A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 101

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A Kiss At Midnight

LITTLE BROTHER

My legs halt in place, as my lips parted slightly.

Caelum

B

For several seconds, I could only stare at him, mentally scolding myself for failing to see the resemblance that was glaring in front of me at this moment, becoming so obvious that I wanted to kick myself for not realizing it sooner.

From their eyes, to the shape of their face and even the way Leo smiled, it was a replica of Caelum. So how had I failed to see it sooner. I guess this was why I had thought Leo felt familiar, even though I was able to piece it together.

You can be so dull sometimes, Delilah. I mentally cursed myself, realizing why I had never seen him whenever I had been at Caelum’s house.

His younger brother had been sick and had been in the hospice, that was why.

My mouth opens, wanting to call Caelum’s name, but no sound came out. I stretch my hand toward him, yet my feet refuse

to move.

I stood there completely frozen, watching the person I had spent so much time with look utterly terrified as he demanded answers about his brother.

And then another thought struck me. What if he blamed me? I had been the one who took Leo out, had taken him to the mall and had let him walk around for hours.

I hadn’t even known there was some proper procedure I should have followed when taking him away from the hospice. What if I had made everything worse? What if Caelum looked at me and saw me as the reason his little brother was lying behind those emergency- room doors?

My hand slowly fell back to my side and I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe or barely think.

All I could do was stand there and wonder if he was about to look at me and blame me for what had happened to Leo.

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?” Caelum’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, “I don’t want to waste my fucking time standing here!” he yelle, “I want to know what’s happening with my brother. And why the hell was he at the mall in the first place? He shouldn’t have been there!”

1 flinch, taking a step backward, then another, my heel caught against the floor, and I stumble toward the corner of the wall. quickly slipping behind it before he could see me.

My hand trembled as I pressed it against my chest, “He’s going to be fine, Delilah,” I whispered to myself.

“Sir, shouting isn’t going to solve anything,” the nurse said calmly, “I don’t know anything about the hospice arrangements. but a patient was brought in this evening. He has a heart condition.”

“Where is he?” Caelum’s voice immediately sharpened, “where is my brother?”

The nurse started answering, but I barely heard her as footsteps rushed toward the hallway, fast and heavy. Getting closer.

“Sir, please wait..” I heard the nurse hurrying after him, “Sir!”

I should have stayed hidden, I knew I should have, but before I could think better of it, my body moved. I step out from behind the wall causing him to nearly stumble when he saw me.

His footsteps stopped abruptly as his eyes widened, then his brows drew together in confusion.

“Delilah?” my name left his lips like he couldn’t quite believe I was standing there, his gaze swept over me before returning

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A Kiss At Midnight

to my face. “what are you doing here?”

སྤྱི

A few feet behind him, the nurse stopped as well as a security guard appeared at her side, looking between the three of us “What’s going on here?”

The nurse’s gaze shifted toward me and I met her eyes, then gave her a small, subtle nod as if to say I’ve got it

The nurse seemed to understand immediately and turned toward the security guard, “It’s just a minor disturbance. It’s been handled.”

The guard glances between us before giving a small nod, “Alright,” he says before returning to his station, and the nurse did the same, leaving us alone in the hallway.

Caelum was still staring at me like I was some puzzle he couldn’t solve. I reach for his hand and he pulls it away, the rejection stung more than it should have, but I buried it quickly, biting the inside of my cheek.

“I’m here because of Leo,” his brows furrows deeper, clearly having no idea what I was talking about. I gulped, suddenly aware of how dry my mouth had become, “Heart condition.” I explained, “Rosewood Hospice.”

His expression changed. “Ryder.”

I blinked at his brother’s name. Right, he had told me. Ryder, the same name as his cousin. How the hell had I forgotten that?

I nodded quickly. “Yeah. Ryder.”

Caelum’s entire expression crumbled as he rushed toward me, his hand landing on my shoulder. “What happened to him?” his voice was filled with panic, “Is he okay? What happened? Why is he here?”

“Caelum, breathe,” my hand covered his wrist, “just take a breath.” His grip on my shoulder was slightly too tight, but I ignored it, “Ryder is in the emergency room. The doctors are with him right now. There hasn’t been an update yet.”

His eyes searched mine, “But he’s okay?”

I hesitate. “I don’t know,” the truth felt cruel, but I couldn’t lie to him. “I don’t know if everything is okay yet, we have to wait for the doctors,” his breathing became uneven again, “panicking isn’t going to help him, we need to wait until someone comes out and tells us what’s happening.”

He stares at me and for several seconds, he didn’t move. Then he slowly inhales, another breath followed as his grip on my shoulder gradually loosened. His shoulders drops slightly and he forced himself to calm down.

Then his eyes flickered toward his hand on me and he immediately released me. “I’m sorry.”

“You weren’t yourself.”

“That’s still not an excuse.”

I shook my head, “It’s okay,” reaching for his hand this time, gently squeezing his fingers, “I’m fine.” He looked down at our hands and lifted my free hand and cupped his cheek, “deep breath.”

His gaze met mine as he inhales slowly, his eyelids flutters slightly, and he leans into my touch, his body finally beginning to relax.

I kept my hand against his cheek for another moment, then my gaze drifts past his shoulder to the nurse who was standing farther down the hallway, watching us.

My hand was still wrapped around his when I gently pulled him toward the waiting area, “Come on.”

He followed without arguing as j guided him to one of the chairs and waited until he sat before taking the seat beside him.

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A KISS At Midnight

“How did you even get here so fast?” I asked, “I thought you went to your grandfather’s place”

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