Forty-Five
Porter
Avery and Ash left for Target a little while back, grabbing the last of the gifts. Asher and I decided to just buy our gifts here, rather than fly with them.
My artsy fiancée was an expert gift-wrapper, and if the presents were ruined in flight?
Yeah, it probably wouldn’t be good.
All the Prescott boys were down at the manmade pond Dad built when we were kids. Caleb and his two oldest boys, Jonny, and even Parker and CJ.
Brandon almost seemed to be back to his old self, but he definitely took the loss of Brielle hard. Brody…I think he understood the loss of Brielle, but only in a way that a five-year-old could. That she was gone.
Caleb though…
If I thought Jonny was a different guy when he was married to Jenna, Caleb without Brielle was a complete stranger.
He was good with Sydney and the boys, but here, out on the ice while Brandon and Brody played at the banks, and it was just us brothers? I could see it all over his face.
Losing Bri was like having my heart ripped out of my chest, and she was only my niece.
I couldn’t even imagine if she were my child.
Cael and I had been talking about hockey last night, when he caught sight of my two newest tattoos.
He didn’t know I was adding the ribbon to the XI that all three of us boys had, or that I was inking my bracelet. The original bracelet was now tucked away safe in a dresser drawer.
I didn’t see Caleb cry at Bri’s funeral. I saw him tear up at the hospital when they first got the news, sure, but last night was the first time I think I ever saw my older brother truly break down and cry.
Thank God Logan wanted to meet for drinks, because I needed to wash some of that away. I was doing well with my emotions and the loss of Bri, and I really thought I had Asher to thank for that.
All the grown boys were on the ice, mindlessly passing a puck back and forth. Not a single one of us was in skates.
CJ had a game two nights from now, and the rest of us all played in three. It was nice to not go balls-to-the-wall every time you had a stick in your hand.
Jonny passed the puck to me; it stopped against the well-worn blade of my stick with a satisfying thump. This stick was the only survivor from high school hockey. All my others were broken or on display somewhere. “Anyone know about Myke’s guy?” Jonny asked.
My sister was arriving to the holiday festivities today—with a boyfriend.
I couldn’t remember the last time Myke brought a guy home.
I shook my head. “Nope.” I played with the puck a bit before looking up toward Parker, but passing it to CJ. Beyond Parker, I caught sight of Logan’s truck racing down the road.
“What the hell is he up to?” I asked, more to myself than anything else. CJ stopped the puck and everyone turned to watch as Logan slid to a stop near us at the pond, but still far enough from the boys that they weren’t in any danger. Immediately, my friend was out of his truck. I opened my mouth to give him hell, and to wish him a Merry Christmas, but I didn’t have a chance.
“There was an accident,” he said, making his way quickly to the pond. “I heard it from my parent’s place.” He made it onto the ice before his next words.
“I think it was Avery’s car.”
***
I sat in the darkening hospital room, my eyes fixed on the pulse oximeter.
Avery had to go into surgery and I saw her after she left recovery. She had broken her arm and dislocated her shoulder, as well as broken her nose, in the crash.
Asher hadn’t been awake once in the time I was here.
After Logan came down to the pond, CJ and I jumped into his truck with him, while Caleb and Jonny took the boys to the house to inform everyone else. I would never truly understand CJ and Ace’s relationship, but the kid cared about her, so why she pushed him away…
By the time Logan got us to the scene of the accident, the girls were already on their way to the hospital.
But Avery’s car…
I cleared my throat, trying to move past the tightness. I leaned forward in the recliner that I had brought to the side of Asher’s bed, and reached for her hand, mindful of the IV catheter sticking out of the back.
I squeezed her hand gently and wished she would squeeze back.
Per the police officers at the scene, the girls were sideswiped as a car tried passing them. It was a fucking six-lane highway, so why the hell the fucker…
I forced myself to take a deep breath.
Asher had been driving. The other car pushed into them and Asher ended up steering into the cement wall separating north and south-bound traffic. The jarring action, with the deployment of the airbags, was what caused Avery’s arm to get all fucked up.
The airbags, and the smoke and dust, from the accident, were what sent Asher into a severe asthma attack.
The docs had kept her comfortable when she first got here. According to them, she’d been moaning in between her wheezes. They knocked her out in case there was any internal damage.
Thank fuck, there wasn’t.
