“This is your fault,” she screamed, finally spotting me. “He wouldn’t leave without you! He wouldn’t leave without you!” She repeated as they tossed her in the backseat of one of the cruisers. Her screams were muted, but her words ran through my head as I raced for the steps of the trailer only to be detained by one of the cops.
“You can’t go in there,” he said as I fought against him.
“I have to. He’s my brother. He’s all I have!” I yelled. “Please,” I begged.
“The paramedics are trying to save him, you’ll just be in the way,” the cop said, relinquishing me to Max’s arms.
“Please don’t let him die!” I pleaded with Max.
“It’ll be okay,” he said, rubbing my back. “Here they come,” he said as three paramedics lifted a stretcher out of the trailer.
I rushed to the stretcher as they opened the wheels underneath it. My heart stopped as I saw Kevin, hardly recognizable and covered in bruises and tubes. I reached for his hand and held it tightly in my own as they prepared to load him in the back of the ambulance.
One of the paramedics tried to make me stay behind as I followed the stretcher. “He’s my brother,” I gasped. “He’s all I have,” I added brokenly as she finally let me climb into the back of the ambulance.
“Sit there,” she said, pointing to the bench seat along the side of the ambulance.
I nodded my head, feeling completely numb inside as they worked frantically over Kevin’s lifeless body. I prayed silently to a God that I feared had abandoned us so many years ago as they stripped my brother’s shirt away to use metal paddles on his chest. I covered my mouth in horror when I saw the black bruises covering his small precious torso.
“We’re losing him,” were the last words I heard before darkness took over my vision.
Chapter 17
I woke to my eyes being pried open and a bright light shining in them. Reality crashed in and I sat up abruptly.
“Whoa, take it easy,” the same paramedic from earlier said as she tried to push me back down.
I resisted her shove. “Where’s my brother?” I asked frantically, looking around the curtained off cubicle I was in.
“They took him to surgery,” she said somberly.
“Surgery?” I squeaked. “Why?”
“I can’t say. A doctor will be in to see you soon.”
“Please, you have to tell me,” I begged, remembering the words I heard before I passed out. “Is he dead?” I asked frantically.
“No, but he’s in critical condition. His heart stopped beating in the ambulance, but we were able to get it going again,” she said, sighing heavily.
“I don’t want to lose him,” I whispered.
“I know, honey,” she said, patting my knee. “There’s an anxious young man pacing the hallways waiting to see you. Can I let him in?”
“Max?” I asked, relieved I wouldn’t be alone.
“I think that’s what he said his name was,” she said, headin
g out of my curtained off area.
Mere seconds passed before Max was by my side. He pulled me into his strong comforting arms as I sobbed against his chest.
“He’s going to make it,” Max said forcibly. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to reassure me or himself.
The next few hours passed in a pain-filled blur as Max’s parents arrived along with the Graves and several other adults I hadn’t met. I was passed from one set of arms to another as each person shared in my grief while we waited for any kind of news.
Kevin had been in surgery for two hours when a cop and a social worker arrived to ask me questions. They led me away from the others to an empty area where we could talk. I had spent years protecting Lucinda, lying to teachers about my injuries and living conditions, but as I remembered Kevin’s bruised and battered body on the stretcher, I let it all flow out of me. Tears I thought had dried up years ago fell from my eyes, hot and fast as I told them everything, the abuse, poor living conditions, unsavory people she had exposed us to, and all the people she had scammed over the years. They both took notes as I talked and allowed me time to compose myself as I sobbed through the tougher parts. I explained my fear of the system and being separated from Kevin. I told them about my “someday soon” plan and how I was afraid Kevin would die and I would never get to prove to him that someday soon did exist. They were both kind and reassured me none of it was my fault as I sobbed silently.
“If I would have reported her, Kevin wouldn’t be hanging on for his life,” I said brokenly.