8. Braxton
Braxton
The morning after the first snowstorm of the year, I got a phone call telling me my sister, Lily, was in the hospital. The worst part of it was, Ethan, my best friend and her boss, was the reason she was there and unconscious. I held the phone while Ethan told me of his betrayal. Not only had he taken her virginity, but she was bleeding horribly, and she was now unconscious. Fuck.
“Braxton, are you still there?” Ethan asked nervously. I could hear chains rattling on the other side of the phone.
“I am, but why do I hear chains?” I asked, furiously, “Why my sister? You could have had anyone!”
“The cuffs are because the police showed up and arrested me. They want to hear her side of the story first. And it just happened. I don’t know why or how it happened. I’ve never thought of her, nor any of my employees, romantically before. Please just get here. Lily needs someone with her when she wakes up,” he explained. I never thought he would assault Lily, but was there more to this than what met the eye?
“Is that why there was blood all over the bathroom?” I asked. I came over to bring him breakfast and change my clothes. He caught me in the middle of getting dressed.
“Yes. We got locked in the office while the power was out. The generator didn’t come on, so we were stuck. One thing led to another. I promise you, on everything I know and love, I did not hurt her intentionally!” he pleaded for me to understand. Ethan wasn’t the type to chase women. “When we woke up this morning, she was covered in blood. I was going to take her to the hospital immediately, but she demanded to take a shower. I’m guessing that while I was getting the housekeepers to clean up the office, she passed out. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to leave her alone.”
I knew if he were in trouble, there would be a different tone in his voice. He just didn’t. Honestly, I thought he would be single forever.
“I’m on my way. The roads may be an obstacle, but I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I said, throwing on my jeans.
“Okay, man. I’ll see you soon. Thank you,” Ethan said quietly before hanging up.
Once dressed, I headed to the hospital. It wouldn’t take me long to get there if the roads were clear. Finally showing up to the hospital, I told the nurse who I was and why I was there, and a police officer approached me.
“Sir, we got a call about your sister having possibly been assaulted and now unconscious. We understand that Mr. Brennan is her boss and your friend, so we understand how hard this may be for you. But we do ask for you to think of your sister. Until she can tell us what happened, we can’t assume anything,” the officer with red hair told me.
“Ethan isn’t a predator. If anything, they were victims of circumstance. He can’t and won’t lie to me. Please let me see my sister.” As I looked around, I saw a doctor waiting outside a room.
“Right this way, sir,” the officer said, escorting me to Lily’s room.
“You’re Lily’s brother?” the doctor asked, looking me up and down.
“I am. There’s an age difference because she was an anniversary miracle. Our parents are in Florida at our grandparent’s house. I’ll call them if it’s needed,” I said quickly. “Can I see my sister?”
“You can. I have to warn you. There’s a big bruise on the left side of her face. Where we are assuming Mr. Brennan punched her,” the doctor accused sharply.
“Or, maybe she hit her head when she passed out in the shower?” I added.
“That’s what Mr. Brennan has said, but we can’t be sure of anything until she wakes up,” the doctor said, still standing by the door.
“Okay, I’d like a few minutes alone with my sister,” I snapped.
“Of course,” the doctor said, closing the curtain. I looked at my little sister. She looked as though she was sleeping peacefully.
“Lily, I need you to wake up. You’re causing a lot of drama right now. They may not know that gravity is your kryptonite, but I know how klutzy you are. So, please wake up,” I pleaded, squeezing her hands. She squeezed back.
“Okay. I’ll let you sleep. I’m going to go talk to Ethan. You have a lot of explaining to do when you wake up,” I told Lily before kissing her forehead.
Once I said my piece, I looked over toward the curtain, knowing there were people on the other side. “Okay. I’m ready to see Ethan,” I said to the doctor and officers who were clearly eavesdropping.
“Right this way,” he said without hesitation.
I made it to where they were holding Ethan, illegally, I might add. I went ahead and texted my PR manager and asked him to hire a lawyer on the books immediately. No matter what, this would not go without justice—if Ethan was innocent, we’d sue the hospital and police department. If guilty, I’d put him under hell and make him suffer.
“Here you are. While you’re here, I’d like to discuss what we’ve found regarding your sister’s bloodwork,” the doctor told us as we entered the room.
“You’re going to arrest him or hold him but still tell him the status of her health?” I asked cautiously. What game were they playing?
“Yes, since you are her next of kin, you can ask us to go out into the hallway. Otherwise, if you still feel he is innocent after seeing the state of your sister, then we can discuss it with you. Only with your permission,” the doctor said.
“He’s fine. He couldn’t hurt a fly.” I forced a fake laugh. Apparently, he could exterminate an entire nest of hornets with his cock, but I didn’t want to think about him with my sister.
