Page 36 of Drive To Survive

Rhett, though, was awake. He hit me with a beaming smile the second I poked my head inside his room.

“Hey, buddy. How did you sleep?”

“Good,” he said, jumping off the bed. “How’s Mommy?”

“She’s doing good. She’s sleeping.”

“Can I see her?”

“Of course.” I held out my hand, and he took it. “But we have to be super quiet so we don’t wake her, okay?”

He nodded, eagerly following me across the hall to Everly’s room. Once he’d seen she was all right, he happily came downstairs with me. I poured him a glass of milk and gave in to his demands for pancakes. Luckily, I had a carton of that ready-made stuff. Making pancakes from scratch challenged my culinary abilities a bit too far.

With time stretching ahead, I racked my brain for ideas to entertain Rhett. We’d played a few video games last night, although a lot of mine weren’t suitable for a kid his age, but we couldn’t do that all day, and I didn’t want to leave Everly to take him to the beach. As I flipped the first pancake, then slid it onto his plate and tried to curtail the amount of maple syrup he poured over the top, an idea came to me.

Madison.

Maybe she’d entertain Rhett for today. I put in the call. She instantly agreed to help me out, promising to come and pick up Rhett within the hour. I left Rhett watching cartoons and went to check on Everly, but she was still passed out. I hoped she agreed with my decision. I knew Madison, but she didn’t. I thought about waking her and asking her permission, but I changed my mind. She needed the rest. She’d have to trust my judgment.

An hour later, I stood at the front door and waved off Rhett and Madison. His broad smile and the way he’d skipped to her car without a care reassured me he’d be fine.

I went outside and sat on the veranda to read the morning paper but lost interest after a few minutes. Why didn’t journalists ever write about positive, uplifting stories? The news, the papers, and even magazines these days seemed to have their pages and screen time filled with war and famine and hateful acts. There wasn’t a country that seemed to be immune.

“Where’s Rhett?” a voice behind me wheezed.

I spun around. “What the hell are you doing out of bed?” I asked, getting to my feet.

She started to speak, then launched into a coughing fit, her eyes watering as she tried to draw breath. I sidled past her and poured a glass of water, then helped her into one of the chairs in the garden.

“Here.” I pressed the glass into her hand, and she managed a couple of sips, which seemed to help ease her.

“Thanks,” she croaked. “Where’s Rhett?”

“A friend of mine is looking after him for a few hours.”

“What!”

Her exclamation set off another vicious coughing attack. By the time this one ended, she looked like she was at death’s door, sweat pouring off her and giving her an unhealthy glow. I dropped to a crouch in front of her chair and held her clammy hands.

“He’s safe and very well cared for. Trust me, please. I would never put Rhett or you in harm’s way. I just wanted to be able to take care of you and your needs, and sitting around here all day wouldn’t be much fun for Rhett. It’s the weekend. He deserves to have some downtime before it’s back to school on Monday.”

“Who’s he with?” she rasped.

“The girlfriend of one of my partners at the racing school. She’s a doctor. Next to you, he couldn’t be in better hands.”

Her shoulders slumped, and her chin dropped to her chest almost as if she didn’t have the strength to hold her head up. She probably didn’t.

“You need to be in bed.” I scooped her up into my arms. She didn’t even attempt to fight me.

I got her settled. Despite my best efforts, she refused any food but did drink a bit more water. In seconds she’d fallen asleep, her body exhausted by the sheer effort of walking downstairs.

I sat with her for a while, watching her chest rise and fall. I’d lived my entire life thinking I was in control of everything. And then the accident happened. I’d had a hell of a fight on my hands to regain that sense of control, but sitting here with Everly, I found myself spiraling, falling headlong into a life I’d never imagined for myself yet suddenly realized I craved.

Love, family, a life outside of racing.

There were those who believed that if you saw a person at their worst and yet you still wanted them, then you might as well give up fighting because it was meant to be.

If that even held a grain of truth, I was in deep shit.

---