Page 108 of The Unseen

We’ll be there. We.

It hits me square in the chest. My bubble of love and yearning in my chest sinks until it hits my gut. His words penetrate the fragile bubble I’ve held inside for too long.

Danny. Something’s happened to him.

I’m off the couch before he gets off the phone.

“Yes, she’s coming. Send me the address, Luca.”

He hangs up, turning toward me. He closes the distance between us within a few strides, but something tells me we’re further away from each other than we have been in weeks.

“Tell me,” I whisper.

“Danny is in hospital.”

I wait for him to tell me this is some awful joke. But his eyes tell me he’s telling the truth.

“You promised me,” I say as a small sob escapes. I draw away from him, and his face falls.

“We should go now,” he says as I push past him, headingfor the front door.

We don’t speak in the car, and despite going over the speed limit, it feels like the longest journey of my life.

“You’re bleeding,” he says, pulling my hand away from my mouth.

I look down, and he’s right. I’ve chewed my thumb so much that blood is slipping down the knuckle. I put my hand back into my lap, and Austin clenches his fist for a split second before returning to ten and two on the wheel.

Reaching the hospital, I dart inside, not waiting for Austin. I’m focused on getting to my brother, seeing him with my own eyes. It must be bad. Otherwise, Austin would have told me he was okay. But I don’t want to hear it from him. I don’t want to hear anything from him right now.

Someone must have called ahead because they know who I am when I reach the desk. A nurse calls the doctor over, and he drops everything to speak with me. His eyes dart between me and Austin, who remains quiet behind me. It’s now I realize how intimidating he must look. He’s tall, broad, and with a reputation for violence. Even without that, he has a presence that commands a room, and he doesn’t have to say a word.

The doctor walks us through the hospital quickly; words like “induced coma,” “cracked femur,” and “fractured eye socket” ring through my ears as bile rises in my throat. The glare of the corridor lights stings my eyes, and the smell of disinfectant sterilizes my lungs as we push past room after room.

We reach a room with the blinds closed and the door shut. The man I’d seen in my basement with Austin all those weeks ago sits slumped out front in the blue plastic hospital chairs. He stands immediately, whispering something to Austin. It pisses me off more than it should.

“You should brace yourself,” the doctor warns softly.

He twists the handle, entering the dimly lit room. A bright line shines in the corner, but the rest of it is almostfluorescent. The beeping of his heart rate monitor is steady, regular, and a comforting sound to hear.

I move past the doctor and a petite blonde nurse who is in the room already. She glances between the doctor and me and presses her lips together in a flat line.

Danny’s face is unrecognizable. I’m not even sure how they would know it’s him. One side of his face is so swollen; it’s like a purple balloon animal has been stuck to his face. Dried blood still clings to his other cheek as if they haven’t had time to clean him up yet. A breathing tube hangs limply out of his mouth, his chest inflating and deflating at an unnaturally regular speed. I go to reach for his hand, but the nurse blocks my arm before I can.

“Try the other side, honey.” Her voice is warm with a Southern twang I can’t quite place. I move around the bed, taking his hand in mine. Tears fall down my cheeks as I sob openly.

All those years I was raising him, barely keeping the lights on just to keep him in school. We’d made it, hadn’t we? We’d made it to adulthood, and things were finally starting to go well. We were turning a corner. We weren’t just scraping by anymore. We were growing, building.

“Olivia.” I hear Austin’s deep voice crack behind me.

I can’t look at him. I can’t. Everything he’s done, it’s all for nothing because he’s broken the only promise that really mattered. He told me Danny would be safe. He told me the business was legitimate.He told me. He told me. He told me.His words, his promises. They mean nothing.

He promised.

He told me he was in love with me.

I think I fell in love with you that day.

I couldn’t wait. You have to know.

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