“Should we get the others?” I asked as we crossed the parking lot and headed to the main road.
“No. We’ll head over there first. Once we figure out where he is, we can let the guys know.” It felt good to be walking and even though I was tired and hungry, at least we would be getting out of the cold.
Snow was still falling but it wasn’t accumulating much. We’d have to find somewhere warm to sleep tonight. We couldn’t be out in the open. We’d die from exposure. At least The Pit had provided some form of shelter. The not knowing twisted up my belly with dread.
We walked into the reception area of the hospital and I almost collapsed with relief at the feel of dry, comfortable heat. I could have curled up in one of the hard chairs and fallen asleep instantly. Yoss pulled me towards the nurse sitting behind the large desk. He pushed his damp hair out of his eyes and gave her a dazzling smile. The kind of smile meant to inflict serious harm…to the heart.
“Can I help you?” the older lady asked, smiling back, clearly charmed by Yoss.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m looking for my…” He cleared his throat. “My brother. He may have been brought in here last night. There was a fire in a warehouse downtown and I believe he was injured.”
The nurse, who wore a nametag that read Louise Robinson, RN, widened her eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Such a shame. What did you say his name was?”
Oh crap.
I only knew him as Bug. I had no idea what his real name was.
Yoss cleared his throat again. “His name is Bu—uh, Bradley Sloan.”
Bradley Sloan.
It was such an ordinary name for such a strange boy.
“Bradley Sloan?” Louise asked and Yoss nodded.
“There was someone here only a few minutes ago looking for a Bradley Sloan. Says he’s his brother too,” Louise said, her eyebrows rising in suspicion.
“Oh, really. I guess our other brother beat me here,” Yoss responded airily, but I wasn’t sure Louise was buying it.
“Well he’s over there. Maybe you should go have a chat with your brother first.” Louise pointed out a tall slender guy, not much older than we were, leaning against the wall.
“Okay. Yeah. That’s a good idea. But Bradley is here, right?” Yoss asked.
Louise pursed her lips and turned back to her computer, not bothering to answer his question. Clearly she wasn’t fooled by Yoss’s story.
“Bug’s name is Bradley? I had no idea,” I muttered under my breath.
“Yeah, Bug never used his real name. And he sure as shit never wanted to see his brother.” Yoss gritted his teeth and headed towards Bug’s brother.
“Did they not get along?”
“If he did, do you think he would have been sleeping at The Pit?” Yoss asked harshly.
“I’m sorry. I just wondered—”
“He never talked about his family. None of us do. It’s not like you go around telling stories about your mom, Imi,” Yoss went on, his face set in hard, unforgiving lines.
“I only wish I knew more about him,” I said quietly. Yoss didn’t respond. He was lost in his own thoughts. His own feelings. And for the first time in the six months since I had met him, since the time we had started loving each other, I felt disconnected from him.
And that scared me more than anything.
I didn’t know how to help Yoss. He seemed angry and agitated, and as much as I wanted to comfort him, he wouldn’t really let me. I knew he was worried about Bug. We all were. But Yoss took his role as guardian of our friends very seriously. So seriously that I knew his feelings had more to do with guilt than anything else.
“Hi. You’re Bradley’s brother?” Yoss asked once we had reached the older Sloan sibling.
Bug’s brother looked up at us and the family resemblance was startling. He and Bug could have passed for twins. Right down to the bulbous eyes.
“Yeah. Who are you?” he asked, regarding us coolly.
Yoss crossed his arms over his chest. “My name is Yoss. This is Imogen. We’re friends of Bu—Bradley’s. We came to see if he was okay.”
Bug’s brother looked hard at Yoss. Then at me. His cheeks slowly flushed bright red and something heated in his eyes. He took a step towards us in an almost aggressive manner. I took a step back, worried by the expression on his face.
“You’re Brad’s friends, huh?” he demanded, his face only inches from Yoss’s.
Yoss didn’t back down. He faced Bug’s obviously infuriated brother with his own anger. “Yeah, we are. We look out for each other. We’re family. Which is more than I can say for you,” he spat out.
“Yoss, don’t,” I warned softly, sensing Bug’s brother wouldn’t think twice about laying Yoss out in the hospital waiting room.
“Yeah, you’re just the fucking trash that let my brother die,” the other man seethed.
Yoss recoiled instantly and I gripped his arm so tightly that my nails broke skin.
“What?” Yoss whispered, his face incredibly pale.