Page 19 of For the Love of the Lawyer

Mickey dialed the number on his cell as he dialed 9-1-1 on the barn phone. "Hello?" Thankfully, Rocky answered.

"Good. Stay with me, Rocky. Hang on.” Mickey gave the operator the Whipples’ address for the ambulance.

After he explained the situation to the dispatcher and assured Rocky someone was on the way, Mickey ran out of the barn office and grabbed Jon Wells by the arm. He’d just finished unsaddling Charlie, and he was in the right place at the right time as Mickey directed the two of them to the house.

"What's wrong?" Jon sounded concerned, which was good.

Without wasting a lot of time explaining things, Mickey continued to pull the attractive attorney with him as he spoke on his cell. "You doin’ alright, Rock? I'm headin' to the house to get Matt and Tim. We'll be there real quick, okay? Just stay on the line and when the ambulance gets there, let ‘em in, okay?"

He turned to Jon. "You need to go to the hospital with us. This is Ryan's best friend, and his momma has MS. It sounds like she's hurt, and Social Services is gonna wanna put that boy in foster care 'cause he don't have any family to speak of that give a shit about him. You’re gonna become his best friend and make damn sure he stays with us until Cindy gets outta thehospital, got it?" His demand brooked no room for argument or negotiation, and when Jon nodded in agreement, Mickey ticked one more thing off the proverbial list. The boy had a lawyer who would stand in front of a judge and demand Rocky get the best care possible, which was with the Moran-Collins family.

Two hours later, the clan, along with all the extended family and two lawyers, were sitting in the waiting room of Lewis Gale Hospital in Blacksburg, which happened to be the closest trauma center to Holloway.

Rocky and Ryan were sitting on a teal vinyl couch with a deck of Old Maid cards Jeri Collins had in her purse, just like every good grandmother Mickey ever imagined would do. Matt was playing with them as the rest of the contingent tried to give off calm vibes. Everyone was worried, but no good came from alerting the boys to the problems associated with the worst-case scenario. It was a wait-and-see situation, as the doctor had informed them earlier when Cindy arrived by ambulance.

Mickey had been watching Jon and Ronni talking quietly before one or the other would go to the far end of the room or outside to take a call. He had no idea what they were discussing, but he hoped someone would be able to do something for the Whipple family.

As Mickey saw it, the problem was that if Cindy Whipple were to die and leave no one in charge of her son, Rocky would immediately be sent into foster care. Mickey hoped she hadn't been so consumed with the other aspects of her illness that she’d left her child unprotected, but he didn't know her. Matt and Tim did, along with Jeri and Katie, so he waited like everyone else to find out what would happen.

"Family of Cindy Whipple?" was announced as Mickey watched Jon on the phone in the corner of the waiting room.

"We're here.” Matt took Rocky's hand and led him over to the doctor with Tim following closely behind. On instinct, Mickeygrabbed Ryan's hand as he started to walk over to his friend, Rocky.

Maybe it was best if Ryan didn’t hear the news right then. It was better for Matt and Tim to tell him what they believed he should know.

"Stay with me, please. This makes me damn nervous.” Mickey appealed to Ryan’s caretaker intuition which he’d learned from Tim much more than Matt.

"It's okay, Mick. Do you have a momma and daddy?" Ryan asked him for the first time and sat down next to him, holding his hand. Mickey was truly touched by the boy’s tender heart.

He took a deep breath, preparing to be mostly honest with Ryan. The child didn't deserve to hear how horrible a turn life could take, but Mickey's life was going far better than he'd ever anticipated in the past. He was moving past all regrets.

"I do, but they had troubles. They needed to sort some things for themselves, and I needed to sort some things for me. We parted ways, but I still think about ‘em sometimes. I hope they're fine.” That was the nicest way to tell the boy his own parents were pieces of crap.

Mickey continued, wanting to make himself clear when it came to his parents. “They were nothin' like Matt and Tim. Your dads wouldn't let you leave them for anything, but not everybody has parents like them. Be happy with who you have, bud. We all ain't so lucky.” Mickey hoped it wasn't too heavy for the boy. He was certain it had sidetracked Ryan enough so whatever the doctor was telling Rocky, Tim, and Matt wouldn't register with him. Rocky would need his best friend’s support, so keeping Ryan calm for the moment was the best idea.

After a few more minutes, Matt walked over to where Mickey and Ryan were sitting and knelt as Tim left the room, leading Rocky. "We're gonna take Rocky home with us tonight. The doctor isn't sure about his momma ‘cause she hit her head prettyhard, but Tim's gonna take him to say goodnight, and then y’all are gonna go home. The hospital will call us if anything changes."

Matt had his hand on Ryan’s shoulder as he sat next to Mickey, but whether it was for Matt’s comfort or Ryan’s, Mickey couldn’t tell.

"I can stay here and wait for any news, Matt," Mickey suggested.

Matt kissed Ryan’s head before he helped the boy from his chair. "Go get Gramma and Papa so y'all can go home. We'll be home in a bit.” Matt’s comment had Mickey confused. Ryan kissed Mickey on the cheek before he hurried over to where Marty and Jeri Collins were sitting with Josh and Katie Simmons.

After they were gone, Matt led Mickey to the opposite corner of the room. "She has a fractured skull, and her brain is swelling. They want to operate, so I need to go to her house and find the folder she put together for Tim and me in case anything like this ever happened to her. She executed a medical power of attorney and a will that she told us about when we were there one time. Supposedly, it gives me the authority to approve medical care for her and Rocky, and grants Tim and me custody over the boy if anything happens to her. She just had it done up by a guy in town, and I need Jon to go with us to look it all over. Hell, I don't even know if it's legal because I never met the lawyer.

"Would you stay here and just keep an eye on things until I get back? They're gonna call her parents, but I doubt they'll come. I just don't want to think she's alone." Before Mickey could respond, Matt sniffed and reached for a handkerchief, offering Mickey a watery smile.

"Damn Tim Moran. I used to be able to get through shit like this without a tear or a worry. He's made me soft, the littlefucker.” Matt was obviously joking as he continued to wipe the tears. Mickey knew he worshiped the ground Tim walked on.

Mickey glanced at the floor to give the man some privacy to compose himself. "You're lucky, ya know? My heart's so damn hard at this point, I can barely imagine any reason I'd ever shed a tear. Go. Do what ya gotta. I'm just a random guy sittin' in a waitin' room in case her folks do show up.”

Matt glanced up and pinched his cheek. "You're cute as a speckled pup. You'll find somebody who's gonna make you think twice about feelin's, Mickey. You'll see."

Yeah, right…

A large hand gently squeezed Mickey’s shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes to see Jon Wells standing in front of him with a tender smile. "You're going to hate yourself in a few hours if you keep your neck screwed up like that."

"How's Cindy?" Mickey suddenly sat up to look around the waiting room, not really surprised there was no one around.

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