Chapter Text
Third Person POV
Evan. Evan. Evan.
Her little brother’s name repeats in her head over and over as she steps into the L.A. hospital he’s in.
For a moment, she’s frozen, realizing that Doug will have realized something is up by now. Her shift had ended an hour ago, and she was supposed to come straight home.
But the moment she saw the firetruck on the news, as soon as she saw her baby brother in pain, she knew she had to go to him. She didn’t care about Doug or what he’d do to her once she got back to Pennsylvania. All she cared about was that Evan was in pain, and she needed to be there for him.
Even if he doesn’t want to see her, even if he hates her, she needs to see him.
Just one last time.
Because she has no delusions about what’s going to happen when she goes back to Pennsylvania. There’s no way Doug will let this slide. There’s no way he’s going to let her live.
But surprisingly, she’s ok with that. She’s made her peace with the fact that her life will probably end at Doug’s hands.
As long as she can see Evan one more time, as long as she can see that he’s happy, this will have been worth it.
She gets to the front desk and taps her fingers nervously against her leg as she clears her throat.
The nurse looks up, and her eyes widen upon seeing a shaking and clearly terrified woman with bruises all over her face
The nurse opens her mouth to speak, but the older Buckley sibling waves her off.
“I’m looking for Evan Buckley?”
“Excuse me?”
Maddie whirls around and sees a police sergeant walking toward her.
Remembering how Doug has paid off almost every officer around where they live, she barely manages to fight back a wince.
“Ma’am, why are you looking for him?”
Like the nurse did, the officer’s eyes scan Maddie, and even if she doesn’t outwardly show it, Maddie knows she’s cataloguing all her visible injuries.
“Evan’s my brother.”
The woman’s eyebrows rise.
“Evan? Now I know you’re lying. Buckaroo never lets anyone call him Evan.”
No…
Desperate, she pulls out her wallet with a picture of her and Evan hidden inside it.
It’s one of the few things she’d been able to hide from Doug.
She shakily hands it over to her as tears slowly drip down her face.
“Please… Sergeant, I don’t even need to talk to him. He doesn’t even need to know I was here. Just… please. Let me see my little brother.”
Whatever the sergeant sees in Maddie’s eyes must convince her because she sighs and nods.
“Okay. I’ll take you to see him. But you stand outside the room, and you don’t make a sound. I’m allowing this against my better judgment, so don’t make me regret this.”
She leads her down the hallways, and Maddie nearly sobs as she sees all the people surrounding Evan’s bed.
There’s a man in fatigues holding his hand tightly, and Maddie vaguely remembers Evan mentioning how his boyfriend was in the military.
She watches the way the guy looks at her unconscious brother, and she smiles at the love on his face.
She’s seen Doug fake it millions of times, but this guy? The expression on his face is real. He obviously cares for her brother.
Looking at the police sergeant, Maddie smiles weakly.
“Thank you.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“For what?”
Maddie nods in the direction of her brother’s bed.
“You clearly care about my brother, and he has a support network here. He has a boyfriend who loves him. And despite everything, despite his leg being crushed by that firetruck, he’s happy. He’s happy and loved. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him. So I’m thanking you for loving my brother and letting me see even a glimpse of it.”
Maddie starts to walk away, and the sergeant feels a twinge of doubt settle in her stomach as she remembers the bruises scattered all over the woman’s body.
Her priority right now is the boy in the hospital bed, but something feels off.
Knowing that she didn’t get this far by ignoring her gut instincts, the sergeant calls out to Evan’s sister
“What’s your name?”
She stops, turning her head slightly.
“Maddie. My name’s Maddie.”