Page 64 of Operation: Return

“What happened?” the words escaped her before she could hold them back.

Pete nestled into her. “It’s okay. These men are here to help you.” She brushed his oily hair from his face.

“He got shot. He got shot helping me.” Tears strained Pete’s voice.

The EMT checked Pete’s vitals, then his eyes and lungs. He was thorough but quick, giving Pete as much space as possible. Finally, the EMT lowered to a crouch, so he was lower than Pete. “Hey, buddy. I’m glad you’re okay. I need you to tell me if anything hurts, anything at all.”

Pete pushed on his chest a little then coughed.

“Yeah, you’re going to feel a little burning in your lungs for a few days. Do you want a little oxygen? I would have to put a mask on your face.” The EMT looked up at her. “I didn’t want to do anything right away that might make him feel trapped. His wrists look like they were tied for a while and the oxygen won’t do any good if he starts having a stress reaction to it.”

Pete shook his head and clung to her neck like he’d done to Cole. “Thank you. Is he okay?” She could hardly believe he was here. Cole had brought him back unharmed.

“Other than the smoke making his lungs a little raspy, I don’t see anything else wrong. If he’s hurt in any other way or something comes up in the next day or so, bring him in.”

“I’m okay, Mom. I’m just worried about the man who was shot. Are they helping him?”

She tried to see through the flashing lights but couldn’t find anyone who looked familiar. Even Cole had gone off. She stood, lifting Pete to her hip. She hadn’t carried him like that in years, but she wasn’t ready to put him down yet. “Let’s go make sure he’s okay and find Cole.”

“You should’ve seen him, Mom. He ran in the house when it was on fire. I didn’t think anyone would come for me, but the bad man said I’d seen too much and even if they did come, I couldn’t go.”

“I’ll never leave you. I’m so sorry.” She hugged him close again. There was an option now though. She didn’t have to be alone. But now, if she told Cole, she was probably sacrificing any relationship she might have hoped to have with him. She’d used his ability to rescue her son without telling him the truth, just like his country had used his abilities then turned on him.

Cole sat in the back of the ambulance with a pretty EMT working on him. He made some comment Erica couldn’t hear and the EMT laughed. Had he joked with her? She shoved the feeling of jealousy away. There wasn’t time for that now.

As soon as she got close, the EMT turned and nodded to her. “Are you family?”

“She’s good,” Cole said and the EMT nodded then gave him a playful glare as she put her hands to her hips. “You’re going to be okay as long as you take it easy for the next few days. No running into burning houses. No gunfights. No crawling through scrub grass.”

Cole looked down at his dirty knees and brushed them off. “There. Good as new.”

She made a show of rolling her eyes and walked away as she slowly tugged off her gloves.

“Hey.” He said looking more at Pete than her. “How are you doing, buddy?”

Pete grinned at him. “The doctor said I’m fine.”

“And how are you?” He finally looked up at her and the emotion in his eyes took the strength right out of her knees.

“Better now. I need to talk to you.” Especially before she lost her nerve. He deserved to know the truth. He’d earned it with how he’d saved Pete, how he’d treated him like his own son, even believing that he wasn’t.

“I’m listening.” He crossed his arms, looking vulnerable for the first time since he’d appeared back in her life.

She licked her lips, remembering the kiss they’d shared. Had that only been the evening before? It felt like weeks had gone by. There wouldn’t be any more kisses after she told him. There would probably be arguments and custody battles. Just like everything else she’d ever done in her life, she’d messed up.

Erica closed her eyes, wishing she’d had parents who could’ve offered her guidance in how to deal with situations. Maybe she wouldn’t lose so many jobs and keep friends. Maybe she wouldn’t be a single parent juggling expenses and praying she had less month than money.

Life had never been fair. Her parents had died before she ever knew them. She’d gown up in the foster system, shuffled from family to family. All she’d ever wanted for Pete was to make sure he never had to have anyone tell him he didn’t belong. He should never have to hear an adult who was supposed to care about his well-being say, ‘we can’t keep you’.

Pete squirmed in her arms. “Mom, Teddy’s over there and he’s handing out ice water. Can I go get some?”

She glanced over, glad for the interruption. Teddy wasn’t far away and he waved at her. She didn’t want to let Pete go, but also wanted to have the talk with Pete about who his father was when they were alone, and she could tell him in the way she wanted. If Cole was angry with her, she didn’t want Pete taking that anger on himself.

“Sure. Stay by Teddy, okay?” She set him down and he ran off. She wished she had his resilience.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Cole’s voice was scratchy, like he was holding off from coughing.

“Pete is your son.” She didn’t know how to say it any other way than to come right out and be honest. If she was going to lose him, best to rip the bandage off than to prolong it.

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