A blackness came over my eyes, a heat lifting across my body and coming through the pores of my skin.
When I tried to take a breath, it felt like I was sucking through a clogged straw.
“Ben”—I got up from the bed, leaving the frame right where it fell—“I’ll be right back.”
I couldn’t feel my feet as I flew out of his room. I had no recollection of going down the stairs. I didn’t even see Maya until I felt someone grab me. Until her hands were on my arms and her face was directly in front of mine.
“Emily, what happened? What’s wrong?”
“Ben ...” The tears were streaming down my cheeks, and I still had no air in me. “His-s mom. His m-mom is Sa-Sarah.”
“Sarah?” She shook her head while she stared at me, and suddenly the realization came across her face and her hand slapped over her mouth. “Oh my God, Emily ... You mean his mom is Sarah—Sarah.YourSarah?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Gavin
“Brother, we don’t do this enough.” Jordan waited until the server poured him a few more fingers’ worth, the bottle a single malt Macallan we’d purchased for the night, before he lifted his tumbler and held it close to his mouth. “Every quarter, we should make it mandatory. Two nights, somewhere, anywhere, but together.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Once my glass was refilled, I took a long sip. “Damn, that’s good.” I set the tumbler down and reached for the handmade ultra-premium cigar, removing it from its package and using the guillotine cutters to chop the end. Just as I was bringing the flame closer to my mouth, there was a vibration in my pocket. I set the flame down and slipped my fingers into the inside of my sports coat, Emily’s name showing on the screen of my phone. “It’s Emily calling. I just want to make sure there’s nothing wrong with Ben.”
“Do what you’ve got to do.”
I connected the call, holding the phone to my ear. “Hi, baby—”
“It’s Maya.”
I put the cigar in the ashtray. “Maya? Is everything okay?”
“Ben is fine. That’s not why I’m calling. It’s ... Emily.”
“Is something wrong with her?”
“Oh God, Gavin.” I didn’t like her tone. I didn’t like the way she sounded like she couldn’t breathe. “I don’t even know how to tell you this. I ... I think Emily should be the one to tell you.”
“Tell me what, Maya?”
“She needs you.”
“Needs me?”
“Yes. She needs you to come home. Please. As soon as possible.”
My fucking heart was suddenly out of control.
I pushed against my chest, remembering a time when I’d felt just like this.
When my entire goddamn world collapsed.
I looked at my brother, pushing my way to the end of my seat. “I’ll call our pilot. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Emily
Seven years ago
There was only thirty minutes left in my twelve-hour shift, and as I sat behind the computer at the nurses’ station, inputting the last round of notes, I heard, “Emily, room 612 just got admitted.”
