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“The drug users don’t believe that it’ll happen to them, that this is the end result for them,” Gage explained.

“Would you? I mean, you’re already out for the drugs, and, assuming that everybody will say anything they can to get you off them, you won’t believe the warnings anyway.

The facts won’t matter because you need and want the drugs,” he added, with a shrug. “It’s an ugly cycle.”

“Maybe,” she muttered, “but I prefer to think that, if Don had had a better raising, maybe he wouldn’t have gone there.”

Gage frowned at her and shook his head. “The old nature versus nurture argument covers this. Regardless, you can turn yourself inside out with that kind of thinking. So many families have done that. Remember that a lot of really good and well-raised children turned to drugs and couldn’t fight it.

On the flip side, an awful lot of children who had really crappy upbringings overcame their circumstances and carved out a life to be proud of.

I don’t know what makes one child go with the flow and another fight their way out,” he shared.

“If any of us could sort that out, we would be millionaires.”

“And yet I don’t think money matters to you at all,” she noted, staring at him.

Gage turned to her and nodded. “You would be right about that. As long as I have enough for my basic needs, I don’t really care. I’m more driven by injustice—lately all about government injustice,” he added, with an eye roll.

She smiled. “Everything in your world is more than good right now though, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he confirmed, eyeing her curiously. “Are you getting any insights there?”

“I am, but I’m not sure where it’s coming from, though.”

“Maybe keep it to yourself,” he muttered.

“And if I don’t?” she teased, laughing.

“It’s all good,” he declared, “so whatever. I am perfectly happy with my life right now.”

“And that I would agree with. I’ve not seen very many people who are as content as you are.”

Gage smiled. “That’s because not everybody has the family life that I have,” he declared, with a chuckle. “I absolutely adore where I’m at, so it’s not a surprise to me.”

“Good for you,” she said, turning her attention back to her brother. “I just feel as if Don got the short end of the stick.”

Gage lifted one brow. “Maybe he did, but he didn’t have to take that stick and wield it against somebody else.”

“That’ll always be the thing, won’t it?” Sadie asked.

“Just because he had a bad upbringing or a rough start doesn’t mean he had the right to turn around and take other people’s lives.”

At that, Sadie felt Morrison lay a hand on her shoulder. She sighed, looked up at him, and nodded. “I’m fine, you know?”

“I’m glad to hear that. You really did a great job tracking your brother. And, before you go there, no, it wasn’t a betrayal. There is no reason for you to blame yourself.”

She winced. “How did you know I was thinking that?”

“It’s not too hard when I see the expression on your face,” he shared.

“It’s your twin brother, and I get it, but just think about it.

You managed to find him in time to get him some medical help, to save his life.

At least this way, maybe you kept him alive so he could have a relationship with you at some point, after all this is sorted. ”

“Maybe. Do you think he’ll want one though? Particularly if he realizes that I may have had a hand in his getting caught?”

“And in keeping him alive. Remember that? He wouldn’t have survived this attack without our finding him in time.”

“Maybe,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her chest. “It still feels like a betrayal.”

Gage looked at her and snapped, “Get over it, because sometimes people need wake-up calls. In this case it was more literal than most. Now, whether Don will use it for good or not, I don’t know.

It also depends on whether he’s been using energy to help make his life a little easier—or to get into the criminal world.

Remember that for your sake too. If that’s what he’s doing, that’s not cool either. ”

She winced. “I don’t know that he is, and I never got any feeling of that from him, but what do I know?”

And, with that, the room fell silent, as they waited for the doctor to come out and tell them something. Morrison stood up as the doctor approached.

The doctor held up a hand and stated, “I’m supposed to be talking to the police.”

At that, two other men stood up and joined them.

“That’s all four of us in one way or another,” replied one of the men, a note of humor in his tone. “How is the patient?”

“He’ll make it, but it appears that his heart had already been damaged from a prior silent heart attack, so his condition is not anything we want to see for someone his age, but heavy drug use will do that.

He had drugs in his system and still does at this moment, so it’ll be a while before we can get him cleaned up.

We have the treatments started,” he shared in a sympathetic tone.

“It looks as if he may need heart surgery at some point, but I’ll leave that to the specialists.

