We make it to the hospital a little later than planned. Aunt Morgan had a difficult time getting herself together after Michael’s visit, and who could blame her. She’s a tear-stained mess even now, and hasn’t spoken a word in over an hour.
The minute we walk into Pap’s room, a nurse informs us the doctor has been looking for Gram. They just ran more tests and he needs to go over the results. As she turns to walk out of the room, Gram flops down on the chair beside Pap’s bed to hold his hand.
Dru breathes out a heavy sigh.
I move to where my brother stands against the wall. “What’s wrong, Dru? What aren’t you telling us?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I can’t feel anything. I don’t know how to explain it. But it’s really freaking me out.” He shivers, arms crossing over his chest.
“Well, maybe you’re just having an off day. Perhaps your radar is just on the fritz.” I wrap my arm around him, leaning my head into his shoulder.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” He rests his chin on top of my head. “Let’s go pop-a-squat on the couch while we wait.”
“Sounds good.”
As we move to the couch along the far wall, a pleasant surprise comes traipsing through the door. “Hello, everyone.” Hunter sends a cheerful wave to the room, but no one shares his mood. A simple “Hello” is all he gets.
I feel my face light up as he comes to my side and leans down, placing a feather-soft kiss upon my welcoming lips. “What a nice surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you until later.”
“Yeah, well I haven’t seen my buddy for a few days, so I figured it was the perfect time since I knew you’d be here, too. Who can say ‘no’ to a two-for-one deal?” He winks.
He’s so adorable. I’d love to wrap my arms around him this very second, but this isn’t the time or place.
I stand back up and grab his hand, pulling him out of the room for a little privacy. “Well, I’m really glad you’re here. I could use a pick-me-up. So much has happened since I saw you last night.”
“Is everything okay?” His brows crinkle.
I shake my head. “Not really. It’s a long story. I’ll have to explain it later. Right now we’re waiting for Dr. Gaslightwala to tell us the latest test results.”
“Oh, I see. So it’s not good then?” He wraps his arms around me. Like a new reflex, his touch makes me feel safe. Comforted.
“We don’t know yet, but Gram and Dru have a bad feeling about it.” Hunter and I turn to look at their glum faces through the window.
“Would you like me to stay with you until you find out? I can visit Trevor a little later.”
“Really?” I squeeze my arms around him. “I’d like that.”
“Anything for you, Miss Chloe.” He rubs my back, holding me with so much tenderness.
“You know, a girl could get used to this. I feel so safe with you.” I place my head over his heart. The slow, rhythmic thud soothes me.
“That’s because I protect people for a living.” He squeezes me, chuckling like a little boy. How cute.
“No. It’s because of you.”
He pushes me back at arm’s length, staring me in the eyes. “Thank you. That means a lot.” He brushes the side of my face with the back of his fingertips. “Let’s go back in. Your family needs you right now.”
When we turn around, we realize they’re all watching us. My face heats up as we walk back in the room. Why do they insist on doing that? Gees.
Ash and Aidan smirk as they stare. I guess momentary distraction isn’t so bad. But why does it always have to be at my expense?
I know, I know. Penance!
With Hunter’s face as red as mine feels, we take a seat at the oak table while we wait.
Just as we sit, Dr. Gaslightwala walks in. “Good evening, everyone.” He smiles, but his non-responsive eyes make it seem forced.
Oh, no. This can’t be good.
We say “good evening” in return.
“I’m afraid I don’t have good news. Something happened today with Samuel.” His hand with the clipboard falls to his side. “We can’t be sure if it’s from the pressure on his brain, from the tumor growing, or from a lesion, but he’s taken a turn for the worst. There’s really no way to say this, other than Samuel is brain dead. The tests we did thirty minutes ago show no brain activity of any kind. I’m so sorry, but there’s nothing more we can do for him. This was completely unexpected.” His glassy eyes look down.
What?
This can’t be happening. Oh, my god, no!
My heart races out of control. “I don’t understand. He was doing so well.”
“We knew the risks before we performed the surgery. His tumor was in a delicate area of the brain. It’s still a surprise to me, too, but there was no way to predict what would happen or how he’d react.” He looks around the room at our shocked faces, not knowing what to say. He walks over to Gram and pulls a chair up to sit beside her.
Dr. Gaslightwala places his hand on her knee. “We need to discuss what you’d like to do, Aurora. Samuel discussed his wishes with me many times. But once we turn off the machines, you need to realize he’ll be gone.”
She looks up, a numb expression crossing her face. “Can we take him home? If it’s truly his time, I know he’d prefer it if his last moments are in our home with just the family.”
“Absolutely, Aurora. We can take care of whatever you need. Just let us know when you’d like us to make the arrangements.”
