Unexpected Gift(10)
“And Brandon? What about Amelia? Why aren’t you tell us?” My mother screams at him.
The doctor sighs again, trying to gather himself.
“He doesn’t have good news,” Caden says in monotone. “If he did, he would have said it. I had to do this earlier today.”
I look up at Caden through my wet lashes. “What do you mean?” I turn my accusatory gaze to the doctor. “What does he mean?”
“Brandon and Amelia came in with significant injuries. Amelia had bleeding in the abdomen, significant head trauma, and a ruptured aorta. I’m sorry, but we did everything we could for her. She died on the table.”
Amelia’s father falls to his knees and yells out a heart-wrenching sound. It comes deep from his soul, full of agony and despair. “No! No. My little girl. No!” he screams as he bawls, holding his hand over his heart. “My Amelia.”
Kenna kneels on the ground with him, wrapping him in a tight hug. He lays his forehead against her shoulder and cries, clutching onto her leather jacket. “My baby. No. She…” He can’t finish his sentence because he can’t catch his breath.
Everyone cries about the loss. Caden places his head on top of mine, and the doctor gives us a minute to take in the information. How can she be dead? She sent me a picture message of them tonight. She was so excited for their date because ever since Posie came along, they barely had a moment to themselves. I wanted to show everyone the photo, but my phone died on the way over trying to call Caden.
My mom places her hand on Amelia’s dad’s back, trying to show him that we are here for him, supporting him through this. He still cries on Kenna’s shoulder, holding onto that red leather jacket for dear life. “And Brandon?” she asks, gripping my dad’s hand.
“Brandon... your son had a brain bleed and he kept having seizures. Once I got him on the table, we tried to control the bleed, but he had a stroke. His brain swelled too much. Since ten minutes ago, Brandon has been brain dead. We have found no brain activity.”
“What? No. Give me the scans. I’m a neurosurgeon. I want to see what you did to him. What did you do to him!” Caden’s voice bellows, bouncing off the pillars in the lobby.
“My baby boy. Brandon! Brandon. Mom’s here. I’m here!” she screams, fighting to get out of my father’s hold. “Let me go. Let me go! I want my son. Give me my son.” She pounds her chest like a mad woman.
“Kim. Kim. He’s gone.” My dad holds onto her, taking her kicks and punches until she runs out of steam and sags against my father’s chest.
The world moves in slow motion. Time seems to stop. My head spins. My stomach cramps. None of it feels real, but maybe it isn’t. Caden is a doctor. He can see if the other doctor missed anything and then fix Brandon. There is still hope. I tug on Caden’s scrub top to gain his attention.
When he glances down at me, his eyes are bloodshot and watery, but no tears. He holds them back. “You can fix him, right? Please, tell me you can fix him.”
He parts his lips to tell me, but a nurse interrupts us to give the doctor the scans of Brandon’s brain. Caden narrows his eyes and snatches the scans out of the man’s hands. I thought the doctor would say something, but he doesn’t. He really thinks my brother is gone.
Caden takes the films out of the envelope and holds them up to the light. He glances at me as my mother cries against my father’s chest and Kenna holds Amelia’s father while he weeps. While he studies the scans, I watch his face, never taking my eyes off him. I want to see every twitch in his cheeks while he studies those films. He switches to another scan, and another, and another, until he is staring at the first one again. The moment of hope breaks when a lone tear trickles down his face.
That’s when I knew.
My brother is dead.
“No! No. You were supposed to save him.” I push Caden, and he hardly moves. I ball my fists and hit his chest, taking all my anger out on him. “You were supposed to save him.” I lose steam and fall against his chest, wailing from my heart being torn out. This isn’t fair. This can’t be my life.
He wraps his arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Molly. I wish I could. I wish I could so fucking bad.” He kisses my head, and one of his tears drips down my cheek.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Losses,” Caden corrects him. “We’ve lost two people tonight.”
“Of course, I apologize.”
My father’s voice breaks the chaos of sadness. “When can we see him?”
“You can right now. I’ll take you to him.”
“My daughter. I need to see her,” Amelia’s father croaks from the floor, still on his knees and holding onto Kenna.
“Of course.”
“Posie,” I mumble against Caden’s warm chest. “When can we get Posie?”
“I can have a nurse bring her down, but I would prefer she stay overnight to make sure nothing is wrong or underlying.”
“Of course.” I rub my cheek against Caden’s scrubs. It smells of pine and sweat, and for some reason, his scent calms me. I inhale deep, letting the strong, masculine scent wrap around me and settle a small piece of the havoc that threatens my heart.
I’ve had a pretty easy life. I’ve never had anything bad happen to me. My parents never struggled. My brother and I never went without. We always had each other. And the only thing that kept running through my mind, was the time I told my brother I hated him when I was sixteen because he wouldn’t take me to the drive-in theater with him and his girlfriend at the time. I never hated him.