Falling for the Good Guy (Can't Resist #2)(23)

“Skylar was barely awake when I went in to see her,” he sighed. “The pain meds they have her on are pretty strong so she wasn’t up for a phone—” Frowning, Brian tipped her face up to his gently. “Hey, you okay, sweetie?”

As if it were the most natural reflex in the world, Abby immersed herself completely into the warm comfort he always had at the ready just for her and his arms tightened around her protectively.

While being in Connor’s arms had always been a thrill-filled rush, feeling Brian’s arms around her always made her feel like she was coming home. Connor had said to her at the start of their one month together that she needed to try something wild and fast that could take her from zero to sixty and then back again just as quickly. It occurred to her then that she never did come back down from that high…not until she was with Brian. As much as she’d loved being with Connor, she’d felt lost in his world, but with Brian, she felt like she’d been found, like she was where she belonged.

Abby knew the instant Brian caught sight of his brother across the room. His entire body stilled and she could feel his muscles fighting a back-and-forth battle between closing around her another possessive inch, and letting her go. She made the decision for him and stepped back to give the brothers their space.

“How’s Skylar doing?” asked Connor, his voice vibrating with more emotions than Abby could name.

Emotions she herself was trying to ignore.

“She says she not in any pain. And the doctors said she should have little to no nerve or function loss in her finger.”

“And what about the seizure? Did the tests find anything?”

Brian’s jaw clenched. “No. As of right now, it’s an unexplained seizure.”

Damn. They all knew what that meant. Seizures were generally one of the first presenting symptoms of juvenile Huntington’s.

Stark pain streaked across Connor’s expression. “I’m going to head out of town for a few days. Let me know if—”

“Wait, you’re leaving now?” Abby couldn’t believe it. “Can’t you at least wait until Skylar’s awake?”

“We’re booked on the red-eye.” He patted his pockets in search of his phone. “But I guess we could take a later flight…”

We. Abby’s mouth snapped shut. To her knowledge, Connor only ever traveled alone.

Apparently, not anymore.

Brian looked equally surprised, though he recovered quicker than she did. “No need to change your travel plans, man. I’ll call you if there’s any news.”

Connor nodded, and then bluntly asked the question that had been weighing on Abby’s mind the past hour as well. “Are you going to start Skylar on the testing for the HD gene?”

Connor may as well have punched him in the face by the way Brian staggered back a microstep. “No, it’s premature to even consider it.”

“But what if she has the gene, Brian? We should be looking at new treatments and ways to try and stop or at least slow down the progression. Why have her go through all the pain? Think about all the symptoms that will make it impossible for her to continue going to school.”

“And you think I haven’t?” snapped Brian. “You think every time you’ve called to tell me about how unusually clumsy she’d been that day, or when her teacher mentions that she’s been different in her behavior and concentration, I don’t play out every day of her life in my mind with her going through everything Beth went through? Is that what you really think?” Brian covered his face with his hands. “Some nights, it’s all I ever think about.”

Abby’s hands flew up to her mouth in horror. She’d had no idea Brian was going through this. Not really. What the hell kind of best friend was she?

Connor went over to grip Brian’s shoulder. “Of course not. I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m just worried about her, too.”

“I know you are.” Suddenly, Brian looked so tired, so very much the age amassed from his experiences and not his years. “But I’ve talked with the doctors and read all there is to read about it. At this point, having her go through the testing will do way more harm than good. It’s hard enough for an adult to deal with the knowledge that there’s an expiration date on their life; the load is exponentially harder for a child to bear. Most times, they’re completely ill-equipped to deal with it, which often leads to psychological issues, errors in decision-making, and other health problems. Besides, simply knowing if she has the HD gene doesn’t do us any good at this point.” Brian looked up, his face fiercely protective. “Right now, Skylar is considered presymptomatic so I’m not putting her through testing. Period.”

The words melded, echoed in her ears. She’d read them all in her research over the years anyway; she didn’t need to hear it again. As the brothers continued to talk, Abby felt herself drifting, not to sleep but to a place where all her fears and worst nightmares came to rest, came to weigh on her, grow, and multiply. She didn’t even know when Connor had left, when her head had found Brian’s shoulder, or when she’d finally fallen asleep. The only thing she did know for sure was that her brain kept repeating the one statistical data they were all thinking about but didn’t want to mention.

That the common life expectancy for juvenile HD was often shorter the younger the onset…and Beth had only lived ten years after she’d had her first symptom at the age of eighteen.