Page 45 of Duress (Birch Falls #3)

DANE

I ’m lying in bed, fisting the scratchy, stiff hospital blanket as I attempt to sit up.

The nurse won’t let me out of the bed unassisted yet, stating I’m a “fall risk” after losing nearly two liters of blood from where Bryce stabbed me.

She’s probably not wrong, but I’m tired of having a tube up my dick so I can pee.

I’d like to prove I can get up so they will let me go to the bathroom.

Pain lances through me as my abdominal muscles flex and strain, putting pressure on the stitches snaking up my side.

A cold sweat breaks out on my forehead, and halfway to sitting up, I give up and flop back against the pillow.

“Fuck!”

I feel so fucking helpless lying in this bed.

When Serena left, she promised to go to the station to check on Everly before stopping by Mom’s house to pick her up and bring her here.

I wasn’t entirely lucid thanks to the painkillers and brain fog from the anesthesia, but I knew I had to be the one to tell my mother that her son is dead .

I’ve been debating for hours now how to break the news to her.

Never mind the fact that he’s a piece of shit wife beater.

Oh, and that he killed her husband. If losing my dad in an accident put her in such a depression she couldn’t work, what will this news do to her?

I want to be angry at Everly for keeping Bryce’s secret.

Scratch that. I am angry. She helped him get away with murder.

But when I think about telling my mom the truth, my stomach sours thinking about how devastated she will be.

Bryce is dead now. He’ll never be punished for what he did.

Is it worth shattering my mom’s entire worldview just so the world will know what an evil shit he is?

The answer to my moral quandary comes when the door to my room opens and Mom rushes in with red eyes and her face puffy from crying. Serena stands behind her, an apologetic look on her face as she watches Mom rush across the room to wrap me up in her embrace.

“Oh god, baby. Are you okay? Serena said you were stabbed!” Mom sits on the side of the bed and cups my face in her hands, scanning me like she’s looking for evidence that I’m truly okay and not actually dying.

I flinch when her leg bumps against my stitches, causing her face to crumple in slow motion when she sees I’m in pain.

“Oh baby, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” She nearly smothers me, cradling my face against her shoulder.

I pat her arm until she lets up and lets me pull away from her.

Taking her hands in mine, I try to reassure her before giving her the worst news.

“I’m okay, Mom. I promise.” I glance in Serena’s direction, hoping she will stick around.

I’m afraid Mom will need more support than I can physically give her once she learns her other son is dead.

She gives me a nod—a silent communication, letting me know she’s here to stay.

“The doctor said I should be okay to go home tomorrow. None of my major organs were injured. I’ll just have to take it easy while I heal.

I lost a lot of blood.” Mom’s face pales at my words, so I give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m okay.” I speak the words slowly, giving them a chance to sink in.

When the worry in her face relaxes a fraction, I suck in a deep breath before preparing to telling her the rest.

“How did this happen, Dane? Did you get stabbed on the job? Did they get the person who did it?” She glances back at Serena, firing off more questions in her direction. “Were you there? Did you see it?”

“Mom, look at me.” Squeezing her hand again, I wait for her to turn her attention back to me.

My throat feels thick with emotion as I try to get the next words out.

Slowly her eyes drift back to meet mine.

“Bryce is the one who stabbed me. He was hurting Everly, and I stopped him. We fought; he stabbed me; he went after Everly… I’m not sure what happened, but he’s dead, Mom.

Bryce is dead.” I don’t want to say too much about what happened.

Not while Everly is being questioned. I’m not sure what she will say, if anything, but I don’t want our stories to conflict.

Not until I get a chance to talk to her myself.

The progression of emotions that cross over my mother’s face as I tell her what happened nearly rips my heart out.

The way her mouth drops open in shock as the color drains from her face tells me any further bad news is going to be more than she can handle.

She raises one trembling hand, covering her mouth as a horrified sob escapes her throat.

“B-Bryce…” Trailing off, her eyes fill with more tears as she processes everything I just told her. “No…no… That can’t be right. Not my Bryce…” She tries to move away, but I tighten the grip I have on her hand.

“Mom, listen to me. He was abusing Everly. She called me for help. When I got there, he was choking her. I had to stop him before he killed her.”

Serena comes up behind my mom, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

The gut-wrenching wail that leaves my mother comes from a place only a parent who has experienced the death of a child knows.

I watch as Serena gently holds my mom, as the weight of grief crushes her spirit completely.

Mom buries her face in her hands, muttering denials between hiccupping sobs, refusing to believe what I’ve told her.

I can’t even blame her. Who would want to believe one of their children is capable of trying to kill the other?

I decide then that the truth about the worst of Bryce’s crimes will die with him, because my mother doesn’t deserve to know any pain greater than this.