Page 9 of The Refiner

I’m about to rush Dr. Cox like a linebacker.

I did not break several traffic laws and get here in two and half hours, only to be stopped in the hallway, mere feet from my sister’s room.

“I know you want to see your sister, but we need to discuss her condition….” He looks at the nurse next to him as if he’s looking for support. “…and her wishes.”

That term has me whipping my head around. “What do you mean,her wishes?”

Dr. Cox extends his hand. “Let’s go to one of the conference rooms where we can discuss this in private.”

Every muscle in my body locks up. Doctors usher you into conference rooms because they want you to have privacy when you break down from the news. “No. Tell me here in the hallway.”

In the back of my mind, I know that not going to a conference room won’t change the outcome of this news, but I can take control of this one small thing. I can decide where I hear this news. And I decide that this hallway, a few feet from my sister, is where I want my life to change irrevocably. Dr. Cox might not let me be next to my sister when he destroys my life, but I can stay close. Just knowing my sister waits for me a few feet away is enough.

“Are you sure, Ms. McKellan? The conference room will be more comfortable.”

Straightening my spine, I lift my chin and take a deep breath. “I won’t cry. I won’t disturb the other patients.” I’ve loitered in hospitals waiting on Piper more times than I can count. I know the concerns. “Please, just tell me what’s wrong with my sister.”

I must applaud Dr. Cox. I thought he would try to shuffle me into the conference room one more time. Instead, he sighs and rubs his forehead like I’m already bringing on a migraine. “Last night, Piper stopped breathing in one of the sleep rooms.”

Deep breath, Keys, you promised this man you wouldn’t cry.

“Her heart stopped, and she was in distress until a resident physician came in and found her on the floor.”

I already don’t want to hear the rest of the story. “But Piper’s okay, right? She’s alive?”

Dr. Cox offers me a grim nod. “We were able to save the baby, but Piper—”

The what?

I shake my head and chuckle. “I’m sorry, Dr. Cox. I think this all has been a huge misunderstanding. My sister wasn’t pregnant. She doesn’t even have a man.” Or a side piece. “I think you have her confused with someone else.” Maybe someone stole her hospital badge, and Piper is laid out on her sofa, napping like a queen?

“I’m sorry to give you this news, Ms. McKellan, but Piper was thirty-six weeks pregnant before delivering the baby in an emergency C-section.”

No, no, no. Piper would have told me if she was pregnant.

Piper’s phone call last night comes back to haunt me.

“I have news!”

“What kind of news?”

“The kind of news you share in person.”

With the ice-blue eyes, Dr. Hottie pops into my head, right next to Piper’s cryptic call.

Was Kenny right? Was my sister sleeping with her doctor friend? Did he knock her up, and she was too ashamed to tell me? Is that why she’s been avoiding me and canceling our dinners for months—because she was showing?

I’m going to kill him.

And if it’s not Dr. Hottie that knocked her up, I’ll kill that man too.

Ultimately choosing to put this shocking revelation behind me—for now—I level Dr. Cox with a pointed stare. “You said you were able to save the baby, but Piper…” I wave my hand for him to finish since I cut him off earlier.

“Piper was without oxygen too long.” His head drops to his chest, and he pulls in a breath. “Dr. McKellan is brain dead.”

Who knew two words could destroy your life?

Brain. Dead.

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