Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
BOWEN
When they tapered the sedatives, James didn’t wake up like they expected him to. Not that night or the next morning. By the following evening, he still hadn’t given us a single sign that he wanted to return. Not a groan, an eyelash flutter, not a single twitch.
Dad hovered by his bedside, unable to sit. Mom, on the other hand, was perfectly still, sitting in a chair next to his bed, holding his hand, head bowed.
The rest of us stood outside his room, watching him lie there, lifeless, through the glass.
Sophie held Willow in her arms. “I don’t think Mom’s stopped praying since they turned off the sedatives.”
“Nah,” Griffin said, hands at the back of his head. “She hasn’t stopped praying since the minute they got the call. Guarantee it.”
“I know I haven’t,” I said.
“Same,” Sophie and Griffin echoed.
Standing next to me, Magnolia squeezed my hand and gave me a sad smile.
“It’s like…” Sophie bounced Willow when she fussed. “It’s like he knows Sage is gone. But how could that be? We’ve been so careful not to say anything in front of him.” She glanced over at Magnolia. “Do you think that’s possible?”
“Maybe,” Magnolia said quietly. “The subconscious is still active. Patients in comas can sometimes detect changes in their environment—voices, touches, even the lack of someone’s presence. He may not know in words, but he might feel it.”
“Excuse me?” came a shrill voice from down the hall. “No, I will not leave!”
We all turned around, trying to listen.
“Ma’am,” another woman said, trying to quiet her. “This is the ICU. You are disrupting the patients.” Oh, that was the nurse who let people onto the floor to visit their loved ones. “I’ll have to ask you to leave if you’re not immediate family.”
“I am immediate family!”
At that, Griffin straightened. He leaned forward, ear inclined toward the conversation.
Sophie snickered. “Finally, somebody to liven things up around here. I don’t know who she is, but I say we get them to let her in. Maybe she’ll be able to wake James up.”
Griffin waved for her to be quiet.
“I’ve told you I’m married to his brother at least ten times.” The woman sounded highly offended. “Where I grew up, that means immediate family. Or do you need me to draw you a diagram of how family trees work?”
“Oh dang.” I chuckled. “I like her.”
Magnolia giggled. “Me too.”
The nurse spoke in hushed tones, probably trying to get her to follow suit. But it was no use.
The woman huffed. “I’m sorry if you’re a raging misogynist and can’t comprehend that some women don’t change their names when they get married—but you need to come into the twenty-first century, lady!”
“Aw snap,” Sophie said. “She’s about to get security called on her.”
Griffin, laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking, pulled out his phone. Then he breathed out a curse word. “Hold on. Be right back.” He jogged across the room and down the hall.
I scratched my forehead. “What the?”
Sophie’s mouth fell open. “Did Griffin get married and nobody told us?”
“There he is!” the woman yelled, her relief echoing off the walls. “That’s my husband. Griffin Dupree. Just like I said.”
Magnolia, Sophie, and I looked at each other, speechless.
Like she’d done an emotional one-eighty, Griffin’s wife tittered, “Hey, you. Oh, you look tired. Still handsome though. Can you believe that nurse harassed me like I was a terrorist?” Then, she shouted, “I was treated better by TSA!”
I strode across the room, Magnolia and Sophie right behind me. When we came into the hall, we stopped dead.
Griff had his arms around a very tall, very gorgeous redhead. They were face-to-face, whispering happily. She nipped the end of his nose with hers. Her gigantic suitcase—pale pink with bright pink bows—stood next to them, the handle ratcheted all the way up.
“Oh, babe.” Griff groaned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here already. My phone died. I packed in such a hurry, I didn’t bring my charger.”
“It’s okay. I got an earlier flight,” she said happily. “I brought your charger. Hold on.”
Magnolia giggled. “Well, this explains—”
“Why he didn’t kill me.” I finished.
My sister-in-law, apparently, dug through her purse, tongue poking out, neither of them noticing us yet. “Oh, and I brought your ring.” She slipped a titanium band over his ring finger.
“Thanks.” He clenched and unclenched his fist like it felt normal now that his wedding ring was back in place.
I blinked, still wrapping my head around what I was seeing. “That sucker actually got married,” I whispered. “Without telling us.”
“Wait.” Sophie grabbed my arm. “Is that…oh my word. It is!” Sophie squealed, jumping up and down like she was on a trampoline.
That got their attention. “You got married to Juliette Serrant? My sister-in-law is Juliette Serrant, and no one bothered to tell me?” She skipped toward them, arms waving like she was greeting her childhood best friend at the airport after a decade apart.
