Page 126 of Flare

But then it starts again.

I pull away.

“Sweetheart…”

“I’m sorry. If it wasn’t anything urgent, they wouldn’t have called back right away.”

I fumble for my purse, find my phone. It’s Callie.

“Callie? What is it?”

“Thank God you answered. It’s Dad. He’s had a heart attack.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

BROCK

Donny and I sit in the waiting area of the hospital. Rory, Callie, and Maddie have gone into the back with Maureen to talk to the doctors. Jesse hasn’t arrived yet.

“Steel!”

Donny and I both look up.

Jesse’s running into the waiting room. “Where’s my mother?”

“In the back with your sisters,” I say. “They’re talking to the doctor.”

Jesse plunks down in a chair across from us. “Damn.”

“Go in there,” Donny says. “They need you.”

“Shut the fuck up, Steel.”

Donny shakes his head. “Really? You want to play the high school card? When your father is lying in the ER?”

He rises. “No. I’m not playing any card. I just need a damned minute.”

I raise an eyebrow at Donny, hoping he gets the idea. Now is not the time to bring up their stupid high school football rivalry. They’re eight years older than I am, andIfeel like the mature one here.

Jesse rubs his forehead and temples, and then he stands. “Where?”

I point to the door. “They’re back there somewhere.”

He nods, heads to the reception area, talks to someone in scrubs, and then goes through the door.

“Unreal,” Donny says. “We were just having dinner with Frank.”

“I know. He’s in good shape. How does something like this happen?”

“Hell if I know. He’d better not die, damn it. If he can’t walk Callie down the aisle for our wedding, it will crush her. She loves her old man.”

“So does Rory. He understands her in a way Maureen doesn’t.”

“I know. Callie’s always talking about how close they are. With everything else she and Callie are going through… This can’t happen.”

I scan the room. The ER isn’t crowded today, but the few people in the waiting area all look haggard and frightened. They’re all waiting for news of their loved ones. I let my gaze drift to the door of the ER. A man and a woman walk in, speak to reception, and then sit down.

Another man walks in, and—