FOURTEEN
ROOK
They carriedhim in like he was already dead.
Maybe he was.
Blood soaked his coat, his leather one that still had the Grim Reaper on the back from the club he used to be in. The one Mom said he still loved and considered himself a part of.
Uncle Lance was here too; he had blood all over his coat as well, and he was crying.
I had never seen him cry.
Aunt Callie was too, so was Aunt Laura and then Aunt Penelope was holding Mom really tight.
Mom was shaking. Shaking so hard, I thought she might fall down or be sick. She had blood smeared all over her Frosty the Snowman shirt. Ryle and I had bought it for her last winter; Dad was in the store with us when we found it. We liked it because Frosty had a skull mask on.
Now, there was blood smeared all over it.
Something in my chest felt like it was cracking, but I wasn’t sure how to process what it was. Ryle was watching too, but Connor and Royce were sitting between him, holding his hands tight, like they could prevent him from breaking.
Rudolph pranced around with a red light on his nose on the televisionscreen, happy and bright. The Christmas tree had lights on it, and we’d even baked Christmas cookies.
It was a happy day.
Now it wasn’t.
I needed to know if my dad was okay, but they were in the kitchen, and my dad was on the counter while two of the older members, Harris, and Pops, began inspecting where my dad was bleeding.
I glanced over at my mom. She wasn’t allowed in the kitchen. Aunt Penny held her while they rocked back and forth on the floor and Mom sobbed into the floor, praying that Dad would be spared.
That breaking feeling kept happening. It was cracking and cracking.
I couldn’t breathe. My dad went pale, and I saw his fingers limp on the side of the counter. Harris started yelling, and then Pops had another member come in with tubes, and then I was being pulled away.
A warm hand wrapped around mine, and we started moving. We moved so fast I couldn’t even see where we were walking until the cellar door was being opened, and we were moving down the stairs. I saw dark hair flying and then I was being pulled to the floor.
“Mommy once told me that she prayed so hard for something that she fell to her knees in the quietest place she could find and she prayed. She didn’t stop until she fell asleep. She said God can hear us, sometimes at least. If there’s a chance, then we have to take it.”
Nova pulled me down until my knees were touching hers.
“You’re going to be okay, Rook. It’s Christmas, and miracles happen on Christmas. This is the only one we’ll ask for, okay?”
I nodded, unable to speak. I watched as Nova closed her eyes and held my hand in hers, and then she began to pray.
“Save him. Please God, save Uncle Silas.”
She didn’t stop, she just kept saying it over and over and over again. The same words on repeat. It was soothing in a way because it took away the breaking feeling to the point where all I did was repeat what she was saying.
“Save him,” I said, and Nova still didn’t look up. “Please God, save my dad.”
I watched her lips move. Watched as tears slipped past her lashes, and Iwatched as her heart tried to grow legs, to walk the space between us, and to settle near mine. She was trying to help me. To comfort me.
It stitched back together something. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it felt warm and right.
I just kept watching her until we were both getting so tired, we laid down on the rug. I knew there was a hatch door under us because I’d walked through it earlier.
Part of me wanted to open it again and let it swallow me.
“Rook, if your heart breaks, don’t worry. I’ll give you mine.”
I didn’t cry. No tears would come, but I reached for her hand while I stared at the ceiling.
“Make sure it doesn’t stop beating, Nova. Because it feels like it might stop…it feels frozen.”
I could feel Nova turn her head toward me. “I’ll protect it, Rook. Just sleep. When you wake up, you’ll have your miracle. Just wait and see.”