Page 75 of The Fall Out

I swallowed, choking back the wave of fear rising up inside me. “Is he going to be okay?”

“He’s got a long recovery ahead of him, but the odds are looking good.” With a nod, she waved to the door, silently giving me permission to enter.

His eyes were closed as I stepped into the room, but I called out to him anyway. “Hey, Pop.”

He cracked open his big brown eyes, and his lips twitched.

I cleared the emotion from my throat. “You gave us a good scare.”

He nodded faintly. “Who’s here with you?” The words were a breathy whisper.

“Just Gi and Avery and me.”

His lips twitched again. “Good.” Like they were too heavy for him to keep open, his eyes drifted shut, then his head sagged to one side. “Go home and rest.”

My heart lurched. He was so weak. “No, Pop. We’re not leaving.”

He grunted, and the lines around his eyes deepened as he forced them open again. “You rest. I rest. Come back tomorrow.” He wiggled his fingers at his side.

I slid my hand over his, clutching him tight. His hand was icy. Fuck. It was one more reminder of how close we’d come to losing him.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I willed the tears that stung my nose and the backs of my eyes to abate. When I opened them again, his eyes were closed, but he was squeezing my hand lightly.

“Go home,” he repeated, his head lolling to one side.

“Pop.” He didn’t respond. He didn’t move. I scanned all the medical equipment surrounding him, worried. But the beeping of the machine next to him showed that his heart rate and breathing were steady.

“He’ll be in and out for the next while.” The nurse patted my arm. “And he’s not wrong. You should go home and get some rest yourself. You’ll be more help to him once you’ve gotten some sleep.”

With a small nod, I gave his hand another squeeze. “Love you, Pop.”

In the waiting room, Gianna and Avery were huddled together on the double chair where I’d left them.

“He’s sleeping again, but go see him. It’s okay. He’s pale and weak, but he’s as stubborn as ever, so that’s a good sign.”

Wiping at her eyes, my sister stood and followed the nurse out of the room.

Avery rose from her chair and wrapped me in a hug. Locked in herarms, I took another breath. The cliff’s edge felt farther away in this moment. Dad would be okay, and she was here with me.

When Gianna came back, we made plans to go to his place to sleep for a few hours. Avery’s car was here, but we were all too exhausted to drive, so I ordered an Uber.

His house smelled like him. Like it always did. Automatically, my attention shifted to his chair in the corner. As always, there was a coffee cup on the table next to it, along with a book. Probably a mystery. He spent a solid 50 percent of his time at home in that chair. The leather was worn and molded to his frame perfectly. Fuck, my chest ached once again at the sight of the empty seat. He wasn’t there. He wouldn’t be walking into the room to give me shit about my pitching or Avery or anything else.

“I’m going to bed,” Gianna said. Shoulders slumped, she shuffled to the stairs.

My poor sister was exhausted. She had come home from the store and found him on the floor. Her quick thinking, calling 911 and starting chest compressions, had saved him.

For hours before I arrived, she’d sat at the hospital alone and terrified. Where the fuck was Jake? Until this moment, I hadn’t even thought about the asshole. I opened my mouth and inhaled, ready to ask, but snapped my jaw shut. Now wasn’t the time.

“Let me know if you need anything,” she added, heading up the stairs.

“Come on.” I pulled Avery up to my old bedroom. “You can stay in here. I’ll take the sofa.” I pulled the top drawer of the dresser open and pulled out two T-shirts. I held one out for her, then I shuffled to the bathroom, leaving her to change in my room. When I returned, she was sitting on the far side of the bed with the blankets pulled over her legs.

“Stay here, Chris,” she said, patting the mattress beside her. “You’re exhausted. You don’t have to sleep on the sofa.”

It was exactly what I needed. She was exactly what I needed. Without argument, I slid under the covers beside her. When she lay beside me, I wrapped an arm around her torso and tucked her into me, inhaling her sweet scent and soaking in her warmth. Her bodymolded against mine, and wisps of her blond hair floated against my lips.

“Thank you, Avery.” It didn’t seem like enough, but it was all I had for now.

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