They were quiet for the rest of the drive. The quiet came to an abrupt end the second they stepped through the ER doors. Saturday night. Close to eleven o’clock. Worst time ever to have an emergency because that was apparently when everyone else did.

The bright lights of the waiting room beat down on them as they made their way inside. The room was crawling with people, from a screaming baby being held by a stressed-out girl who couldn’t be more than twenty, to a family with three kids clustered in the corner and looking like they had some kind of plague, to a loud, obviously drunk guy who was being handled by security.

Dressed formally as they were, she and Cole received more than a few curious looks.

After a brief hesitation, Cole headed toward two men standing near the hallway to the rest of the hospital. She could tell in a glance they were his brothers. Both had dark hair like Cole’s, and one of them was wearing a suit. The other wore khakis and a button-down shirt.

The suit guy glared at Cole, and if she had to guess, going by looks, he must be the oldest, Mason if she remembered right. Sierra followed, her shoes officially reaching the torture stage, but that wasn’t important right now.

“Hey, Cole,” the khakis brother said. “Glad you’re here. They took her to the cath lab.”

Sierra saw Cole swallow hard as he absorbed that news. “Sounds bad,” he said.

“She’s in the best place to get help,” the suit guy said in a low, authoritative, not-really-warm voice. “We’re lucky she was able to call for help on her own.”

“What happened?” Cole directed the question to the brother in khakis, barely sparing the suited brother a look.

“I talked to her around six because she wasn’t feeling well earlier in the day. She insisted she was fine, just had some indigestion.” The khakis brother shook his head, gritting his teeth. “I wish I would’ve asked more questions. She texted me around ten thirty that the pain was worse and she’d called 911. I was at a thing downtown, so it was faster for me to meet her here.”

Though Cole didn’t say anything more, his body was tense, and worry radiated off him. Feeling helpless, Sierra grasped his forearm lightly, squeezed it once, just to remind him she was there for him, then let her hand fall to her side. The action seemed to catch khakis brother’s attention, and he looked at her for the first time.

“Hello,” he said to her, his eyes roving up and down over her gown. “I’m Gabe North.” He extended his hand, all manners in spite of the circumstances.

“Sierra Lowell,” she said as she shook his hand.

“This is our oldest brother, Mason,” Gabe said, pointing his thumb at the guy in the suit.