The World That Was Mine (Part I & II)

XXIX

I sighed. "We won't lose her again, Jace. It won't happen again." We had lost her once but had been lucky enough to get the chance to get her back, but this time, I fear our luck may have run out.

"You were so awful to her, Liam."

I kept my eyes glued to the road ahead of me. I couldn't let him see the tears in my eyes. "I know Jace."

He sniffled. It kills me to see him like this. It's uncharacteristic of him, and it only made everything feel so much worse. Like somehow seeing him upset made it all so real. I'm not very good at real things. Feelings make me panic. They always have. I'm good at my work, but I was told even in medical school that I lacked the emotional skills to be a doctor. I took that as a sign to prove them wrong. But the first time I had a patient die under my care, two months after I started my residency, I realized how much emotional baggage came with my career. I had no idea how to tell the family, let alone console them.

Emotionally inept. That was what Georgia, one of my work friends always called me. She was joking when she said it, but we both knew it was the harsh truth of the way I am.

"Why the fuck did you do that yesterday?" Jace asked.

"Jace now is not the time for this," I grunted. I can't deal with that now. I couldn't handle all that right now. Not until I knew she was okay. She had to be. She had to be okay. I'm not ready to lose anyone else yet. Especially not one of my siblings.

"And dinner wasn't the time for all the shit you said either. But you did. You fucking did. Oh god," He put a hand to his mouth like he just realized something and I could see him trying to stifle a sob. "Oh god, Liam, what the fuck did you do?"

I felt a tear run down my face. "I don't know Jace. I don't know what I did." We drove the rest of the way to the hospital in silence. There was nothing either of us could to make this better. Make this go away. Arguing now wouldn't help anyone. The rest of them were already there by the time I and Jace jumped out of the car and ran into the hospital.

Tyler was standing at the desk yelling, the rest of them were scattered around the room, teary-eyed and nervous. Emma was sitting beside Nolan, her face pressed into the side of his sweatshirt. Finley was leaned against a wall, biting his nails. Henry was nowhere to be found, and neither was Logan. Henry hadn't been at home when we got the call. No one knew where Henry was, but I could guarantee if he already knew, he wouldn't become. He was the only person in our family worse at dealing with emotions.

"I need to know what is going on with Isabelle Cane. She was brought to this emergency room 10 minutes ago, I'm her legal guardian, please just tell me what is going on." It was clear to the entire waiting room that Tyler was struggling to keep his cool with the receptionist at the front desk.

"Sir, a doctor will be out to talk to you as soon as possible. Please have a seat." She was being incredibly patient with him. More than most people would. I would guess she was used to seeing people in distress.

"No, I can't wait for a doctor to come and talk to me, I need to know if Isabelle Cane is alright!" He yelled. Jace, who was still standing beside me, walked over to him and tried to get him to calm down.

My stomach was in knots as I walked over and sat down beside Nolan. He gave me a sad look but didn't say anything. I could see tear streaks on Emma's cheeks, but she didn't even look up at me. She'd been ignoring me since last night. Not that I blame her. Izzy was, after all, her twin, and I could see she had grown protective of her. We all realized yesterday what a bad state Izzy is in. We all reacted to it differently, but I would say Emma reacted the best. We all saw her take on a new, protective role yesterday with Izzy. One that I hope wasn't limited to just then. Because evidently, none of the rest of us were capable of protecting her. Maybe Emma could do what the rest of us couldn't.