Hannah sat up. Without flinching, she pulled her IV out. “I’m feeling better.”
“Jesus, Hannah—”
I put my hand on Lauren’s shoulder. “Let’s bring her over. It’ll be good for both of them.”
Timmy had brought some clothes from the house. Hannah tore through the duffel bag, threw on a Stanford sweatshirt, and pulled on some UGG boots over her leggings. “Let’s go.”
Lauren looked tense, but to her credit, she didn’t argue. She just followed her sister out the door.
Hannah was mostly silent on the drive to El Camino. “Tell me how Wesley is—how he really is. Tell me everything that happened. I told you—I thought he was dead. He was shot right in front of me, and he hit the island hard. The guards dragged me out of there right when it happened. I never even got to check him.”
Lauren sighed and reached for her sister’s hand. “When he got shot, the bullet nicked his heart. He passed out and hit his head when he fell—there was swelling from that, so the doctors decided to put him into a medically induced coma.”
“Oh…oh God…” Hannah started crying.
“They wanted his body to have time to heal itself without more trauma. Everything was fine for the first few weeks.”
“But?”
“But then he had an arrhythmia, and he had a mild heart attack. They’re worried that his heart’s been working too hard.”
Hannah clenched her hands into tight fists. “Do they think he’s going to be okay?”
“They do—”
“But they won’t be one hundred percent sure until he’s awake,” I interrupted. Hannah needed to know what we were dealing with; we couldn’t protect her from the truth forever.
“The doctors who are taking care of him are amazing,” Lauren said. “They’re the best. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything.”
“I understand.” Hannah blew her nose, crying for another minute. It was hard news to deal with, not what she’d been expecting.
Finally, she calmed down. “I’m scared, and I’m worried, but I can’t wait to see him. What’s his brother like?”
“His name’s Ellis,” Lauren said. “He’s special ops and he looks like he’s special ops. I think he’s bigger than Wes, and I didn’t even know that was possible.”
Hannah looked out the window. “Is he nice?”
“Yeah—I mean, he’s quiet, but this is also hard on him, I’m sure.”
“He’s going to hate me.”
Lauren looked sharply at her sister. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m the reason Wesley’s in a coma and almost died. If there’s something wrong with him when he wakes up—if he wakes up—it’s my fault.”
“Hannah.” Lauren reached out and gently touched her sister, but she flinched. “No one blames you for what happened to Wesley. It was his job—”
“I was distracting him—”
“If this is anyone’s fault, it’s mine.” Lauren’s voice was sharp, but it was also shaking.
“I’m pretty sure this is my cross to bear.” Hannah glared at her. “So enough of that.”
“That goes for you too.”
“Fine,” Hannah said, turning back to the window.
“Fine,” Lauren said.