My day hadn’t gotten much better after waking up in the middle of the night. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, I’d worked on contract amendments I’d been putting off, which meant I spent all day distracted because of my lack of sleep. Within two minutes of leaving the apartment, I spilled a scalding hot cup of coffee on me in the cab on the way to work. Traffic was brutal, so I was late to an important meeting about Luke's contract. Last but not least, my advisory board told me that I really shouldn't take time off so soon after my last vacation. They couldn’t tell me no, I was the boss, but they could make my life hell. The kicker was, I’d taken off two hours. Two hours.

Assholes.

All I wanted was to curl up in the tub and drink a glass of wine while I forgot about this awful day, but one look at Lexi when I walked into the apartment told me it wouldn't be happening any time soon. Lexi was leaned down against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest.

"What's wrong?" I asked, rushing over to her side.

"Stephen got into a car accident and he's in a coma. The doctors don't know if he's going to make it,” she sobbed.

My heart sank in my chest. Stephen was like a brother to me. I couldn’t lose him too. Poor Taylor, she must be a wreck. How much more pain could our little family take?

"What can I do?"

"I have a flight scheduled, but it's not for another three hours. Taylor is going out of her mind and I don't know what to do to help. God, I want to blame her for this whole fucking thing. If he hadn’t been rushing home to see her—Emmy, what am I going to do if Stephen doesn't make it?"

"Oh, honey. Stephen is strong. He will make it through this." I hoped I wasn't lying, but Lexi needed some comforting words and I felt so helpless. "You and Taylor need each other. It’s not her fault, you know that.”

Lexi let out a choked sound. “Logically, I know that. But things have been so bad between them. He wouldn’t have taken that role if—”

“Lexi, stop. You can’t blame her.” She looked so broken. I picked up my phone. “I'll see when I can schedule a flight out there."

"No, I'll be okay. Taylor and Violet are there and so is Jaxon."

"You guys can’t handle this by yourself. This is important. I'll be out there as soon as I can."

She wrapped her small arms around me. "I know and I love you for it."

I tucked her head under mine and squeezed her tight. Lexi was always so strong and in control, it hurt to see her falling apart. "Have you packed yet?"

She stared at me blankly. "I completely forgot."

"You will need clothes. A toothbrush. All that stuff."

Amazingly she started to laugh. "I was just going to walk out like this. Thank goodness you came home. I think I'm losing it, Em."

I helped Lexi pack a bag. Every time she would throw something random in, I would pull it back out and replace it with what she actually needed. It was like watching a toddler try to accomplish something. She walked around in a daze. The only thing I could do was get her packed, call Vi to let her know when her flight would be in, and make sure Lexi actually got on the plane.

My hands rested on her shoulders and I looked at her one last time before sending her through the security line. It was painful seeing my friend, who was always so fearless, this broken. "Are you sure you don't want me to come right now? I can see if they have another seat on this flight."

"I'll be okay, but thank you for helping me get ready. I'll call you when I get there."

"As soon as you land." She nodded, and I pulled her in for one last hug. "Love you, Lexi."

"I love you too, Em."

My bad day was put into perspective pretty damn fast when I walked back into the apartment after dropping her off. I wrapped my arms around my chest, trying to shield off the cold feeling that was plaguing my body. It wasn't remotely chilly in the house, but being reminded of how fragile life was had made me feel...off. There were things I needed to finish. I didn’t want to leave this earth with unfinished business.

 

***

 

I was picking at my leftover Thai food and attempting to watch a chick flick, but my mind was on Stephen and all of our friends. Lexi should be calling to let me know she was there. As if on cue, my phone rang and I picked it up quickly. Seeing in was Violet, I raised it to my ear quickly.

"Hey. Any news?"

"Jax and I just picked Lexi up from the airport and dropped her off at the hospital. Em, it doesn't look good. I'm freaking out, but I have to be the strong one because Taylor is beating herself up over everything. She hates that he was driving home to see her and I think she's blaming herself for the accident because she was on the phone with him when it happened."

"Oh God, poor Taylor. I talked to her earlier and she sounded awful. I'm waiting for the airlines to get back to me, they could only get me on standby this late, but I’m packed and ready to go. Stephen is your best friend though, how are you holding up?"

"I'm a fucking wreck. If it wasn't for Jax and Harp—” She choked out a sob. “I would be out of my mind."

"What can I do, honey?" I asked, hating the fact that I felt so damn helpless.

