Page 63 of Threat of Danger
Only one other family was waiting outside the double doors, some distance away, isolated in their own world of worry.
Kaylee collapsed into Zelda’s arms. Zelda had always been her de facto grandmother. Jess’s heart twisted as the two cried together.
Derek tugged Jess into his arms, and she didn’t even attempt to pull away. Chuck had been around for as long as she could remember. Chuck helped out her father with all the various jobs needed on the farm. He was like a beloved uncle to Jess.
God, if anything happened to him...
Why hadn’t she come back sooner?Staying away this long had been a mistake.The thought hit her with the force of a speeding car. Except, with a speeding car, she knew how to roll off the hood. But there was no escaping her guilt.
She peeked over Derek’s shoulder. Kaylee had been mostly calm in the truck, but now she cried with the true panic of a child whose world was falling apart. Zelda’s face reflected shock and guilt. As if, like Jess, she felt guilty for the time wasted.
Their eyes met. Jess hoped hers said,It’s not too late.
“He’s going to pull through,” she promised.
Zelda nodded.
Kaylee gave a heaving sob.
Jess pulled away from Derek at last, only to put her hand on the girl’s trembling shoulder.
Derek looked like he wanted to scoop them all up into his arms. But he stayed where he was, his lips flat with frustration that he couldn’t be of more help. “Anybody want a drink?”
Jess said, “A bottle of water, please?”
“Whiskey. Neat,” came from Zelda.
“Me too,” came from Kaylee.
“Three bottles of water, coming up.” Derek’s boots echoed on the white tile of the hallway as he strode away.
“Chuck is only sixty-five,” Zelda said as if to reassure herself, or maybe all of them. “He’s so young. He’ll pull through.”
Jess sank into the chair next to her and laid her head on her shoulder, threading her arm through Zelda’s. Kaylee draped Zelda on the other side.
“Let’s pray,” Zelda said from the middle, swallowed in hugs, and they linked hands.
In ten minutes or so, Derek returned with four water bottles. He stayed with them, standing a little to the side, as if standing guard.
An hour passed before a nurse—a slim young woman—came out with an update. She knew they needed reassurance and wore an encouraging smile as she walked toward the small group. “The surgeon is still working on him. He’s doing well.”
They threw a million questions at her, but she told them, with all possible kindness, that they had to wait for the doctor for more information.
Another hour passed. Jess texted Pam with an update. Derek brought them snacks, but nobody could eat. He went back and brought a round of coffee. Everybody took that, even Zelda.
“I don’t care about my blood pressure. If I was going to blow a gasket today, I would have blown it already.”
After they drank their coffee, Derek carried away the empty cups. When he came back, he handed out a round of manly hugs. As Jess got hers, he whispered into her ear, “I gave those two decaf.”
And for some reason, that was the thing that made her heart melt. That he was there, taking care of them, in every way, even the very smallest.
By the time the surgeon walked out to tell them Chuck had pulled through and he was in recovery, the retro aluminum clock on the stark-white waiting room wall showed past noon. The nurse wasn’t going to let anyone see him, but Zelda fought for the right. She lied, for the first time that Jess had ever seen, and said she was Chuck’s wife.
Jess, Derek, and Kaylee made do with peeking through the glass.
Chuck was still and pale, sleeping off the anesthetics. They waited until he woke. Kaylee sneaked in for a quick kiss. Chuck said a few words—strictly forbidding anyone to worry, and telling Kaylee to get back to school.
She told him the Versquatchers were hot on the trail of something big, and if he didn’t get out of the hospital lickety-split, he was going to miss making first contact.
