A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 102

A Kiss A Midnight

BARE FOR HER

His arms remained wrapped and me and I sped rooted all warped that he was thanking me, when I had done nothing and had been meles when his brother have fastard at the mall

But I didn’t do atrything I manage to say you coming out quiety than I need

He doesn’t let go only pulling back slight but he has remained where they were being there was more than enough his words hit where deep made me

This was a realizing that he wasn’t blaming me not even lorde and most like that the seat I had been carrying since Leo had collapsed finally incurred and before could set than everything I wrap my arms aremand her this time hugging hon tightly

For a moment neither of us say anything as we remain lock on each others embrar night until the door to the emergen room pulls open and a doctor or nut looking around the halls any

Cachum and I pull apart from each other in werk now and ham. Carl Hart 1 Ryder brother. The thirteen year old brought in from the mall How is het?

The doctor y gaze drifted from him to me then back to ham. Your breathe

out of immediate danger my breath caught a

I watched Carlum viubly exhaled “But the doctor codd her had been brought in even a hurtle later we may not have been able to save him

This made him swallowed hard I’m aware of the severity of his coachatacars

The doctor nodded. Very well. The nurse will give you the rest of the information, including when you’ll be able to see him

Thank you Doctor Cachum said

“Thank you I added and the doctor gave us a brief nod before walking away

Once he was out of sight. I finally let out the breath I had been holding Leo Ryder was safe I was probably going to stick with calling him Leo in my head. It was less confusing Besides, the name had grown on me

Caelum and I turned toward each other and a small smile passed between us as his lips parted almost like he was about to say something, when his phone rang, cutting off whatever he had to say

I glanced at the screen. Mum

He answers almost immediately pressing the phone to his ear. “Hello” I tried very hard not to listen, really But the quiet snuttles coming from the other end were impossible to miss.

“I’m okay. Mum.” he assured her “I’m at the hospital” he glanced toward the emergency room doors. “Ryder’s safe, the doctors got him stable

There was another snuffle. “No, don’t drive back this late. It’s okay his voice softened. Til stay with him and also check on hum and keep you updated okay He listened for a moment. “promise”

He managed to calm her down after another minute before glancing toward the approaching nurse. “You should probably let dad know not to worry I’ve got to go. Mum. I’ll call you later.”

He ended the call as a nurse approaches us it was the same one from earher She gave us a warm, understanding smile. “Mr Hart Caelum turned toward her your brother isn’t awake yet, but you can see him briefly”

She gestured toward the emergency room doors. “Only for a few moments, he needs to rest. The nurse gave us a small nod Follow me

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We both followed her through the emergency room doors and down a quieter corridor, she stopped in front of a room and pushed the door open, Ryder was the only person inside.

He lay beneath the white hospital sheets, his face still pale, his eyes closed and a thin oxygen tube rested beneath his nose. while several wires were attached to his chest, leading to the monitor beside his bed. An IV line ran into his arm, and (he steady beeping of the monitor filled the otherwise quiet room.

I stood beside Caelum, watching him stare at his brother, his eyes never left Ryder as he watched the slow rise and fall of his chest, then finally released a shaky breath.

A sigh of relief

“He’s stable,” the nurse reminded us softly, “but we can’t let you stay too long, he needs to rest,” he nods, though he looked. reluctant to leave, “you can wait in the waiting area until he wakes up.”

“Okay,” the nurse gave Ryder one last glance before stepping outside, we followed her out, and she returned to her station. leaving us alone in the hallway.

I turned toward Caelum, watching how hard he was trying to hide it. Trying to keep his expression under control, but I could see the devastation still sitting behind his eyes.

Reaching over, I rubbed his back, “It’s going to be okay.”

He sighed. “Yeah,” nodding once, then turned toward me. for a few seconds, he simply stared at my face, his hands slowly rose and cups my cheeks.

My breath caught as he gently moved a loose strand of hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear., then he leaned forward, pressing his softly against my forehead.

