Children of Redemption (Children of Vice 3)

My parents would try to calm her down, and she’d bite her tongue. The doctors suggested we put a tongue bar in her mouth, and my father nearly snapped his neck. They weren’t acting logically either. So I did the only thing I could do; I brought one of the medical gurneys into her room. It was thinner and smaller than the bed she was in now.

“What are you doing?” my father asked, turning to face me.

“I’m taking her to Wyatt’s room.”

“Darcy, take that thing back to wherever you got it from—” He tried to push it away, but Helen reached out and grabbed onto it. He looked down at her, and she glared back, breathing heavily.

“She will keep biting her tongue until you take her, so take—”

“SHE JUST WOKE UP!” he hollered at me. “Don’t put more on her right now! She needs to get stronger.”

Apparently, she wasn’t hearing him, because she drew the bed closer, already trying to shift herself over despite her broken leg and shattered hand.

“Helen…,” he whispered, his shoulders dropping when he looked at her.

But she just looked at me and smiled, managing to muffle out the words. “Help…please.”

I stepped up to him, and I knew on any other day, he would have sl

apped the hell out of me. But he was tired, and Helen wasn’t helping. The moment he found out what happened, I thought he was having a stroke. He started to pack, screaming at me that we needed to go. His eyes were dead. Then he completely zoned out for the whole ride over, and it was only when I called Sedric after the dozenth time that I finally understood why he couldn’t speak. The fear that goes through you when you hear that your loved one was hurt…was dying…had died. It had the ability to leave you soulless.

Grabbing onto her wire lines and moving the mover first, I lifted her off the bed and onto the other bed. She sat up, and I honestly wondered if her pain medication was so strong she was high or if she had just blocked out the pain like me. She reached to grab her IV and wheel it all with us, but our mother grabbed it.

She didn’t lift her head, but she just walked alongside Helen, who looked like she was trying to comfort Mom.

Because, again, nothing made sense in this world anymore.

It was a short walk across the hall. After all, this whole level of the hospital was emptied for our family. With each step, I felt my heart start to pound…dread sinking in, and I pushed it back.

“Helen?” our grandmother whispered, getting out of her chair and moving to us.

In the corner of the room like a stone was Ethan. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just sat there, staring at Wyatt’s body, which had every fucking machine possible hooked up to it. Two men I admired, that I was often jealous of, but loved and wanted to impress…both of them were broken and useless. It didn’t make sense.

“Wyatt,” I heard her painful voice call out to him. I wheeled her as close as possible until their beds were side by side. She reached over, put her hand on his cheek. “Wyatt…baby, it’s me. Wake up.”

The “baby” didn’t go unnoticed by my Uncle Neal and Aunt Mina, nor by Sedric. They all looked to us, confused. But what could we say?

“Wyatt…you have to wake up,” she said, shaking him. “Wyatt, you’re not gone. Wake.”

With each passing word, she seemed to get more panicked.

“Helen.” Our grandmother reached out, stroking his hand. “He’s gone.”

“NO!” Helen screamed at her. This time she grabbed onto Wyatt for dear life and shook him. “WYATT! WYATT! WAKE UP! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! DO YOU HEAR ME! PLEASE?”

She started to sob and didn’t know where her strength came from, but she was able to get on her knees. Her screams got louder and louder until I couldn’t bear it anymore. Turning around, I tried to leave, but my father stood in my way. He grabbed onto my arm, squeezing tightly.

“You did this to her.” He sneered at me. “You wheeled her into her worst nightmare, and now she’s in pain. You won’t even feel your own pain. How dare you make her deal with this now. You didn’t help. You didn’t do anything but break you sister faster. Don’t you dare run! Stand here and listen as she screams and watch as we can’t do shit to help her.”

He let go, his shoulder brushing past mine as he walked forward, and I couldn’t help but flinch as her cries met my ears.

“He’s not dead! Get up, Mommy! Help me! Please! Wyatt, come please! AHHHH! WYATT! Oh God no. Please!”

HELEN – AGE TWENTY-ONE

It looked like there were a million and one diamond stars in the night sky, and the longer I watched the sky, the more I felt like I was looking into heaven.

“They’re beautiful, are they?” he asked, moving to sit next to me.