Page 24 of The Wayward Son

“It’s Jade.” She sat on the edge of the chair.

“Emmerson? From high school?”

“Yeah.”

“What? How?”

“A crazy story that should be saved for another time. I just wanted to let you know Sawyer’s okay.”

“Can I talk to him?”

Jade looked at Sawyer and raised an eyebrow. He held out his hand, and she stood and put the phone in it. He took a moment, then, trying to sound carefree, he said, “Hey, sis.”

He scowled as he held the phone away from his ear, and Jade could hear Sage’s raised voice. When she stopped, he said, “Are you done? I know. I’m sorry… My phone is still in my locker… Okay… Yes, love you, too.” He handed the phone back to Jade. “She was pissed it took so long for me to call her.”

“She was just worried. With good cause, I might add.”

Sawyer closed his eyes again. “I’m going to sleep now.”

“I’ll be right here. I’m not leaving your side until you wake up again.”

“Thanks, Skittles.”

Jade watched as Sawyer faded off and the pain on his face melted away. She took a deep breath, then stood and pacedaround the room until she got control of her emotions. This was no time to fall apart.

She went back to the couch and looked down at him, then put a blanket over him. “I’m sure glad I didn’t go watch the fight.” She picked up her phone and the bottle of bourbon, then went to the kitchen. She needed to talk to someone who’d been through this many times before. She dialed Sage’s number.

“Sawyer?”

“No. It’s me, Jade.”

“Is he okay?”

Jade sat and poured some whiskey into the empty coffee cup sitting on the table. “He’s asleep. Or passed out from his self-medicating.”

Sage was quiet for a moment. “Are you okay?”

“Not really. He’s really beat up. Of course he doesn’t want you to know that. They wanted to take him to the hospital, but he refused.”

“Yeah. That sounds about right. He’s not a fan of hospitals. With our mom spending so much time in them, it kind of left an impression. And not a good one.”

“Of course. I should’ve thought about that.” She took a sip of the bourbon.

“I don’t know how you got there. But I’m glad you are. I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me the crazy story of how that happened.”

“Actually, I would. It’ll take my mind off your brother.”

“I could use the distraction myself.”

Chapter eight

"A reasonable amount of crackers."

Sawyer had been hit plenty since he started boxing, but this time it was different. This time, along with the punishment he sustained from his opponent, he’d taxed his body. He’d gone the ten rounds, but it had taken a toll.

After the pain medication and the alcohol had worn off, the euphoric and pain-free sleep turned into restlessness with unsuccessful attempts at trying to get comfortable. The pain in his head and his side were acute. But he also felt it in every muscle of his body.This is what the big leagues feels like.He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Did he really want to punish his body like this on a regular basis?

He opened the one eye that would open and turned his head to see Jade curled up in the chair. She had a blanket wrappedaround her and her hair was splayed out on the back of the chair. He was really glad to see her. He stared at the ceiling for a moment. He really needed to use the bathroom. He’d had the urge for a while, but he was waiting until he couldn’t wait any longer. He was now at that point.

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