Belief in Miracles (completed)

Chapter 33: Summer

33 Summer

It'd been almost five minutes, and Sebastian still hadn't returned. Looking around the table, no one else seemed to be noticeably concerned about his absence, so I was trying not to be either, but it wasn't easy. From my left, Dev handed me a bowl of potatoes, and I forced a smile as I began spooning them onto my plate. Everyone froze, however, as a loud thump sounded from upstairs, hard enough to shake the chandelier.

For several seconds, no one moved. Everyone was locked in their passing of dishes and taking bites, all our eyes on the ceiling. When I slowly lowered the potato bowl to the table, Tom pushed back from his seat and started toward the stairs. Everyone watched him as he stood at the bottom, staring up, and I climbed out to stand beside him as he cupped his mouth and called out.

"Bas? Sebastian!"

There was no answer, and with a glance at me, we both started up the stairs. I followed Tom's lead to the left where he stopped outside a closed door. I could hear how fast he was breathing as he leaned close to it, and tried to mellow my own racing heart as he knocked.

"Bassy, you okay?" He glanced at me when there was no answer, and I shrugged as he knocked again. "Bas?"

With a low muttered prayer, he turned the handle and pushed open the door, grunting when he met resistance from the other side. Shoving past him, I eased through the crack to find Sebastian sprawled on the bathroom floor. There was blood on the tiles, leaking from a small wound just above his brow, where he must've hit his head on the counter on the way down. With my hands shaking, I knelt by his side, my fingers reaching to feel for a pulse. I found it, steady within his neck, and let out a breath as I pulled him to me.

"Tom, get help!" I shouted, and immediately, his feet started running, bounding down the stairs a moment later. From below I could hear him call for someone to get an ambulance, then a cacophony of worried voices climbing over each other.

Tom returned after a moment, and I grunted as I pulled Sebastian away from the door, my hand pressed over the wound in his head. Tom entered and eased down to Sebastian's side, his backpack over his shoulder.

I could see his hands shaking as he dug out Sebastian's oxygen and fixed it firm over his face before turning it on. "Twice in less than an hour. The idiot should have known better than to leave the big tank behind." He grumbled to himself, but the worry in his eyes was obvious.

With the mask secure and pumping oxygen into Sebastian, he pressed a hand to Sebastian's chest and closed his eyes. For a long time, he seemed to pray, and when he opened his eyes and I saw tears in them, it brought wetness to my own.

"Ambulance is on its way." Dev's voice suddenly came, and I looked up to see him standing in the doorway. "Should we move him downstairs?"

Tom glanced at me as though it were my decision, but I could only shrug, and he sighed as he looked down to see the blood leaking beneath my fingers. "Probably shouldn't move him. He hit his head."

He gestured to the wound, and Dev cursed as he peeked around to see it. "My Mom's freaking out."

"Go be with her." Tom insisted. "We've got him."

"You sure?"

Tom nodded. "If today's the day, then..." He swallowed hard, his eyes sliding with sadness over Sebastian before he looked back to Dev. "She's gonna need you and your brothers."

I watched as Dev nodded, his eyes glued to his brother. "He promised to be there for the birth..." He mumbled, his voice hitching, causing a lump to grow in my throat.