Chapter 330\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hospital waiting room smelled like antiseptic and bad coffee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hated it. Hated the fluorescent lights that made everyone look half\u2013dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hated the uncomfortable plastic chairs that squeaked every time someone shifted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hated the clock on the wall that ticked too loud, each second feeling like an eternity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But mostly, I hated that Tristan was in there somewhere, broken and bleeding, and I couldn\u2019t do anything about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah sat beside me, her hand warm in mine. She hadn\u2019t let go since we got here, hadn\u2019t said much either, just stayed close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what I loved about her, she knew when words didn\u2019t help, when presence was enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek paced near the window, his phone pressed to his ear as he made yet another call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d lost count of how many people he\u2019d contacted in the last hour. He was trying to help, trying to fix this, but some things couldn\u2019t be fixed with phone\u00a0<\/p>\n
calls and connections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Orion\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion stood by the door, arms crossed, watching me like he knew exactly what I was thinking. Like he could read the desperation written all over my\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because he could.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was my brother. We\u2019d shared a womb, shared every moment of our lives growing up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five years wasn\u2019t enough to stop knowing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew me better than anyone, which meant he knew what I was about to suggest before I even opened my mouth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doctor had come out twenty minutes ago with an update that wasn\u2019t really an update at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan was stable but critical. Multiple fractures. Severe head trauma. Internal bleeding that they were trying to control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were doing everything they could, the doctor had said, but the next few hours were crucial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crucial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What a bullshit word. Crucial meant they didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d make it. Crucial meant we should prepare ourselves for the worst.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t preparing for anything except saving him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hand drifted to my stomach again, that protective gesture I couldn\u2019t seem to stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
1:25 pm P\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 330\u00a0<\/p>\n
The babies were so small right now, probably no bigger than blueberries, but I could feel them. Not physically, it was too early for that, but I knew they were there. Knew they were growing. Knew they needed their father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAthena,\u201d Orion\u2019s voice cut through my thoughts. \u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t what?\u201d I asked, even though we both knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t even think about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah\u2019s hand tightened on mine and I realized she\u2019d figured it out too. Of course she had. She was married to Orion, had learned to read our language,\u00a0<\/p>\n
the silent communication that passed between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to talk to you,\u2018 I said, pulling my hand free from Sarah\u2019s. \u201cAlone.\u201c\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion\u2019s jaw tightened but he nodded. We walked down the hallway, away from the waiting room, away from Derek\u2019s phone calls and Sarah\u2019s worried eyes. Found an empty consultation room and I closed the door behind us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, neither of us spoke. Just stood there in this sterile little room with its generic landscape painting and box of tissues on the desk. A room designed for bad news, for difficult conversations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Well, this was going to be difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to use my powers,\u201d I said finally. No point dancing around it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d His answer was immediate, absolute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t even let me finish\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t need to. The answer is no, Athena. Absolutely not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anger flared in my chest, hot and sharp. \u201cHe\u2019s dying, Orion. Did you not hear the doctor? Internal bleeding, head trauma\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I heard him. I also heard him say Tristan is stable and they\u2019re doing everything they can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything they can might not be enough!\u201d My voice rose and I forced myself to take a breath, to lower it. The last thing we needed was hospital staff overhearing this conversation. \u2018I can save him. You know I can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 330 Chapter 330\u00a0 Athena\u00a0 The hospital waiting room smelled like antiseptic and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}