She turns her head, looking around the room at the solemn faces soon to be devastated, then turns back to Dr. Gaslightwala. “Tomorrow. Let’s bring him home tomorrow.”
“Consider it done. If there’s anything you or your family need, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He manages a polite smile, reaching for her hand. “He was a wonderful man, Aurora. I’m so sorry there wasn’t more we could do.”
“Thank you, doctor.” She lets go of his hand and reaches across the bed to hold onto Pap’s.
Hunter moves his chair closer, wrapping his strong arm around me. I lean into him but don’t say anything. No one does. How much more can this family handle in one day? It’s one thing to find out about the Russo’s—but this is something altogether different.
Gram turns to face us. “This isn’t over. I’m not giving up.” Then she walks out of the room with her head held high.
We look around the room at each other, nervous expressions etched across everyone’s suspecting faces. Like everyone else, I’m sure we know what she has in mind: she’s planning some sort of major spell.
Has she figured out a way to bring someone back from the dead? Oh my god, I hope not. That’s not something to screw around with. I stiffen at the thought of it. Pap would never want her going to such extremes, but once she makes her mind up, no one can change it. We’re all stubborn like that.
Aunt Morgan gets up to follow Gram, but the rest of us stay seated. I don’t have the first clue of what I should do. Everyone knows how I handle this sort of thing. But no matter what, I have to be strong. If I flake again on my family, they’ll never forgive me. Nor should they.
Hunter whispers in my ear, “Is there anything I can do?”
The only answer I can give him is, “Thanks, Hunter. I guess the only thing left to do at this point, is pray.”
“Would you like me to leave you alone with your family?”
God, no! But I should talk to them about Gram. “Not really. But maybe now would be a good time for you to visit Trevor.”
“Okay. I can do that. If you need me, though . . . for anything . . . just text me. Or come down the hall to find me, okay?” He has that vacant look in his eyes men get when they feel helpless.
“I will. I promise.” I kiss him goodbye.
As he stands to leave, I grab his hand. “Thank you for being here, Hunter. It means more than you know.”
He smiles, the affection resting there, warms my heart to its core.
Once Hunter’s out of sight, I speak up about my sus
picions. “Gram’s up to something.” I turn to Dru and Dhelia. “Has she come up with some sort of ‘raising the dead’ spell?”
They look back and forth between each other, shaking their heads.
“Not that I know of, but then again, she doesn’t usually share her spells with us.” Dru’s drawn expression proves he’s just as concerned as I am.
“You don’t really think she’d do something crazy like that, do you?” Dhelia looks to Dru for reassurance. He shrugs.
But what if Gram can? I mean, technically Pap isn’t ‘dead’, so maybe there is something she can do. Magic is capable of powerful things.
As sudden pangs of hope go coursing through my veins, I realize how free we are with our discussion in front of Ash and Aidan.
I turn to see their wide-eyed faces locked on us. “Oh crap. We must have you guys freaked out right now.” I wait for a sign that they’re confused—or afraid.
“Actually,” Aidan tilts his head to the side, “we know a lot more than anyone realizes. We have for quite some time now.” He gives a sly smirk as he delivers this juicy little tidbit.
“Oh, really?” I ask. “How is that even possible? I know your mom never talked about it when I was around.” I can’t wait to hear this answer.
Ash hunkers down in his chair like he’s about to drop a bombshell. “Well, when we were younger, she used to tell us stories about the family’s magic. But she made it clear no one would be using it under her roof. She told us we were free to choose for ourselves when we were adults . . . so that’s what we did. We just haven’t shared it with her yet. We didn’t want to upset either one of you. We knew you were just as against magic as she was.”
“Wow. I never would have guessed. How long has this been going on?”
“Oh, I guess since we went away to school. Once we were on our own and figured out how to unbind our powers, we did a lot of experimenting.” Ash crosses his arms over his chest and grins.
Why does this surprise me so much? I lift my foot up under my butt, releasing a heavy sigh.
“So you like magic then?” Dhelia asks.
“Hell, yeah. What’s not to like? It’s so cool to have powers. But don’t worry. We did our homework . . . and we know the rules. We’d never put the family at risk, and we’re careful not to let our secret get out.” I can tell from Aidan’s serious tone he’s telling the truth.
They’re both mature for their age, so I’m sure they’re wise about their choices.
As I’m about to ask more questions, Gram and Aunt Morgan walk back in the room.
“Are you kids ready?” Gram asks in a hurried voice. “There’s a lot of work ahead of us to get the house ready for tomorrow. We should get started right away.”
Aunt Morgan stands beside Gram without saying a word. With her dark rings and slouching posture, she looks like she’s ready to collapse. My heart goes out to her.
We get up and grab our things and I send Hunter a quick text to let him know we’re leaving as we follow Gram to the elevator. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a more unsettling silence in my entire life.