Page 67 of One is Never Enough

Chapter 27

Oliver

Iwake up warm and comfortable, and then the day comes crashing down on me. I sit up with a gasp and wildly look around the ER waiting room. I’m curled into Toby’s lap, and he gives me a sad smile.

“You fell asleep, Baby.”

I rub the sleep from my eyes. “Any news?”

Toby’s smile drops, and no one else will look me in the eye. “Nothing yet. He’s still in surgery.”

“How long have I been asleep?”

“A couple of hours,” Leland answers.

“Has anyone heard from Aiden?”

Toby shakes his head. “No. Vince and Zac just left to retrace Cass’ steps. We’ll find him.”

“I don’t understand,” I whisper, trying like hell not to start crying again. I must have passed out from sheer fucking exhaustion.

“Toby Pierce?” Toby’s head snaps up at the sound of his name, and I scramble off his lap when I see a doctor. Toby stands beside me and grabs my hand like a lifeline.

“That’s me.”

The doctor pulls a dark blue scrub cap off, showing his sweaty gray hair. “I’m Dr. Bartlett. Mr. Masters is out of surgery and in recovery. We’ve done everything that we can. It’s up to him now.”

“How bad was it?” I ask.

“He had severe internal bleeding, a ruptured spleen, a broken femur, pelvis, and arm. His clavicle was fractured as were several fingers. He also has severe bruising on his face and most of his body. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he’s actually lucky. His stature probably saved him from dying on impact.”

“What do we do now?” Toby asks, pulling me into his side. I feel the slight tremor roll through his body and wrap my arms around his waist. Hearing everything wrong with Jace is like a punch to the gut.

“Like I said, it’s up to him now. He’s still on the ventilator and will be until he shows some signs of breathing on his own. The next forty-eight hours will tell us if he’ll make it out of this without any permanent brain damage. He went without breathing for a long time. If he does come off the ventilator, he’s looking at a long, hard road of recovery.”

“When can we see him?”

“After he’s out of recovery and in his room in the intensive care unit. I already gave your name to the nurse’s station, so you can go wait for him there.”

Toby sticks his hand out for the doctor and shakes it. “Thank you.”

The doctor nods and strides back down the hallway. Toby, Leland, and I make our way to the elevators that go to the ICU when Toby’s phone starts ringing. He checks it and stops walking before we can get on. “It’s Vince.” He slides to answer. “What’s up, man?”

I have no clue what Vince is saying, but Toby’s face turns pale. I grab his hand as he staggers back and slumps against the wall. He flips the phone to speakerphone and pulls up a different screen. “Give me the number.”

Vince rambles it off. “What do you want us to do?”

“I don’t know yet. Let me call you back.” Toby ends the call and dials another number.

“What’s going on?” I ask, my voice shaky. Toby ignores me and waits for whoever he called to pick up.

“Where the fuck is he?” Toby growls. “You were the last one to see him.” He flips it back to speakerphone, and I’m surprised when I hear Aiden’s dad.

“He left here around eight last night. He said he was going home to you guys.”

“He never told us he was going there. If I find out you had anything?—”

“Toby,” Mr. Powers said gently. “I swear I had nothing to do with Aiden’s disappearance. We actually fixed things last night. What do you need from me?”

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