Page 48 of Axe-ing for Trouble
“Are sleeping off last night’s bender.” She cut me off. “This is our best chance.”
She pulled the gray beanie lower, tucking her hair inside. Between that and the sunglasses, she was almost unrecognizable. The Racine field jacket I’d pulled out of the closet for her made her look like another hiker, roaming the woods with me and my dog.
But I couldn’t shake the fear, the feeling that we were in danger.
Though her injuries were healing, she still had a way to go. Willa insisted she still wear her sling, and she’d only just finished the antibiotics.
Being out here must be terrifying for her.
The uncertainty and danger ate at me. This had to end. It had changed the lives of every one of my brothers. We’d never be the people we were before Dad went to prison. And Mila? How could she ever go back to the life she’d lived before her brother was attacked?
I consulted the map on my phone as we walked the path, headed to a more densely wooded area. We’d put a lot of time into planning our search grid and recreating the route she’d taken. From the parking lot, we’d have to hike a couple of miles before we hit our search perimeter. We sipped coffee from the thermos I’d brought and walked quietly as Ripley jumped over exposed roots and sniffed almost every tree.
“The forest reminds me of Hugo,” Mila said, tilting her head to look up at the gray sky. “He’s the outdoorsy one. A habitat biologist. Total idealist. Believes that business and nature can coexist, that we can protect plants and animals if we do it right.”
I hummed in agreement.
She let out a humorless chuckle. “All that hope and belief in doing what’s right, and he ended up almost beaten to death outside your office.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, chest aching. That was a hard day for us. I couldn’t imagine the pain she felt when she’d gotten the news. “Lila, my brother’s fiancée, found him while she was on a run. Called 911 and gave him CPR.”
She dipped her chin and tugged the collar of her jacket up higher. “I’ve read all the police reports. Someday I’d like to thank her in person.”
As we walked, our breaths puffed out in white clouds in front of us. It was shaping up to be a typical Maine fall day. Though it was freezing now, by midafternoon, the sun would be out, warming the air to a bearable temperature, and for a glorious few hours, we’d take off our coats. As the sun started its descent, the jackets would reappear, and by nightfall, it would be freezing again.
“He was the quiet, gentle one. He was born premature, and even then, when I was five years old, I remember looking at him in the plastic bassinet at the hospital, thinking he was so tiny and helpless, vowing that I’d always protect him.
“He’s a grown man, but he’ll always be my little brother. The two of us stuck together. We were both nerdy kids. He was the outdoorsy one who loved science, while I was readingSherlock Holmes.”
It was baffling, the mixture of joy and pain on her face as she talked about her brother.
“He loved his job,” she continued, forging ahead. “He loved protecting the forest and its creatures. So every time I come out here, I feel that peace. Always have. Only now, it’s tinged with rage. Because the person who loves this”—she held out her good arm, gesturing to the forest—“the most, who taught me to stand still and appreciate nature, is currently in a hospital room hooked up to machines.”
My heart ached for her. “What’s the prognosis?”
She kicked a rock, sending it skittering into the brush. “Not great. Comas are weird. Most are very short, and some are very long. But he still has brain activity. Some days a lot of it. So it is possible he’ll recover. Now it’s a waiting game.”
I ducked my head and scratched at my neck, once again at a loss for the right thing to say. “I’m sorry.”
“He’ll come back. I know he will. I can’t fathom the alternative. His body responds to stimuli. We’ve had specialists from Boston come in several times. Initially it was swelling and a brain bleed, but then he had a stroke during surgery, which put additional stress on his brain.”
“Sounds like he’s getting excellent care.”
She shrugged. “Decent. I’d prefer he be in Boston. Mass General has a neurology ICU and the best doctors in the world, but given his odds, they did not accept him when I pushed for it. My mom doesn’t want him moved there anyway. She can’t afford to pack up and relocate to Boston to be with him every day. So it’s fine.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Eh, it’s medicine.” She lifted one shoulder. “They want the cases they can cure and write papers about in journals. But I don’t care what the odds are. They don’t apply to Hugo. He’s better than the rest of us. Kind and funny and filled with so much joy. He will wake up and he will get his life back.”
Her voice was filled with sadness, but the love she had for her brother radiated from her.
“You should have seen him as a kid, writing careful notes about the species of beetles in our backyard. So excited to talk our ears off about bird migration patterns or the role of moss in erosion control.”
That comment brought with it thoughts of my own brothers. The six of us had complicated relationships, but every one was built on love and camaraderie. For years, I’d had to worry each time Noah deployed to a fire. And there were times during Finn’s stint as a Navy pilot when he flew missions that demanded a level of security that kept him from contacting any of us.
“That was one of the reasons,” she said softly.
So wrapped up in my own thoughts, I missed what she’d said. “Sorry.” I shook the cobwebs from my mind. “Reasons for what?”
