Page 117 of The Fire Between High & Lo (Elements 2)

His hands rolled over his face nonstop. “I know. I know. I miss her already. But I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t know how to make it easier for her.”

“She didn’t sign up for easy, Kellan. She signed up for you. Through all of it, she signed up for you. Don’t worry, though. We’ll fix this.”

“When did you become so wise?”

I smirked. “When Alyssa gave me the same exact speech about how she signed up for me, which included all of the baggage that came along with me.”

He laughed. “I should’ve known you weren’t that wise.”

“Yeah, well, I’m working on it.”

We sat silent for a few minutes. “Uh, Logan?”

“Yeah?”

“What the hell happened to your face?”

I chuckled, and began to tell him about mom and my father. He reacted much better than I hoped, yet had the same thought as I did. “Well, at least she can’t get to any drugs while she’s in the hospital.”

Ah, my brother. My best friend.

***

Alyssa: You’re okay, Logan Francis Silverstone.

Me: I’m okay, Alyssa Marie Walters.

She texted me those words every few hours. When Kellan was ready, he and I went to the hospital to see Ma. She was in quite a bit of pain, because the doctors couldn’t give her much medicine due to her addictions. It was hard seeing her that way, but it wasn’t the worst I’ve ever seen her.

Kellan sat in a wheelchair, and I pushed it toward her bed. He took her hand into his and gave her a small smile as I stood back watching.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” she cried. He placed their hands against her face, and he shook his head. “I’m so sorry for messing up so much. I’ve screwed up everything.”

“Be here now, Ma,” he replied. “It’s okay.”

She bit her lip and looked down at her hospital gown, and all of the cords and bandages attached to her body. “I want to go to rehab,” she softly spoke.

Kellan and I nodded in agreement.

“Me too,” another voice said.

I turned to see Sadie. She had glassy eyes, and was fidgeting a little, but she gave me a smile.

“Okay,” I said.

She nodded. “Okay. I don’t know how I’m going to do it. Have this baby on my own. I don’t have anyone.”

I nudged her. “It’s fine. That kid, he’s going to be my brother. And where I come from, you do anything for your brother. I’ll help you. You have family now, Sadie. You don’t have to figure it all out on your own anymore. Promise.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Alyssa

Two weeks passed since the incident with Logan’s parents. Julie entered rehab, and had been there for days, struggling, but fighting for her life. Sadie was getting clean too, finding her footing.

Everything was getting back to normal. Except for the fact that Erika was still staying with our mom, which was far from normal. It was actually a bit terrifying. On Saturday afternoon, I headed over to Mom’s house, with a box in my hands, and pounded on the front door.

When it opened, Erika cocked an eyebrow. “Hey, Aly. What’s up?”