Page 75 of Until Now

“No, I’ll fill him in,” I say.

He doesn’t quite believe me, but instead of arguing, he leads us to a more private room. “Your father-in-law suffered a massive heart attack. He bumped his head pretty good with the fall, so we’ll be monitoring him for any signs of a concussion. And, we will need to monitor his heart for a bit, but I expect he should make a full recovery. I don’t think surgery is required at this moment, but if he doesn’t make some lifestyle changes… It will be inevitable, but right now, it seems damage wasn’t too severe. He’s very lucky.”

“Can we see him?” Elizabeth asks.

“He may still be a little groggy, but you can go in if you like. I’ll have one of the nurses show you to his room.”

“Thank you, doctor.” I offer a small smile before Dr. Andress nods and steps out of the room.

“Mrs. Davis has a nice ring to it, huh?” Michaela giggles when the doctor is gone. I roll my eyes and leave her and Elizabeth with their daydreams.

§

When I walk into the room, I can hear the steady beep of the heart monitor — it sounds normal. His eyes are closed as if he were asleep, but it startles me. I take a step back, the image of him lying on the ground lifeless flashes before my eyes. It’s gone just as fast, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

“Hey, Uncle Jim,” his eyes open when Michaela touches his hand.

“Well, hey girls, what are y’all doing here?”

“Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Healthy as a horse.” Jimmy laughs when Michaela and Elizabeth roll their eyes. “How’d you know I was here?”

“Nina found you.”

At the sound of my name, Jimmy looks behind them where I stand in the doorway.

“Hi, Jimmy,” I finally step further into the room and his smile grows. “Alex asked me to stop by, check on you. He hadn’t been able to get a hold of you.”

“Oh, Nina. I’m sorry.”

I look at my watch, the plane should have landed by now. “The boys should be here soon.”

“They’re coming? Well, I know Nick’ll be happy to see you. He was so happy to see you at the wedding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him more in love.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” I share a look with Michaela and Elizabeth.

“Trust me, I know what it looks like.” Jimmy readjusts in bed to sit up straighter. “Look, Nina, Nick has trouble letting his guard down. I think it’s a Davis man trait, but it got a lot worse after Evie passed.”

“Who’s Evie?”

“His mother.”

“Aunt Evie died when Nick was in college,” Michaela adds. “It hit us all pretty hard, but he took it the worst.”

My heart sinks. “When did this happen?”

“The anniversary was last month, six years now. Nick’s junior year of college…pretty early into the year, too,” Jimmy sighs, a hint of guilt in his tone. “It was hard for me, at first. I struggled to keep up with the garage. So, Nick left Rosecliffe. I promised him that I would get back on my feet and he could go back to school, but he took over and just stayed.”

“I’m so sorry, Jimmy.”

“It’s all part of life.” Jimmy touches his hand to his left pectoral patting the skin softly through the hospital gown. The same place where Nick’s tattoo is… “We keep her close, the boys and I got matching tattoos a few years back. Evie was very deep in her relationship with the good Lord and she always wore a necklace with the Tree of Life to remind her of where we come from. So, we each got a tattoo of the Tree.”

Tears prick the corner of my eyes. Why didn’t Nick tell me this? And then I went and called this tattoo with so much meaning basic…

Oh. My. God.

I know who Nick is.

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