Leo, the big brother who’s always held everything together, who carries the weight of our family on his back, looked shattered. I reached for his hand and squeezed it as much as I could.
He stayed a little longer, telling me about Mia and how she was starting to say more words and now points at every dog she sees, yelling “Woof!” like she can speak to them. The way his face softened when he talked about her made me happy.
He deserves that happiness.
Frankie came in later, flopping into the chair beside me. He was quiet for a long moment, just staring at me, then finally muttered, “I don’t like this.”
I raised a weak eyebrow. “Yeah, well, neither do I.”
He huffed out a half-laugh, running a hand through his unruly curls. “You really had to go and make itthisdramatic, huh?”
I smirked faintly. “Go big or go home.”
His face crumpled for a second before clearing his throat and looking away. “I–I don’t know what I would’ve done if…” He trailed off.
I reached for his hand, managing to brush my fingers over his. “I’m here, Frank.”
He squeezed my fingers lightly. “Don’t call me that.”
I winked back at him before slipping off to sleep.
Cam visited often, but it was when he came in one evening that something in me clicked.
“Alex hasn’t left the hospital in two weeks.” He said suddenly.
I blinked at him in confusion. “What?”
“He refused to go home. He’s been here, every second, waiting for you to wake up. I don’t think you understand, Em. He loves you. Like, the kind of love that doesn’t make sense to most people. The kind that makes a man stay awake at your bedside for weeks just to make sure you’re still breathing.”
My heart was hammering in my chest. A heart that wasn’t even mine, but still, it felt like it was when I thought about Alex.
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t wrap my head around a love like that, a love that is so constant and all-consuming. That was Alex. He had always shown me love in ways I had never been loved before. Even when I didn’t realize it.
Cam squeezed my leg before leaving, and I laid there, letting the weight of his words settle in my chest.
I don’t knowhow many days it’s been, but I wake up to chaos. The door swings open as Liv and Sophia tumble in, whisper-yelling at each other like two kids caught sneaking out past curfew. Liv staggers forward, arms full of what looks like half a bakery’s worth of pastries, while Sophia flails behind her, trying to keep her from dropping everything.
“You’re going to get us kicked out!” Sophia hisses.
“Me?” Liv whisper-shouts back. “You’rethe one who thought smuggling croissants into the cardiac ICU was a good idea!”
My brain is still catching up, still sluggish, but I can’t stop the small, scratchy laugh that escapes me. “Are you two always this chaotic, or is it only for me?”
Their heads whip toward me in a blink.
“Oh my God, Emma!” Sophia squeaks, abandoning all pretense of stealth and rushing to my bedside. Liv follows, nearly tripping over their own feet in the process.
“You’re awake!” Liv gasps, throwing the bag of contraband pastries onto the bedside table before grabbing my face with both hands and examining it like she needs proof. “Like, really awake. Not just floating in and out, mumbling weird things.”
I frown. “I was mumbling weird things?”
Sophia and Liv exchange a look.
“Uhh…” Sophia hesitates.
“Define weird?” Liv says at the same time.
Dread curls in my stomach. “What did I say?”
