Page 109 of Tragic (Lark Cove 3)

I nodded, trying to breathe as she sat at my side. But my lungs, they just wouldn’t work right.

“Breathe.” Her hand rubbed up and down my back. “In and out. Breathe.”

The nurse’s hot pink scrubs disappeared from my periphery, but I didn’t turn. My eyes were locked on the blurry sidewalk beneath my feet.

I sucked in a gasp but it wasn’t enough oxygen. My heart was racing, and I was seconds away from blacking out when the nurse’s pink scrubs were back in front of me.

She shook out a brown paper bag and handed it to Piper, who put it over my face.

My hands covered hers, my eyes squeezing shut as I dragged in a ragged breath. The bag crunched and crackled as it constricted on my inhale, then expanded on my exhale. Seven more huffs into the paper sack and I finally had enough oxygen back in my bloodstream to open my eyes.

The nurse wasn’t alone anymore. Three others from the hospital had gathered on the sidewalk, crowding Piper and me on the bench.

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sp; I shied away from their attention, focusing on Piper while pulling the paper bag away from my face.

“Are you okay?” She hadn’t put on her coat in her rush to follow me outside.

I frowned, pushing off the bench. My legs were unsteady but not enough that I couldn’t stand or walk.

Piper stood too, and I yanked the coat out of her arms. Then I pulled the purse off her shoulder and held it while I handed her the coat. “Put this on.”

“Sir, do you—”

I shot the nurse a glare before pushing past her and the others. It was bad enough that Piper had to see me like that. I didn’t need a fucking audience as my life spiraled out of control.

Piper rushed to catch up while simultaneously putting on her coat, carrying her purse and saying thank you to the nurse. But I didn’t slow down.

Getting the hell away from the hospital was priority number one.

We got to the car and I didn’t open the passenger door for Piper like I normally did. I let her climb in herself while I hopped in the driver’s side, turned on the engine and got us gone.

The cab of the Tahoe was silent, much like the drive up had been. But my mind was whirling faster than the tires on the pavement.

One or two.

If we had lost the boys, I would have had to decide again. I would have had to put them in the ground.

One. We’d bury them together. Brothers should be together. And at least Piper and I had picked out names. Their headstones wouldn’t be unmarked.

“Kaine!” Piper hollered. “I said slow down.”

I blinked, glancing at the speedometer between my white knuckles. Then I backed off the gas. “Sorry.”

It would be ironic if I crashed this car, for more than one reason. Leaving the house was tempting fate. But staying home wasn’t safe either.

“I’m sorry.” Piper sighed. “I didn’t know this would happen.”

My silence was deafening. It sounded a lot like blame.

“I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”

Talk? If she only knew what she was asking. She had no idea how impossible it was for me to talk about everything that had happened. I’d lose my temper. I’d lose the control I’d worked so hard to keep. And she’d be right there in my warpath.

Look at what had just happened at the hospital. I couldn’t even control my own body.

Mom had been begging me for weeks on our phone calls to open up. She thought it would be healthy for me to talk about it with her or Piper, then let it go. She wanted me to find forgiveness and move forward.