"Just get out here as soon as you can. Say a prayer or three for Stephen. He needs all the help he can get right now. Lexi is still mad at Taylor for leaving Stephen, so things are…bad."

I sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

I heard Violet choke back another sob and it wrenched my heart.

"Hi, Em," Jax said softly.

"Hey, Jaxon."

"She's going to be okay. It's been hard on her having to hold it together around the others, so when you show her the least bit of kindness, she falls apart."

"What can I do, Jax?"

He paused before answering, "It's a hard call. Stephen has stabilized, so we won't know until things change one way or the other. I'm trying my best to keep everyone calm. Have you by any chance heard if Mason knows what happened?"

"I haven't talked to him," I paused and took a deep breath. "Do you want me to call him?"

"It would help." I heard a door close and his voice got lower. "Violet really lost it when she had to call Lexi. Taylor lost it at the hospital. I thought they were going to have to sedate her.” I could hear the stress filling his voice. “I'm scared of what's going to happen if either one of them have to tell anyone else. I didn't want to say anything around Vi, but honestly I need help keeping the girls calm."

"Jaxon, how bad is it?"

He took a deep breath. Then another. "Em, that car was destroyed. I don't know how Stephen even made it out alive. He has brain bleeding and swelling, if it doesn't stop soon it's going to kill him. The doctors did say that they think the bleeding has stopped, which is really good news, but they won’t know more until the next CT scan."

"Jax," I said softly. "I’ll be there as soon as I can. And I'll call Mason. God, I don't even know the last time he talked to Stephen. Did you know he was Mason's best man at our wedding?"

"I didn't, but I could see that,” he said softly.

"I'll be out there as soon as I can get a flight out. Do me a favor and make sure someone's with Taylor. Please don’t let her be alone."

"I will, I promise. Gage is here too. He's been great with her. Honestly if he hadn't been here earlier, things would have been a lot worse. She's trying to be strong, but we can all see through it."

I closed my eyes. "We're a family. We take care of each other. Violet called me every day, after I moved into Lexi's house, to check on me. Taylor has always been my rock.” I took a deep calming breath, so I didn’t sob into the phone. “We take care of one another."

"That you do."

"I'll text you with my flight information."

"Be careful, Em."

 

***

 

My fingers shook as I brought up Mason's number in my phone. I took a deep breath and sent the call through. It rang three times before he finally picked up. Looking down at the phone I realized it was four thirty in the morning and I still hadn't slept since we found out.

"Emmy?"

"Mase,” I sucked in a breath and held back the lump in my throat. “I need to tell you something. Where are you?"

"In my car on the way to the gym.”

"Pull over,” I said suddenly. I couldn’t tell him while he was driving. Not after everything.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Just do it.” My voice sounded shrill.

"Em, you’re freaking me out. What the hell is so important that you had me—"

"Stephen was in a car accident," I paused. "Mase, things aren't good. The doctors aren't sure he's going to make it."

"Oh, God,” he whispered.

"He's in a coma. Lexi's already out there and I'm leaving as soon as I can get out of this fucking city. I have a flight for tonight, but I’m trying to fly on standby. I didn't know if anyone had called you, but…you needed to know."

I heard a choked sob and my heart broke for Mason. Stephen had been his best friend growing up. "Thank you for telling me, Emerald. You don't owe me anything, but I appreciate that you did."

"Mase, he's your best friend."

"I'm going out there too. I just want to give you a heads up. I'll stay away from you, but I have to go."

"It's fine, we can put aside all of our issues for Stephen. Right now he needs family. We’re his family, so we need to be there." This was so much harder than I thought it would be. "Are you good or do you want me to talk to you for a few more minutes?"

"I'm just in shock. I talked to him yesterday and we joked about going golfing the next time we met up." I laughed. None of the boys were good at golf, but they all attempted to play a round at least twice a year.

"It was the last thing I expected when I walked into Lexi's apartment yesterday,” I said softly. “You know Lexi, but when I walked in and she was sobbing…" I trailed off.

"Is he going to make it, Emmy?"

"Jax said he was stable for now. Stephen's strong."

He paused and I heard him clear his throat. His voice choked up again. "We need to be there."

"Yeah, we do.”

"If I charter a flight, would you fly with me?"

I paused. "What? Mase, that’s expensive as hell? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive. I owe you an explanation and if we are trapped together on a flight, maybe it'll make me actually give it to you."

I didn't answer. I didn't know how to answer.

"Emmy?"

"Yeah. I'm here. Get the flight and tell me when to be at the airport."

"I'll text you with the details."