The First to Die at the End (Death-Cast #0)(24)

For now, I’m sitting here in the waiting room. There’s no one to tend to, so I’m doing what the room was built for.

Waiting.

I’m waiting for Dalma to come out of the ER.

I’m waiting for Orion’s heart to settle.

I’m waiting for a premature death that could come around the corner any moment from now, even this very second. . . .

Nothing.

Everything is eerily still. It’s as if I’ve died already and I’m in purgatory, life’s ultimate waiting room.

Though I’m guessing I’m alive because there’s no way purgatory has a vending machine like the one across from me. It’s humming, like it wants me to know it’s there. To spend the money I can’t use to buy more time on some Pringles or Pepsi instead. I quit everything sugary a couple years ago since my smile and body are my work. I get up from this uncomfortable chair and stare into the vending machine at all the soda and chips and chocolate and candy. I zone out, remembering so many times where I said no to a dessert menu, or bite of pie, or Slurpee at a movie theater, or anything that would’ve brought me joy if I didn’t think it was going to threaten my body.

Caring so much about my livelihood meant not caring about how I was living.

I feel so stupid now.

I grab my wallet. I’m ready to spend every dollar I have on making up for lost snacks when I hear my name.

“Valentino,” Dalma says, coming out of nowhere. “You’re still here.”

“Was I supposed to leave?” I ask.

“No, not at all. It’s surprising that you would wait here, since . . . you know.”

I’m stuck here. Going back to my new place doesn’t make a lot of sense. The same goes with buying a ticket back to Arizona. I would lose too many valuable hours on the trip alone. Besides, I couldn’t do that until I’m in contact with Scarlett to stop her from getting on the plane and making sure we’re not ships—planes—passing in the night. Honestly, I don’t know what’s best for me. I’m too overwhelmed to think straight.

“I’m here for now. How’s Orion?”

Dalma settles into a seat, resting her head against the wall. “They’ve stabilized him. He’s going to be okay.”

“Is he staying overnight?”

Dalma shrugs. “Maybe. My family’s waiting to hear what the deal is before they drive back from Ohio.”

“Your family?” Then I remember what happened to his parents. “Oh, right. So he lives with you?”

“We live together. It’s his home too.” Dalma sits up. “Sorry, I’m not snapping at you. I’m just really protective of making sure Orion never feels othered.”

“No, I get it. I find myself walking some tricky lines as a twin.”

“Does she know yet?”

“I haven’t been able to reach her. I lost my phone in Times Square and—”

“Oh my god, really?”

“I realized it in the car but didn’t want to bother you.”

Dalma pops out of her seat with her phone at the ready. “Use mine. Do you know her number by heart?”

I nod. Scarlett’s number is the only one I know off the top of my head. Our area codes and first three numbers are identical, but the final four digits are unique. We’ve always considered our phone numbers to be fraternal twins too.

“Thanks so much.”

I put in Scarlett’s number, desperate for her to answer even though I have no idea how to begin telling her that I’m living my End Day. That in the next twenty-three hours she’s going to become an only child. Unless something horrible is going to befall her too. Then we will have entered and left this world together. But I don’t want that for her any more than I want it for me. If given the choice, I would want Scarlett alive and me dead. I know it’s true because when she was in the hospital I was bothering every doctor and nurse and letting them know they could harvest me for every last organ Scarlett needed to be saved. And even though I’m not as religious as my proud and strict Catholic parents, I sure found a lot of faith when I went to the chapel and prayed to God to take me instead of my sister. It seems he was listening and answered my call.

Unlike Scarlett.

It’s okay. This gives me more time to figure out how to break the news.

Time I hope I have.


1:28 a.m.

The End Day calls are managed by the time zone of a Decker’s registered city. That means had I been here as a visitor, Death-Cast wouldn’t have reached out to me yet. I wouldn’t have been the very first Decker. Maybe if I never moved here, I wouldn’t be a Decker at all.

Playing those mind games won’t get me anywhere.

Instead, I’m worried about Scarlett. She’s still living in the past, still living without Death-Cast. The same for everyone else in Arizona. They’ll have no reason to drive with greater caution, and what if Scarlett has found herself in another accident and that’s why she’s not answering the calls?

I feel like I’m not going to be able to breathe until I know she’s okay.

After Scarlett’s accident, a friend asked if I had sensed something happened to her. Twins don’t have a concrete sixth sense to know everything going on with the other, even twins as close as us. I was out shopping for new concealer that afternoon because the shadows under my eyes were getting darker from too many nights where I couldn’t sleep because I was questioning my dreams of becoming a full-time model. I wasn’t standing in the middle of the drugstore, where I suddenly dropped my shopping basket as if a feeling of dread hammered my stomach out of nowhere. I only felt all that once I got the call from my parents. Though I wish I could close my eyes and concentrate and hear my sister’s heartbeat so I know she’s okay.