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AUGUST
Mom:There’s been an accident, August. Levi’s in the hospital. He’s okay but he’s asking for you. How soon can you be here?
August:On my way.
“Levi. Levi. I’m looking for a Levi O’Brien. Please.”
“Sir, I just need your ID, and I will get you checked in.”
“Graves. August Graves. I’m his brother.”
The lady at the desk nods, but I don’t respond. Not when Levi is hurt and I have yet to see with my own two eyes that he’s safe.
I won’t rest until I see for myself.
“Your badge, Mr. Graves.” She hands me the sticker with my photo. “I gotta say, I’m a big fan?—”
“That’s great,” I blurt out, cutting her off and not caring for a second what she has to say. Right now, I need to get to room 505 and check on my little brother.
I made it to Tybee Island early in the morning, needing to be with Tenley. Her call last night did nothing but makeme feel restless without her, and as much as she would never admit it, I knew that was her way of missing me.
Telling me she needed me.
Driving through the night to get there was the only option. Then, to hear her ask me to stay. To live with her and our son. I threw myself a silent dance party at 3:00 a.m., giddy as shit over the leap she took in asking.
What I didn’t expect, though, was to wake up at seven to a text from my mom about Levi. Tenley was still sleeping, so I slipped out quietly, leaving her a note to see when she wakes up.
I still don’t know what happened with Levi, but I intend to find out and ask questions.
The walls in the cold hospital feel like they’re closing in. Nothing but anxious families surround me, accompanied by the smell of stale coffee and sterile cleaning products. My heart rate picks up at the sight of Levi’s room a few feet away. Without warning, I pummel through the heavy door, his name pouring out of me in worry.
“Levi. Bud.”
My eyes scan the room, finding my mom in the corner chair, cradling Tatum asleep against her chest. “August.”
“What happened, Mom?” my voice croaks as I take in Levi, hooked to endless cords and beeping monitors. I run my eyes across his frame, looking for any signs of injury, and find nothing but a massive knot on the corner of his forehead. Bruised and scraped up. He’s asleep, so he can’t hear me when I turn to my mom.
“Mom, what the hell happened?”
She doesn’t react, but I know she can hear the slight accusation in my tone. It may be cruel of me to silently worry that her not paying close enough attention to himmay have something to do with it, but I won’t apologize for that.
Not when I’ve spent years being the one taking care of my siblings while she fell off the deep end, time and time again.
Yes, she’s doing better, and that’s why I’m not outwardly accusing her.
But she knows.
“He hit his head skateboarding. It was a freak accident, honey. Tater, his friend from the skatepark, said it was a ramp he’s dropped in on plenty of times. But this time, the board slipped out behind him, and he fell forward. He has a concussion.”
My stomach sinks. “Fuck,” I exhale, thankful it’s nothing worse. “Little adrenaline junkie.”
Mom sighs. “He gets that from you, I’m afraid.”
I smirk, my nerves settling as I take a seat beside Levi on his hospital bed. “Doctors said he’s okay, though? How long will he be asleep?”
Mom whispers, “He’s going to be just fine, honey. He’s just resting now. You should have heard him when we got here. He was rambling on about god knows what. Wild and crazy things I’ve never heard him talk about.”
