Page 209 of Story of My Life
We weren’t going to walk out of here short one family member this time.
But no matter what I told myself, I couldn’t stop from feeling like I was in free fall again. Like the rug had just been yanked out from under me when I should have been expecting it again.
“What room?” I demanded as we turned down another corridor.
“402,” Levi said grimly.
“She’s fine. Mom said she’s fine,” Gage insisted, without slowing his pace.
I hadn’t been with them last time. I imagined my brothers racing through hallways a year ago while I was getting the news hours away. That time there hadn’t been any assurances andthe what-ifs that we worried about weren’t nearly as bad as the reality waiting for us.
“There,” Levi said, pointing past two nurses.
We burst into the room, nearly getting wedged in the doorway.
“Seriously? You called the three stooges?” Laura complained from the bed. She had a bandage on her forehead and bruising on her face. She was fine. This time.
She’s had a traumatic spinal injury. We won’t know how extensive the damage is until she regains consciousness.I shook my head to dislodge the memory of the grim-faced doctor delivering news that changed our family’s trajectory.
“Your brothers are just worried about you,” Mom said, patting Laura’s knee.
“What the hell happened, Larry? You decide to wrestle with Melvin?” Gage asked, all easygoing charm.
Miller didn’t make it.Gage had been the one to tell me. They’d waited to share that bit of devastation until I’d arrived at the hospital.
“Yeah, you look like shit,” Levi added, leaning against the wall next to the whiteboard.
Patient Laura Upcraft.
I felt sweaty and dizzy. There wasn’t enough oxygen in the room as my panicked brain combined past with present.
Laura sighed. “If I tell you, will you all promise to go the hell home?”
“Yes,” we lied in unison.
“I was transferring off the toilet and didn’t lock my fucking wheel. I cracked my head on the stupid vanity, okay? Happy now?”
Gage snorted. Levi smirked. I stood there, trying to catch my breath.
“Oh, fuck you. At least I can still do this,” Laura said, giving us all the middle finger.
“Your sister’s got a couple of stitches and a bump on the head,” Mom explained cheerfully.
She doesn’t know. The kids don’t know,Mom had whispered from my sister’s bedside where she clutched Laura’s bandaged hand.
“Good thing she’s got a thick head,” Levi interjected.
We don’t know if she’s going to make it.I remembered Levi delivering that news with the finesse of a sledgehammer.
“Thanks for that breaking news, Mom. Now can everyone just go home. Maybe one of you doofuses can check on the kids while I talk them out of trying to keep me overnight? They’re blowing up my phone with stupid memes, and Isla said Dad tripped over Melvin while making them dinner.”
“I’ll check in on them,” Gage volunteered.
What are we gonna do if she doesn’t wake up?No one had dared ask that question out loud. But I knew we had all been thinking it.
“You want anything from home? I can swing by with him and pick up some girl shit,” Levi offered.
I wanted to do something helpful. But my tongue felt like it was three sizes too big for my mouth and I couldn’t stop sweating.
