Falling Under You: A Fixed Trilogy Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Laurelin Paige

Instantly, the blood went cold in my veins—understandable for someone like me who’d once received a late night call from the San Francisco Police Department saying her brother had tried to kill himself.
    “What is it?” Boyd asked, reading the panic in my expression.
    I didn’t respond, clicking on the “Talk” button instead. “Hello?” I sounded calm—I was sure of it—despite the dread tightening my chest.
    A male voice asked, “Is this Norma Anders?”
    I knew that voice. Scratch that—I knew that kind of voice. Authoritative, somber. The kind of voice that delivered news like, “Your mother didn’t make it.” The kind that said, “Your brother has to stay in the hospital to recover from the wounds inflicted from your father.”
    “This is she. What is it? Just tell me—is my brother okay?”
    “Yes, ma’am. He’s okay. But there has been an incident.”
    I chewed on my lip as I listened to the man—Dr. Evans, a psychiatrist at a hospital in San Francisco—tell me how Ben had again attempted to take his own life. He followed with basics about his condition, that he’d had his stomach pumped, that he should be fine but was being kept for observation to determine if he had liver damage.
    “If he’s okay, why is it you that’s calling me instead of him?” It felt like my voice was shaky as I spoke, but when I heard myself, my words were even and collected.
    “He asked me to call you.” The doctor paused for half a second. “Because he doesn’t want to talk to you himself. He’d also prefer not to see you or your sister, uh, Gwen. I’ve explained to him that since his mental health is in question at the moment, you may have the right to act on his behalf. He understands and assumes you’ll fly out anyway.”
    I swallowed the sting of this latest news. He doesn’t want to see me. “Where is he staying?”
    “He’s in room—”
    I cut him off. “Hold on, let me get something to write this down on.”
    At once, Boyd held a pen and paper in front of me. He really was the best assistant.
    I wrote down the room and hospital information from Dr. Evans as well as his cell number, then asked him for another recap of Ben’s situation before I let him go.
    “Your brother?” Boyd asked when I set the receiver back on the cradle.
    I glanced over to find him sitting next to me on the bed, his expression calm but intent, his eyes trained on me.
    “Yeah. He’s in the hospital. Took a bottle of Vicodin, but then he changed his mind and called 911.”
    “You need to go there. Let me make arrangements.”
    Though Ben had told Dr. Evans he didn’t want to see me, I needed to be there. There wasn’t a thing I could think of that would keep me away.
    Boyd was already grabbing for his laptop from the side of the bed. “I’ll book a flight and a hotel. Do you want me to book for Gwen as well?”
    “Oh, God. Gwen.” My little sister was older than Ben, stronger, too. But still not as strong as she’d like to think she was. I worried about telling her almost as much as I worried about Ben.
    With a shake of my head, I decided she needed to wait. “I’ll call her later. Let me get myself organized first. And, no. I don’t think she should come with me.” I climbed out of bed and crossed to my dresser in search of underwear.
    “You want to go alone?” Boyd asked from behind me.
    My head was spinning, too many thoughts floating around, and though a clear plan of action was forming—get dressed, schedule a flight, pack a bag, call Hudson—I was barely holding onto it. Boyd’s question nearly made me lose my strategy altogether.
    “Not necessarily.” I furrowed my brow, concentrating. Did I want to be alone? What I wanted wasn’t relevant, was it? “I guess it doesn’t matter one way or another. I just don’t think Gwen should go. She’s not the most positive influence these days. I don’t think it would be good for her or for Ben right now.”
    I stepped into a pair of panties then