“My, um…” I had to keep lying, otherwise they wouldn’t give me the time of day, no matter who I was. “My wife’s sister was hurt in an accident, Dani Garcia? Would it be possible to move her into a better room? I guess what I’m asking is, is she stable enough to be moved into a suite, so Pris — my wife and I — can stay with her?”

The nurse pressed her lips into a firm line. “I’ll tell you what.” She leaned forward. “If she makes it through the night, we’ll move her. The first twenty-four hours after surgery are the most critical.”

I nodded. “Thank you. Are you the nurse in charge?”

“Yes.”

“Her injuries — what are they?”

“Brother-in-law you say?”

“Yes.”

I could tell she wanted to challenge me; I hid my left hand, and leveled her with the same cold stare I’d given the nurse downstairs.

“Three broken ribs, bruising to the liver, brain hemorrhaging, broken arm, and broken femur.”

I chewed my lower lip. “I imagine the hemorrhaging is—”

“It’s what worries us,” the nurse interrupted. “The swelling is a lot for her brain to handle. We’ve done all we can do. The doctor has drilled a hole in her skull to allow the blood to escape and ease the pressure — there’s nothing else that can be done.”

“Thank you.” I held out my hand.

She took it and looked back down at her papers as if it was just another day in the office, which to her it was, but to me? It was like I was dying, because Pris was hurting and there was nothing I could do to make it better. Except be present, available, be the hero I always swore I’d never be.

I was the bad guy.

I was the distraction. The devil you slept with at night and left in the morning.

I’d never wanted to be more. To want more meant you would be let down, wanting a relationship meant eventually you’d end up heartbroken — destroyed.

With a heavy sigh I watched Pris as she leaned her elbows against her knees, tears dripping off her face.

I would catch every last tear.

I would let her break me over and over again.

If only it would take away the pain.

Rip me to shreds, stomp on my heart until I feel no pain, reject me over and over again.

My answer, my vow would still be the same.

She was my everything. And in that moment, I finally understood what had made Alec and Demetri lose their minds.

Love.

She was mine.

And I’d take her — if she’d have me.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Priscilla

It was real.

My parents were gone.

And my sister might not make it.

So many emotions and thoughts were racing through my head that it started to pound.

We had no grandparents, only cousins. Alyssa’s family. But that was it. I had no idea what to do. I wanted Dani to make it. She had to make it because she was all I had.

I had no job. My parents had no money. And I had to take care of my sister without a college education. I had to provide for her — for us.

My heart clenched in my chest.

How could my parents leave me? How could God take them? They were good people, undeserving of the ugly in the world. Guilt slammed me so hard I couldn’t breathe.

Jaymeson was immediately by my side, rubbing my back, whispering in my ear. My breath kept catching in my throat. Eventually I calmed down enough to speak.

“I slept through his calls,” I whispered. “If I would have answered my dad’s calls…”

“No.” Jaymeson gripped my chin between his fingers. “Listen Pris, I’m not going to let you go down that road. The one where you blame yourself for an accident. It was an accident. You can’t live your life that way. I know you think that if you can just explain how or why that you’ll feel better. But if you go down that road you’ll have more questions than answers. Acceptance, it’s the only way. Believe me, I know.”

“How!” I snapped. “How would you know?”

“I do.” His face contorted in pain. “Because for fifteen years I blamed myself for my Nanna’s death. Granted, my mom fed that line to me whenever she was drunk. I knew she was hurting — I see that now. But then? I told myself if I would have been a better boy, if I would have gone to bed that night on time, rather than asked her to read me more books.”

“You were a child.” My lips trembled.

“In a way—” He smiled sadly. “—we all are, especially when tragedy strikes. We revert back to total lack of faith in the world around us, we stop trusting, relying on those around us to be our pillars of strength. Pris, it wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.”

I sniffled and looked down at the phone clenched in my hand. “Will you listen to the messages with me?”

He nodded.

“My dad.” I wiped my eyes. “He left me two messages.”

Grabbing his hand, we walked silently to an empty waiting room and sat down. He pulled me onto his lap and waited as I put the phone on speakerphone and pressed the first message.

“Hey, sweetie!” My face fell, as fresh tears streamed down my cheeks. My throat ached. “We’re going to be coming home tomorrow and I just wanted to tell you! We got our miracle!” I could hear mom cheering in the background. “That young man, Jaymeson, I think. I don’t know how he did it, but he did! He got the community together and the house is being fixed! Isn’t that great? I couldn’t grab his number, but Stella said he’d been with you helping at the church and I just, I wanted to say I’m thankful, so thankful to him. You know I don’t watch movies much, but Stella seems to be quite taken. I imagine you must be as well. I only met the young man briefly during the wedding, but for him to do something for people he doesn’t even know? Well, to me, that’s character. That’s purity of heart. That’s someone I want my daughter around.” He laughed. “Anyway, I’ll give you a call later when we get on the road. We decided to drive at night since there’s less traffic, that way your mom can sleep! See you soon!”