A sick feeling seeped into Devlin’s gut as his gaze slowly returned to the older brother, hunched in the wheelchair, bloody hands shaking in his lap. “We don’t know the full story yet,” he mumbled. “Or why…” He swallowed hard. “… why the person was driving so recklessly.”
“Do you thinkhe’sgoing to carewhy?”Gine nodded toward the father. “He lost his son. Thewhyisn’t going to matter.”
That’s what scares me,Devlin thought, sickly, as he stared at the older brother.
As Devlin wheeled the boy to the exam room, they passed the pacing father. The man didn’t acknowledge them. In his own way, he was as oblivious to his surroundings as the young man. Anxiety knotted Devlin’s muscles as they passed so close to the man, knowing that—if he knew the truth—he would surely attack the young man and possibly fatally harm him.
Devlin’s attention turned to Mrs. Healy, who was clutching the edge of the wheelchair, her sobs almost matching the other mother’s, as if their souls were reaching out in mutual anguish. If the father turned his anger on her older son, Devlin couldn’t imagine the terror she would experience. She was already on the verge of losing one child—she didn’t yet realize it—but she wouldn’t be able to withstand losing her oldest son too.
Gina came through the curtain, pushing a cart carrying a small stack of washcloths, a wash basin, soap, and a folded gown. She helped Devlin move the young man from the chair to the bed, where he sat on the edge, head hanging low, his vacant eyes fixed on the floor.
“Can you turn down the lights?” Devlin asked softly as the harsh overhead fluorescents glared down on them. Gina nodded and flipped a switch, casting the room in a dimmer, gentler light.
“Do you want me to…?” Gina asked as Devlin picked up the gown.
“I got this,” Devlin said, then replaced the gown on the cart and walked with Gina to the edge of the room, near the curtain. “When Dr. Landers gets out of surgery on the Healy boy,” he said quietly. “Inform him the family is in here, and…” He glanced at the mother and son. “Let him know I want to speak to him before he speaks to them.”
Gina had seen the boy when he was brought in; she knew, as did Devlin, that the news from the O.R. would leave the family in ruins. “Yes, doctor,” she whispered, then exited through the curtain.
Some days, Devlin despised his job and sometimes envied his friends at The Phoenix Club, whose main “job requirement” was to excite their clients sexually and provide entertainment. There were no dead children. No siblings covered in blood. No crying mothers. No broken fathers. No need to tell a mother and her son that their loved one won’t return home. No obligation to inform a young, traumatized man that he hadkilleda child while attempting to save his own brother.
Devlin picked up the gown and walked to the young man and his mother. “We need to get you out of these clothes,” Devlin said softly to the boy. “May I help you change?”
The young man remained silent for a moment before nodding once. His mother took a breath, then carefully helped Devlin remove her son’s clothes down to his underwear and dress him in the gown. Though her face was marked with trauma and fear, her instincts as a mother kicked in, and she attended to her child without a word.
What’s going to happen to them when the truth comes out?Did they have anyone other than each other? If the young man were arrested… would his mother be left alone to deal with the loss of both her children?
“There we go,” Devlin murmured as he secured the gown around the young man’s waist. He quickly checked his vitals, noting an irregular heartbeat and dangerously high blood pressure. Devlin elevated the upper part of the bed a bit. “You need to relax,” he said calmly. “Lie back now, okay?” The young man didn’t resist as Devlin assisted him into bed, then slightlyraised the foot of the bed to elevate his legs. He turned to the mother. “Try to get him to drink some water,” he murmured. He touched her arm. “I know how hard this is for you, but focusing on your son, here and now, will help. Until your boy is out of surgery, there’s nothing you can do for him. Focusing on what you can control will help calm your mind. Can you do that?”
The woman trembled, tears leaking from her eyes, but nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m going to stay here with you,” Devlin said. “You’re not alone.”
Across the corridor, the mother’s sobs rose again. Devlin’s throat tightened, and he blinked back tears as he carried the wash basin to the sink and filled it with warm water.
“What… What’s wrong with her?” Mrs. Healy whispered, her voice trembling. “I-I could hear her out in the waiting room… she was… she was screaming.” She bit her lower lip, her chin quivering, and tears spilled down her face. “That man in the hall… he’s her husband, isn’t he?”
Devlin swallowed hard and nodded.
“He was… asking about his son.” Her face crumpled. “Did their boy… die?”
Devlin glanced at the young man in the bed, and his heart fell apart. “Yes,” he whispered.
The woman covered her mouth, tears spilling over. The depth of fear on her face broke Devlin.She’s terrified of being that mother—screaming for her lost child.It was coming, and there was nothing Devlin could do to save her from the nightmare swiftly descending upon her.
“How?” she whispered through broken sobs. “How did he…?”
Devlin didn’t want to be here; he didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want her to know that when the truth came out, it washerson who brought that unbearable pain on another mother, a father.
“Please tell me,” she trembled.
Please, you don’t want to know.But she thought she did. Maybe it made her feelconnectedto the grieving mother by knowing how she lost her child.
Devlin dipped a washcloth in the warm water, picked up her son’s trembling hand, and began gently washing the dried blood of his little brother from his skin. “He was hit by a car,” Devlin whispered, pressing his lips together to keep his chin from trembling. “He died in the ambulance. She was… with him.” He looked at the young man’s face, smears of his brother’s blood on his cheeks, a horror show playing behind his vacant eyes. Tears welled in Devlin’s eyes. “It was an accident.”
CHAPTER 5
Clint pushed through the ER’s swinging doors, Axel right behind him, as Devlin emerged from an exam room and walked down the corridor toward the nurse’s station. Devlin took them aside for privacy.
