click of the double door lock being released and looked up. When they opened, it wasn’t Poppy walking out, it was Liam. He looked worse for wear. His hair was disheveled, and he had dark circles beneath his eyes.
Everyone was on their feet, except Yaya, who remained seated, balancing an impressive four balls of yarn on her lap.
“He’s okay,” Liam announced to the group at large. “He’s out of surgery and awake. He’s going into recovery. You can see him in about twenty minutes. He still has a hard road ahead, but he’s tough, and he’s going to be okay.”
Every single person let out a collective sigh of relief, including AJ.
AJ had been steadying his mom, cradling her forearm, but she propelled herself across the room like she’d been shot from a cannon. Her arms wrapped around Liam and her body shook with her sobs of relief as she repeated a chant of “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
To his right, Tristan collapsed down onto the waiting room chair with a loud thump. His head lowered into his trembling hands. Emmanuelle lowered beside him, and he folded into her. She wrapped her arms around him like a human security blanket.
When his mom finally released Liam from her grips, she turned and pulled the twins into a three-way hug, which she hadn’t done since they were in high school, mainly because AJ had expressed his deep discomfort for it. But this situation overruled any sort of sensory issues he had. She held onto them as if she needed proof of life, and maybe she did.
AJ watched as Liam turned to face his brother, who he’d always had a contentious relationship with.
“Thanks,” Tristan’s voice cracked. “Really. Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Liam deflected with a small shoulder shrug. “I didn’t operate on him. I just waited, like you.”
“It does matter. You stayed.” Tristan’s voice became shaky, choking up with emotion. “After all the shit I gave you…”
“Stop, don’t,” Liam snapped.
