The drive to the hospital was such a blur to Lettie that she was surprised to have made it all. A terrifying thought given why she was there to begin with. She had been eating breakfast with her friends when the doctor called from St. Olgas. By the time the words " I'm sorry for your loss" were out of his mouth, she had already been in the car, racing out of the parking lot. She remembers Miguel yelling for her in the distance, but he seemed so far away. Even now the world was gray, devoid of color and moving at a snails' pace. She focused only on getting to her brothers. Virgil was currently in surgery. He had received a few major injuries including a broken leg and a large gash across his chest and abdomen. Virge had always been sickly since he was a child, so he was having a harder time in surgery than a normal fifteen-year-old. Noel only had minor injuries; a few scratches, two broken fingers, and several bruises. He was in the waiting room in the ICU. This must be so terrifying, she had to be there for them. She had to be there when the doctors told them... Lettie froze thinking about the news she would have to give to her brothers. How she was going to see them but not their mother. Their mama had already left them forty minutes ago shortly after the ambulances had started taking them to the hospital. Thank the gods they were riding in separate vehicles. Tears sprang from her eyes unbidden. She didn't want to cry here, before she even got a chance to see her mama. But the very thought of seeing her lifeless body broke something in Lettie. The sobbing and gasping started before she could push them back down. Her mama was gone. Her loving, strong, kind, and supportive mama was gone from this world. Dad died of cancer five years ago. Now it would just be the three of them. How was Lettie supposed to take care of her brothers? She barely managed to take care of herself. Mama paid for her car note, car insurance, and some of her food as well. Student loans paid for school and the rest. How was she supposed to provide for her siblings? How could she keep the house? Oh gods, they would lose the house. Where would her brothers live?
As the sheer weight of grief and fear came crashing down onto Lettie, she crumbled. In the middle of the hallway leading to the ICU Juliette Lincoln curled into a small ball, standing only on the points of her toes, and sobbed. She was probably having a panic attack, though she would not know as she had never had one before. Her heart felt as if it would beat out of her chest, her breath was coming out quickly and was drenched in angry, pained tears. Slowly, over the course of what felt like hours, she calmed down. The sobbing gave away to soft gasps, which gave away to soundless weeping. She knew she had to keep moving forward, and she had responsibilities to attend to, even more so now. But she just couldn't bring herself to lift her head and stand up again.
She was broken out of her spirling despair by a warm hand on her shoulder. As soon as she felt the touch she snapped up. Stumbling several feet back and probably would have fallen had that same hadn't grabbed her waist and steaded her. She looked up to meet the palest blue eyes she'd ever seen.
"Sorry," his voice was deep, and his accent made the "s" sound a little more stretched out. "I thought maybe you were hurt. I didn't realize you were..." He trailed off, clearly unsure how to explain her current appearance without being too revealing.
She was thankful he tried to let her keep some of her secrets and maybe even a little pride. Lettie wiped the remaining tears away. Though that probably did nothing to hide her bloodshot eyes and red face.
"No, it's my fault. I'm the one crying in the middle of the hallway. Thank you for checking on me. I'm fine." The last words came out choked and unsure. Even now she couldn't bring herself to lie about her true feelings. They were just too recent; the wounds were too raw.
The man smiled softly at her, enhancing his kind features. He had a firm jaw, soft eyes and a short curly bed of platinum blonde hair. He was taller than her by a good head and more than twice as broad. He reminded her a little of a human polar bear and she laughed softly at the thought. Maybe she had gone a little loopy from the lack of oxygen from all the gasping? The smile quirked up a bit and the man gave her a pat on the shoulder.
"I don't know what I did to make you laugh but I'm thankful for it. Here as a gift for your smile." He reached in a briefcase he had been carrying that had been placed on the floor and pulled out a thermos. "The coffee is very good. I promise its safe to drink. You look like you need something warm."
"No it's-" before she could finish large, warm hands placed the hot thermos in her hands. They wrapped her hands around the thermos and gave them a squeeze.
"A thank you and an apology, for seeing something you probably wouldn't want a stranger to see." With that he tipped his head goodbye, grabbed his discarded briefcase, and left. She never even got to ask his name.
Lettie drank some of the coffee. It was sweeter than she thought it would be and very warm. As it poured down her throat, she felt some color return to her cheeks, and she let herself breathe again. She turned and took a more confident step toward the ICU.