Chapter 24

Leo’s step faltered so Adam squeezed his hand, trying to offer the kid more comfort than he himself felt at the moment. As they stared at him, a tall man with mustache holding a clipboard approached them.

“I am Dr. Hernandez. You are with Mr. Winthrop?”

“Yes,” Adam said. “This is his brother, Leo, and we’re family friends, Adam Colfer and Tony Cassidy.”

Dr. Hernandez nodded. “Right now we have him in a medically induced coma. He was conscious when they brought him in, but until the neurologist arrives we want to keep him as calm and stabilized as possible.”

“Neurologist?” Leo whispered.

“Your brother has an aneurysm in the middle cerebral artery of his brain. At this point it hasn’t ruptured, but the MRIs seem to indicate it’s very close to doing so. The neurologist will examine him and determine which surgical procedure to perform,” Dr. Hernandez said.

Leo let go of Adam’s and Tony’s hands but only to clutch Adam’s arm. “Surgery? To his brain?”