The tears I’d felt welling behind my eyes began to overflow and slip down my cheeks as we walked out the door of the ICU unit.
“Hey…” I heard Mason’s voice and the hands around me tightened as he tried to reassure me. “It’s okay. He’s young, he’s strong. He’s going to get through this.”
“That’s… that’s not normal, Mason.” I said, struggling to pull myself together before I went back into the surgery waiting area.“Fuck. I mean, some memory loss is normal with a traumatic brain injury, right? But I don’t think he should be having this much still. What if… what if it’s permanent?”
Mason gripped my neck and brought our foreheads together, staring into my eyes.
“He will manage. You will manage,” he said, staring into my eyes, his own the darkest I’d ever seen them. “He has an amazing family. You will help him recover, pick up the pieces, and move on from this.”
He sounded so confident, so sure, I was able to draw strength from his belief. I took a deep breath and wiped the tears from my face before heading out to the waiting room. We sat down next to my parents as they clutched each other’s hands.
“What do you think?” Mama K asked, her normally cheery voice thick with emotion. Mama D looked up at me as well.
“I think… I think it’s serious,” I said, trying to soften the blow for my parents. “He seems to still be having trouble forming new memories. We had to tell him about the accident four times.” I sighed, and Mason’s hand squeezed mine. I sent him an appreciative look.
“They will keep him in ICU to keep a close eye on him, to make sure the bleeding in his brain stops. From there, it’s kind of a waiting game. We have to wait to see how well his body heals from the trauma of his at—” I paused and cleared my throat. I’d been about to say “attack” but I had no real proof yet. “…his accident.” I finished.
Both parents nodded. Their hands were clinging tightly to each other, and I took my free hand and enveloped both of theirs with it and squeezed gently.
“He’s young. He’s strong. He’s adaptable. We will just have to wait this out,” I finished.
They both nodded. “Thank you, sweetie,” Mama D said. “It makes us feel better knowing that you can check on him.”
We settled back into the routine of waiting for more news, but only a few minutes had passed when I saw a police officer enter the lounge. He was probably in his mid-to-late forties, about my height, but he was many pounds heavier. I wasn’t even sure how someone his weight could pass the annual physicals to police department required. His face was bruised, his eyes both sporting a raccoon mask of bruises indicating a broken nose. He was an attractive man, I supposed, but something in his eyes just left me cold. There was no emotion, no pity, no empathy, nothing. It made me shudder to see them. I'd seen men like that in Afghanistan, and they had all been sick sons of bitches.
His eyes seemed to pause on Mason and my family, but then skimmed over the rest of us and the other families in the waitingroom. He spoke with the volunteer for a moment, and she pointed over to where our family was sitting.
“Devereaux family?” He asked, walking up to us. I felt Mason freeze next to me. I looked at him and saw his already white face go pale as a ghost. He had already looked worn out from lack of sleep and the panic attack from last night, but the terror in his face was plain to me. I just didn’t understand why.
Mama K and Mama D looked up and nodded.
“Yes, officer?” said Mama K.
“I’m Sergeant Dowling. John Dowling,” he said, his eyes again catching on Mason who still sat frozen in his chair. “I’m investigating the hit and run that involved your sons last night,” he said.
“Have you found anything yet?” Kaine demanded.
“Nothing yet, and probably won’t, to be honest. No security systems, nothing documenting the attack,” he responded, looking at a notebook he’d pulled from his pocket. “Fucking idiots if you ask me. That area of town and no security? They were practically begging for something to happen.”
That.Asshole! The twins hadn’t had time, or money, apparently, to install a security system, which had me gritting my teeth. If I’d known, I would have paid for it myself. I was on my feet and taking a step towards the man, but before I could say or do anything, Mama K was on her feet.
“You watch your tongue, young man!” She said, her eyes narrowing to slits, her voice low and deadly. “My sons are not idiots, and you will treat them, and us, with respect, or I will be having a conversation with your Lieutenant.”
Her verbal attack took him off guard and he backpedaled. Even though all she’d done was stand up, he seemed to sense the threat in her. Most people completely discounted Mama K because of her size, but there was no one I’d rather have at my back in a fight.
Dowling’s discomfiture didn’t last long. Anger suffused his face as he realized he had just backed down from a woman who weighed one hundred pounds soaking wet. He turned his gaze back to Mason and I saw something that could only be described as malevolent delight fillthose empty eyes. I wanted desperately to step in front of Mason to protect him from whatever this officer was about to say.
“Are you Cameron?” he asked. A short, jerky nod was all the response Mason made. “May I have a word with you, privately?” Despite the phrasing, it was more of a demand than a request.
Mason stood and followed him to a group of chairs by the door and I followed them. Dowling glared at me as he began to speak. Apparently, he hadn’t realized I was following.
“Your Uber is here,Mr. Malone,” Dowling said. “I saw the driver waiting for you outside. How about I escort you down,sir?” He dragged the “sir” part out, turning it from a symbol of respect to something dirty and wrong. I’d never wanted to punch a police officer before, but Dowling was pushing all of my buttons.
My gaze flipped back and forth between Dowling and Mason, his words suddenly registering. The cop’s name was familiar, but I couldn’t place from where. I was busy trying to remember where I knew it from when his words finally registered.
“Uber? What Uber?” I began, confusion washing through me. “Are you going somewhere?” Mason looked up at me and hesitated, I knew then that I wasn’t going to like whatever he had to say.
“I… I have to go, Lee,” he said, eyes darting from Dowling to me.
