AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. I’m Bryce Tate. Brandon’s brother.”
Her gasp was loud enough for Bryce to hear from across the small room. “His what?” she demanded. “Brandon was an only child.”
He was stunned. He was prepared to have been made out to be the bad guy, always assuming he would be the villain of the story. What he wasn’t expecting was for his brother to pretend he never existed. That shock was harder to take than learning his brother had died.
“He told you that?” he asked quietly.
Her gaze traveled his face before she answered. “Yeah. He told me that. But you look just like him, only your hair is darker. And a little longer. Is he okay?”
Bryce couldn’t bring himself to answer that question. “I’m sure the doctors will be out here soon.”
“Okay,” she replied softly. “I’m Samantha, by the way.”
Bryce walked over to her and sat down two seats away. “I’m sorry we didn’t meet under better circumstances.”
“Me too,” she breathed.
Bryce struggled to think of something else to say. Before he could come up with anything, the door opened, and Dr. Kimball walked back in. He was alone. His gaze went back and forth between Bryce and Samantha.
“Mrs. Tate? I’m Doctor Kimball.”
Chapter 4
Samantha tried her best to hold it together. As soon as she took notice of the other person in the room, she was struck by how much he looked like Brandon. His dark hair was cropped close to his head on the sides, with some length on top, and he had a neatly trimmed beard. Otherwise, he looked enough like Brandon that she could have guessed they were related. She was still coming to grips with Brandon having a brother she didn’t know about when the doctor entered the room.
“Yes? I’m Mrs. Tate,” she breathed. “What is it? What happened?”
She was vaguely aware of the man who introduced himself as Bryce taking her hand in his, but her attention was on the doctor. She tried to focus on what he was saying, but it all sounded like ringing in her ears. The only thing she heard clearly was the sound of her heartbeat. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried once again to hear what the doctor was saying.
“…despite our best efforts your husband died.”
The words hit her like a bucket of cold water. “I’m sorry, what?”
“We did everything we could,” the doctor repeated, “but your husband died.”
“I’m sorry,” Samantha said carefully, ignoring the squeeze Bryce gave her hand. “Could you please start from the beginning?”
Dr. Kimball cleared his throat and started over. “Mrs. Tate, your husband was in a very serious car accident…”
“He’s dead?” she interrupted.
“Yes,” the doctor confirmed. “We did everything we could, but your husband died.”
Samantha closed her eyes again and attempted to process what the doctor told her. Her husband was dead. He was no longer alive. She was a widow. She slowly looked to her right and met the gaze of the brother-in-law she never knew existed. He continued to hold her hand and his hazel eyes were filled with concern as he watched her.
“Would you like to see him?” The question dragged her attention back to the doctor.
“See him?” she repeated.
“Yes. Would you like to see him? He’s still in the trauma room. You can take all the time you need,” Dr. Kimball said with a nod indicating for her to follow.
Samantha stood without letting go of Bryce’s hand. He seemed to hesitate, but stood to follow when she continued to hold on. She needed to see him for herself to believe he was gone. She wondered if the sadness would hit once she saw his lifeless body. She wasn’t yet ready to put a name on the emotion that overwhelmed her.
Dr. Kimball stopped just outside of a hospital room. "You should prepare yourself. We’ve disconnected all the tubes and cleaned him up the best we could, but due to the nature of the accident, the medical examiner needs things as undisturbed as possible.”
“Nature of the accident?” Samantha questioned.
“Yes. The other driver was intoxicated. There will be criminal charges and in order to do so an autopsy could be necessary,” the doctor explained.
