“Dad is alive, but whatever fell on him fractured his skull, he’s in coma and…”
“And?” I pressed. “He’s going to wake up, right? Even skull fractures will heal with enough time. They said Wyatt wasn’t going to wake up, but he did. So don’t—”
“I hope he doesn’t,” she whispered so low I almost didn’t hear her.
“What?”
Biting her lip, she looked at me with teary eyes. “It’s going to be too painful for him if he does.”
“Dona, just tell me, what do you mean?”
“He…if he wakes up, he’ll…he’ll be paralyzed…from the neck down. And on top of that. He’d learn that his brother…that Uncle Neal is dead, and Nana collapsed in shock.”
I stared at her, not believing it all. Neither the part about our father or Uncle Neal or our grandmother. “No.”
Hearing the door creak open, I saw my mother. The look in her eyes told me this was real.
And now I wished I hadn’t woken up, either.
ETHAN—TWO DAYS AGO
She sat at his bedside, a blanket over her. Her hair was barely brushed and pulled to the back. Around her eyes were dark. But still, she stared at my father as he lay hooked up to machines on the bed, not moving. The only proof he was breathing and alive was the monitor. I limped around the bed slowly, holding my cane, to sit beside him, to look closer. This weak and ill man was, in fact, my father, the great and beloved Liam A. Callahan. The man who was always laughing, cheering, drinking, or cursing. The man who loved to pick and tease me. It didn’t seem possible they could be one and the same.
“What happens now?” I asked my mother.
“Aren’t you the one with all the plans?” she shot back.
I frowned, glancing up at her. “Not for this.”
Lifeless, her gaze shifted to me, and even she didn’t seem so great anymore. Was this really how they were going to end up? In the end, they were beaten by a chandelier? Them? Of all people? Impossible.
“Don’t look at me like that. Your father is going to wake up,” she declared. “Then, when he wakes up, we’ll work on whatever else he needs to fix. So, don’t look at me like that, Ethan. Don’t forget who we are. We are Liam and Melody. Melody and Liam. We fought the world twice over and won. The day we go out, we will go out like rock stars. He’s going to wake up. I just have to wait.”
Was she telling me or tell herself?
When she looked back at my father, I had a feeling she was telling herself. Lifting my father’s hand, I brought it to my lips and kissed it. “Dad, we have to go. But I’m not going to say goodbye. I know you too well. The moment you’re better, you’ll find a way to come back. I’ll let it go. Maybe…maybe one day we’ll have a glass of that damn Camus Cuvee you love so much and laugh. You, me, and even Wyatt.”
There was only the sound of the machine as it beeped.
When I looked back at my mother, I kissed her cheek, her eyes glazed over and wet, but she didn’t cry. She sat there determined…willing him to wake up. I didn’t know what to say to her, so I leaned over and kissed the top of her head.
“I love you, Mom. I always have, and I always will. I didn’t understand why you left. I don’t think I ever will. And it cuts at me. I wish it didn’t, but it does. You were my whole world. Losing you hurt me more than you could ever imagine. I still can’t forgive you, but I never stopped loving you. If you need me—”
“Didn’t I tell you before we left?” she replied, looking up to me. “Don’t look for us, and we won’t come to you. Not because we don’t love you, but because we do. You are…more than capable, Ethan. You always have been. You always will be. Go, don’t worry about us. We’ll make it. Protect the rest of the family. I have your dad, and your dad has me.”
Her words, for some reason, didn’t make me feel better.
“Stay alive,” I said.
“You too,” she said as I moved to the door. I had almost made it out and when she called out. “Ethan.”
As I turned to her, she got out of her chair and came toward me, wrapping her arms around me tightly. “No matter what anyone says or what you do, you will always be mio bel leoncino.”
I froze for only a moment before hugging her back because I had a feeling this would be the last time I hugged her for real.
“Goodbye, Mom.”
ETHAN—PRESENT