The music is playing on low as the wind whips through the window, causing my hair to fly across my face. Leaning against the door, I let the sun beat down on my face as I sing along to the lyrics.
As soon as Mason told me about his phone call with his mom, I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to go home to be there for his brother. After the argument with Kaleb showing up at Velvet, I didn’t feel comfortable without him there so I offered to go with him.
We didn’t have a lot of details on what had happened to Callum’s girlfriend, Ellie. Something about the way Mason’s mom, Connie, asked him to come home told him it was important. That regardless of their arguments and differences of opinions, his brother needed him more than anything. I knew Mason needed me, too, so here we are making the seven-hour drive.
Picking up my cell phone from my lap, I scroll through my Spotify playlist and click on J.Lo. Looking over at Mason, I grin as I turn up the volume.
Singing along to the lyrics, I slip my hand through my hair, holding it away from my face. Mason smiles, shaking his head at me. He always gives me crap for my love of old school rap.
He reaches over, sliding his hand along my leg and grabs my hand. Tangling his fingers with mine, he brings my palm to his mouth as he presses a light kiss before setting it back down in his lap.
“Thank you for coming with me.” He flashes me a small grin. I wish I could see his eyes behind his shaded sunglasses.
Resting my head on his shoulder, I close my eyes and let the music playing through the speakers soothe me.
A little while later, we pull into a town outside of Arbor Creek named Everton where the hospital is located. Mason’s face is stoic; his expression unreadable. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing as we walk toward the hospital entrance. Entering through the turnstile door, we approach the desk situated in the lobby.
“May I help you?” an older woman asks. It’s hard to see her over the height of the desk, but her silver-gray hair curled to perfection and her big blue eyes make her hard to miss.
“Yes, I’m looking for my brother. His girlfriend, Ellie, has been brought here.”
“Mason.” The sound of a voice behind us has us turning. A petite woman with short blond hair smiles as she races toward Mason, throwing her arms around him.
“Halle, hey. It’s great to see you.”
My eyes track his movements, and I can’t help but feel uncomfortable at how he reacts to seeing her. Folding my arms in front of my stomach, I cover myself in hopes of easing the roll in my stomach.
“It’s great to see you. I bet you’re looking for Callum. I can take you up to see him.”
“How’s he doing?” Mason asks, his eyebrows etched with worry.
“Not good. Ellie still hasn’t woken up. We’ve been trying to get him to shower or even eat something. He isn’t taking this very well. I think it will be good for him to see you.”
Halle steps away from Mason, turning to show him to Ellie’s room when she notices me standing beside them. I feel like I’ve intruded on their private moment, and I fight against the urge to look away.
As if suddenly remembering I’m standing here, Mason turns and runs his arm along my shoulder and I move to stand closer to him.
“Sorry, Brea, this is Halle. She’s a friend of mine. Halle, this is Brea.”
Halle reaches her hand out between us and I take hers in greeting. “It’s nice meeting you.” She smiles.
“Likewise.” I smile back.
Mason rubs his hand over his mouth and down the back of his neck. I know he’s unsure how his brother is going to take seeing him, but wants to be there for him all the same.
“Do you want me to go up with you? I mean, I can hang out in the waiting room, too.”
I can tell Halle is trying to piece together who I am as her eyes travel between us. I fight against the urge to tell her to get lost, that we’ll figure it out on our own. She must be a friend of Mason’s so I don’t want to be rude, but I also don’t know what their relationship is with each other.
“Of course I want you to come up with me. C’mon,” he says, holding his arm out to me. We thank the woman at the front desk for her help before heading toward the elevator.
Pushing the button for the third floor, we stand and wait. The only sound filling the silence is the beeping as the elevator passes each floor.
“Umm,” Halle hesitates. “How’s he doing?” I feel my eyebrows furrow at her question.
“He’s good. I guess as good as he can be considering,” Mason says, running his hand down the side of her arm reassuringly.
I’m not sure who she’s referring to, but I can sense her uncertainty as she bites her lower lip, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Is he,” she sighs, letting out a shaky breath. “Is he seeing anyone?”
The emotion on her face nearly breaks my heart in two. Whoever she is talking about, she obviously cares about and I immediately feel like an asshole for assuming she could have something more with Mason.
“He’s not dating anyone if that’s what you’re asking.”
I am not sure if that’s the answer she was looking for as a lone tear slips out of her eye and down her face. She doesn’t move to wipe it away. Her head turns toward me and she flashes me a sad smile just as the elevator dings announcing our arrival.
“Halle, I thought you were taking off? Mason, is that you, man?”
The two guys greet each other as we exit the elevator. Another woman with long brown hair wraps her arms around Mason’s waist.
“Hey, guys. Brea, this is Callum and my friends Wes and Kinsley. Guys, this is Brea.”
Wes nods his head in greeting as Kinsley steps forward and wraps her arm around my shoulder. “I’m a hugger.” She laughs in my ear. “I’ve never met any of Mason’s girlfriends. It’s nice meeting you.”
My eyes find Mason over her shoulder and the smirk on his face says he wouldn’t expect anything less from her.
“You, too,” I mutter, forcing a smile on my face.
“How’s she doing?” Mason asks.
“She hasn’t woken up yet. Callum won’t leave her side. It’s been a couple of days and I know it has him worried. Kinsley just had to force him to take a shower and go eat. Until today, we had been bringing him food but even then, he was hardly touching it,” Wes grumbles.
