Page 61 of The Fix
“Can I see him now?” Cami asked. All this worry, all these imaginings and what-ifs had lit a flame inside of her, and theneedto see him with her own eyes. To know he was well.
As if on cue, the door to his room down the hall opened, and a smiling nurse exited. She nodded to the officer and then began walking toward the three of them. “How’s he looking?” Detective Mauro asked.
“My grandmother would have said he’s a little pistol,” the nurse said affectionately. “There’s no reason he needs to be here any longer. I just need to have the doctor sign off real quick, and he’s set to go.” She looked over at Cami as though she’d assumed immediately—correctly, as it were—that she was his mother. “I’d get him scheduled with a therapist who’s good with kids as soon as possible. It’s the ones who show a lot of bravado who we often don’t know are really struggling. Even if he’s not, it couldn’t hurt to talk about what he’s been through.”
She smiled kindly, and Cami nodded, and then the nurse turned and headed toward a man in a white coat standing near the nurses’ station down the hall.
“Speaking of that,” Detective Mauro said, “I got a call back from the judge at family court services this morning.”
Cami stilled, her eyes widening, barely wanting to allow hope to grow.
“He granted a petition of emergency custody.”
Hope didn’t only grow, it unfurled and blossomed into an internal tree of joy. “I can take him with me back to Virginia?”
“Yes. Again, only temporarily, and you’ll need to arrange for an in-home visit with your local agency. All that can be expedited considering the circumstances, and I’ll assist where I can.”
“That was quick,” she breathed.Thank goodness. Thank goodness.
“These judges are used to getting three a.m. calls about kids needing immediate placement. We’re also going to post a patrol car outside your rental house again tonight. And I’ll put a call in to your local police, too, while we’re investigating your case. I’d feel better if they set up a post as well.”
She steepled her hands over her mouth for a moment. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She had so much to figure out. An in-home visit from social services first. Where would he sleep? She only had a one-bedroom place. How much time could she take off work? Clothes ... school. She’d need to get him registered for school. What did she have in the refrigerator? Not much. Box meals. That wouldn’t do. He needed vegetables. And fruit. Protein too.
Rex put a hand on her arm, stilling her thoughts. Her eyes felt glazed as she looked up at him. “One thing at a time,” he said as though he’d read her mind or as if her mental spiraling was visible.
She let out a small laugh that felt slightly delirious. “One thing at a time,” she repeated.Slow and steady wins the race.
“It was made easier by the fact that Cyrus requested to go home with you too,” the detective said.
Maybe that was because he’d been living in a really shitty circumstance. Or maybe he trusted her because of their genetic connection. Whatever it was, she’d keep that trust. She’d build on it. Cami had no idea what their future looked like, but she knew one thing: Her little boy had been brought back to her for a reason, and she wasn’t going to let him go a second time. “Can we go see him now?”
“Of course.”
When they entered the hospital room, Cyrus was sitting on the edge of the bed putting on his shoes. She saw the holes in the bottom of one and the way his toe was sticking through the top. Shoes. Add shoes to the list.
Deep breath.Slow and steady . . . slow and steady . . .
He looked up, his smile tentative when he saw them. “How are you feeling?” Cami asked. She didn’t know what to say or how to be with him. She was his mother, and yet she was also a stranger. And she’d rarely spent time with kids.
“Good,” Cyrus said.Good.That seemed highly unlikely. Then again, she supposed children were more able to live in the moment, and compared to other recent moments, this was a good one.
She glanced at Rex, and she could only imagine her expression was helpless because he gave her a very small but encouraging nod. They both sat down on the chairs next to the bed, facing Cyrus.
She inclined her head toward the chessboard. “I heard you’ve been kicking ass.”
Cyrus grinned at that. His front two teeth were crooked, turned inward, and the bottom row was crowded. Braces. He’d need braces eventually. That would be expensive. She needed to start saving now. “I learned from Mr. Abdullah in the park. He taught me about strategy and the art of war. My book’s back at my foster house. That’s the only thing I want from there.”
Rex leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “Sun Tzu? ‘The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.’”
Cyrus’s eyes lit up. “You know it too?”
“Know it? I practically have it memorized. I have a copy. I’ll tell you what, when you get to Virginia, I’ll give you mine so you don’t ever have to step foot back in that house.”
Cyrus blinked, his eyes moving from Rex to Cami. “I’m going with you to Virginia?”
“The detective told me you were okay with that.”
He nodded vigorously. “I am. I’m okay with that.”
