Page 16 of Forever and Other Lies

Jayna grimaced at the name. It figured that Blythe Landing’s latest daredevil would be named Derek. “Well, Eddie the Eagle, let’s get you to X-ray.” No way was she saying his name out loud.

“Eddie the Eagle?” The teen scrunched up his face in confusion.

“Seriously?” Jayna glanced up from the clipboard where she marked off triage items one by one. She ticked off an X-ray that nurses had the authority to order. “I would have thought that movie would be one of your favorites.”

“It’s one of mine,” Sonny chimed in.

“Never heard of it,” Lance added.

Jayna’s head snapped up again. The hot medic just lost half a point. Now he was a solid 9.5.

“You’ll have lots of time to catch up on movies while your bones are healing.” Sonny gave a gentle squeeze to the boy’s shoulder as the porter wheeled the stretcher to the diagnostic department. “Not sure about my partner, though. I may need to add movie education to his orientation list.”

Sonny turned, staring at Lance, shaking his head. “How have you never seen that movie?”

“Not much of a movie buff,” Lance shrugged again and dropped another half point.

Not a movie buff? Movies were one of Jayna’s passions. Lance met her eyes with his thick-lashed hazel ones. Wow, the man was dreamy. The fact that he wasn’t a movie watcher was not a deal breaker. She still had her best friends for Sunday movie night. He’s taken, she reminded herself yet again. She had no business rating or dreaming about the dreamy paramedic.

“Congratulations, Sonny. Hear you’re a grandfather.” She turned her attention back to the older medic.

Sonny smiled proudly and whipped out his phone. Jayna barely contained another eye roll. She’d only mentioned it to be polite. Now she would have to gush over pictures of a newborn who most likely resembled an old man. But she really liked Sonny. He suited his name. Every time he entered the ER, he brought in positivity. He was a ray of sunshine.

Lance walked over to Greta and this time her eyes did roll.

“The kid is lucky that he didn’t break more than just a leg,” Sonny pulled her attention back.

“Let’s hope the X-ray agrees.” Jayna ordered not only bilateral leg X-ray but spine and neck as well.

Hopefully, the teen learned his lesson and outgrew his daredevil tendencies. She prayed that was the only trait he shared with his namesake. That he wouldn’t become an adult who fearlessly risked his life while terrified to show emotion—a man who bailed when life got real or complicated.

Chapter 6

Derek wasn’t too proud to admit that he bailed when life got too real or complicated. It was his M.O. Facing danger? No problem. Working hard? Piece of cake. But when emotions were involved, he walked. Hell, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him in the opposite direction. Or he skulked in hallways like he was now.

Tommy was home from rehab, and still angry. Angry at the world and even angrier with Derek, who had no idea what to say or how to make it right.

Ben leaned on the door frame of Tommy’s room, flashing a bright, easy smile. And here Derek was, skulking and eavesdropping as Ben said all the right things to Tommy. All the things Derek should say to his twin. But nausea churned in the pit of his stomach, burning back up his throat, causing a lump filled with regret and guilt. It made speaking impossible. Words were beyond him.

The guilt was becoming all-consuming. Derek should never have bailed on Afghanistan. They had planned to sign up for the armed forces together. He should have been at his brother’s side, having his back instead of staying home, and stabbing him in it. And by the hostility he saw in Tommy’s eyes, his brother agreed.

Derek may not have shown it at the funeral they had thrown for Tommy, but he had been irrevocably shattered by his twin’s presumed death. Now, miraculously, Tommy was home and had survived a nightmare, offering them both a second chance. However, it felt just as insurmountable as death. Tommy was alive, and now Derek was the one dead to him.

A lifetime of memories assaulted Derek as they sat round the large harvest table for Sunday dinner. The good, the bad, and the unimaginable. It should not feel so unnatural and awkward.

Countless times they had sat at this table, angry at the other, sometimes even sporting a black eye or fat lip. Other times, they joked around, and made fun of each other. It was all the normal fighting and teasing that was brotherly love.

Yet it was the dinner in October, three years earlier, that stuck out the most in his memory. The dinner two men interrupted, delivering the devastating news that Tommy was lost in an explosion and presumed dead.

He pushed the food around his plate, forcing that memory away. His eyes drifted across the table. Tommy appeared just as uncomfortable and refused to look his way. His brother’s silence cut deeper than any insult could have and hurt more than a hard and fast punch to the nose.

That first Sunday dinner was pure torture. When the following Sunday rolled around with Leighton invited, he pulled a Derek and bailed. If last week was torture, this one with Leighton sitting at the table would be combustible.

This was probably one of the very first Sunday dinners where he sat at Patty’s Pub ordering the Guinness stew. If he couldn’t enjoy his mom’s pot roast, then this was the second-best option.

“Isn’t it Sunday?”

His head shot up, the spoon halfway to his mouth. Jayna Sutton. Karma had it in for him.

---