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“Hello?” my voice squeaks out
“Is this Delaney Cross?”
The official-sounding fe in , it makes it worse “Yes This is she”
“I’m Doctor Marsh over at Three Valley’s Hospital Your o She’s okay, but—”
“What happened?” Now I pray for one and Iin my ears Miss it because as ridiculous as it sounds, it takes the loneliness away
“We’d really like you to come down It’s not—”
“It’s not soain I don’t need her to try andwouldit on the phone won’t make it any less real than in person
“We’re assu it was a suicide atteed her h to make decisions, but sometihbor found her collapsed in her doorway and called nine-one-one”
The tears that I didn’t realize had for their slow descent down my face This is her third suicide attempt in the last four years
“I’m sorry,” the doctor tells me
“Me too,” I whisper I’m sorry about all of it
I push out of bed and race to my closet “We’ll be there soon,” I tell the doctor before droppinga sweatshirt overmy feet into my tennis shoes My heart see my other foot intoto do, but it keepsapart
“Maddox!” I yell as I run into our small hallway “Get up!” My fists coo” I try for the doorknob, but like I kneould, he locked his roo the door open, his eyes wide and frantic orry
“What the fuck happened? Are you okay?”
“It’s Mom She…”
Anger washes over the worry on Maddox’s face His jaw tenses Veins pulse in his hand; he’s gripping the doorknob so tightly I think it could break Quite the pair, aren’t we? While I worry, he gets pissed
“What did she do?” It’s alh he blanks out in ti up either of our parents and I can see the emotion drain from him and I hate it He and Dad used to be so close… and then soot his attention, yet Mom was all about Maddox Now he can’t stand to talk about either of them
“Pills We need to go, Maddy”
“Don’t call me that I hate it when you call me that”
I reach for my older brother’s hand, but he jerks it away “Yeah, because that’s what’s io see her”
He’s shaking his head and I knohat he’s going to say before he does That he doesn’t want to go That he doesn’t care if she needs us Before he can, I say the one thing that I know he can’t say no to “I can’t do this without you I need you”
“Fuck,” he muuilt tingeing the edges of my pain I shouldn’t manipulate him like that, but he’s my brother Her son Mom and I both need him She can’t help that she fell apart after what Dad did
Realizing I forgotthe living room when Maddox comes out, his dark hair all disheveled He doesn’t look me in the eyes He’s pissed and I know he knohat I did
We head out to the car and I drive us to the hospital because I don’t trust hio too fast and the last thing we need is to get into an accident on the way
I’h the hospital doors and only part of it is froh it’s a frigid cold January in Virginia
“We’re here to see Beatrice Cross,” I tell the desk clerk Maddox doesn’t step up beside me He has his arms crossed about five feet away from me
“Are you family?” the clerk asks
“Yes We’re her children”
She puts bands on each of our wrists and directs us where to go, as if we don’t knohere the ER is We could find anywhere in this place
I’ain No matter how many times this happens or how et easier
Right before we leave the sterile white hallway and head for the erabs my wrist
“Don’t cry for her, Laney Don’t cry for either of them”
Maddox is so much older than his twenty-one years He’s always been the strong one and both of us know it It’s not that simple for me My mom just tried to take her own life My dad is in prison and my brother—my best friend—hates the world