Page 35 of Catching Dreams

“Nice to meet you,” Mack said, shaking her hand and then pointing his chin at Dominic. “How is someone so beautiful related to this ugly mug?”

“I was adopted,” Emma said with a laugh. At Mack’s shocked expression, she added, “For real.”

“No kidding, really?” Mack asked.

“Really,” Dom said. “You’ve missed a lot.”

“What did I miss?” Mack asked as we all sat around Nico’s bed in hospital chairs or on the couch.

“You have other things to worry about, Mack,” I said. “We can fill you in later.”

“Nico’s going to be asleep for a while, and I could use something to distract me for a bit.”

We told him all about how Molly had surprised me and missed the tornado because she wanted to tell me about the twins. He was super excited for us. We let him know that everyone knew that we were married now. Dominic couldn’t believe Mack had known the whole time and didn’t tell anyone. I told Dom I had to tell the front office to get Molly added to our insurance. Mack was relieved to not have to keep the secret anymore. Dominic told the story about how he and Molly were siblings. Mack was shocked and said, “What are the odds of that happening?”

“Probably as crazy of the odds that Ty and I met as kids and then met again as adults and didn't realize it until later.”

“Girl, you should play the lottery!” Emma said to Molly with a laugh.

“I’ve got my dream guy, we have twins on the way, and I have a brother. I couldn’t ask for anything else, except for maybe my bakery to be rebuilt quickly,” Molly said and then covered her mouth in embarrassment. “I am so sorry, Mack. Here I am worried about my bakery after you lost your wife and your son is fighting for his life.”

Mack just shrugged her comment off, “I want the best for you all. I’ve just hit a bad patch. I just want my son to be okay.”

“How do you feel about cats?” Molly asked as she walked over to his hospital bed.

“That’s a random question,” Mack said.

Molly had to laugh and explained about the kittens that Camden and Peyton found with my mom. “They want Nico to have one if you say it’s okay. They really want to cheer him up. We’re going to go see about possibly adopting one ourselves.”

“I’ve never really had pets. Ashleigh was OCD about keeping a super clean house and said animals just added to the mess. I will definitely think about it. He might really need to be cheered up, and a kitten might just do the trick.”

“How is Nico doing?” Dominic asked. “I can’t believe he’s been asleep this whole time.”

“He actually woke up a few hours ago,” Mack said but without the excitement you might expect. “They actually had to sedate him because he was freaking out. He kept grabbing his head, screaming, and looking around. He calmed down for a few minutes when he saw me and hugged me tightly, but when the nurses and doctors took him from me to check him over, he got irate again and wouldn’t stop thrashing around. They were worried about him hurting himself. They took him in for a CT scan to see if maybe he suffered some brain damage. The results can take anywhere from 24-48 hours to come back.”

“Oh, poor sweet boy.” Molly said as she took one of his hands in hers. “He had to be so scared.”

“What happens if it’s brain damage?” I asked.

Mack shrugged. “We figure out how bad it is and how our lives are going to change. I’ll do whatever he needs.”

“How long will he be sedated for?” Dom asked.

“We gave Nico a low dose so he could wake up anywhere from 4-10 hours after,” a nurse explained as she came into the room. She plugged numbers and other information into the tablet she was carrying.

“Have you left his side at all?” Emma asked, even though we already knew the answer.

“I don’t want him to wake up and for me to not be here.”

“Well, he knows Ty and me from when he’d come to practices. Take a break, Mack,” Dominic said.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “You need a shower and maybe a nap in a real bed.”

“I would feel bad that you guys came all this way. I can’t just leave and take a shower.”

“We offered!” Dominic said.

“And you stink, man,” I added with a chuckle.

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