Page 32 of The Way Home

“Are you family?”

“Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down and take a seat.”

It wasn’t until he spotted Benji, Jamie’s older brother, that Caleb was able to get some answers.

“How bad is it, Benji?” Caleb asked desperately, heart pounding out of his chest. He looked around, wondering why the fuck no one would tell him where his fiancé was. Every person who seemed to work at this hospital kept disappearing behind two swinging doors with an obnoxious red stripe running through them.

“I don’t know,” Benji muttered grimly. “He got hit by a car or… or a bus? They think it’s a head injury, but didn’t say much else. I saw him—”

“You saw him?” Caleb spun on the man. He was built like Jamie,but with an intensity that Jamie didn’t have. “When? How did he look? Where—?”

“Caleb,” Benji said, setting his hands on Caleb’s shoulders and guiding him into a chair. “I don’t know anything, okay? I saw them wheel him in for a… scan? Some kind of scan?”

“CT scan?”

Before Benji could reply, a doctor threw the double doors open and approached them—a blonde woman who looked way too calm for a Trauma Care Unit.

“James Collins’s family?”

“Yes, that’s us.” Caleb quickly stood. Benji stepped forward and said, “I’m his brother,” at the same time that Caleb said, “I’m his fiancé.”

“Thank you for waiting. I’m Doctor Wilson.” Her voice was calm and practiced, like she’d said that exact line a hundred times. “James is stable. His vitals are good, and there is no life-threatening bleeding.”

Caleb felt his knees practically give out. He shoved down the urge to ask if he could go in there right now to let her finish.

“Is he going to be okay?” Benji asked.

Doctor Wilson looked down at the paper in her hands, and Caleb wanted to scream. Couldn’t she fucking speakfaster?“He sustained a traumatic brain injury when he was struck by the bus. Because of that, his brain needs time to rest. At the moment, he’s not awake or responsive in a meaningful way.”

Caleb clenched his fists. “What does that mean?”

“It means that he’s in a coma,” the doctor said.

The lights lining the hospital ceiling started to blur. Caleb blinked rapidly. The doctor quickly added, “Based on what we’re seeing, we expect the coma to be temporary. He is breathing on his own, his reflexes are intact, and there are signs that his brain is protecting itself rather than shutting down.”

Shutting down.

“Can I see him?” Caleb croaked, wishing there was a wall to hold himself up on. “Please.”

“You can come in and sit with him,” she replied. Caleb rushedtoward the doors, and Benji fell into step beside him. “You may talk to him. In fact, familiar voices can be comforting. Even if he doesn’t respond, he may still hear you.”

Despite the warnings about being calm and quiet, Caleb rushed into the room that Doctor Wilson indicated, but the moment he threw the door open, he froze mid-step.

Nothing could prepare a man for this moment.

Jamie’s body lay motionless beneath thin white sheets, his eyes closed, dark lashes resting against pale skin. A faint bruise marked his temple, and the sight of it made Caleb want to vomit.

Machines hummed softly as Caleb moved quickly to the bedside.

“Jamie.” Caleb’s voice cracked. “Sweetheart.”

Jamie didn’t stir at the sound of his name, nor when Caleb brushed the back of his knuckles against his bruised temple.

Doctor Wilson approached the machine beside the bed and pressed a few buttons. “Like I said, he’s not responsive right now. But that doesn’t mean he can’t hear you.”

“Oh, Jamie.” Caleb’s fingers shook as they traced the freckles on his pale face. “Baby.”

This couldn’t be real. Surely, this was just a cruel dream that Caleb was having, and soon, he’d wake up with Jamie in his arms, and it would all be okay…