Nurses and Doctors surrounded the car, carefully removing Jesse, laying his body on a stretcher and wheeling him away. Then two others in white scrubs stepped forward and a fierce protective instinct washed over me as they reached for Kinsley. Despite their pleas of bullshit policies and procedures, I forced my way through them. I scooped her up and cradled her in my arms, marching her limp body into the hospital myself. After checking her over and clearing her of any physical injuries, they insisted on monitoring her until she woke up. I couldn’t disagree, I saw the darkness in her eyes from the rearview mirror as we drove to the hospital; she was lost so deep within herself.

Now I’m standing, arms folded across my chest, in the doorway of the room where Jesse’s body lays lifeless. ‘I’ll give you all a moment’. I scoff at the comment the nurse had made. I’ll be damned if anyone is interrupting the time Kinsley and Marie want to have in here, I’ll stand with my feet planted here all day if I have to.

I watch the two of them for a while, before stepping out of the room and pulling my phone out of my pocket. There is someone I need to call. My fingers swipe across the screen; the dial tone rings in my ear four times and I almost end the call when a feminine voice answers.

“Hello?”

“Hey Soph, it’s Tanner.”

“Hey, what’s up? Everything okay?”

“How quickly can you get down to Blackwater Hospital?”

“Uhm.” Her fingers tapping the phone screen. “I can be there in thirty-five minutes.”

“Soph,” my voice thick with warning. “It’s not good.”

“Stay with her, I’ll be there soon.”

Ending the call, I turn back to look through the glass. Kinsley is sitting on the far side of the bed brushing Jesse’s curls out of his eyes; her lips moving whispering all the things she never got to say. He knew. In the weeks I spent alone with Jesse I learnt a lot about him; his devotion to Kinsley and his promise to Kyle.

When they were kids, their relationship started out as a schoolyard crush, she was just his best friend’s little sister. But as they got older, especially after Kyle passed away, she became less of his best friend’s little sister and more of the woman he served to protect, his twin flame; the one he wanted but couldn’t have.

They had a continuous ‘Right Person, Wrong Time’ situation on their hands. Only Kinsley never knew it. Somehow she was oblivious to it all. Now, as she sits at his bedside, I can see the regret written all over her face. How the fuck am I going to help her through this?