Page 19 of Fight For Us
I nodded, choking down another breath. “I can cover someone else’s shift tomorrow. I don’t want to inconvenience anyone. Kelly was supposed to leave and I don’t know when and oh shit, table nine, the turkey club. And I don’t even know where I’m going. I—”
“Get your things. I’m driving.” His deep voice cut through my rambling.
“But, the kitchen?”
“Tiger,” he practically growled, wrapping his hands around my waist and turning me in the direction of his office. “Get your things and meet me outside.”
“Okay.”
I forced myself not to think about Alex in pain while I collected my purse at rapid speed. That would only make me spiral into a panic I didn’t know if I could come out of. I needed to be there for my son. He only had me after all.
Out in the parking lot Wes stood at the passenger side of his car waiting on me. When he saw me coming he held the door open and ushered me in, reaching across to buckle my seatbelt. I breathed in his comforting scent—a mix of herbs and garlic from the kitchen and sea air. My pulse slowed.
While he walked around to the driver’s side I let myself think about the way it felt when he said,“Alex’s father and my wife.”Something about those words coming from his lips didn’t feel as wrong as they should. I’d contemplate that another time.
Chapter 8
Wes
Fucking hospitals. I hatedeverything about them. The stark walls that they try to liven up with shitty artwork. The smell of antiseptic permeating the air. It crawls up your nostrils the moment you step foot inside the doors. Worst of all the way every doctor or nurse walked around like seeing suffering didn’t affect them. Like witnessing horrors and medical trauma was just any other Wednesday. It was unnatural and unnerving to say the least.
The woman doing intake sat behind her desk with a fake smile plastered on her lips. She passed us a clipboard while Olivia fished out her ID. Her hands still shook so hard, anyone could see. I wished I could take care of this shit for her. The only thing she needed to worry about was getting to Alex, not filling out bullshit paperwork.
“Sir, are you immediate family?” the woman asked, eyes bouncing between Olivia and me. “Yes.” I answered without hesitation, taking out my wallet to give her my ID. Her smile widened and she took it, continuing to check us in.
I glanced at Olivia, searching for an objection, but she didn’t lift her gaze from the paperwork. No way in hell was I leaving her here alone. I didn’t care if I had to lie, cheat or steal, I’d stay with her. Even if my skin crawled with each passing second inside this building.
Guest badges secured, a nurse led us through the dim winding halls of the emergency room toward the sound of a keening wail. Olivia grabbed my hand, gripping it tightly.
“It’ll be okay,” I said. Nausea took hold of my insides. “That’s not him.” I fucking hoped.
Hours later, I sat in a shitty, hard chair in the hospital waiting area tuning out the TV blaring a news channel in the corner. Olivia paced the length of the room while her sister, Mia, sat beside me chewing her lip. “How much longer do you think?” Mia asked, looking at me with wide brown eyes identical to Alex’s.
“I wish I could tell you.” I didn’t miss the way she glanced at my prosthesis, like she could see it through the fabric of my clothes. There was no pity in her expression, more curiosity, the same as most. I didn’t blame her for asking me. Anyonewould think I was some sort of leg injury expert. Fact was, I was drugged up to the nines for the majority of my hospital stays. Time existed in a vacuumed haze.
As for Alex, turns out he suffered a complex leg fracture with the injury close to his growth plate. After weighing their options, the doctors recommended surgery to position his bones and secure with plates and screws. Olivia kept a brave face at Alex’s bedside, her hand in his as the poor little guy drifted in and out of sleep from the pain meds he was given.
The second we made it out into the hallway, she collapsed against my chest, sobbing silently. I did what I could to console her, whispering in her ear that it was okay. That Alex was in good hands. All the while, bile threatened to make its way up my throat. When Mia got here, my chest caved in relief. I rushed to the small bathroom off the waiting area and emptied the contents of my stomach.
I wiped my clammy hands on my pants for what felt like the hundredth time in the hour we’d been waiting. Thinking about the little guy laying on an operating table had me sweating bricks. Mia’s quiet tapping on her cell phone screen drew my attention.
“Just letting my parents know what’s going on,” she said. “Olivia will probably be pissed, but that’s their grandson and despite them being dicks, they still love Alex.”
I nodded, tucking this piece of information away for later. “I should probably call mine. Let them know where I am.” Mia tilted her head to the side. “They pick up my daughter fromschool for me. I’m usually coming home from work around now.”
“Oh gotcha,” she said. “I thought for a second there that you had to report your comings and goings to mommy.” She released her lip from her teeth and smirked. Tiger’s sister had a smart mouth too… noted.
I pushed to stand and walked toward Olivia, who’d stopped pacing to check her phone. As I got closer she looked up with bloodshot eyes and a splotchy red face. My heart cracked in two. I lowered my voice, talking in a near whisper. “I’m going to go call my mom and check on Lilly. I’ll be right back. You need anything?”
“Oh God, you’ve been here with me for so long. You should go. Mia’s here now and really there’s nothing you can do. Lilly needs you home. I—”
For the second time that day, I tipped her chin up, forcing her to look me in the eye. I didn’t know why her trying to dismiss me irked me the way it did. Didn’t fucking know why I had to be here with them even though the hospital was the last place on earth I’d want to spend my time. But I knew damn well that I wasn’t leaving. “I’ll be outside for five minutes, tops. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”
A lone tear leaked from the corner of her eye and I watched it trail down her cheek, itching to smooth it off. She sniffed and nodded as I stepped away, reluctant to leave her side.
I followed the labyrinth to the exit and stepped out for some air. The late afternoon sun crept low behind a wall of cloudsgiving us some reprieve from the heat. I dialed my mom and sighed in relief as she answered the phone. Being here put me on edge, I needed to know that everyone I loved was safe.
“If you’re on your way can you grab a poster board? Lilly has a project to work on. Oh, and we need bread. Your father fed the rest to the darn ducks.”