He stays there for a moment before resting his forehead against mine. “It’s late,” he whispered, his voice was tired, “You should go home and get some rest.”

I shook my head. “No.”

His brows pulled together slightly. “Delilah..”

“I’m not leaving you here alone,” his eyes softened, “I want to stay.” Reachig for his hand, “I want to be here for you, so let me.” He didn’t answer and I continued. “And don’t push me away just because you’re scared or because you think you have to handle everything yourself.”

He slowly pulls his head back, looking directly into my eyes and for a moment, he seemslost in thought, then he whispers, almost to himself, “I don’t know what I would’ve done tonight without you.”

My chest tightens as his hands returns to my cheeks and I lean into his touch, closing my eyes for a brief moment. I turned my head slightly and pressed a gentle kiss against his palm.

“Did you eat dinner?” my voice coming out more softer now.

He shakes his head. “No, I’m not hungry.”

I gave him a look. “I knew you were going to say that,” he opened his mouth, but I cut him off, “I can’t tell you not to worry, I know that’s impossible right now. But Leo is out of immediate danger, and we have to eat while we wait for him to wake up.”

“Delilah. I..”

“Nope,” I grab his hand and started pulling him down the hallway, “come on.”

The cafeteria took us a few minutes to find, mostly because neither of us had been paying attention to where we had been walking earlier. When we finally found it, we ordered something small.

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Neither of us had much of an appetite, we found a quiet table toward the back and sat down and for several minutes, we ate in silence. Or, at least, I tried to.

My eyes kept drifting toward him, he wasn’t really eating and was just pushing the food around his plate, twirling his fork through it without actually taking another bite.

I sighed, “why didn’t you tell me about your brother?”

His hand stops and he slowly looks up at me, making his emotion bare for me to see. The sadness that had ship into his eyes, one that was deep it almost physically hurt to look at.

“It’s the same reason you don’t talk about your sister,” my lips pressed together and I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded. He leaned back in his chair, “I guess..” exhaling slowly. “I didn’t want to say it out loud.”

His gaze dropped toward the table. “Because then it would make it real,” he dragged a hand down his face but I didn’t interrupt him, didn’t ask another question and simply waited.

Because I knew what this was, this was him opening up. Slowly.

“I remember the first time we found out,” his voice was quieter now, “Ryder was eight, and had always been active. Always running around, getting into everything. Then one day, he collapsed.”

He stared down at his hands. “At first, we thought it was nothing. Kids get tired, they fall. We didn’t think..” his voice faltered, “we didn’t think it could be his heart.”

Letting out a small gulp. “Finding out was devastating.” his fingers curled against his palm, “sespite the age difference, Ryder was my best friend. My baby brother, but also..” he shook his head, “he was the person I talked to about everything.”

His gaze drifted somewhere beyond me. “I remember looking at him after the doctors told us and thinking he didn’t even understand what was happening. he was just eight,” his jaw tightened, “and I knew I couldn’t fall apart, not in front of him. If he saw me terrified, he would be terrified too”

He stopped, his breathing grew uneven and I reached across the table. “You don’t have to talk about this now.”

Shaking his head. “No,” his eyes lifted to mine, “I need to say it.” I stayed quiet as he drew in a shaky breath.

“Things changed after that. It put a strain on us, even though neither of us wanted it to. I became..” He searched for the word. “Overprotective, I guess.”

A sad laugh escaped him. “He’s my baby brother, Delilah..” his voice broke on the last word and his eyes had turned red when he looked back at me, “I’m supposed to protect him, but how am I supposed to protect him from his own heart?”

My heart shattered. “I’ve spent years being scared that one day I’ll get a call telling me something happened, that one day his heart will just..” He stopped, unable to finish, squeezing his eyes shut.

“What am I supposed to do if that happens?” he opened them again, and the sheer terror in those emerald eyes nearly broke me, “how am I supposed to protect him if I can’t even stop that?”

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