Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Shocked by the news, I nod and follow the nurse into the building, Aaron hot on my heels. She leads us to a small room with a vending machine and a few chairs.
“There’s a bucket with money sitting on top of the machine,” Karen says, gesturing. “Help yourself to some food. We just ask you only take one snack and one drink per person.”
Numbly, I nod. Seeing a working vending machine that we don’t have to smash and steal from is certainly surreal at this point. Karen gives Carl another kiss before leaving us with him and the other guy.
Aaron slumps into a chair and buries his face in his hands. I go ahead and grab us some drinks and snacks. It’s surreal to be here when this time yesterday we were roughing it. Everything here, so far, feels normal—untouched by the drama destroying the rest of our world.
I manage to get Aaron to eat a little something. By the time I wolf down my package of powdered donuts, Kellen appears with the rest of our group. Hope runs over to Aaron and sits beside him, offering him soft assurances.
Kellen’s gaze lands on me, burning a hole through me. I lift my tired eyes to meet his. The darker version of Kellen’s mood is back. Guilt mars his handsome reflection, tugging the corners of his mouth downward and forming a crease between his brows.
I need his comfort right now.
Jesse almost died. He’s still not out of the woods yet.
At first, I think Kellen’s going to keep his distance, choosing to brood rather than comfort me, but at the last second, his gaze softens. In a couple of quick, long strides, he collapses into the chair beside me and pulls me against him.
I don’t cry or rage or do anything, for that matter.
All I do is inhale Kellen’s familiar scent, close my eyes, and pray to God my brother will make it through to the other side.
Kellen
I should have gone with them rather than letting Aaron take the lead.
Maybe if I’d gone, Wayne would still be alive and Jesse wouldn’t have gotten shot. Perhaps I could have talked down this Holt guy.
My regrets keep mounting higher and higher until there’s a very real sense that they’re all going to come toppling down around me right along with my sanity.
I knew I should have overridden Aaron’s decision, but I didn’t. And now I feel responsible for everything that’s happened. If Jesse dies, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look Tyler in the eyes again.
About an hour or two after we arrived, a woman in black scrubs makes her way over to us. She beams, revealing a small gap between her front two teeth. That smile has to be a good sign.
“I’m Dr. Bellafleur,” the woman says in a slight French accent. “You can call me Dr. B. I was able to get Jesse all patched up.”
Aaron makes a strangled sound of relief and Tyler fist pumps the air. The rest of our group share relieved smiles.
“You guys must be the brothers,” Dr. B says. “Why don’t you two come on back? The rest of you can walk a block east to the church. Ask for Mary. My sister runs the shelter there and will get you a place to stay.”
Aaron and Tyler follow after the doctor. The rest of us make our way outside. Whereas the sun had been shining earlier, a thick cloud cover has moved across the sky. I get a whiff of smoke and wonder what part of our great nation is on fire this time. What’s left of our broken little group hobbles up the road to the church.
Mary, a woman who looks exactly like Dr. B with the same gap in her teeth and matching eyes, greets us happily with the French accent her sister also has.
“I heard all about your group,” Mary says in greeting. “So sorry about the fella who didn’t make it. Holt will stand trial for his murder. Don’t you worry.”
We nod, too tired to say much else.
“Come on.” Mary gestures for us to follow her into the church. “Let me show you around.”
The church seems to be a happening place. Kids of various ages play in small groups in the foyer where games and toys have been set up. Beyond the foyer is a decently sized meeting room that looks to have once been used for potluck dinners. It’s been turned into a cafeteria for the shelter dwellers. Mary waves to a woman with wiry gray hair sweeping up leftover mess from the most recent meal. Past the cafeteria and through another hallway, we find the sanctuary. A few pews remain near the pulpit, but the rest have been removed and replaced with cots and some curtained areas.
“Families are allowed their own ‘room’ for privacy,” Mary says with a smile. “I assume you all want to be together? If not, there are plenty of cots out here in the open, but they’re usually reserved for lone stragglers we come across.