Page 93 of Falling into Place
This wasn’t him, it wasn’t his mom, and he was at work. Taking care of broken bodies was his job. There was a survivor and maybe he could save this one.
“Has family been informed?” Brooks asked, pushing through the double doors of the unit.
“Yeah.” Brooks frowned at Sanjay’s tone. “The couple’s seventeen-year-old son. He knows his mom’s gone, and I swear, Brooks, that might have been one of the hardest fucking things I’ve ever done. He’ll be in the waiting room. I told him you’d come talk to him once you’ve assessed his dad’s situation. I hope your news is better than mine was.”
A wave of dizziness washed over Brooks. He mumbled something to Sanjay and ended the call, pressing one hand into the wall. He searched the hallway and lurched for the nearest staff bathroom.
His knees hit the tile as the coffee burned its way up his throat.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carly
I’m a sucker for friends to lovers. Especially when it’s one of those slow burns that sneaks up on them. Like, he’s known her for years and they have that closeness and trust of a deep friendship, and bam! One day, he wakes up and realizes he’s madly in love.
—Carly Porter at the office book club, last spring
Carly hadn’t talked to Sasha for a week, which was the longest they’d ever gone, even when Carly lived two states away. She didn’t blame Sasha for her silence, but still, it ate at her all week and only abated when she showed up at Social Capital for Kendall’s birthday Saturday evening. Sasha was there, too, and Carly kept her distance at first, wanting to give Sasha whatever space she needed. But when Sasha complimented Carly’s purse—a vintage find she’d stumbled across at an estate sale last week—Carly knew they’d be okay. It may take a few weeks and some groveling on Carly’s part, but they’d get there.
When the party was over, her first thought as she walked to her car was to call Brooks, but she hesitated after pulling up his contact.
They hadn’t talked in two days. Not really. He’d called yesterday after work but hadn’t sounded good. He’d told her his shift had been rough and he’d stayed several hours over. She’d asked if he wanted to come over and she’d make him dinner, hoping he’d agree and talk to her about what had been so difficult. She couldn’t imagine having a job like his and would probably need regular therapy to keep some semblance of a healthy mental state if she did.
He’d declined in a way that tugged at her heart, and she’d let him go. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him, though.
With a frown, she put her phone down and turned on the ignition. She grabbed takeout on the way home and ate in front of the television. When the clock neared eight, she glanced at her phone again, wondering if Brooks was okay. She wasn’t the kind of person who processed difficult things alone, but she could appreciate their differences there. She didn’t want to push if he wasn’t ready to talk.
As if her thoughts had summoned him, her phone rang.
“Hey,” she said with a smile. “I was just thinking about you.”
“Quick, who makes shoes with the red soles?”
“Christian Louboutin, why?”
“I’m at Fassler Hall with Jeff for trivia.”
That was so much better than her mental image of him at home, alone and upset. “Brooks Martin, are you cheating?”
“We already turned our answers in, I just wanted to know if I was right.”
“Were you?”
He laughed. “Not even close.”
“Should have asked me to come,” she said, only half joking.
“I would have,” he said, followed by a shuffling noise as if he were getting up and walking. His voice lowered. “But Jeff said this was a guy’s team only. No girls allowed. And yes, he said it like that, like we’re in fifth grade and just put up a ‘Keep Out’ sign on our tree house to keep the cooties away.”
Jeff did take trivia very seriously. She avoided being on his team at all costs.
Suddenly the background noise was gone, like he’d stepped outside. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing, just hanging out at home.”Wishing you were here.
“Game’s almost over, mind if I come over after?”
“I’d love that.”
