Page 160 of Missed Notes (Rixon High 5)

“Shit, Sofe. That’s not… I’m your brother. It’s my job to worry about you. To be there for you.”

“You’re here now.”

“Have the doctors said what’s happening?”

“Not yet. They’re still waiting to talk to Dr. Jeffries to see what he wants to do. They’ll probably transfer me to University Hospital, or maybe I’ll get to come home and go back Monday which was always the plan.”

“For the egg procedure thing, right?”

“Yeah. That’s Monday. And then all being well, treatment starts Tuesday.”

He nodded, his eyes glazing over a little. “Still can’t wrap my head around it. What does it mean for school? For college? Your future?”

“I don’t know. Nobody does yet.”

“It’s so fucking unfair.”

“It is.”

“I hate this for you.”

A sigh escaped me. “I know.”

“I wish you’d have told me from the start.”

“You know now, Aaron.” And that’s all that really mattered.

“Yeah.”

Tension lingered in the space between us. Maybe I’d broken something choosing to keep him in the dark, a piece of us that would never quite heal right. But I couldn’t wholly regret it. Not when it had saved him some of the initial heartache.

“So, what now?” he asked, squeezing my hand again. As if he was checking I was still here. Still alive and in one piece.

“I guess we wait.”

“Good thing I brought reinforcements then.”

“What do you mean?” I realized then he was one-handedly texting someone. “Aaron?” I asked when he smiled, glancing at the door. It swung open and Cole appeared, but he wasn’t alone.

“What are you all doing here?” My eyes shifted from Ezra to Poppy and then Ashleigh while Cole came around to the side of the bed. He ran his hand over my hair, smiling down at me.

‘Hi,’ he mouthed.

“Hi.”

“You think we’re going to let you go through this alone?” Poppy stepped forward, swiping a tear from her eye. “I’m sorry. I promised the guys I wouldn’t cry but I can’t… oh, babe.” She hurried to my bedside and grabbed my hand. “I’m so mad at you for not telling us.”

“Babe, we talked about this,” Aaron said, getting up to move around the bed to her. He sat in the chair and pulled her down on his lap, burying his face into her shoulder.

“I can’t believe you’re all here.”

“We’re family,” Ezra said, dragging another chair over. “It’s what we do.”

“Yeah.” A rush of emotion threatened to spill out.

“We need more chairs,” he declared. “I’ll go ask one of the nurses if they can find some.”

“You’re staying?”

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