Hope Unbroken (Unveiled Series Book 3) by Crystal Walton Page B

At UCSF’s Medical Center.
    The light pollution coming from downtown San Francisco led us the rest of the way. As soon as the wheels breached the parking spot, I unbuckled my seatbelt, felt for the automatic unlock lever, and dashed outside.
    The hospital’s entrance opened down the middle and released an antiseptic-scented breeze from inside. I latched on to Riley’s arm as we approached the receptionist.
    “I’m here to see my brother.”
    A pepper-haired woman lifted a glance from her desk. Beside her, a red light lit up on a phone with at least twenty lines. She started to reach for it.
    I stretched over the counter to stop her. “It’s urgent.”
    The woman could’ve fit two of me in between her broad shoulders. Her glare alone nearly squeezed me in half. I prudently removed my arm from the ledge. She returned her attention to her computer screen. “Your brother’s name?”
    “Austin. Austin Matthews.”
    She drilled her nails over the keyboard. Each stroke jacked up my blood pressure until it hammered in my ears. The lights on her phone lit up again. She balanced the receiver between her ear and shoulder and continued typing. “UCSF’s Medical Center, how may I direct your call?”
    Riley rested a calming hand against my back as I craned my neck to the ceiling.
    Someone staggered toward us from the waiting area.
    “Anna? What are you doing here?” My brother’s old college friend was the last person I’d expected to see.
    She stretched with a yawn. “Your mom called me a few hours ago. Asked if I’d wait out here for you.”
    I couldn’t help staring at her. Austin and Anna used to be close in college. But ever since he started dating Hailey, Anna’d basically become a nostalgic memory.
    “I don’t know why,” she said.
    A woman toting a little boy on her hip flitted past us, pulling my gaze after them. “Why, what?”
    “Why your mom called me instead of someone else. That’s what you were thinking, right?”
    “How did you . . . ?”
    She smiled. “You’re a lot like your brother. Your eyes speak your thoughts louder than most words.”
    I stared at the tiles before my hot cheeks added any more thoughts to the conversation. “Sorry. It’s just that I know you and Austin have sort of lost touch.”
    “I’m guessing my number was the first one your mom could find.”
    If Mom was in that much of a rush, how bad did that make things?
    The receptionist coughed away from the phone, drawing my attention again. “Yes, ma’am. Hold please.” She transferred the call, hung up, and made a few more clicks with her mouse. “Austin Matthews. He’s in room 234.”
    That was all I needed. I launched off the counter and flew up the stairs. On the other side of some double doors, I almost knocked over a pair of nurses coming in the opposite direction. Riley and Anna apologized on my behalf on their way through.
    The white sterile walls turned the long hallway into a perfect acoustic sound system for all the beeping monitors. Squares of speckled tiles blurred past my feet until I saw Mom standing in front of a window to one of the rooms.
    “Mom, I got here as fast as I could.”
    She held me tight. “I’m sorry I couldn’t call. The reception in here stinks.”
    “Is he . . .?”
    “He’s going to be fine, honey.” I followed her nod to the window. The last of the adrenaline holding me together tanked at the mere sight of my brother with monitors and tubes connected to his strong, infallible body.
    She motioned to the room, and Riley tipped his head in a nudge.
    I pushed the heavy door open wide enough to slip through without letting too much of the outside noise in. Austin’s heartbeats pulsed on the echogram. I treaded lightly and withered into the chair beside his bed. Between the strain from being at the Preston’s, the fatigue of being overtired, and the angst of worrying if Austin was okay, I just about lost it.
    “Still overly dramatic.” A half-dazed grin paraded across his