Free The Time Capsule by Lurlene McDaniel

it.
    “He should know.”
    Eleanor took a deep breath, her gaze fixed fully on the road. “He’ll come home eventually. Did you leave the note?”
    “I—I don’t remember.”
    By then they were pulling into the ambulance bay. Her mother parked, and they followed the stretcher into the ER. Alexis couldn’t take her eyes off her brother. He was covered with a blanket, except for one arm, which was connected to a portable IV line clamped to the stretcher. A series of ugly bruises stained his bare skin. His eyes were closed, but she saw dark circles beneath them, and his face looked downright gaunt. Why hadn’t she seen this until now? They lived in the same house. She should have noticed these things.
    Adam was transferred to a gurney and rolled onto an elevator. Alexis, her mother and an orderly stood silent during the trip to the oncology floor. There a nurse met them and took them to the intensive care unit. “Just until we stabilize him,” the nurse explained. “Dr. Bernstein will be here shortly.”
    The ICU was laid out like a wheel, with the nurses’ station and monitoring units at the hub and glass-fronted rooms radiating out like spokes. Alexis saw patients in some of the other rooms.
    Alexis grew aware of a ruckus at the outside door of the ICU and recognized Sawyer’s voice. She made it to the door in time to see a nurse barring his way. “You can’t go in there,” the nurse was saying. “Only immediate family.”
    Alexis quickly stepped into the hall. “It’s all right. He’s with me.”
    “Well, explain the rules to him,” the nurse instructed. “Or I’ll have to call security.”
    She disappeared inside the unit, and Alexis went into Sawyer’s arms. He said, “I told her we were brothers.”
    “And she didn’t believe you?”
    Sawyer shrugged. “She was making me mad.” He held Alexis tightly. “How’s Adam?”
    “Pretty sick. We’re waiting for his doctor.”
    “Do they know what’s wrong?”
    “What’s always been wrong—cancer.” The word tasted bitter in her mouth.
    “But I thought—”
    “So did I.”
    Like Tessa, Sawyer knew about Adam’s illness, mostly because of his close relationship with Alexis. “I’m really sorry,” he said.
    She stepped away. “What happened to Kelly?”
    “Her dad took her home. She was a basket case.”
    “So am I. I’m just better at keeping a lid on it, I guess.”
    “There’s a waiting room down the hall, and some sign that says ICU patients can only be visited for ten minutes every thirty minutes. Maybe we should go set up camp in there.”
    She looked over her shoulder at the closed door. “I should go back.”
    “Your mother’s there. Come sit down before you keel over.”
    She went with him, but only to appease him. She wanted to be in the room with Adam. The lounge was small and dimly lit by lamps. The overhead lights were off, and curtains were drawn across windows. She and Sawyer were alone in the place. “What time is it?”
    “I don’t have my watch.”
    Alexis sank into a sofa. The afternoon and the celebratory trip to the ice cream parlor seemed as if they had happened a hundred years before. “You can go home, Sawyer. I know it’s late.”
    “I called home. My parents understand. I don’t want to leave you.”
    She lay against his shoulder. It felt good to have him near to lean on, to be with. Someone just for her. She said, “Adam has bruises all over him. I can’t understand why I didn’t see them.”
    “He kept pretty covered up. Think about Disney World and the long pants. In the room, he wore jeans to bed. Wade and I thought it was odd, but . . .” He let the sentence trail off.
    Alexis went hot and cold all over as realization dawned on her. She thought back to the way Adam had quickly covered up when he got out of the pool. And to the fact that he had been wearing long-sleeved shirts to school. “He was hiding the bruises,” she said. “Because he knew.”
    “What did he know?” Eleanor had