Page 73 of No Broken Promises

Five.

I count in my head, hoping that my heart doesn’t stop while we wait for her to say something. Anything. The entire time, Parker squeezes my hand so tightly that I hear the bones crack.

“I’ve got a pulse.”

Parker sobs, dropping to her knees next to the gurney. Her cries are the cue that everyone else needs. Behind us I hear gasps and clapping, shouting and whispering. People celebrating the fact that Nox is alive.

“He’s alive.” I pick Parker up and take her into my arms. “He’s alive, Parker. Nothing else matters.”

She nods, her eyes never leaving Nox, and together we climb into the ambulance with him.

“Bring Daisy,” I bark behind me. I don’t care who does it. I am not leaving Nox or Parker.

I don’t give two shits that there’s only supposed to be one other person in the back of that ambulance, something the paramedic must recognize because she doesn’t say a single word about it.

I thought the drive to the cemetery had been the longest in my life. But watching Nox, with his eyes closed and his heart barely beating, shaves twenty years off my life in the two-minute drive to the hospital.

The doctor and nurses force us to stay in the waiting room while they take Nox back for evaluation.

“I’m his mother!” Parker cries out when they wheel him away.

“Parker,” Rose says her name gently. “That’s the way it has to be. They can’t work on him while explaining everything to you at the same time. Let them help him.”

Parker collapses into my arms, and all we can do is sit and wait for an answer.

“I called Nox my kid,” I tell her quietly as the minutes slowly turn into an hour without an update.

Our families start to filter in, with my mom and Rose keeping everyone else at bay, giving us the distance we need.

“My family’s spent too much time in a hospital.” Her voice breaks on family. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Remy. I know you’ve lost Cassie, and with everything that happened to Casper, because of Joel. Why does Birch have so many crazy people?”

I chuckle, unable to stop myself. “Something in the water, I bet.”

Parker snorts, her eyes never leaving the waiting room doors.

“We should buy stock in the hospital.” She squeezes my hand again.

Her change of subject, from Nox and me to the hospital, sends a chill down my spine. For a moment, I panic, worried that she doesn’t want her son to have a bond with me.

She can’t still be thinking of leaving me, can she? Then I snap out of it. We’ve literally been through hell in the last twenty-four hours, and Parker deserves more than my doubt.

“Did you hear what I said about Nox? About thinking of him like he’s mine?”

Parker sniffles, nodding her head against my chest. “I heard you. I just don’t see why it’s a big deal. He’s yours, has been for a while. The way he mimics you, matching your clothes, eating the same food, and following you around… That’s something he’s never done with anyone else in his life. He loves you, Remy. I love you.”

Parker leaves me speechless, which is probably a good thing since the doors swing open and Susan marches into the room, furious.

“Parker,” she snaps.

We are up and crossing the floor to her immediately.

“Did someone shoot the bastard who hurt Nox?” The bloodthirsty growl that comes from the usually mild-mannered physician catches me completely off guard.

“No,” Parker answers. “Is he going to be okay?”

Susan’s face changes, and the smile she gives is comforting and motherly at the same time.

“Yes. Yes, he’s going to be fine. He was given a benzodiazepine, most likely Xanax. Thankfully, whoever did it was an idiot and didn’t give him enough to overdose him. Nox is going to sleep for a while, but it most likely saved his life. Children need less oxygen than adults do anyway, and when they sleep, they use even less.” She looks at the dirt and blood on our hands from digging him out. “You did good, guys. You did real good.”

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