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menacingly at him, spittle flying everywhere.
    “Dad! Phillip got her here, and she’s getting the help she needs.” Cedric’s delivery carried throughout the waiting room,
    and Adam stopped struggling against them.
    “Please, everyone just calm down.” His mother cried as she
    stepped between them as if she were capable of defending him. It was at that moment that a man in scrubs and a cap approached
    them as if oblivious to the altercation taking place before him.
    “Which one of you is Stephanie Brier’s next of kin?” The
    gravity in his commanding voice cut like shards of glass. Phillip felt his stomach plummet to his feet.
    “I’m her father. This is her brother.” Adam gestured to
    Cedric as he snapped to attention like the doctor was his drill
    sergeant.
    “I’m her fiancé.” Phillip interjected and Adam spun on him.
    “No you’re not. She never answered you!” His hostile eyes
    pained Phillip. He knew Adam could be wildly protective of
    Steph, and it dawned on him that Steph’s mother’s death was the
    result of a car accident. He’d been driving like a maniac to get her here alive. He knew Adam had every right to be upset with
    him, but Phillip couldn’t believe that he thought he’d do any-
    thing to intentionally jeopardize her well-being.
    “Follow me.” The surgeon’s eyes flit between them so
    quickly and decisively that it was almost imperceptible. Adam
    strode after him, and Cedric hobbled closely behind-cane in
    hand. The three men disappeared behind security doors. That had
    been four long hours ago, and he hadn’t seen them since.
    He choked on the harsh smoke as his lungs acclimated to
    inhaling for the first time in months. His head immediately
    buzzed as the tobacco and other essential poisons flooded him.
    31
    TAMMY COONS & MICHELLE PACE
    When the first news van pulled up, he wasn’t the least bit sur-
    prised.
    “Phillip! Mr. Kersey.” The reporter shouted from the street.
    Phillip flicked his cigarette in their direction and turned to walk back inside. The sight of Adam Brier standing in his path
    stopped him in his tracks. Adam looked ten years older than he
    had just a few hours before and a bit lost.
    “Do you have any more of those?” he asked Phillip, pulling
    a flask out from an inside pocket of his jacket. Phillip pulled the cigarettes and matches from his pocket and handed them to him.
    “Where’s Cedric?” His own voice sounded horse and hol-
    low. He was afraid of what Adam’s answer might be.
    “He’s with Bonnie. She’s out of surgery. They say she’s
    stable.” Adam replied and lit a cigarette, inhaling heavily. Phillip felt a tidal wave of relief crash over him. Stable. It was a heavenly word.
    “Why do you call her Bonnie?” Phillip asked. It was proba-
    bly an odd question at a time like that. Based on the way Adam
    paused mid drag, he obviously thought so. He proceeded to in-
    hale again deeply and passed his flask to Phillip who took an
    obnoxiously large swig.
    “I wanted to name her Bonnie. It’s a family name. Her
    mother wanted Stephanie-after Stevie Nicks. So we compro-
    mised like all good married couples. She got her way. Bonnie
    became her middle name.”
    Phillip nodded and took another swig of whisky, letting the
    burn cauterize his narrowed throat.
    “Can I see her?” He sounded like a frightened child and
    didn’t care. Adam fixed him with a hard look. Whatever he saw
    while looking Phillip over seemed to soften him. He nodded.
    “They are about to move her from recovery to her room.
    Then you can see her.”
    He barely had the last word out before Phillip took off for
    the entrance.
    32

    RAGE
    “I’m still pissed at you, you little bastard!” Adam called af-
    ter him.

    Steph stared at the crooked picture on the wall. It was ugly
    as hell, and she wanted to chuck her pitcher of ice water at it, but even blinking hurt. So she had nothing to do but study the shitty picture and think about what the surgeon had just told