Page 140 of Until We Burn
When the newscast ends, I try to stay as poised as I can with everyone’s attention fixed on me.
“I took the blame for a scandal I was never a part of. I did it to appease my father and to prevent it from overshadowing other important news in the world. But enough is enough.” I grip my champagne glass so tightly, an ache shoots through my bones. “Ever since the start of the CEO running, I’ve worked hard to secure a joint project to strengthen the partnership between the HMG, Decibel 6, and the Pacific Observer. My ambition has always been to uphold the family name, and my ambition has never wavered.”
Respect dons upon the faces of everyone at the table.
Bàba rises from his seat. My heart pounds under my chest, drumming with an apprehension that makes me light-headed.
“The sharpest, lethal blades must endure the most strenuous tests to prove their strength.” His grin burns with such bright, boastful pride as he salutes me with his champagne glass. “I always knew you had it in you.To Diana!”
Everyone raises their glass.“To Diana!”
My heart doesn’t relent. My breath doesn’t unhitch. Not even when bàba nods approvingly at me. All I can hear through the applause are those words.
I always knew you had it in you.
CHAPTER 55
KAI
When you’re a hockey player,you’re no stranger to hospitals.
With all the muscles we tear and bones we break, the boys always joke that it’s basically our second home away from the ice. But this time, the hospital feels like a hellscape of beeping machines and suffocating dread that you just want to claw at your skin and scream.
I punch my order into the vending machine. My phone suddenly lights up in my hand.
UNCLE MANU
Almost there. Heading towards the parkade now.
I slump against the vending machine in relief.
Every reading week, Uncle Manu always drives up to visit from Surrey. I love when he visits. But I’m even more grateful for it now because I need a hug from him after the fucked up day I’ve had.
The vending machine churns. I snatch the sandwich from the pick-up box and head back to Wallace’s room. In the dim light, the zigzagging lines on his heart monitor beeps steadily. Rowan and Luke sit around his bed. Luke fidgets in the stiff, worn-down chairs the nursesgave us. Rowan slouches back in his, as he updates Shelby through text.
Wallace sleeps quietly through it all.
My heart aches hard under my chest. I try to breathe through it no matter how much it hurts.
The doctor said Wallace is going to be fine. He only has a few broken ribs that will need some time to heal. It’s just not fucking fair. Wallace has nothing to do with any of our bad blood on the ice. He shouldn’t have to bleed for a fight he was never a part of.
Something pops beneath me. I look down and see a dent in the plastic sandwich box squeezed between my hands.
“Merde.”
My thumb smooths over the dent, trying to even it out before I fucking give up. I drop down into the seat beside Luke. I nudge him with the box. He doesn’t answer. His attention stays on Wallace like it has been for the last several hours.
“Luke, come on,” I coax. “You need to eat something.”
“I’mfine,”Luke snaps. That shining, carefree light in his eyes dies under the distant, exhausted stare that brews with so much repressed anger.
I sigh and glance at the time. It’s been hours since we last checked in and Luke hasn’t eaten anything except the taro roots I baked for breakfast.
I pop open the box and lift the sandwich to Luke’s mouth.
“You don’t need to look away, buddy. Just open your mouth.”
Luke’s jaw twitches. He briefly glances at the sandwich. Then, he opens his mouth and takes one bite. He looks back at Wallace.
