Tessa gave them a light smile. “I’ve ordered radiology for his leg. He’s got a split lip and some contusions, but his leg appears to be the only fracture. I’ve left the C-collar on him until we can confirm his back is fine.” Then she stepped out of the way, “Go on in. I’m going to page neurology too.”
Jenna’s hand twisted but she was unable to bring it up to grab Tessa’s. Steel did so for her, squeezing Tessa’s hand lightly. “Thank you.”
“He’s my patient. Beyond that, he’s family,” she told them before walking off.
Entering the room, they found Bear helping Ollie take some crushed ice. He was lying down with the brace around his neck and a hospital gown on. No doubt, they’d cut his sparkly suit off him in the ambulance. Steel would buy him another. He didn’t give a damn if he sneezed up glitter for the rest of his life. Ollie’s right leg was in a splinted brace with a pillow under his knee. The blanket was covering his lap and left leg.
Tessa was right about his lip. The bottom one was split right down the middle. There was still evidence of blood on him, but most had been wiped away. His face had some small cuts, likelyfrom glass, but he didn’t have the raccoon eyes one would expect from an airbag going off in his face.
And still, there was glitter all over him.
“Mom! Dad!” Ollie burst into tears at the sight of them and tried to sit up but Bear kept him down.
“Easy,” Bear told his nephew. “Let them come to you.”
Ollie frowned, looking ready to argue, but then nodded the best he could in the brace.
The exchange was quick, but it gave Steel enough time to recover. Ollie had called them ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’. He’d never done that before. In the year and a half since they’d taken him in and nearly a year since they’d officially adopted him, he always referred to them as ‘Steel’ and ‘Jenna’. They hadn’t cared and never would have pressured him otherwise.
But fucking hell. Hearing that after the scare they’d just endured since Chip had called Steel’s phone…? It certainly didn’t make up for the scare, but it definitely soothed it. Like a salve to a burn.
Jenna let out a sound that was close to a hiccup, and Steel knew she was just as affected. Bear moved out of the way as he rolled the wheelchair up to the bed.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Ollie demanded, trying to sit up again.
Steel put out a hand to stop him. “She’s fine. Aunt Tessa is calling it a freezing episode. She doesn’t believe it’s a flare-up. Hold still for a second.”
He motioned for Bear to walk around to the other side of the bed. Together, they pulled up the bottom sheet under Ollie and carefully shifted him towards his uncle. Then Steel picked Jenna up from the wheelchair and laid her down on the bed next to their youngest son. He was very careful as he put Jenna down next to Ollie’s splinted leg.
Tears staining his cheeks, Ollie shifted as much as he could to face Jenna as Steel lifted the rail. Bear passed him an extra pillow so he could cushion her against the hard plastic.
“Hi, Mom.” Tears escaped her eyes. Ollie bent his right arm at the elbow to reach her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I’m fine,” he told her, his voice wobbly. “Just a little banged up. You didn’t have to go all Elsa on me.”
A hiccuping breath escaped Jenna, and Steel knew that was her version of a laugh right now. Very slowly, very carefully, Jenna raised a trembling hand to Ollie’s stomach. There wasn’t much control in the limb, it was more of a flop than a placement, but she still managed to do so. Steel saw it as an improvement.
Relief washed through him.
In her slurred speech, she said, “I will always worry for you.”
He tried to shift again, but ended up wincing and remaining flat on his back. He dropped his hand to place it on hers on his belly. His big eyes lifted to Steel’s, and tears pooled. “I’m sorry, Dad. I don’t know what happened.”
Steel did not bring attention to his new title. He wasn’t sure if Ollie realized he was doing so, and he in no way wanted to influence his son into thinking he had to continue to use it.
He stretched over Jenna’s side to gently touch Ollie’s face. “Don’t worry about what happened. You’re alive, and that’s all that matters.”
“Please don’t be upset with Aaron. It wasn’t his fault either.”
Steel wasn’t. “I know. I spoke with him while we were waiting for you to arrive.”
Ollie made a face. “They destroyed my jacket.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” Steel promised. “And before you apologize about the cage, that is why insurance exists. We’ll take care of everything.”
Technically, the cage was still in Jenna and Steel’s names because Ollie had only just gotten his license. They weresupposed to go to the DMV next week to change the title over. But in the end, it didn’t matter. The cage was totaled, but Ollie and Aaron had survived.
A hand on his shoulder got his attention and Steel turned to see Bear offering him a chair. Steel accepted with a nod of thanks. Bear slipped from the exam room after that.
About an hour later, radiology had visited both Aaron’s and Ollie’s rooms. Aaron’s left radius and ulna had comminuted fractures from the impact of the airbag. He was scheduled for surgery in the morning to help set the bones, but he was expected to make a full recovery and neither Tessa nor the orthopedic doctor believed that the injury would prevent him from attending basic training in June. Ollie’s tibia had a transverse, nondisplaced, fracture just below his knee. While he did not need surgery, he was going to be placed in a full-leg cast. Due to the placement, the orthopedic doctor did not want Ollie moving his knee while he was healing.
