Curtis was right where Carlos expected to find him. He sat in the corner of the family waiting room, his head propped up against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. He was sound asleep.

Carlos nudged his arm and Curtis jolted up in the chair.

“Now tell me what the hell is going on. I ran out of the damn house. I made Kathy call into work and tell them she had some emergency, and all of this was done without the kids hearing any of it. Now I’m freaking the hell out and so is Kathy.”

“Shut up for two damn minutes and sit down.” His brother rubbed his hands over his eyes and sat up in the chair as Carlos took the seat next to him. “I happened to pass them as they were taking her into surgery. I didn’t know she was here, did you?”

“I told you. She said she was going out of town.”

Curtis nodded. “She checked in this morning. She’s scheduled for a double mastectomy.”

Carlos chewed on his bottom lip and inched in closer to his brother. “You’re going to pretend like I’m really, really dumb. What the hell does that mean?”

“She has breast cancer, Carlos.”

He felt the blood drain from his face and he knew his brother had seen it, because he jerked Carlos’s shoulders and shoved his head down between his knees. His stomach knotted and he felt like Curtis had just punched him.

When he could, he sat up. Curtis stood before him with a cup of water.

“Drink.”

He did as his brother told him. After looking around the waiting room, he looked up at Curtis.

Curtis shook his head as if he’d read his mind. “Matt’s not here.”

“Why the hell not? If your wife is going through this, you’re here!”

“He’s not listed on any of her paperwork. She’s listed as single, and you’re listed as the emergency contact and next of kin.”

His mouth fell open. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Curtis rubbed the back of his neck with his hand then fell into the chair next to Carlos. “I checked with the nurse, and it’ll be a few hours before she’s out of surgery. I’m going to see to it that you can be there when she wakes up.”

Carlos nodded. That was right where he wanted to be.

“Do you have any way to get in touch with Matt?”

He shrugged. “I’ll call Kathy and ask her to look in my contacts on my computer. Maybe Eduardo knows.”

“Okay. Let me go see if there’s any news.”

Carlos sat in the waiting room, surrounded by family members of other patients. He felt sick. Every part of him hurt, especially his heart.

When he was calm enough he called home, and Kathy answered the phone on the first ring. “Sweetheart, what happened? Is she okay? Was there an accident?”

“I’ll let you know all about it when I get home.”

“I can come down.”

“No. I need you to be calm and just be with the kids.” He swallowed the lump in his throat that had formed when he thought about the kids finding out their mother was sick.

“Okay.” He heard her take a deep breath.

“I need you to look in the contacts on my computer. I need to find Matt Carson’s phone number.”

Sounds from the keyboard filtered through the phone. He looked at the small table next to him and noticed there were a notepad and a hospital pen laid out for those who waited here, unprepared in more ways than just lacking writing implements.

He heard Eduardo’s voice in the room with Kathy. “What are you looking for?”

“Matt’s phone number,” he heard her say, and he shook his head.

“He moved out,” Eduardo said, loud and clear.

“Kathy, let me talk to Ed.” He heard the phone pass hands. “What do you mean he moved out?”

“They’re getting a divorce. He moved out before Thanksgiving. She didn’t tell you?”

“No.” Carlos took a deep breath. “Neither did you.”

“I guess I figured she would have told you. She tells you everything.”

Evidently, she was keeping a lot of secrets lately.

“Let me talk to Kathy again,” he said, and the phone changed hands. “I’ll fill you in when I get home and I have more answers. She’s fine, and I don’t want the kids to know until I tell them.”

“Okay.” He heard the lift in her voice. He could trust her to keep quiet until he could talk to his children.

Carlos drank three cups of coffee and paced the floor while Curtis slept in the corner of the waiting room. He’d told him to go home, but Curtis wouldn’t move. He was stubborn, and Carlos was happy to have him there. He needed his brother.

When the nurse entered the room and began to speak to Carlos, Curtis shot right up. “They’ve moved her to recovery. As soon as she’s stable, you can go back and sit with her,” the nurse said, and Carlos nodded.

“Thank you.” His mouth was dry. The room was still spinning, and all he could think about was gathering Madeline up in his arms and holding her tight.

Guilt washed over him.

He’d professed his love to Kathy and moved her into his house. When would he stop thinking of Madeline as his wife and feeling as if he needed to take care of her every moment?

The color was returning in her skin, and the monitor on her heart began to beep a little faster.

Carlos watched her carefully as her eyelids began to flutter. A few moments later, she fully woke up and turned to him. He’d been sitting by her side for over an hour, whispering words of encouragement in her ear. Now he kissed her cheek.

“You did great.” He smiled.

“What… are you”—she tried to swallow—”doing here?”

“Did you think anything would escape a Keller?” He brushed her cheek with his fingers. “Curtis saw you being wheeled into surgery and called me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

“Shhh. Don’t talk now. We’ll have time for that.”

Madeline nodded and her eyes drifted closed.

He’d gone down to the cafeteria to get some real food when they’d moved her to an actual room. A smile crossed her lips when he entered and he knew she appreciated his being there.

“The doctor says the surgery went well.” Her words were now fluid and he could tell she was feeling better. Her eyes were glassy from the pain medication, but her smile was genuine.