LOGINClaire sat beside Adrian's bed in the ICU and held his small hand, her fingers trembled because his hand was so cold and so still.The ventilator hissed and clicked in a steady rhythm and Claire couldn't stop staring at it because that machine was breathing for her baby.Jeff had stepped out to call the company a few minutes ago because she wasn't in the right mind to run any business, she just wants her son to be okay.She leaned closer and pressed her lips against Adrian's cold knuckles and a lone tear escaped from her lid."You're so strong, baby." She choked out. "Stronger than Mama, you have to keep fighting okay?"The bandages wrapped around his head looked too big making his face looked too small against the pillow and Claire couldn't think about the missing piece of his skull without her stomach turning over.The door clicked open behind her and Claire didn't turn because Jeff must be back."Did the call go okay?" Her voice came out hoarse."What call?"The voice was sharp and
"Sit" Jeff told Claire who had been pacing for two hours and Claire had stopped pacing because her legs wouldn't hold her up anymore.She slowly sat in the waiting room chair with her knees pulled up to her chest and Jeff sat three chairs down staring at the floor. It was the first word he had spoken in over an hour.The clock on the wall ticked loud in the silence and every time the double doors swung open Claire's head snapped up but it was never the doctor coming for them.Jeff's phone buzzed and he glanced at it and ignored it and Claire saw Irene's name on the screen before he turned the phone face down on the chair beside him.The doors burst open and a nurse rushed through and Claire stood up so fast that her vision swam."How is he?" Her voice came out cracked."I'm sorry, ma'am, that's not your son's surgical team." The nurse hurried past with a chart and Claire sank back into the chair. She pressed her hands over her face and her shoulders shook with silent sobs.Jeff watche
Jeff's tires screeched as he pulled into the hospital parking lot, he abandoned his car in the fire lane and ran through the automatic doors. He had no idea why his heart was beating so fast, it felt like he was about to lose someone."Adrian Clark!" He gasped at the ER desk. "Where is he?"The receptionist's fingers flew across her keyboard. "Surgical prep area, through those doors and turn..."Jeff was already hurrying away and he burst through the double doors, his eyes swept the chaos of the prep area until he found her.Claire stood in the center of the room with a doctor in front of her, her face was white with tear stains on her cheeks.She was shaking so bad and was pleading with the doctor for something. Jeff could hear her voice breaking from across the room."Please, there has to be something!" Claire's voice was desperate. "Call more hospitals, call other states, there has to be someone with AB negative blood!""Ms. Clark, we've contacted every hospital within a hundred-mi
Claire's phone rang in the middle of her presentation and she ignored it the first time but then it rang again immediately and she suddenly had a strange feeling in her stomach.She excused herself and stepped out of the conference room with her heart already racing."Ms. Clark?" The voice on the other end was tight with urgency. "This is County General Hospital, your son Adrian was brought in by ambulance."Claire gasped and her world tilted. "What happened?""We've been calling you, there was an incident at school, he sustained a serious head injury and lost significant blood, you need to get here immediately."The phone slipped from Claire's hand and she caught it just before it hit the ground but she was already running toward the elevator.---The drive to County General was a blur of red lights she barely saw and turns she didn't remember making, her hands were shaking so badly on the wheel she had to grip harder to keep the car steady.How did Adrian get into an accident so ser
Zane sat at the detention table with a pencil in his hand but he wasn't writing anything because his chest felt tight, hot and angry.Adrian sat two tables away with his head bent over his paper and Zane's hands squeezed into fists so tight his nails hurt his palms because everything was bad now and it was Adrian's fault.Dad and Mom fought all the time and Dad looked at Zane like he was disappointed and had almost hit him, it was because of Adrian that he and his dad hadn't spoken for days until recently.His dad used to be his best buddy until Adrian came and everything Spoilt. Home does feel good anymore and even though he and his dad had reconciled for now, he was still angry with Adrian for turning his world upside down. The teacher stood up. "I need to step out for just a moment okay, keep working quietly."She left and the room got really quiet except for pencils moving. Zane stared at Adrian's bent head and the angry feeling got bigger and hotter in his chest. Now that the t
Claire had just come back from her grocery shopping and was about to get her grocery bags out of her car when she felt a presence behind her. She whirled around and her eyes met with Matt's wide grin."Well, well, well, look who we have here," he said with a gesture, "Claire in flesh and blood, back from the dead." He laughed and leaned against her gate with his arms crossed.Claire glared at him and her hands tightened on the bags because she remembered exactly who Matt was.He used to come to the house when she was Jeff's wife and talk down to her like she was nothing, make jokes about how she'd trapped Jeff into marriage, always siding with Irene.She raised her chin and squared her shoulders, "What are you doing here?""Just thought I'd check in on an old friend." Matt's smile was oily. "See how you're doing.""We were never friends." Claire's voice was ice. "And I don't have time for this."She turned to walk toward her door but Matt's next words stopped her cold."I know who Adr