Right now, the goal was just to keep her oxygen saturations above ninety-two.
If they’d ever fucking get there.
The docs were okay with her sitting at ninety, but I would much rather she could be off oxygen, and awake and talking.
“How’s she doing?”
I looked over my shoulder at Mom as she walked in. “Can I turn on a light?” she asked when my eyes landed on her.
To be honest, I hadn’t realized how dark it had gotten in the room.
“The one over the sink is the dimmest,” I told her. I’d played with the switches an hour ago, needing the distraction.
“How’s Avery?” I asked, after Mom turned on the light.
“Better. She’s awake and talking.”
I nodded, looking back to Asher.
Still sleeping.
“Her doctor said she should be waking up soon,” I told Mom. “The meds should be wearing off.”
“Good.” Mom sat gently at the end of the bed, her hand resting on Asher’s lower leg. I could have sworn I saw Asher’s chest hitch with a double breath, but other than a brief acceleration of her heartrate on her monitors, everything remained the same.
“Did Ace say anything about the accident?” I didn’t want to take my eyes off of Asher’s face—even looking at her, I had a great peripheral view of her monitors—but I knew better than to talk to my mother without looking at her.
Mom shook her head. “Just that the car came out of nowhere. She said the thing she could remember the most was Asher’s eyes.” Mom shrugged and rubbed her hand on Asher’s leg. “I’m sure she was terrified.”
I looked back to Asher’s face. She looked comfortable now, not terrified in any way. I remembered my own accident when I was sixteen. Having a car come at you…
“Dad and I are going to head back to the house. I can bring you a bag, if you’d like. I’m assuming you’re staying.”
She assumed correctly.
However, it wasn’t as easy as just saying I was going to stay. Asher’s nurse tonight was apparently a stickler for rules, and she hadn’t been the kindest about my staying. She got the head nurse involved but, thank God, in the end I was granted approval to stay.
“Sure, yeah.” I looked back at her. “The doc said if Ash wakes up tonight and her oxygen levels return to normal, she should be able to go home tomorrow. Is Ace staying?”
“They’re keeping her in after care for a few hours. I told Avery she might be better off staying the night, but I think she and CJ need some time.”
I chuckled, even though it was slightly dry. “I will never understand those two.”
Mom just smiled. “Some things just take time. Your sister is stubborn.”
“Aren’t they all,” I murmured under my breath. Mom caught it and laughed lightly before moving in to press a kiss to the top of my head, as if I wasn’t a twenty-three-year old man.
Almost twenty-three.
“You’re not free from that statement, either, Porter love.” She squeezed my shoulder before moving around the bed to press a kiss to Asher’s forehead. My throat became tight watching it.
“Dad or I will call when we’re here with your bag. Just meet us in the lobby. I’m sure we won’t be able to come up. I’ll also bring Caine to the main house tonight.”
I nodded, thanking her, and watched as my mom left the room, before returning my attention to Ash.
I leaned forward and lifted her hand toward my mouth. It was full of tape to keep the catheter in place, but I felt better with her skin near. “Wake up, beautiful,” I said softly, my eyes fixed on her face.
I thought I heard her sigh in her sleep, but I was probably just imagining things.
But then she did it again.
I stood, moving her hand so I could sit on the bed beside her hip, putting her hand in my lap as I reached out to brush my hand over her face. It was easy to forget the bruising on her face before Mom flipped on the light. The dimness of it only accentuated the marks and my gut clenched.
“Hey, sweet—“ I stopped myself from calling her sweetheart. Her reaction to the nickname was one of those things that I would never forget. “Sweet girl. C’mon, beautiful, open those eyes for me.”
I watched her lips move, but didn’t hear anything. She moved them again, and I could see as her breathing accelerated. Her chest was rising and falling quickly, and her heartrate on the monitor was creeping up.
“Asher, babe. You’ve gotta calm down.” I placed my hand on her cheek, holding steady. I squeezed her hand with my other, keeping the pressure steady there too. She needed to know I was here.
Her hand squeezed against mine and I thought for sure her eyes would open then, but they didn’t. Her numbers all steadied and after a deep breath, her breathing slowed as well.
I was starting to feel like she didn’t want to wake up.
There was nothing medically keeping her asleep any more.
Whatever she saw, whatever terrified her…
It was keeping her from me.