How can this be happening again? How many times does she have to fight for her fucking life before she can get tolive?
“What can they do?” I ask again.
“There’s nothing they can—”
“That’s bullshit!” I bellow. “Of course, there’s something they can do! We can take you to another doctor; a better one. Get a second opinion.”
“Zeke, stop.” Her tone is the steadiest it’s been for this entire call. “I’ve gotten a second opinion already. Hell, I’ve gotten a third. I’ve seen the best oncologist in the country. There’s nothing they can do.” She enunciates the words, like if she speaks clearer, it’ll force me to accept them. But I don’t. “I’m sorry.”
Sorry.Like this is somehow her fault.
The tears fall hot down my face as the burn builds inside my chest. I’ve never felt as helpless as I do right now. My muscles ache with tension as I fight the urge to upend this entire room. Break everything in its entirety. Burn the fucking world down. I cannot lose my sister.
“How…” My voice cracks. I clear my throat. “How long do they think?”
“It’s hard to say,” she says softly. “I have another appointment scheduled for next week where they’ll take some more scans and make a plan then.”
Fuck.
“Please let me know, Elena. As soon as you know.”
“I will. I promise.”
As soon as we hang up, I notice a new message has come through.
Elias: My mouth is too busy doing other things to talk to you.
I toss the phone onto the couch to keep from saying something I’ll regret, standing and pacing in front of it. My chest is tight, my mind hurting from everything I just learned.
I can’t breathe.
Grabbing my discarded phone, I storm out of the media room, needing desperately to get out of here. My shoes are on and keys in hand before I can even think twice, storming out of the house and starting my car. The music starts playing through Bluetooth, but I jam my finger into the button, turning it off. I need silence right now.
I drive for a while, with no real idea where I’m going. Not a single thought in my mind. The night sky is clear, it’s warm, and before I know it, I’m driving down an empty cul-de-sac. One that startles me when I recognize where I am.
Elias’s house.
Parking in front of his house, I turn the car off, hopping out. It isn’t until my fist is banging on his front door, and he swings it open, gaze widening and dropping to my chest, that I realize I’m still in only sleep pants and no shirt.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Elias hisses, glancing behind me, presumably to see who’s with me.
Instead of answering him, I shove past him, into the house, leaving him to follow me. Not bothering to take my shoes off, I jog up the stairs, in search of his room that I know is up here, despite never being in it.
His feet shuffle across the floor behind me, letting me know he’s following. With a huff, he says, “You don’t even fucking know where you’re going.”
“Sure it’s not hard to find a bedroom, Elias.”
“What the hell are you even doing here? It’s the middle of the fucking night.”
“Quit talking.”
Another scoff. “You are inmyhouse, Zeke. You don’t get to boss me around.”
Swinging around, Elias is forced to stop dead in his tracks as he runs into my chest. With a hand to his throat, I shove him back into the nearest wall. “Listen here,little mocoso… Ialwaysget to boss you around. I don’t give a fuck if we’re in your house, my house, or a fucking church. Do you understand me?” He nods silently, eyes narrowed into slits. “Good. Now, where is your goddamn bedroom?”
His Adam’s apple bobs against the palm of my hand as he swallows. “End of the hall.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
