Riley and Devin

Chapter Twenty-Two

I wake up to yelling. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I hear Devin yell. I stand up and run over to where he is. He's screaming at his brother.

"Shit," I say. Devin whips around to face me.

"Did you tell him?" Devin asks me.

"Devin, listen to me-" I start.

"You didn't have the fucking right to!" he yells.

"Excuse us," I say to Nick. I pull Devin into the bathroom. "You need to pull your goddamn shit together," I tell Devin.

"Why the fuck would you tell him?" he says. I shrug.

"Oh, I dunno. Maybe because that's his mother too! Or maybe because this could be his last time to see her! Or maybe because you need him," I say. Devin glares at me. "Look, I get that you're freaking out and you don't know what to do. I get that you need someone to take it out on, and I get that I'm that person. I also get that you're pissed off because he left you. But you need to pull your fucking shit together," I tell Devin.

"Okay," he says quietly.

"Now, you're going to go out there and apologize to your brother for the way you acted," I tell him. I look at my watch and then add, "They'll be taking your mother into surgery soon." He nods and we walk out. Devin doesn't make any move to apologize to his brother. I give him a gentle shove forward.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted," Devin says slowly.

"Here, I brought you clothes," Nick says as he tosses Devin a bag. Devin takes it and walks into the bathroom. "Thank you for calling me, Riley," he says.

"No problem, thanks for coming," I say. He nods and stares sadly at his mother. "So how have you been? I haven't seen you in awhile," I ask him.

"Good, I got married," he says.

"That's good. His name's Theo, right?" I ask Nick. He smiles.

"Yeah, how have you been?" he asks me.

"Good," I say. Devin walks out of the bathroom as the doctors walk in.

"We're ready to take Mrs. Wright to surgery," Doctor Williams says. I look at Devin and Nick.

"Can we have a minute?" I ask.

"Of course. We'll be in the hallway. Come and get us when you're ready," Doctor Williams says. He and Doctor Felix walk out. Neither Devin or Nick have made a move. I go first and gently squeeze her hand. I step back and then Nick steps forward. He hugs her and mutters something. Devin's last. He stares at her for a couple of seconds.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispers. And it breaks my heart. He hugs her and then lets go. He steps back and I slip my hand into his, squeezing it. The doctors come in.

"We're going to take her to surgery now. It should be a while. A family member has to be on the premises at all times. You can walk us to a certain point and then it's hospital personnel only, any questions?" Doctor Williams explains. We shake our heads. Doctor Felix wheels Mrs. Wright as we walk. We all stop at the doors. "This is goodbye." They give us a minutes to say silent goodbyes and then they wheel her away.

"I'm going to get coffee, do you guys want anything?" I ask once we're back in the room. They put in a couch and another chair. They both shake their heads. Nick digs around in the bag and hands me a sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"Here, I thought you might want something to change into," Nick says. I put the sweatshirt on put hand him back the sweatpants.

"Thank you, but I don't really think that these are going to fit," I say. He nods. I throw my hair into a ponytail and slip on my heels. I leave the room and walk down to the cafeteria. I get a coffee and then look around for a gift shop. They have one, but it doesn't sell any sort of clothes. I walk back up to the room. "Where'd Nick go?" I ask Devin.