Chapter 10. Shane

2014

In the fall of 2014, Shane’s world was rocked severely when he got a phone call from the hospital as one of the listed emergency contacts in Theo’s phone, informing him that Theo had been in a car accident. It was a bad one. Shane rushed to the hospital and paced the long hallways for hours before he finally got the news from the surgeon that Theo had survived the surgery, and was in critical, but stable condition. He was now recovering in a private room.

Shane didn’t think he had ever been that close to an actual emotional breakdown. He thanked the doctor and sat down heavily on a chair, his head resting in his hands while he tried to focus on his breathing. Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Theo was his brother. Maybe not by blood, but it didn’t make it any less true. Knowing he might not pull through was a crippling thought.

Considering none of Theo’s actual family was there, the nurses broke a rule and allowed a distraught Shane to