Page 104 of The Other Brother

“Your wife had a stroke,” she says.

“A stroke?” Frank reels back.

Cody raises his hands to his mouth.

“It looks like a minor one, but it’s lucky she was brought to the hospital so quickly.”

The doctor continues to talk, but I’m distracted from my eavesdropping by Cody’s phone. He’s left it on the seat next to me, and now it starts to buzz. Kate’s name flashes on the screen.

Should I answer it? I know they haven’t been able to get hold of Kate yet. She hasn’t replied to anyone’s messages.

I glance at Frank, Cody, and Mel, but they’re still talking to the doctor. Cody’s running his hands through his hair, biting his lip.

I pick up his phone and answer it.

“Hey, it’s me,” I say in a hushed voice.

“Ryan? Why are you answering Cody’s phone? What’s going on?”

“I’m at the hospital with Cody. Heather collapsed. The doctor is just talking to your dad now. She’s saying they think it’s a stroke.”

“Oh, my God. I’ll be right there.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Kate hangs up, and I put the phone gently back down on the seat.

The doctor leaves, and Cody stumbles back over to me. His hair is so rumpled, and my fingers twitch to smooth it out, but I resist the urge.

“Um… Kate called. I told her to come here,” I tell him in a low voice.

“Oh… okay.” Cody rubs his forehead. “Mum’s had a stroke.”

“Yeah, I heard the doctor say that.”

“She’s only fifty-two,” he whispers. “How could she have a stroke?”

“They got her to the hospital fast. Apparently that’s really positive,” Mel says.

The conversation swirls around this topic for a while, recycling the little the doctor said, wringing out every ounce of meaning.

Frank doesn’t say anything. He’s sitting down a few empty chairs away, his head in his hands.

“I’ll go grab us some coffee or something,” Mel says. “I think we’re in for a long wait.”

Damn. I should have offered to grab coffee. Anything to get me away from Frank.

But then, I don’t want to leave Cody.

When Mel leaves, Cody’s face crumbles in on itself.

I can’t stand to see him like this.

A tear slides down his face, and without thinking, I reach up and wipe it away with my thumb. His skin is smooth, and he leans into my hand so my palm is cupping the side of his face.

“No,” Frank says.

I snap my head up, jerking my hand from Cody’s face like I’ve been scorched.