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Atlanta? I didn’t know she went to Atlanta. Why didn’t she tell me?

“Also,” Betty huffed, “he’s not alone. Rory was with the EMTs and offered stayed with him. He’s in good hands.”

Rory?

No. No. No.

Not that I thought she would hurt him, but she had caused enough damage to my trust and goodwill. She didn’t need to be anywhere near my…Max.

“Fire truck,” I heard screaming from behind the swinging double doors that I wasn’t supposed to breach. “Fire truck.”

It was Max, but unlike his usual excited tone, he sounded scared—frantic. It no longer mattered what the rules were, I made the decision to get through those doors no matter the outcome.

Betty had been watching me, seeing the decision in my eyes before I even moved a muscle. “Don’t Easton.”

“He doesn’t talk a lot,” I seethed. “He’s gone through a big change, a new town, a new school, and his mom isn't here yet. He’s scared and he needs me. Try and stop me.”

I didn’t wait for her reply, I raced to the double doors and pushed them open with a hard force.

“Room seven,” Betty hollered.

A small smile lifted in the corner of my mouth. She wasn’t going to stop me, she just had to do her job. She had to say she tried.

When I got to the end of the hall, I could hear Max start crying again and I ran into his open door. The lights were dim and Rory was sitting next to him on the bed, patting his shoulder as if she were patting a puppy’s head.

“Get out,” I commanded, getting both their attention.

“Eas!” Max jumped up. I put my hands out to catch him and laid him gently back into bed.

“Easton!” Rory gasped. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m going to stay here till Jesse gets here. You need to leave.”

“I wasn’t hurting him,” she snapped, returning theireI had projected at her.

“There’s not a bone in my body that believes you’d hurt him, Rory. But you’ve done enough.”

When I sat on the bed, Max had pulled himself into my lap and curled into my arms. He held tightly onto my shirt and I cradled him as I took one last look at Rory. The last thing Jesse needed was to see Rory and her attitude when she got there.

Thankfully, Rory took my warning to heart and left, huffing as she stomped from the room like a child. I looked down at the little guy in my arms and kissed the top of his head gently.

“What happened?” I asked him quietly, hoping he felt like talking.

“I fell,” Max’s voice spoke up, surprising me. “The wind was blowing hard.”

I knew how Jesse felt now. Yeah, I had gotten words from Max, but not a whole sentence. Not in an articulate manner that showed how smart and aware he was.

My heart was racing, my arms were shaking. I leaned back in his bed and kept him close to me, feeling a mix of relief that he was okay and fear that it could have been worse.

“Where’s it hurt?”

“My head, right here.” He pointed to the side of his head that was against my chest and I realized it had a bandage with blood coming through the thin material.

“Okay,” I whispered. “Just lay back and rest. I got you my man. Momma will be here soon.”

I reached behind me, wanting to pull my phone out of my back pocket to call Jesse again. But it wasn’t there and I had to think back to where I had it last.

In my truck. I must have left it.

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