Chapter 4

Graham's POV

The sky outside was turning pale.

I sat by the hospital bed, watching Isolde, who was still asleep.

The nurse had just taken her temperature — 100°F, better than when she first came in, but her eyes were still shut tight, her brow furrowed, her breathing rough and heavy.

I stared at the IV line on the back of her hand, watching the fluid drip down, one drop at a time.

Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the hallway.

"Isolde! Which room is Isolde in?" Louis's voice, frantic.

I looked away, slowly got to my feet.

I gently tucked Isolde's hand back under the blanket, smoothed the corner of it, then turned and walked to the door.

I had just pulled it open when Louis came rushing toward me, trying to push past.

His red jacket was half unzipped, his face covered in sweat, hair a mess, eyes shot through with red.

Behind him, Lily followed, slightly out of breath, still holding his car keys for him.

"Graham! How is she? I—" The moment Louis saw me, he tried to squeeze through the door.

I stepped out and pulled the door shut behind me.

"Keep your voice down," I said quietly.

Louis stomped his foot, craning his neck to peer through the small window on the door. "Graham, just let me in to see her! I really didn't know she had a fever..."

Crack. The sharp sound of a slap rang through the empty hallway.

I didn't hold back.

Louis's head snapped to the side. He stumbled, his shoulder slamming hard into the wall.

He stood there with his hand over his face, staring at me.

Lily let out a sharp gasp, instinctively covered her mouth, and backed up two steps.

I stared at Louis, my fists clenched so tight they cracked.

"Louis, have you lost your mind?" I stepped forward and grabbed him by the collar, hauling him up.

"You took her to the mountains, left her alone in the camper, and ran off to mess around with someone else!"

Louis went pale. "Graham... I didn't know the van would break down. I thought she was just sketching inside. She said she wanted some time alone..."

"You didn't know?" I shoved him hard against the wall.

"You didn't know she's had a weak constitution her whole life? Didn't you know diesel engines can stall in weather like this? You wouldn't even pick up your phone! Do you have any idea — she had a 104°F fever, collapsed alone on the side of the road. If that passing car hadn't found her, she would've frozen to death out there!"

Just thinking about that call from the hospital — severe hypothermia — made the rage surge right back up.

I raised my hand again and swung.

"That's enough!"

Someone lunged from the side.

Lily threw herself between us, wrapping her arms tight around Louis, putting her back to me like a shield.

My palm stopped just a few inches from the back of her head.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lily spun around to face me, eyes red, voice raised. "Graham, even if you're Louis's older brother, what gives you the right to hit him? Louis didn't do this on purpose. Who could've predicted the van breaking down? He's been beating himself up the whole way here — he drove so fast he almost got into an accident! Why are you putting all the blame on him? What gives you the right to treat him like this?"

I looked at this girl standing there with her arms spread wide, shielding my brother, then looked at Louis cowering behind her, eyes shifting away. My stomach turned.

I was raised to respect women. To be a gentleman.

But today, I couldn't hold it anymore. I fixed my eyes on Lily. "What gives me the right? Lily, who exactly are you to be talking to me like this?"

Lily flinched under my stare, but she glanced back at Louis and forced herself to stand straight. "I'm Louis's friend. I'm not okay with you being this violent—"

"Friend?" I let out a cold laugh.

"Lily, Louis has a girlfriend. You've known that from day one. And knowing that, you're out with him in the middle of the night, just the two of you, going everywhere together — do you even know what boundaries are? Do you know what the word 'limit' means?"

The embarrassment hit Lily's face all at once. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"I... we just get along well, we're all just good friends, it's not what you're making it sound like..." Her voice faded. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Good friends?" I repeated the words, flat and cold. "You call it good friends when a guy with a girlfriend is alone with another woman until three or four in the morning? Lily — are you really that naive, or are you just pretending to be?"

Lily's lips trembled. She couldn't get a single word out.

"Graham! Why are you yelling at Lily!"

Seeing Lily cry, Louis suddenly found his nerve. He pulled Lily behind him and stepped right up to my face.

"This is between Isolde and me — it has nothing to do with Lily! I'm the one who brought her along, I'm the one who didn't check my phone! If you want to hit someone, hit me. Don't take it out on her! The second she heard about Isolde, she was more worried than anyone. She drove all the way here with me. What gives you the right to talk to her like that? How are you any different from those old-fashioned, close-minded people?"

Watching my brother stand up to me for another woman — I couldn't hold it anymore.

"What, are you proud of yourself for having a 'girl who's just a friend'? Does Lily understand you better than the girlfriend lying unconscious in that room? Louis, if you don't love Isolde anymore, then be a man and break up with her. Don't drag her along while you're chasing someone else on the side. Doesn't that disgust you?"

Louis shook, and finally forced out: "I... I do love Isolde. Lily and I are just friends..."

"Just friends?" I cut him off. "Then tell me — where's the line? Is kissing okay? Is sleeping together okay? Or does anything go as long as you don't go all the way?"

The hallway went dead quiet.

Louis's face was white. Lily dropped her head.

"Louis, listen carefully." I let go of his collar and stepped back, pointing at the door behind me. "The woman in that room is your childhood sweetheart. She turned down work for you, dragged herself out here sick to keep you company in the mountains — and you left her alone while you went off having a great time with someone else. She had a high fever and walked more than ten miles through the snow by herself before she collapsed. She almost didn't make it. And you — her boyfriend — showed up after sunrise with your 'good friend' in tow."

I took a slow breath. "I'm going to tell Mom and Dad everything, exactly as it happened. You'd better pray Isolde is okay. Because if she's not—"

"Graham." A faint voice came from behind me.

I went rigid.

I turned around.

The door to the room had cracked open — I didn't know when.

Isolde was standing there, holding onto the door frame.

She was wearing an oversized hospital gown that made her look even smaller than she was.

The IV needle on the back of her hand had backed up — there was a short streak of red in the line.

Her face was still terrible. Her lips were dry and cracked.

Those eyes of hers, usually so gentle, were dim now. She looked at us quietly.

"Don't fight in the hospital."