Page 39 of A Daddy for Maddy

I didn’t like seeing my boy—in my private thoughts, he was my boy to me now—in any sort of hospital bed, no matter how nice. I knew he was in no danger with the great care he was getting, but I itched to take him out of here.

Later into the night, as Maddy slept, I turned the TV on low for some company. But I couldn’t focus on it, and I turned it off.

I fiddled with my phone and kept expecting nasty texts only to remind myself that wasn’t going to be happening anymore.

A nurse came in and offered to bring in a cot. At first I declined, but later I said yes. I needed to lie down. The night had taken more out of me than I’d realized.

I lay down and got comfortable on the pillows, but never took my eyes off Maddy. He looked a little pale beneath the oxygen mask, the bruises on his neck all dark purple now. Intermittent flares of anger shot through me when I looked at them. How dare Griff hurt a boy like that? Or anyone, for that matter? He’d hurt Ozzy. Tonight, he had hurt Maddy. What kind of man did those things? He was sick. And his half-brother had helped him. Why?

Stewart had been the kind of guy who was a bit irresponsible, late for work and taking his time with tasks I gave him, but he didn’t seem mean or out of control. It made me wonder what sort of influence and control Griff had over his younger brother. Maybe for years.

I set my phone on the bed beside me and closed my eyes. Just to rest them, I told myself.

The next thing I knew, morning light was seeping through the edges of the curtained windows. I lifted my head to check on Maddy. He was on his side, his mask off, and staring at me.

“Morning,” he said. His voice came out a little hoarse.

“Morning, not-a-baby. How are you feeling?”

“Good. I guess I slept.”

“They gave you some muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories.”

“Whatever it was, it put me right to sleep.”

“What happened to your mask?” I asked.

“The nurse came in really early and I needed to pee. She said I could take it off.”

“And they didn’t tell you to put it back on?”

He shook his head, wincing as he did so.

I sat up and stretched my legs over the side of my cot.

“Daddy?”

I was so happy to hear him call me that now. “Yes?”

“When can I go home?”

“Soon, baby. I’ll find out when, okay?”

He nodded. He pointed to Kornie. “When did he come back?”

“Trent and Ozzy came by last night, but you were out of it.”

“I was going to tell Ozzy he could keep him for company. He had a real scare and Kornie’s good for making the mind calm.”

“You had a real scare, too, baby.”

“Yeah. But I don’t remember being scared. Just mad as H. E. double hockey sticks. I wanted Griff to just go away and leave Ozzy alone. He tried to take Ozzy away. I kicked and hit Griff as hard as I could.”

“You wanted to help your friend.”

“Ozzy was so scared he fainted.”

I leaned forward and took Maddy’s hand in mine. “Again, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

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