“Okay. She’s obviously unconscious, has lost a lot of blood, and she has a concussion. However, there’s something else causing the blood loss.” The doctor paused for me to ask any questions.
“Okay. Go on,” I snapped. “What’s wrong with her?”
“We’ve determined she has cervical cancer. We’ll have to act fast. Because she’s lost so much blood, we need to perform a hysterectomy. She had a fibroid on her cervix and uterus, and when it burst, it caused the extreme blood loss.” The doctor paused again.
“She has cervical cancer? She had a fibroma?” Ethan stood up, still restricted with the handcuffs.
“Yes, Mr. Brennan. Do you know how she felt about kids? If we decide on her behalf, she may resent you two for taking the choice from her,” the doctor said, clearly holding a bit of resentment toward him.
“I’m not guilty of anything but taking her virginity and ignorantly leaving her alone to shower, thinking she would be okay. I do know that she doesn’t want kids. She told me last night that she was going to get the Plan B pill.” Ethan fiddled with the handcuffs, looking awkward. “I think she will be okay with the hysterectomy if it means she can still live a vibrant life.”
“I’d rather her be alive than struggle with anything. I also consent to the hysterectomy,” I added, “Is there any way to force her awake? Like rub a lemon under her nose or something, like they do in the movies?”
“We could, but it risks complicating what put her in the coma in the first place. We want her memory intact,” the doctor said, sneering at Ethan. Clearly those two would never be friends.
“Okay. How long before we have to make this decision?” I asked, growing more concerned and impatient by the minute.
“Within the hour. Her life depends on it.” The doctor stared at me before taking another deep breath and asking, “Are you and she both O+ blood type?” he asked, looking at me and then briefly at Ethan.
“I have type O+ blood, yes.” Ethan brightened.
“And you, Mr. Buchanan?” The doctor looked back at me.
“Yes, sir,” I answered quickly.
“Okay, we’ll ask that you donate blood to help in case she needs it. If you don’t mind, that is,” the doctor said while making notes on his laptop. Before now, I hadn’t even realized he had a laptop.
When we finished with our blood draw, we waited in the room—or rather the room that was Ethan’s holding cell. They took Lily back to the operating room to prep her for surgery. My nerves had never been so shot before. Lily had to make it through this; she just had to. Everything depended on her.
Everything depended on her waking up. My friendship with him depended on her. His freedom and their relationship. His career and everything else depended on her response.
Ethan fell asleep on the hospital bed while I paced back and forth. They had been in surgery for almost six hours now. Time decided to take its time today, whereas on a normal day, it felt like there wasn’t ever enough time.
“Mr. Brennan and Buchanan, Lily is awake. She corroborated your story, sir. You are free to go. We are sorry for causing any problems,” the officer said, removing the cuffs from Ethan’s wrists.
“No worries. Thanks for looking out for her. Can we see her now?” I asked. I was ready to see my sister and give her hell for being the biggest drama queen and nemesis of gravity.
“You may,” the officer said, taking us to Lily’s recovery room, which had been relocated to a different part of the hospital.
“Ethan!” Lily brightened when she saw him and gave him a hug, and then kissed him in front of me.
“Seriously, could you not kiss in front of me?” I joked. Or was I joking? I really didn’t want to see the man who felt like a brother to me, making out with my baby sister!
“Sorry, Braxton. I just had so much fun with him and then my body betrayed me.” She laughed, but there was no humor behind it.
“Yeah, they thought Ethan assaulted you and then turned himself in, though, he never admitted to any wrongdoing,” I explained. “You put us through quite a scare. But I need to tell you what happened. We had to make a call since you couldn’t, and I pray you don’t resent us for it,” I told Lily.
“I already know, and I’m glad you took that horrendous thing from me. I knew I had cervical cancer. I was planning to start chemo next week,” Lily admitted, a little reluctantly as she looked between both of us.
“Really? And you never told us?” I was furious that she hid something so serious from me.
“I was busy with work. I took off work on Tuesday for the first chemo treatment.” She nodded to Ethan.
“You knew about this?” I looked at Ethan, ready to punch his brains through the wall.
“What? No. I knew she requested the day off. I knew she was taking extra time to get ahead, so she could have a few days off. I had no idea about the diagnosis, no,” he answered, and we all took a deep breath.
“Little sister, please, in the future, tell me when you have a chronic or life-threatening diagnosis.” I gave her a hug.
“Miss Buchanan, once you have fully recovered, I’d like to take you out on a proper date and treat you like the queen you are.” Ethan smiled and looked at her as if she were the ball the puppy always wanted.
“I’d love that”—she kissed him—“but you should know the only thing I’m the queen of is the queen of disaster.”
“The queen of disaster,” I repeated. Appropriately fitting.
“Yes, my little sister, the queen of disaster.”
The end.