“It’s Jaxon. Fuck!” Cole yells in a panicked tone through the phone. He continues yelling and mumbling, but I can’t keep up with a word he’s saying.
“What’s going on? You need to slow down Cole.”
“Why doesn’t anyone have their damn phones?” His voice hasn’t calmed down and I’m slowly starting to panic at his tone.
“What. Is. Going. On?” I say loudly and as clearly as I possibly can.
“Jaxon got hurt at practice,” he says, but it’s difficult to hear because there’s a lot of commotion and electronic beeping in the background of wherever he is. “I’m in the fucking ambulance with him, Audrey!” His speech begins to slow down and I hear a hitch in his breathing, almost as if he is crying or on the verge of it. “He’s not waking up. They can’t get him to wake up!”
My hand flies to my mouth to cover the gasp. “Oh God! Where are you, Cole?” I shout.
The second I yell his name, I have everyone’s full attention. I repeat Cole’s words out loud, “UCLA Medical Center.”
“The hospital?” Quinn asks in a confused tone. “What’s wrong with Cole?” she panics.
Cole continues yelling in my ear, I have four sets of eyes on me that want more information, and I still don’t know what is going on.
“It’s Jaxon,” I whisper.
“Give me the phone, Audrey,” Jace bites out harshly.
“Jaxon’s hurt,” I continue.
Em’s whole body locks up and the red plastic cup she’s holding slips from her hand, crashing to the ground and causing a wild splash at our feet. Jace lets out a string of curses and takes off at a dead sprint toward the parking lot. Sand flies out from under his feet in his hasty retreat.
Once it clicks, the rest of us look at each other and start to run for our cars as well. At the same time we reach the parking lot, Jace’s black Camaro is roaring out onto the main road.
“Girls. In my car. Now. None of you are driving,” Lane calls toward us.
Thank God for him because I don’t think we even remember where we had parked, let alone how to start the car. We swiftly scramble into his black SUV and Lane peels out in the same direction Jace is headed.
“Audrey, what did Cole say?” Em’s small voice asks from the backseat.
“He didn’t tell me much. I think we should wait until we get there to find out everything from a doctor,” I respond, trying to detour her.
“I just need to know what he said.”
I let out a sigh. “The only thing he told me was that Jaxon got hurt at practice and that...they couldn’t get him to wake up...”
I turn back in time to see her flinch and grab onto Quinn’s hand tightly. Lane softly curses and continues trying to drive as fast as he can without getting us pulled over. It takes thirty excruciatingly long minutes to get to the hospital. I can’t even begin to imagine everything that is running through Em’s head in that amount of time.
Lane pulls up to the drop-off to let us out, and I spot Jace’s Camaro parked haphazardly in a fire lane near the emergency room entrance. Quinn, Em, and I hop out and they rush inside. Lane steps out and finds an employee staring begrudgingly at the Camaro. When he sees Lane begin to leave his car, he starts shaking his head and telling him he needs to move it immediately.
“Chill, I’m going inside. I’m gonna get my buddy’s keys and I’ll move both cars. Calm down,” he says, in a tone that doesn’t allow any argument.
I’m the last of my friends to enter the emergency room and the scene is overwhelming to take in. I immediately spot my boyfriend’s large frame towering over the receptionist. I can only imagine what she’s thinking as he growls out commands at her. She probably doesn’t know whether to cry or slip him her number for later.
Lane walks up and grabs Jace’s keys from his pocket without even a sideways glance from him. Jace isn’t paying attention to anything besides getting to where his brother is.
JACE -
“Jaxon Riley,” I repeat for what feels like the hundredth time to the brainless girl at the front counter. “He’s my brother. We look exactly alike. Can’t miss him. He was brought in by...ambulance,” I swallow the last word painfully.
“I’m not seeing a Jaxon here.”
“Well try again, ma’am! Jaxon Riley. J-A-X-O-N...” I begin to spell harshly.
“Oh! Jaxon with an X. Well, that’s different,” she says nonchalantly and continues typing another million fucking words into her computer.
“Look, I hate to be a tyrant but I need back there. Like yesterday. Just open those doors and I can find him on my own.”
She continues typing away, ignoring my words. I’m sure she’s heard this a thousand times before, but this time is different. This is my brother. This is my identical twin. The only person who has been through everything with me.
“Well, since you’re family, I need you to fill out all of his medical information on this clipboard. Bring it back when you’re done and I’ll go see if they’re allowing him to have visitors,” she says, passing me a stack of papers.
“Allowing visitors?” I shout. “This isn’t a prison! Look, I can fill out this paperwork back there with him. This is my brother we’re talking about. I. NEED. BACK. THERE.”
She ignores my rant and taps the clipboard infuriatingly. Before I can hurl the board across the fucking emergency room, Em squeezes in front of me and grabs it out of my hands.
“I can fill this out. If you could hurry and find out where he is, I would appreciate it.” She smiles easily at the lady and I’m confounded by her calmness.
Em grabs onto my arm and digs her nails in deep. “My goal is to see Jaxon as soon as possible. I think we share a common goal here. I’m also pretty sure your mama taught you that you can catch more flies with honey. Quit being a bastard. If you piss her off and make me have to wait out here one second longer than I have to, so help me God, I will rip you limb from limb,” she growls in a low voice to me and stomps off to fill out my brother’s medical forms.
With nowhere else to go, I begin pacing the tile in front of the door that leads to the patients. If someone would just open this damn door, I could breathe a little easier. I pull out my phone and cringe at all of the missed calls from Cole. I can’t believe I didn’t have this on me. I tried calling him about fifteen times on my way over here, but he never answered.
My brother is somewhere back there hurt or even worse...fuck, I can’t think like that. He’s back there and this fucking metal door is keeping me from seeing if he’s okay. Small hands graze across my lower back and I flinch away from the touch. I’m strung too tight and I can’t handle soft words or pitying looks at the moment. Audrey calls out my name as I walk away in the opposite direction. Away from her. Shit, I can’t think straight.
I lean my forehead against the wall and think about what I can do. Suddenly, the door opens and a nurse comes out. Evidently she’s not new at this because she quickly shuts the door behind her. She glances around the room and does a double take when her eyes land on me. I can see the shock on her face and immediately know that she has to be Jaxon’s nurse.
“Are you Jaxon Riley’s brother?” she asks.
“Twin,” I hastily spit out. The others quickly come over to join me.
“I can take you back there, but I can’t let you see him yet. There’s an additional waiting room for family members. That’s as close as I can get you. You can wait there for a doctor to give you more information,” she instructs. “Wow, you guys are a big group. I’m technically only allowed to let four of you in.”