“Damn! What the fuck happened?” Mason asks the question I had been wondering myself.
“I know Callum wouldn’t want me telling you all of the details out of respect for Ellie, but I can say she was abducted by some fucker who messed with her when she was a kid. She fought him hard, but she ended up sustaining a pretty bad head wound, which has left her unconscious. They’re still searching for him.”
I cover my mouth to hide the gasp hearing Wes explain what happened to Ellie. Tears stream down Kinsley and Halle’s face, their grief and worry for their friend has my heart aching for this woman I don’t even know.
“He’ll be happy to see you. We just sent him to the cafeteria to eat. You should meet him down there.” Kinsley smiles, adjusting the strap of her cross-body bag over her shoulder.
“That sounds good. We’re gonna head that way now. I’ll talk to you guys later,” Mason says, turning toward Halle. “I’ll catch up with you sometime before I leave, okay?”
“Okay,” Hallie replies. “Just send me a text or something.”
After saying our goodbyes, Mason and I head to the elevators. Pressing the button to the main floor, we head out in search for the cafeteria.
“Damn, it’s no wonder my mom wanted me here. I’ve never talked to Callum about Ellie with us not speaking, but Mom had mentioned her to me at one point. This has to be tearing him up right now.”
Stepping across the small elevator, I give Mason a reassuring hug, resting my head against his shoulder. “He’s going to be glad you came.”
We follow the signs on the wall leading us to the cafeteria. Since my father was a doctor at the local Cleveland Hospital, I am used to being in and around places like this. Although there is one thing I’ve always stayed away from…hospital food.
Rounding the corner into the cafeteria, I hear Mason mutter “there he is” as my eyes search for Callum. The first night that I met him in Chicago, I had mistaken him for Mason beneath the dim lights at Velvet. Now, in the well-lit room, he doesn’t look like the same person I remember.
It takes me a second to collect myself when I see him. Although his hair is wet from his recent shower, the pale look on his face and the dark circles under his eyes show how worried he is and my heart breaks all over again. He picks up his tray and turns toward the table where he moves to take a seat when his eyes fall on Mason’s.
As soon as they see each other, I watch as Mason takes the three hurried steps and wraps his arms around his brother. The strangled sob that comes from deep down in Callum’s throat has me clamping my hand over my mouth to cover a sob of my own. I hear Callum’s whispered words to Mason, “It’s good to see you. I wasn’t expecting you.”
He claps him on the back. I watch as Callum runs his hand along his face, trying to contain the emotion after seeing his brother.
“Yeah, well as soon as Mom told me what had happened, I knew you could use some support. I know we never talked about her nor have I had the chance to meet her, but I know she’s important to you,” Mason says, taking a step back so he’s next to me once again.
Callum’s eyes find mine and I feel guilty for interrupting their private moment.
“Hey, Brea. Thanks to both of you for coming. It’s… uh, it’s really good to see both of you.” I know what he really means is that he’s happy to see his brother, but he really wishes it wasn’t under these circumstances.
Mason claps him once again on the shoulder and says, “Of course, man.”
Callum turns to take a seat at the table and Mason holds out his arm to me, allowing me to go before him. We take a seat opposite to Callum as he moves to crush his crackers before adding them to his bowl of chili.
“How is she doing?” Mason asks. I turn my head to peer up at him, and I see the concern on his face.
“She’s okay. She hasn’t woken up yet so there are still a lot of unknowns, but the doctor is optimistic,” he sighs. “All the tests they’ve ran show signs she’s responding. Right now, it’s just a waiting game, just waiting for her to wake up.”
“That’s good to hear, man.”
“How long are you in town for?” Callum takes a bite of his chili, his eyes bouncing between me and Mason. I see the question hidden beneath the surface. They are the same ones I saw in Kinsley and Halle’s faces, too. They are surprised that Mason brought me with him and are wondering what we are to each other.
“Through the weekend. She was originally planning to head home to visit her family, but I convinced her to come along for a road trip. We’ll probably head back to Chicago on Sunday morning.”
Mason turns his head to me and gives me a side smirk. He knows it didn’t take much to convince me to come with him.
We sit and talk with Callum for a little bit longer while he eats his bowl of chili. As much as he seems glad to see Mason, you can tell he is anxious to be with Ellie. I can’t blame him.
Callum stands to take his tray over to the kitchen and comes back. “Thanks for coming today. It means a lot to have you here.”
“Of course,” Mason says, walking closer to him, giving him another brotherly hug.
“Listen, I’m not sure when I’ll be leaving this place. God, I hope it’s fucking soon because I can’t take much more of this.” Callum looks around, running his hand along his shoulder trying to ease the tension. “Before you head back though, will you get a hold of me?”
“Absolutely. I’ll be around, I’m sure I’ll stop by again at some point. I just wanted you to know I was here if you needed anything.”
“I appreciate it,” Callum says, hugging his brother once again.
With the promise of talking to each other later this week, Mason and I head out.
“How are you doing?” I ask as Mason steps in closer to me. He presses his mouth against the side of my head, and I hear his sudden inhale of breath.
“I’m really glad we came. I’ve never seen him so worried and crushed like this. He looks like he’s a second away from falling apart.”
I can only nod my head because even though I hardly know Callum, I understand what he means. He looks like a man who just had his world turned upside down.
“She’ll be okay,” I whisper, wrapping my arm around his waist, returning his embrace. “We just have to pray she’ll be okay.”