Page 45 of Unconventionally, Elle

"What am I doing here?" I put my hands on my hips and hissed, "I'm here to be supportive. I'm here to be with you."

"Elle, I wanted you to stay with Finn. I don't want you to be here if this goes bad." He leaned against the wall and brushed his hand down his face. The dark circles under his eyes were prominent in the fluorescent lighting. "He might die." His choked tone had my body reacting before I could think.

I dropped my hands from my hips, stepped closer, and wrapped my arms around his tense, shaking body.

"Barrett, I know. Do you think I don't know that?

Do you think I don't know what death is?

Let me remind you, I'm very familiar with it.

" I stepped back and took both of his hands in mine.

"I'm not leaving, I'll be here. Whether it's in that room or the waiting area, I'm here.

" I brought his hands to my lips and gently kissed his knuckles. "I won't let you do this alone."

Tears were streaming silently down his face. I could tell he was breaking. "He doesn't have much of a chance. I don't want Mom and Emma to hear, but I talked to the doctors. They can't do a bypass; he's too high risk. I think the stress, the work, the never stopping, it got him."

I leaned in again and held him firmly against my body.

"I'm scared," he murmured into my hair. "I'm so fucking scared."

I fell asleep in the waiting room. Around three a.m. I felt a gentle shake. It was Emma.

"Hey, Elle. Wake up." Her eyes were puffy, and her mascara was running down her cheeks. A sense of dread crept through my body. I knew before she even told me.

"Barrett's in there talking to the doctors and Mom, but Dad didn't... he..." She kept choking on her words.

I wrapped my arms around her and let her cry into my shoulder. Her whole body convulsed with each new wave of tears.

"He's gone, Elle, he's gone." I could hardly make out the muffled words, but they were there.

I mindlessly rubbed her back while she held me tight. I caught Barrett's eye as he walked toward his sister and me.

"He's dead." I felt Emma flinch in my arms as Barrett echoed the words the doctors had confirmed only moments before.

The Barrett I loved wasn't standing in front of me.

Instead, I was looking at a vacant, lost human who'd just inherited the weight of a Fortune 500 company and the role of "man of the family. "

Emma peeled herself away from me and turned to Barrett. She clung to him, and in that moment, he came back to us. He squeezed his sister and held her tight to his chest. She fell apart again, and he let her.

I couldn't ask if he was okay; I knew he wasn't. "How's your mom?" I asked cautiously.

He looked at me and with a bittersweet pull of his lips murmured, "She's making arrangements."

A few hours later, I was in bed with Louie. Emma and I had been texting ever since I left the hospital.

Emma: Mom was hammering him about the company. She and Dad were apparently arguing about it before he collapsed. She knows Barrett doesn't want to run it, but now he must. There's no other plan.

Me: Jesus, does Barrett know?

Emma: That they were arguing? Yes. About him?

No. But I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Mom was trying to get Barrett out of this.

She never interfered with Dad and this whole Henry legacy bullshit.

I don't know what changed her mind, but she was adamant that Barrett be allowed to do what he wanted to do.

Me: Fuck.

Emma: Yeah, I was in the kitchen trying to ignore it. Harold and I could hear them arguing in the dining room.

Me: Omg! P.S. How is Harold taking this?

Emma: He's with Mom right now. He's holding it together. Remember, he wasn't the biggest fan of Dad. But poor Harold, he's the one who called 911 because I was with Mom and really just in shock.

Me: You didn't want this for your brother either?

Emma: No, none of us did. Dad was the only one oblivious. I tried to tell him. I was the only one he'd kind of listen to about it. But he said it was Barrett's duty and his place to take over the company. I can't imagine that pressure.

Me: But aren't you taking over the magazine?

Emma: It's not the same. I love the magazine, I love writing. I've been working in that building ever since I can remember. Well, not really working. Aunt Olivia would bring me to work with her a lot, and I basically grew up with that magazine. I WANT to take it over and be involved.

Me: Fair point. Definitely a difference.

Emma: I don't know how Barrett deals with it. To be honest, before he met you, he was miserable. He and Margaret were the most toxic couple I've ever seen. If the job didn't kill him, she would.

Me: How do you think your mom is going to handle all of this?

Emma: Honestly, I think she'll go home and drink a vodka tonic, wake up tomorrow, put on makeup, and go about her day. She'd die herself before she let any of us see her get emotional.

Me: Seriously? Just like that?

Emma: Seriously. Just like that. She's already made the arrangements. It's what the Henrys do.