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“Dylan, where’s Julia? Is she hurt? How far behind you is she?” Russ is suddenly behind me and firing off his questions in rapid succession, as Aiden arrives with the portable stretcher.
“Max?” I hear my dad’s voice and I turn to share a look with him.
“Fuck,” the man supporting Eddie cuts in, and we turn our gaze to him. “Yeah, Max is here, but can you save the fucking celebration until after you take care of this big motherfucker?”
Well, he’s colorful, isn’t he? I think, cracking a grin at his confirmation of my brother showing up and at the disparity of his height next to Eddie.
With that Aiden lays the bright blue stretcher alongside Eddie, who is barely holding himself upright, before looking around at us. “Russ, Mike, and Dylan, grab a corner strap and let’s get him home.”
Once Trisha makes sure Eddie is settled and the men start walking with their load, she reaches her arm out to stop me from following them. The man who helped Eddie make it back, steps in front of me and my stomach drops in fear.
“Julia?” I ask them, terrified.
“No. Jace,” Trisha immediately answers, squeezing my arm. “We didn’t see everything, but Jace was about to shoot Eddie. Both Dylan and, I think, your brother fired at him. Your son knows not to say anything to Elsbeth yet, but we have to tell her soon.”
“Oh, dear God,” I whimper, my emotions racing between relief and pain. She reaches for me, I initially think to console me, but soon feel her trying to support some of my weight.
“I’m going to head back to them…”
“Who are you?” I ask the man, cutting him off.
“Javier. Your brother and me have been on the road a ways,” he answers my question, shrugging his shoulders. “Better make sure he gets the rest of the way here.”
I nod, more out of mental exhaustion than anything, but then a whistle cuts through the air and I turn to look behind me, signing to Trisha when she squeezes my arm and looks confused.
“Mom!” Julia calls out a moment later, but she isn’t the one running toward me.
My big brother meant everything to me growing up and no amount of time nor distance ever changed the way we feel about each other. The collapse of my marriage was probably even harder because back then technology hadn’t allowed us to be in regular communication.
The feeling of his arms around me before he spins me in the air makes me feel like I’m five again and is all the more welcome in the middle of what this world has become. At least it is until the nausea hits.
“Goddamn, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Max laughs before looking at me closer, his eyes bulging when he realizes why I’m slapping his arm and not talking—desperate to keep my bile down. “Sorry, sorry. Julia told me you’re pregnant. Are you alright?”
Max hurriedly puts me on the ground, gently holding my shoulder with one hand and rubbing my back with the other while I take deep breaths.
“I almost puked on you,” I gasp out, before turning back into his chest and squeezing him tight.
“That would have been worth the trip,” Javier chuckles, but focuses on the others joining us.
Julia gives me a nod, trying to look happy, but I can see the strain of this morning’s events on her face. There’s another woman with them, who quickly mumbles a greeting as she passes me.
Trisha had continued on her way to our house and the other woman who has joined us calls out to her, before shaking her head and hurrying to catch up with her. I’m still trying to make sense of everything when she taps Trisha on the shoulder, so she won’t alarm her.
“Just checking,” I say, winking at Max as I look up at him. “They are friendly, right?”
“He’s a little rough around the edges, but they are definitely friends.” Max assures me before taking on a grim expression. “Hey, um…”
“Trisha told me a moment ago,” I say and realize I’d almost forgotten about Jace. “I’m sorry, Max. I know he was your oldest friend.”
“That was a long time ago.” My brother quietly shrugs off the fact that his childhood playmate was just killed to save Eddie, and I sigh, knowing that their lives had taken very different paths.
“Why don’t your two friends hit the showers and you go talk to Dad?”
“Showers?” Javier asks, reminding me he’s still watching my brother’s back. “Warm showers?”
I turn and smile at him, “Hot.”
With that one word, he shouts, ‘Fucking A’, and takes off running to the house.
