hurt too. Gathering her up in my arms, I carried her upstairs, feeling her tears soak into my T-shirt. She cried like her heart was breaking, and guilt suffused me. For years, Lorna had been Jane’s family. Was I being a selfish bastard?
See, this was what Lorna did. She turned it all around on everyone else.
Tucking Jane into my side of the bed, I held her until she cried herself to sleep, promising myself she’d never regret making that choice.
At some point, I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew, a loud crash jolted me awake.
Jane jerked awake too. “What was that?”
It was dark in the room.
We’d been asleep awhile.
Heart racing, I reached over for my phone and saw it was one in the morning.
“Wait here,” I whispered. “It’s probably just Lorna.”
Except Lorna wasn’t in her room, which was something I’d worry about once I investigated the crash. I was about to head downstairs when I saw a light coming from Skye’s room.
“Skye?” I called out, striding down the hall. The door was wedged open a little, but I knocked anyway. “Skye, you in there?”
When there was no answer, I pushed inside.
My stomach lurched at what I found.
My big sister sprawled motionless on her bedroom floor.
“Skye!” I fell to my knees beside her and felt her skin; it was clammy. She was soaked in sweat. Her head twitched on her neck, her eyes fluttering behind her lids. What the fuck?
“Skye?” I checked her pulse. It was slow and faint. “Jane!” I yelled. “Call 911!”
Fear coursed through my body as I tried to determine what the hell had happened to my sister. I could smell the alcohol on her. Alcohol poisoning? Rolling her into the recovery position, my gaze caught on something on her nose.
I bent over and swiped my thumb over her nostrils, glaring down at the white powder sitting on my skin.
“Skye.” I groaned, tears choking my throat. “Jane!” My voice cracked as I tried to yell.
The door burst open as Jane rushed into the room, the phone pressed to her ear. Her eyes widened. “Oh … it’s my … it’s my boyfriend’s sister … I don’t know.” She looked at me, tears in her eyes. “What happened?”
I shook my head. “I think it’s an overdose.”
“We think it’s an overdose. I don’t … Jamie, what did she take?”
I shook my head. “Maybe coke and alcohol. I don’t know.”
She repeated the words and then rushed out of the room to wait at the front door. An ambulance was on its way.
Everything was a blur as I waited helplessly, hoping Skye would open her eyes and tell me this was just a big joke. Instead, paramedics were suddenly there, pushing me aside and lifting my sister onto a stretcher.
Jane and I followed.
She drove my car.
I didn’t say a word. I couldn’t speak through my fear.
I was vaguely aware of Jane calling Lorna and leaving her a voicemail.
At the hospital, minutes felt like hours. My skin was on fire. Every noise irritated me. My toes curled inside my sneakers as my nerve endings screamed with agitation. Dread was a sickening weight in my gut.
The only thing that kept me from roaring my outrage at the world was Jane’s small hand in mine. She kept me anchored inside my skin. The place where her palm touched mine was the only place that was cool and soothed.
Sometimes she’d whisper reassuring words in my ear, and I’d bend toward her because her breath on my skin was a comfort too. Nuzzling my face into her throat, I stifled frightened tears and wished I could somehow hide inside Jane.
“Skye McKenna’s family?”
I lurched out of the uncomfortable waiting-room chair and dragged Jane toward where the doctor stood. I was barely aware of anyone else or the pain radiating off them as they awaited news of their loved ones.
All I cared about was Skye.
“Skye McKenna?” the doctor asked.
“I’m Jamie McKenna. I’m her brother.”
“You called it in?”
I nodded. “Is my sister okay?”
The doctor sighed. “Mr. McKenna, your sister had a heart attack.”
Jane’s hand tightened in mine while I shook my head, not sure I’d heard right. “What?”
“We found high traces of cocaine in your sister’s blood, along with high alcohol levels. Alcohol is often used to temper the effects of cocaine because it’s a depressant. Were you aware your sister was using cocaine?”
I shook my head.
No.
But I should have been.
“I was worried about her drinking a while back but I … thought …” I thought she