So he must still be alive. Before long, everyone came down the stairs all at once. The EMTs carried Ambrose between them on the gurney. He was pale and sweaty, mercifully, his eyes were closed, so he couldn’t see me inspecting him from a distance.
“You go with him, Rachel, we’ll meet you at the hospital.” Kaleb looked at me then and handed me one of my hoodies. “Come on.”
On the way to the hospital, Kaleb didn’t speak. His face was pale and wan, He followed the ambulance at break-neck speed, and pulled into a parking lot near the ambulance bay. We both jogged into the emergency room to see Ambrose being wheeled into a ‘no visitors’ area and to see Rachel drop to her knees in tears.
Sitting in the hospital waiting room my mind spun. While Kaleb paced back and forth, Rachel slumped in her chair silently sobbing. Me? I was trying to figure out what this all meant. My parents still hadn’t asked me what had happened. But they’d seen the gun by now. And that wasn’t a bullet wound in Ambrose’s stomach…
But all I could think was; Ambrose? Why Ambrose?
When I planted myself in the Varela household it was to set a trap for someone who was trying to kill me. With the target on my back, Ambrose hadn’t been who I expected to take the bait. He was my brother, whether he had liked it or not.
It just didn’t make any sense.
Cassio was the man I’d been after, not Ambrose. Oh boy, I couldn’t wait to hear Ambrose explain his way out of this one. Was it simply because he hated me that much, or had Cassio gotten to him.
“Family of Ambrose Varela?” a man in a white coat called out to the mostly empty waiting room.
I stood from the hard plastic of the hospital chair and followed my parents to the doctor. I felt like an imposter, I was the reason Ambrose was here. But I didn’t let that get to me. He was family, to some extent, I wanted to know how he was doing. And when, or if, I’d be able to go in and talk to him. These weeks I’d been looking for answers and now I felt they may have been closer than I thought this entire time.
“Yes?” Kaleb said as he held Rachel tightly in his arms as she tried to compose herself.
“Young Mr Varela should make a full recovery. He lost some blood, and we took some time assessing just how deep the wound was, but he was very lucky. None of his organs were harmed in the attack. He’s been stitched up and given some pain medication. He’s sleeping at the minute but I’ll come and get you when he wakes up.”
“Thank you, doctor,” I said as my parents walked back to their seats.
We sat, waiting for an update, the sky had started lightening - the sun would soon be rising. My phone buzzed in my hand as a text came through. Not surprised I looked down to see Nikolai’s name flash across my screen. I had expected him to get in touch eventually, as soon as he realised that no one was home.
Where are you? — N
I ignored it for the time being. I couldn’t exactly answer right now, with my parents sitting only feet away. It was a risky move, but I knew for a fact that if I heard his voice I would crumble.
So far, adrenaline buzzed through my veins. The fight or flight response had attacked my system, and I was still heavily feeling it’s effects. I dreaded thinking about what would happen when I returned to normal. My brother had snuck into my room and attempted to kill me. As much as I hated Ambrose, I was still reeling from the events of tonight.
I knew that at any minute the dam would break, without a doubt I would need Nikolai. He was my rock, my constant through this all. But the Varela’s still had no idea that he was still in town, safe to say that they definitely didn’t know that we were still together.
After tonight, I would admit defeat. I couldn’t handle much more, I couldn’t take being away from Nikolai and our home much longer. I missed him too much. But I wouldn’t take this moment away from them, their only son was in the hospital, put there by his sister because he’d threatened to kill her. I would give them time to deal with that first.
Fucked. This was all so completely fucked up.
I tried to relax and reel myself in as it neared eight in the morning. Eventually, a nurse approached us to take us through to a private room where Ambrose laid awake and lucid.
I watched from the doorway as our parents ran to him, hugging him. My heart ached. In a way, I felt like I was intruding on a private family moment - of someone else’s family. I think if he hadn’t just tried to kill me I would have felt sympathetic - guilty for stealing his parents away from him. After all, he’d grown up an only child, he was used to all the love and devotion our parents had to give. And clearly, they were used to only having one child to love.
It was such a shame that once again, I didn’t fit in there. But in another respect, I was at peace with it. Like I’d said the first time I met Rachel and Kaleb, I may have been curious about them, but I wasn’t looking for a family.
I’d found one. Albeit unconventional, but it was mine. I loved the King brothers and they had accepted me.
