Page 56 of Avalanche
“I’m looking for Seth Baker,” Eddie continues. “He would have just been admitted, maybe ten minutes ago or so. Do you know where we can find him?”
The woman pushes up her glasses as she squints at her computer screen, lacquered nails clacking as she taps something out on her keyboard.
“Seth Baker, you said?” She echoes. A few more taps of the keyboard followed by pursed lips and a wary look up at Eddie. At the group of us now clustered around him, holding our breath. “He’s in ICU, level 1. The trauma center.” A pause, a slow blink. “The reception for the trauma center is that way, but I doubt they’ll let you see him. Only close family.”
“He’s our brother,” Eddie tells her without missing a beat.
The receptionist lifts an eyebrow, her gaze drifting pointedly to Antoine.
“Antoine’s Matty’s brother-in-law,” Eddie clarifies, waving to me and Antoine’s clasped hands. The receptionist’s eyes catch on the ring peeking out from between me and Antoine’s clasped fingers and she gives an approving nod.
“Well, head on over that way,” she says, tilting her chin to a corridor to the left, her tone heavy with sympathy. “The team at the trauma center will let you know when you can see him.”
“Brother,” Matty whispers when we’re out of earshot. “Really?”
Eddie shrugs. “What? It’s not that unbelievable, right? This is Utah. Don’t people have big families here? So what’s a couple of brothers and a sister?”
Antoine’s hand tightens around mine, making Matty’s ring press against my skin.
That woman hadn’t doubted that me and Antoine were married, either.
Back home, someone my age saying they were married would get a few raised eyebrows, at least. No one I know is married. None of my friends have even talked about it.
And yet, it’s almost the truth, isn’t it? Antoine has booked in a date at the court for it and everything.
When we get to the trauma center, it turns out all Eddie’s sweet-talking was for nothing.
“I’m sorry,” a nurse tells us shortly. His eyes are ringed with lack of sleep, the faintest hint of stubble darkening his rounded cheeks. “Only one family member permitted while they’re operating. But you can wait here and someone will come and update you once he’s stable.”
My breath catches on the nurse’s words and I find myself stumbling back, my legs nearly tangling beneath me as I sink into one of the waiting room chairs.
In surgery? He’s in surgery?
I squeeze my eyes shut, throat tight as I think about Seth just down the hall. Unconscious. In pain. Alone.
“But Liam is with him, right?” Antoine asks the nurse, the seat creaking as he sits beside me. “He’s not by himself?”
“That’s his brother? The one who rode in the ambulance with him?” the nurse asks, checking something on his clipboard. “Then yes, he’s with him.”
Antoine lets out a sigh of relief and I find my own chest relax, just a little. Enough that I can loosen my hold on Antoine’s fingers and pull his hand onto my lap instead.
“It might be a few hours,” the nurse informs us, glancing brusquely at the small digital clock pinned to the front of his scrubs. “But there’s a cafeteria that way if you need anything.” He waves one hand in the direction of the main lobby, then gives the group of us a look of mild curiosity and one tired but reassuring smile before excusing himself and leaving us alone.
Matty drops into the seat beside me but Eddie stays standing, one foot tapping against the clean linoleum with a frenzied staccato.
“You alright?” Matty asks him.
Eddie turns to look at him in surprise, his eyes a little too wide, his answering grin a little too forced.
“I’m fine.”
“You wanna sit down?” Matty pats the seat on his other side. “It sounds like it’s gonna be a while.”
Eddie stares blankly at the empty seat. The tapping of his foot intensifies, setting an almost frantic rhythm.
“Yeah. Nah. I’m good.”
“What is this ‘yeah nah’ thing, anyway?” Antoine asks teasingly, but his voice reminds me of a stretched rubber band. “Is it a yes or a no?”
