Chapter 33
ANYTHING
Doug and Candace took Mabel until Shy could pick her up for the night. I can still hear the ringing of her cry echoing in my ears as she begged to come, afraid of Faye’s tears and the rattle in her words.
The police had no other information to offer us. Considering Owen had been air lifted to a city hospital with a trauma unit, as the hospital in Rubble Ridge isn’t equipped to deal with the extent of his injuries—it can’t be good.
Now, we’re all here. In the waiting room. My parents and Faye’s. Even Andy showed up and is sitting quietly in the chairs opposite us, clinging to a coffee that must be cold now. She hasn’t been drinking it.
Faye has hardly spoken. Between her sobs, she’s been silent.
Every one of us is pale.
In the last thirty-six hours, we’ve gotten a few more answers.
Kyle’s car was t-boned by a young couple going too fast. They didn’t see the stop sign and hit the side of the car Owen was sitting on.
Although Kyle was taken to the hospital in Rubble Ridge, Owen and Colton were flown to Calgary, their injuries far more extensive.
Colton suffered a head injury and needed blood. Although he has a concussion, the doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
Owen is in a medically induced coma.
The force of the hit crumpled the car, crushing Owen. He has a broken leg, arm, and is in need of a kidney transplant. Without it, he won’t survive.
We’ve done emergent testing and have been assured that the results will be in soon.
Every one of us has given blood, Andy included.
I drop my head into my hands, trying and failing to keep my breaths even. I feel like I’m slipping into an abyss of darkness. Flashes of Owen’s smile and his wise, dark eyes haunt me as though he’s already—
No. No, don’t go there.
Fuck, Tate, I pray. Save him. Talk to whoever you have to talk to up there, and save him.
My eyes burn. Beside me, Faye begins to sob again.
I gather myself enough to pull my head out of my hands so that I can pull her into my arms.
She feels so small and broken.
She won’t recover from this.
Please, God.
Candace sniffles. Doug pats her knee with a pale hand. Everything about him is pale. Dad looks like he’s climbed himself out of the grave and Mom—after Tate, I’m not sure she’d make it through this. Through losing Owen.
Please, God. Anything. Anything. I’ll do anything, just save him.
The doctor appears, looking grave. Every muscle inside my body tenses. “Mrs. Wilder.”
Faye leaps from my arms. We all follow, hope suffocating us all even as dread threatens to poison us.
“Owen remains stable under a medically induced coma. We will be keeping him unconscious in order to give his mind a chance to heal. However, his kidneys were crushed and are failing fast.” He lets that sink in for only a moment. His eyes come to me. “We found a match. It’s nearly perfect.”
I already know I’m the match. I can see it in his eyes.
I send a prayer of thanks.
Because I’d give my life for that boy, I realize. My brother’s son. Even if it means my career in hockey, everything I worked for, sacrificed for, is over.
The doctor speaks again. “The boy’s biological father is a match.”
My ears ring.
Confusion turns to clarity, and I take a step back.
My heart shatters.
Biological father…?
The End.