“Mom?” I question, answering her call as I move away from Bri. “What’s going on?”
Harsh sobbing cuts through the line. “Oh, Tanner,” she wails, her tone full of grief. “I only went to get a coffee and when I returned—”
“What happened?” I demand, unable to catch my breath. “Fuck, tell me she’s still alive.”
“I … I …”
“MOM,” I rush out, grabbing my shoes and flying out the door, halfway down the stairs before she can get out another sob. “What happened? Is Addison alright?”
“Barely,” she cries. “Someone came in here and tried to hurt her.”
“What?” I spit, racing through the bottom story of Channing’s home and breaking out into the cold night. I dash across to my house, the front door still unlocked. “What do you mean someone tried to hurt her? What happened?”
I break through the internal door to my garage and slam my hand down over the automatic door opener before racing toward my bike, searching over it for the key but finding it nowhere. “I don’t know,” Mom sobs. “No one is telling me anything, they just keep racing around. Two seconds, Tanner. I was gone for two seconds.”
Anger boils through my veins as I give up the search for my keys, certain Riley must have forgotten to leave them after he returned my bike, and I go for my Mustang instead, the keys already in the ignition. “WHAT HAPPENED?”
The tires screech as I hit the gas and like lightning, the Mustang lurches forward, shooting me out of the garage and down the street. “All I know,” she says as I struggle to hear her over the roar of my engine, “is that when I returned, all the doctors and nurses were racing in. The wires to her monitors and medication had all been cut and the ventilator … it looked as though someone had yanked it out of her throat. I just … I don’t understand who would do such a thing.”
I have a good fucking idea.
“Just stay with her,” I tell Mom. “Hold her hand. I’m coming.”
Mom ends the call and I push my Mustang faster, flying around corners until I finally hit the highway and put my foot to the floor. What’s usually a ten-minute drive is done in three and I park right out front before storming through the front doors.
Bradford Hospital is huge, but over the past six weeks, I’ve become all too familiar with this place. Being the dead of the night, it’s almost silent inside, and I grow frustrated having to wait for the elevator to arrive. I almost bail and take the stairs when it finally dings and I barrel into it, slamming my hand down over the button for the ICU.
I arrive on Addison’s level, and the moment the elevator door dings its arrival and opens wide, I’m already flying down the long hall. I hear Mom’s cries before I’ve even reached Addie’s room, and it pushes me faster. My feet pound against the linoleum and I grip the edge of the doorframe, using it to swing around and propel myself into Addison’s room.
I come to a screeching halt, needing a moment to take in everything that’s happening. There are two doctors and four nurses, each of them hovering over my sister, but none of them seem rushed, telling me that the brunt of the emergency has passed, but nothing—nothing—is sweeter than the soft rhythmic beep of her heart monitor.
I double over, catching my breath while keeping my eyes locked on Addison, scanning over her beautiful face and taking in the ventilator that’s keeping her alive.
Holy fuck. We almost lost her, and I was too fucking busy playing boyfriend to a girl I vowed meant nothing to me. I should have been here, should have been watching out for her, at least that way no one would have been able to come in while Mom was out. She would have been protected and I let her down.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I let Bri talk me out of beating his ass the other day. I was right there in Hope Falls, and I let her stop me. I let her take my pain and convince me to turn around. I’ve been so busy trying to play boyfriend that I’ve let it cloud what’s really important, and now, Addison has been hurt again. If I had just intervened, this could have been avoided.
“Oh, Tanner,” Mom sobs, finally seeing me at the entry of the private room. She throws herself into my arms and I catch her before she crumbles. “Who would do such a thing? Who would try to hurt my baby?”
Mom cries into my chest as I keep my eyes on Addison, watching as the doctors do everything they can to help her, and after twenty minutes, they move away and I’m faced with one of her regular doctors.
“Mrs. Morgan,” he says, placing a calming hand on her arm and giving me a tight smile.
Mom pulls away from me and hastily wipes her face on the back of her arms, trying to find some composure to speak with the doctor. “Is my baby going to be alright?”
“Yes,” he tells her. “We need to take her for routine testing just to be sure, however we believe this setback has not affected her chances in any way. The most damage would have been from the tubes being pulled from her throat. We can assume some bruising will occur, which we will look out for.”
“How did this happen?” I demand.
“That is the question we have all been wondering, Mr. Morgan,” the doctor says. “The police have been notified and are on their way, and as you can see,” he adds, indicating to the top corner of the room, “there are security cameras in each of our ICU rooms, the hallways, and reception areas. So, I am sure whoever did this will be caught and brought to justice. You have my word on that. The hospital will push for a result.”
“Thank you,” Mom says, her gaze falling back to Addison.
The doctor excuses himself and I walk over to my sister, scooping her hand into mine. I feel her pulse at her wrist and it calms the fear in my chest, but does nothing to ease the burning hot fury. She’s so beautiful, and I hate that I’ve never told her that. We have the typical sibling relationship. She comes into my space and I tell her to fuck off, and when I do the same, she whines to Mom and makes sure I’m punished, but I love her all the same, no matter how much she gets on my nerves.
She looks just like Mom, they’re the spitting image of each other, and with Mom’s need to shoot herself up with botox and have her hair and nails done, they could almost pass as sisters.
Addison’s hair is swept to the side, looking almost freshly brushed, clear evidence of Mom continuously running her fingers through her hair. Seeing her like this destroys me, but with her lying here so calm, I can almost imagine she was just sleeping, tucked in her bed at home without a care in the world.
If it weren’t for Colby Fucking Jacobs.
The asshole will die, and he’ll fucking die tonight.
Releasing her hand, I lay it back by her side, being as gentle as possible before taking a step back. Mom glances toward me, and I swear she can either feel the tension rolling off me or hear my thoughts screaming through my mind. “Tanner, don’t,” she warns. “Don’t do this. I can’t lose both of you.”
But it’s too late, I’m already storming out the door.
In the space of two minutes, I’m already back in my Mustang and flying toward Hope Falls, determination rippling through my body. Riley got me the fucker’s address the same night we learned who he was, and I’m not too proud to say that I’ve done countless drive-bys, casing the area, just hoping for a chance to get my hands on him.