Page 135 of Mr. Broody

“Jade, isn’t this so cool?” Bodhi asks, his eyes shifting in every direction inside the back of the ambulance.

I’m sure he’s still in pain, but the paramedics stabilized his arm and gave him a basic pain reliever I’d seen Henry give him once when his throat was sore, so he’s in better spirits now.

“The coolest,” I say dryly, and the paramedic snickers.

“Are you still in a lot of pain, Bodhi?” he asks.

“Listen,” I say, glancing at his patch, “Paramedic Bianco.”

“You can call me Luca,” he says.

“Okay, um… I’m not his mom, and I don’t have any of this information.” I bite my lip.

“Do I need to call my brother?”

I look at him, not understanding what his brother has to do with this.

“Did you kidnap him? My brother is a police officer… well, detective now.” He laughs—probably at my pale face. “I’m kidding. It’s okay, just fill out what you know. So, are you the nanny?”

“No,” Bodhi answers. “She’s my Jade.”

Luca’s eyebrows raise, and he pauses, staring at Bodhi. “I know you.”

“You do?”

“Are you Henry Hensley’s son?” Luca asks.

“Yeah. Do you know my daddy?” The way Bodhi sounds so proud warms my heart. He loves his daddy.

“There was a fire a few months ago. My oldest brother gave you a plastic fireman helmet.”

“That’s your brother?” Bodhi’s eyes widen in awe.

Luca nods. “Yeah, he’s the chief.” He glances at me.

“You and all of your brothers are first responders?” I ask, a little disbelieving.

He chuckles and nods. “Yeah.” He points at me. “And we get a lot of those looks when people find out.”

“Okay, well, I’m Henry’s girlfriend,” I whisper. “And this was my first time watching Bodhi.”

His head rocks back in understanding.

“How bad is it?” I bite my bottom lip.

He cringes. “It’s broken.”

Fuck. I mean, I knew it, but I was hoping that with my lack of medical training, I was somehow wrong.

“You’ll know more when we get you to Children’s. They’ll do an X-ray.” He stops and thinks for a moment. “The Falcons are playing tonight, right?”

I glance at my watch. “Right now.” I purse my lips. “He’s on the ice right now.” My breakdown starts with tears, but I try to keep myself composed for Bodhi. I can do this. “And I’m not sure how I can reach him, but…”

“Is there anyone else you can call? Someone who might know?”

I glance at Bodhi, who’s playing with a stress ball Luca gave him. “My stepdad.” When Luca’s eyebrows draw down, I shake my head. “It’s complicated.” I’m not getting into my life story in the back of the ambulance.

Finally, we pull up to the hospital. Okay, I have to figure this out. And I have to be the one to call Henry.

---