the hospital. I can’t even begin to imagine everything that is running through Em’s head in that amount of time.
Lane pulls up to the drop-off to let us out, and I spot Jace’s Camaro parked haphazardly in a fire lane near the emergency room entrance. Quinn, Em, and I hop out and they rush inside. Lane steps out and finds an employee staring begrudgingly at the Camaro. When he sees Lane begin to leave his car, he starts shaking his head and telling him he needs to move it immediately.
“Chill, I’m going inside. I’m gonna get my buddy’s keys and I’ll move both cars. Calm down,” he says, in a tone that doesn’t allow any argument.
I’m the last of my friends to enter the emergency room and the scene is overwhelming to take in. I immediately spot my boyfriend’s large frame towering over the receptionist. I can only imagine what she’s thinking as he growls out commands at her. She probably doesn’t know whether to cry or slip him her number for later.
Lane walks up and grabs Jace’s keys from his pocket without even a sideways glance from him. Jace isn’t paying attention to anything besides getting to where his brother is.
“Jaxon Riley,” I repeat for what feels like the hundredth time to the brainless girl at the front counter. “He’s my brother. We look exactly alike. Can’t miss him. He was brought in by...ambulance,” I swallow the last word painfully.
“I’m not seeing a Jaxon here.”
“Well try again, ma’am! Jaxon Riley. J-A-X-O-N...” I begin to spell harshly.
“Oh! Jaxon with an X. Well, that’s different,” she says nonchalantly and continues typing another million fucking words into her computer.
“Look, I hate to be a tyrant but I need back there. Like yesterday. Just open those doors and I can find him on my own.”
She continues typing away, ignoring my words. I’m sure she’s heard this a thousand times before, but this time is different. This is my brother. This is my identical twin. The only person who has been through everything with me.
“Well, since you’re family, I need you to fill out all of his medical information on this clipboard. Bring it back when you’re done and I’ll go see if they’re allowing him to have visitors,” she says, passing me a stack of papers.
“
She ignores my rant and taps the clipboard infuriatingly. Before I can hurl the board across the fucking emergency room, Em squeezes in front of me and grabs it out of my hands.
“I can fill this out. If you could hurry and find out where he is, I would appreciate it.” She smiles easily at the lady and I’m confounded by her calmness.
Em grabs onto my arm and digs her nails in deep. “My goal is to see Jaxon as soon as possible. I think we share a common goal here. I’m also pretty sure your mama taught you that you can catch more flies with honey. Quit being a bastard. If you piss her off and make me have to wait out here one second longer than I have to, so help me God, I
With nowhere else to go, I begin pacing the tile in front of the door that leads to the patients. If someone would just open this damn door, I could breathe a little easier. I pull out my phone and cringe at all of the missed calls from Cole. I can’t believe I didn’t have this on me. I tried calling him about fifteen times on my way over here, but he never answered.
My brother is somewhere back there hurt or even worse...fuck, I can’t think like that. He’s back there and this fucking metal door is keeping me from seeing if he’s okay. Small hands graze across my lower back and I flinch away from the touch. I’m strung too tight and I can’t handle soft words or pitying looks at the moment. Audrey calls out my name as I walk away in the opposite direction. Away from her. Shit, I can’t think straight.
I lean my forehead against the wall and think about what I can do. Suddenly, the door opens and a nurse comes out. Evidently she’s not new at this because she quickly shuts the door behind her. She glances around the room and does a double take when her eyes land on me. I can see the shock on her face and immediately know that she has to be Jaxon’s nurse.
“Are you Jaxon Riley’s brother?” she asks.
“Twin,” I hastily spit out. The others quickly come over to join me.
“I can take you back there, but I can’t let you see him yet. There’s an additional waiting room for family members. That’s as close as I can get you. You can wait there for a doctor to give you more information,” she instructs. “Wow, you guys are a big group. I’m technically only allowed to let four of you in.”
“I’ll hang back here,” Lane volunteers. Well, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me.
“Nice to hear you’re claiming the twin-thing again, Jace. Not such a drag anymore, is it?” Em bites out at me as she pushes past to follow the nurse.
Quickly, we all file in behind her and my eyes dart to each door along the way, seeing if I can catch a glimpse of my brother. We round a second corner at the end of the hall, where I see Cole sitting on the ground with his back against the wall and his face in his hands. My stomach plummets as I pick up my pace toward him.
From behind, I hear Quinn gasp, “Cole.” Even though it was only a whisper, he was still able to hear her voice and his head shoots up to look at us. I hate how fucking stressed he looks and how red his eyes are. What does that mean? How bad is this going to be?
“Wait right here in this room,” the nurse says, pointing to the room next to Cole. “Ah, now there are five of you. I’ll try to let you all stay, but they may send one of you out front.”
“Your mom’s on a flight already,” Cole’s ragged voice announces when we all enter the tiny prison they call a waiting room.
“That was fast,” I say.
“No it wasn’t. I feel like I’ve been here for ten fucking years already,” he mutters, while frantically running his hands through his hair.
Quinn finally reaches him and wraps her arms around his body, burying her face into his side. He grabs on to her tightly and hides his face in her hair. We all watch as he sucks in a deep breath. Em takes a seat, bouncing her legs uncontrollably while looking at the two of them. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Audrey standing against the wall by the door. And I’m lost in the middle.
“Tell us,” Em begs Cole.
“We were running a play. It was the last one before Coach was planning to dismiss us. At the snap, Jax shot down the side and cut to the middle just like he was supposed to. Fisher tossed a perfect spiral and it practically dropped out of thin air into Jaxon’s arms. It was flawless. The only thing wrong was that the defenders were expecting it this time so they ran in front of him. Jax got blocked in, so he ran and tried to leap over them into the end zone. Mid-air someone clipped his legs and he spun at an odd angle headfirst into the ground.” Cole grabs the bridge of his nose and shakes his head back and forth.
“It was awful. The second he hit the ground, his whole body went limp. When I got to him, his eyes were closed. He was breathing but we just couldn’t wake him. Coach broke out the smelling salts but nothing happened.”
The room remains silent as everyone begins to soak in Cole’s story. I’ve seen Jax jump into the end zone more times than I can remember. He’s leapt over defenders’ heads and even done a flip or two to get the touchdown. We’ve all jumped and cheered watching him go to incredible lengths to get those extra points on the scoreboard. Except this time, one wrong hit and he crashes down on his head.
Everyone eventually finds a spot in the room as we sit to wait out the news. Em claims the chair closest to the door. She pulls her feet up and rests her chin on top of her knees. Her eyes never leave the door, almost as if they are trying to will the doctor to enter. Quinn fell asleep in Cole’s lap shortly after we arrived. Cole stretches out across the length of three chairs. Audrey parks herself next to the only window in the room and she gazes outside the entire time. Her bathing suit is still wet and has soaked through her clothes. I catch her shiver slightly.
