Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 77936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
One of Colt’s deputies, a woman with long dark hair in a braid and cheekbones that could chisel a mountain, briefly stopped by as part of her accident investigation. Toxicology wasn’t back yet, but Faith’s erratic speeding near the fairgrounds had been reported by multiple witnesses. The passengers of the two other vehicles involved had, thankfully, very minor injuries, but that likely meant additional charges beyond a probable DUI. After the deputy left, there was nothing left for me to do but pray for hours that felt like centuries.
Adler fetched coffee and muffins I couldn’t bring myself to touch and helped me find a charger for my dwindling phone battery. As night fell, the hospital took on a certain stillness with fewer announcements, fewer people in the halls, and quieter voices. I was startled every time someone passed by our waiting area, but no one stopped until a young trauma surgeon with a riot of curly dark hair tucked into a tie-dye surgical cap came to sit next to me. The badge hanging off her scrubs revealed her to be Dr. King.
“Mr. Lovelorn?” Dr. King had kind but weary eyes.
“Yeah.” My breath got caught behind a boulder in my throat.
“Your sister made it through surgery.”
“Thank God.” I exhaled so hard I collapsed forward, hands on knees, breathing hard.
“She’s not out of the woods yet by any means,” Dr. King continued in her vaguely southern accent. “She’ll be transferred from recovery into the ICU on this floor. We’re keeping her sedated, but you should be able to see her soon. No visitors under eighteen.”
“Thank you.” My voice wavered. Never had two words seemed so inadequate.
After Dr. King left, I texted an actual update for Colt to pass on to Hannah. His reply came quickly.
I’ll tell her when she wakes up. Girls actually managed to go to sleep in Willow’s bunk beds.
I texted back, adding the honesty I could only express around Colt.
Good. I don’t know what to say when I see Faith.
You don’t have to say anything. Just be there. Say what you need to say, even if it’s nothing.
His reply made me need to swallow hard before I could type again.
Thanks.
Try to get some rest yourself at some point. You won’t do Faith any good if you wear yourself down to nothing.
Adler is making me eat. Should I send him for Hannah in the morning?
Don’t worry about Hannah. It’s Saturday and I’m off, and Aunt Georgia and Mom can help if needed.
Thanks.
Another highly inadequate reply, but it was all I had.
Sometime later, I was finally ushered back to a glassed-in ICU cubicle where Faith lay surrounded by beeping and buzzing monitors. No breathing tube, but her gorgeous face was bruised almost beyond recognition. The hair she took such pride in had been shaved around a very nasty-looking scalp wound. One leg was immobilized in some sort of air cast.
“Jesus, Faith,” I muttered before collecting myself. “What happened?”
I shook my head because I meant so much more than what had caused the accident. What had led us to this place where she was lying here, fighting for her life, the latest in a series of bad choices? What happened to the little girl who dreamed in ballet pink?
“I’m so sorry, Faith.” I sank into the lone visitor’s chair. My sister looked so small and vulnerable that my eyes burned and the words seemed to tumble out of my mouth.
“I meant what I said yesterday. You deserved more from your childhood. After Mom and Mel died, you tried hard to fill in the cracks. You took me into town so many times that first summer. You lost them too, and maybe you never really had a chance to grieve.”
I’d been a typical fourteen-year-old that summer, inwardly focused on my own pain and insurmountable loss, forgetting that Faith had lost a mom and brother she loved as well.
“And Dad was hard on us all. He ignored us unless it was to lecture or punish.” I’d suffered so much pain from my father’s emotional neglect and chilly demeanor, but Faith had as well. “You thought you’d found your escape in Houston, but all your prince charmings turned out to be a bunch of frogs. The world hasn’t been the kindest to you.”
No matter how hard I blinked, tears escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheeks.
“But the world also gave you Hannah. And she’s the best Lovelorn yet. She’s kind and generous and scary levels of smart. All summer, you’ve been battling your demons while she’s been flourishing with the horses. You need to watch—really stop and look—at her on horseback. She’s all the good parts of our gene pool.”
“And she’s why you have to fight, Faith.” I turned my voice stern. “Hannah loves you so much, and you know firsthand what it means to lose a mother young. You can’t do that to her. And for better or worse, you’re my last sibling. I don’t want to lose you. I want to help you, but you have to want that too.”