“They don’t think there’s any lasting damage yet." Easton's voice caught everyone off guard. He had been so quiet that I had forgotten he was there. "Luckily."
"How could you guys sit back and let this happen?" Bella took a harsh step forward right in Emerson’s face "He was hurting himself and you guys thought it was funny."
"I never thought it was funny," Emerson defended herself weakly.
"Well, he certainly did!" Bella pointed an accusatory finger at Easton. "Where's all the jokes now, Easton? Where's your bad humor and witty remarks?"
"My little brother could've died," Easton grumbled.
Bella laughed incredulously. "You’ve never seemed to care."
"I've always cared."
“You have a funny way of showing it,” I quipped.
The others in the hospital were now staring at us because we were causing a scene. Bella was seething with anger, so much that Paxton forced her to go on a walk with him to cool off.
Easton’s gaze was locked on the ground as he mumbled something to Emerson and then stormed off. His sister watched him leave with sad eyes but made no attempt to go after him.
Emerson let out a heavy breath. "Macy almost ignored the call from the hospital. She only picked up because Easton answered for her. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t even know what happened."
That woman was bitter.
“Her boyfriend just broke up with her. That’s why it didn’t take much for her to quick out Eli after he yelled at her.”
"Boo-hoo," Kailey mumbled sarcastically.
We all went to the waiting room to wait for the doctor to come tell us we could see him. In that time my mother had made it to the hospital. Gabriela had filled her and Alan in about everything that went down, so she rushed over here the moment she made it back from her trip.
My mamàbought us all burgers from the place down the street, as well as blankets from the house to keep us warm. She wanted to keep us as comfortable as possible because none of us were going to leave until Eli was ready to be discharged.
My mother even brought food and a blanket for the twins. Emerson was hesitant when she tried to hand it to her and Easton wouldn’t even move. Mamà was persistent, though, and the twins eventually took the handouts. It was like her kindness to them was a foreign concept that they did not know how to navigate.
Another hour went by, and I swore the doctors were leaving us hanging on purpose. I tried to fight it, but I couldn’t help dozing in and out of sleep as we waited forever.
Luckily the waiting did not last much longer. The doctor greeted the twins again with a calm smile. Eli was awake and confused, wanting people to be by his side. He was not ready to be discharged, but he was ready for outside visitors.
I found out the twins had been allowed to enter Eli's room the entire time because they were family, but they simply did not want to. It made my blood boil that Elias was in there all alone unnecessarily. What were his siblings even here for?
Easton and Emerson gave me whiplash. One moment they were showing true care for their brother and then five minutes later they were throwing him under the bus. They rushed to the hospital, scared and stressed because Eli could have had alcohol poisoning, but it wasn’t enough for them to want to be by his side?
Now they were getting ready to leave without even saying ‘hi’ to him. When I asked why I was met with mumbling and empty shrugs. They could not muster up the courage to face their brother, and I could not tell if that was out of stubbornness or guilt. Sad.
"You go in there first," Ricky said encouragingly. "Alone, in case he’s embarrassed.”
"But you only get five minutes and then I am going because I’ve been waiting forever," Bella said.
I gave the group a sharp nod as the twins came close to me. A little too close, actually. They did not want anyone else to hear what they were about to whisper to me.
"Tell Eli we love him, okay?" Emerson's stare was hard.
"You should tell him yourself."
Easton exhaled forcefully. "Please, Javier. Don’t be difficult."
How I wished they could own up to their faults and treat their brother the way he deserved. When would they finally get over themselves and have at leastoneproductive conversation with him?
I barely got to nod before the twins turned around to make their exit.