“Yeah. But I call her Jules.” Griffin broke into a grin. Then he leaned over and said to his wife. “That’s Sophie.”
“My sister-in-law?” Jules asked, her smile wobbly, eyes wide with wonder as if the words themselves were too good to be true.
“Your sister-in-law,” Griffin confirmed, looking so pleased.
She fanned her face, trying not to cry.
Ten feet away, Sophie halted. “What did I do?”
Griffin laughed. “Nothing. She’s just really happy. She’s always wanted a sister.”
“Oh my goodness,” Sophie said. “Me too. And then I got Sage, but now she’s…” She couldn’t say the word gone. “Thank you for marrying my dingus brother.”
Jules laughed through her tears as they collapsed into a hug. Griffin wrapped his arms around both of them, making it a three-way.
“Juliette Serrant?” I asked Magnolia. “Am I supposed to know who this is?”
“Yes.” She laughed. “She’s the model for DayGlow cosmetics. It’s all the rage right now. Sephora can’t keep their cream blushes on the shelves.”
“Are you speaking German again?”
She slapped me on the chest. “I swear you live under a rock.”
“I like living under a rock.” My brows bounced. “As long as you’re under it with me.”
“No more rocks.” She reached for my hand. “Let’s go meet your sister-in-law.”
Without breaking the hug, Sophie reached up and smacked Griffin on the cheek. “Can’t believe you got married and I didn’t get to be a bridesmaid. Mom’s going to be pissed.”
He chuckled nervously. “Sorry, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
Juliette stepped back, wiping her cheeks. “Very spur of the moment.”
“How spur we talkin’?” I asked Griff.
He scratched his forehead. “Met and married in under three days.”
I choked. On nothing.
Sophie sucked in air. “That’s even faster than Charlie.”
“Yes,” Griffin said sheepishly. “But unlike Lorne,” he bit out the name like it was putrid, “Juliette is quality.”
Sophie looked at me like, Are you going to tell him you can’t actually know a person after three days, or am I?
I shook my head, letting her know neither of us was doing that. Griffin was a grown man. He could make his own decisions. Maybe it would last, maybe it wouldn’t. But right now, he looked really, really happy.
Juliette gazed at him, eyes wide and expectant.
“Jules.” Griffin’s chest rose and fell like he was bracing for the lid of Pandora’s box to fly open. “This is Bowen.” When my name had no effect on his wife—no swooning, or sighing, no goo-goo eyes—he rushed on, “Bowen, meet my wife, Jules.”
Normally, I would’ve at least offered her a handshake, but with the tenseness of the situation, I just gave her a brief smile and said, “Nice to meet you.”
She studied me, head tilting side to side. “This is the brother girls always dump you for?” she asked Griff, like she found me completely underwhelming.
“The very one,” he said, shoulders stiff.
“Huh.” Juliette tucked herself against his side and offered me a handshake. “Nice to meet you, Bowen, Who is Nowhere Near As Hot As Griffin.”
Griff finally exhaled.
I chuckled, perfectly happy to play second fiddle.
Juliette’s eyes darted to Magnolia—who’d shrunk back half a step, trying to hide behind me.
I put an arm around her shoulder and pressed a kiss into her hair. “Juliette, this is Maggie. But I call her Magnolia.”
Juliette and Griff shared a look. “You were right,” she said to him.
He clicked his tongue. “Find My Friends doesn’t lie, Jules.” One eyebrow flicked up. “I’m happy for them.”
She cupped his face in her hands. “Then I’m happy for them too.”
Magnolia relaxed against me and sighed.
Griffin rubbed his hands together. “You ready to meet the rest of the fam?” he asked, like we were at my parents’ house and not in an ICU.
When Griffin broke the news, Mom hugged Juliette so tight, it looked like her head might pop off.
With Sage gone, and James still unresponsive, it was probably the only time Griff could’ve announced he’d eloped with a woman none of us had ever met, and Mom would’ve been okay with it.
Dad just stood there blinking, too exhausted to be anything but gracious.
An hour later, we were back in our usual spot, staring at James through the glass while Mom and Dad sat next to him, praying their hearts out. But now Sage’s parents had returned from the funeral home. Loving on Willow, they stood watch next to us.
Magnolia glanced at me, a worry in her eyes that she wasn’t trying to mask anymore. I’d point-blank asked her if the longer James stayed under, the slimmer his chances got. She hadn’t sugarcoated it. She’d just said yes.
He needs to wake up, she mouthed, looking helpless.