However, they can’t do anything until he’s completely free of drugs anyway, so that will be a process.

I understand you’re also looking to establish security for him. ”

“Yes,” confirmed one of the two new men. “He’s suspected of being part of a local jewel heist gang.”

“The one who’s been shooting the guards?” At that, the doctor’s face sank, and he sighed. “We don’t choose our patients,” he declared bitterly. “So, while he’s here, we’ll do our best for him.” He looked at Sadie. “You’re obviously his sister, so do you want to spend a few minutes with him?”

She immediately nodded. “I do.”

One of the police officers stepped forward, and Morrison reached out a hand. “I’ll go in with her.” They hesitated, and he just stared them down, and then one of the men nodded.

“You’ll report back, I presume?” he asked Morrison.

“Absolutely,” he stated, as he looked over at the doctor. “Is he conscious?”

The doctor shook his head. “No, he’s not conscious, and I’m not expecting him to be conscious anytime soon, but we’ve seen all kinds of things happen that we didn’t expect.”

At that, Morrison pulled back the curtain and let Sadie step in. Morrison immediately stepped up behind her, not giving her a chance to refuse.

She approached the bed and picked up her brother’s hand. There was no movement, no sign of him noticing her being here at all. She looked over at Morrison. “How is it the drugs weren’t obvious when I heard what was going on in his head?”

“Think about it,” Morrison began. “It’s probably because of the drugs that he was so anxious and worked up, and probably another hit of drugs calmed him down finally.

It’s not as if you were getting much in the way of words themselves, but more of his emotional reactions, right? What he was feeling at the time?”

“Right,” she whispered. “It still sucks to think of somebody his age being so damaged over drug use, supposedly recreational and self-administered.”

He smiled. “A lot of people in this world are dealing with drug addictions. Your brother is unfortunately one of millions.”

She winced at that and asked Morrison, “Do you think they will give him the proper care?”

“Yeah, they’ll give him proper care. Remember their creed? Do no harm .”

“I hope so.”

“That way he also makes it to trial.” She shuddered, and Morrison winced at that. “I’m sorry. That was insen—”

“No,” she said, immediately stopping his apology. “It’s the truth. I don’t know for sure that Don’s even part of this crew, and that’s the thing we have to sort out. I don’t understand how this could all have happened with nobody knowing.”

Morrison explained, “Because nobody could see past any of the security feeds that had been doctored or whatever. Plus these heists were always done at opening time. And this crew never wanted to leave any witnesses, alive or conscious. I guess the ones left alive were too scared to approach the cops—not after seeing the others killed immediately.” Morrison stared at her for a long moment.

“Except for you. Which is why we were brought in. Then there is also some lag in all the reported information because of the suspected energy work. We only have that because of you too.”

She winced at that. “If Don finds that out, he won’t want anything to do with me.”

“You don’t know that,” Morrison said. “Right now you have an injured young man, who is obviously your twin brother, as even the doctor picked you out of a waiting room full of people,” he shared, with a knowing smile.

She nodded. “It was an odd thing to be asked if I wanted to come in and see him, when the answer is absolutely yes. But still, it was good being asked.”

They stayed at her brother’s side for a long time, until finally Morrison spoke up. “Come on. It’s time to go.” She opened her mouth to protest, and he asked, “Can you sense anything from him?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s as if he’s not even in there.”

“And he isn’t. I mean, I can see that his cord is attached, but I don’t think he’s there very much at all. Remember what you mentioned about your mother and seeing her energy? Step back and see if you can see Don’s cord.”

She stepped back and frowned. “Just this very pale outline.”

“Chances are, he’s off doing his own thing.

Whether he’ll make it back sound and cognitive at the end of all this remains a question.

We don’t have any way to know yet, but they’ll move him to another room.

The staff still has to run a lot of tests and stuff.

We won’t stay during all that. I can push to stay a little longer, but you must have a really good reason, especially since he’s not showing any signs of being awake.

” Lowering his voice, he continued. “You’ll likely know when he wakes up. ”

She smiled at that. “It would be lovely if I did.” Stepping back, she realized that the cops were here, waiting. She nodded. “Over to you guys then.”

She walked out, leaving her twin brother behind.