Face-Off at the Altar Read online

  The room was nearly silent, the only noises coming from the ventilator down Skylar’s throat and the very slow beeping of the heart monitor. As Mekena cried, holding him so tight, his own tears fell down his cheeks. These people didn’t deserve this. No one deserved this, but most of all, he hated that Skylar had never apologized. Never looked him in the eye and said she was sorry for what she had done. Never apologized to the girl he loved for trying to break her heart.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Preston, I’m sorry to bother you, but we need some paperwork signed by one of you.”

  All four of them looked behind them, and Markus hadn’t even realized a nurse had come in. A lump formed in his throat when he saw the acronym DNR on the top of the forms. He knew what that meant and assumed that once her parents saw it, it wouldn’t go well. No one wanted to accept that the person they loved was leaving. As Markus watched, Stan stood, kissing Linda’s head before heading to the nurse. His eyes were bloodshot, his face grim, and Markus couldn’t imagine the pain he was going through. That all of them were going through.

  As Stan passed, he nodded to Markus, cupping his shoulder before whispering, “Thank you.”

  Markus could only nod as Mekena clung to him, needing the support that only he could provide her. That he would always provide her. For the rest of his existence. Swallowing hard, he asked, “Do you want to go closer?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t.”

  He nodded slowly, but he needed to go closer. “Okay, well, I have to.”

  “Huh?” she asked as she pulled back, looking at him in disbelief. “What for?”

  “For me,” he said simply as he lowered her into the chair beside him. She watched him with wide eyes as he cupped her face, kissing the tip of her nose. “I’ll be over there.”

  He started to turn, but then her words stopped him. “Do you want me to come?”

  “I do.”

  Her lip came between her teeth as the tears washed down her cheeks. She looked past him, her face twisting in horror before she looked back up to him and rose slowly. “Okay.”

  His lip quivered a bit as she took his hand, and they looked to where Skylar was lying, her mother laid out across her. As they closed the distance between them and Skylar, his heart was pounding, there was a lump in his throat, and his chest hurt, but he kept moving, being strong not only for Mekena, but for himself. When they reached her, Mekena cried out, looking away because Skylar’s eyes were fluttering. It was terrifying, and it freaked him the hell out, but he had to do this because he was pretty damn sure he would never get this moment again.

  And he had to do this to her face. Even if it no longer resembled the girl he’d known.

  Reaching out, he swallowed hard as he laid his hand on Skylar’s while Mekena clung to him. Clearing his throat, his mouth opened but nothing came out. His throat was tight and so was his chest, but he knew what he needed to do.

  For himself.

  For Mekena.

  Clearing his throat once more past the sob that wanted to escape, he said, “I forgive you, Skylar.” A cry left Mekena’s lips as she clung to him, and he could feel her staring at him. “For everything. Don’t worry, I won’t be a scumbag and hurt your sister ever. I’ll love her. I’ll fight for her. I’ll be her rock and constant supporter for the rest of my life. I promise you, I’ll prove you wrong, and I’ll do right by her.”

  Mekena hiccupped a sob beside him as he slowly backed away, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off his chest. He had done it; he had forgiven her, and it felt right. He wanted to say the anger, the resentment, everything was gone, but he would be lying. It was there, but he would work through it because she could go and he would know he was at peace with all that had happened. He was going to be fine. He was going to be successful and happy, but above all, he was going to love Mekena more than anyone could even fathom.

  She was his second chance.

  Looking down at her, he smiled, cupping her face as she whispered, “You amaze me.”

  He shrugged. “I think that about you, daily.”

  Her lip quivered as she looked back at her sister, her tears flowing in rivers down her cheeks. The doctor from earlier had entered the room, and he walked around them, going to the ventilator and shutting it off. Mekena looked around frantically as her mother cried into her father’s arms before she looked back up at him. “That’s it? You’re giving up?” Mekena accused the doctor, and he held his hands out.

  “Your parents have made the decision to discontinue treatment.”

  “Mekena, she’s gone,” her mother cried. “She’s brain dead, we have to let go.”

  Mekena looked to Markus as his heart sank and then back to the monitor that still recorded Skylar’s heartbeat. It was still beating, and Skylar was still breathing. It could be a good sign, though the doctor didn’t seem to think so.

  “She’s still breathing, she’s alive,” Mekena protested.

  The doctor nodded. “She may last a couple minutes, to an hour, to a day. There is no guaranteed timetable.”

  Mekena’s mouth was open as she looked around, her tears coming as fast as her breath, and he wasn’t sure what she was thinking. As she let him go, she walked to the bed and looked down at her sister, her hands shaking. She couldn’t contain herself anymore, and the words just shot out of her. “I hate that you did this. I hate who you became. God, I’m so mad at you. For this. For hurting us, but damn it, Skylar, I’ll always love you. I’ll always remember the time we made clothes out of boxes, and then Mom made us put on real clothes to go to school. But you brought our box hats because you said we needed them. I’ll remember how you tried to teach me to dance, but we all know I suck at that. Or how I taught you how to do long division so that you would ask Matthew if he liked me. How you taught me to put on eyeliner, though I don’t wear it as much as you did. Or how you knew I stole all your clothes even when I wouldn’t wear them out of the house—” Her voice broke, and Markus reached out, taking her in his arms. She leaned her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. “I’ll remember the good, not the bad. I wish I could forgive you like Markus has, but that person wasn’t my sister, and I’ll forever hate her. But I will always love you. I will, I’ll always love my big sister,” she said, breaking down against him as the sobs left her in a soul-shaking way. She trembled against him, and he held her as she turned in his arms, clinging to him.

  And there he would stay, holding his second chance, for as long as she wanted…

  …as her sister died.

  Desolation.

  Hollowness.

  Empty. Mekena just felt empty.

  As the rain pelted the umbrella Markus held, Mekena leaned into him, her tears falling down her face as fast as the drops did from the sky. It figured it would rain on the day of Skylar’s funeral. It was like the world was crying for the girl who was lost due to poor choices and drug abuse. Beside her, her mother was crying so hard it physically hurt Mekena. Her father was stone-faced, strong for her mother as the minister said words. Mekena had no clue what he was saying because she wasn’t listening.

  She was trying to keep it together.

  And boy, was it hard.

  Markus’s hand snaked around her waist, holding her in close as his lips pressed into her temple. Avery and Jace were behind her, Avery’s hand in hers from one row back. It was just a simple little movement, but it meant the world to Mekena. Avery’s gesture wasn’t the only one that meant everything to Mekena, though; it was all the people who showed up. Claire had flown in, even with everything that was going on with Jude. He had been traded to Minnesota and they weren’t even settled, but she came. Jayden and Baylor had come and Lucy and Benji, along with Autumn and River. Even Markus’s parents had shown up, and that blew her away.

  But it was hard to be thankful when, inside, she was dying. As she looked at the urn that held Skylar’s body, her lips trembled while her heart broke. This was real; Skylar was gone, and all Mekena could do was try to take eac