Chapter 33: Chapter Thirty-Three

Alec

The next two hours passed in a blur. Finally, Dr. Murray came out of the operating room and gave us good news.

But it fell on deaf ears.

I was relieved.

But the guilt still remained.

“It's my fault.” Nat whispered when her dad walked away.

“No.” I jerked away from her and glared. “Don't even think about blaming yourself for this! We all go through crap, Nat. That's life. It's how you react to it that defines the person you grow into.”

“Wise words from a nineteen-year-old. I wonder if you listen to your own advice?”

Ah, well played. I was completely caught.

“My situation is different, believe me. What I did, it was unforgivable. I'm lucky my brother still talks to me.”

“It's not different,” she argued.

“The hell it isn't!” I yelled, finally losing complete control of my emotions.

“Fine,” Nat snapped. “How is it different? How is what you did any different?”

“I caused this!” I bolted from my seat and began pacing in front of her. “Do you even know the type of guy Demetri was before all this?

“Innocent little virgin who wouldn't even touch alcohol if someone paid him to! I protected him from everything and—”

I stopped talking, I couldn't… I just couldn't.

“You sheltered him so much that he never learned how to deal with stuff on his own,” Nat spoke softly though her voice held an air of authority I hadn't heard from her before.

“Alec—” She got up and walked towards me. “You were the older brother. Yes, it was your job to protect him. But…” She shrugged. “Sometimes you gotta let people take the hit.

I snorted and looked away. Damn smart metaphor. “He gets the crap beat out of him at practice.”

“Exactly.” She reached up and lightly brushed my forehead. “Alec, you tried to protect Demetri from everything, and the minute things took a turn for the worse, how did he cope with it?”

“He didn't.” Hell, did he even KNOW the meaning of the word. Oh right. Coping to him was another word for weed.

I sighed in defeat. “The same as before, only this time he nearly killed himself.”

“Alright then.” Nat wrapped her hands around my neck, pulling my head closer to hers. “I know I'm not perfect and we both know you aren't.”

I laughed out loud. Scaring the shit out of myself. How could I go from being ready to fall to pieces to laughing? Oh, right because I had Nat and she was a freaking angel. Never. Letting. Her.

Go. Ever. Never. Ever.

“But Demetri needs to grow up. He needs to learn, and hopefully this will be the start of that.”

Alec sighed. “You're right.”

“I'm what?” She sounded genuinely shocked.

Glaring, I pushed her away and laughed again. “Don't push it, Nat.”

“Alec?” A small nurse approached. “You can see your brother now. He's in ICU, but he's stable.

I clenched Nat's hand.

“Sorry.” The nurse looked between us. “Family only.”

“She is family.” My teeth ground together.

The nurse didn't look convinced. I cleared my throat. “She's my fiancé.” And again with probably freaking Nat out.

Nat leaned into me, totally selling it.

The nurse nodded though her eyes narrowed in on Nat's hand. I hid it under mine. “Okay, this way.”