Disappointment crashes into me. I was really hoping they’d let him out today. But at least this means Frank can’t persuade me to leave for Tampa tonight. As long as Jamie’s in the hospital, the only place I’ll be traveling is to his bedside.
“I just left practice. Heading to the hospital now.”
“Jamie said you’re going to miss your game tomorrow?” She sounds concerned.
“Yeah. And the game after that, and maybe the one after.” To hell with Frank and his “family emergency” bullshit. Thisisa family emergency.
“Ryan—”
“I’m not stepping on a single plane until Jamie is one hundred percent better,” I say firmly.
Her tone is equally stern. “Ryan.”
“Mom,” I mimic, before my voice softens. “I’m all he has here. There’s no one else who can stay with him while I’maway, and I refuse to let him stay in the condo alone, at least not until I know he’s fully recovered.”
Cindy sighs. “All right. Let’s just wait until he’s discharged from the hospital before we make any rash decisions.”
I flick the right turn signal toward the highway ramp. It’s still early enough in the day that the traffic on the Gardiner won’t be too bad. “I’ll call you when I have a better idea of when they’ll let him go home,” I tell Jamie’s mom.
“Thanks, sweetie. When you see Jamie, tell him he has a new niece. Lilac was born about an hour ago, nine pounds, two ounces.”
“Wow. Congratulations, Grandma! But...Lilac?”
“Tammy had some drugs in her system.”
“Ah. Oh, and Cindy? Thank you for what you said yesterday.”
“What did I say?” she asks blankly.
“The mantra you taught me,” I remind her. “It’s going to be okay. I said it about threemilliontimes last night, and it really did make me feel better.”
A snort of laughter pops out of my car speakers. “Oh that? I just made that shit up on the fly because you needed it, sweetie.”
I can’t fight a hysterical laugh. And did Jamie’s mom really just sayshit? That woman never curses. “Well, it worked. I think you saved me from having a nervous breakdown.”
“I’m glad I did. Now get off the phone and concentrate on driving. Take care of our boy, and I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I disconnect the call and thank my lucky stars that Cindy and the rest of the Canning clan are part of my life. Then I drive to the hospital to take care of our boy.
EIGHTEEN
JAMIE
The hospital kept me another day just to run tests. They drew blood so many times that I had a dream about vampires in scrubs.
So I had to spend another night in this place. While I tried to sleep, they kept coming in to take my temperature every hour. And now I have a dry, hacking cough that keeps me from sleeping even when the nurses aren’t prodding me.
At least I convinced Wes to go home to our bed for the night. He’s going to miss the Tampa game tonight for nothing, because I’m still fricking here. I want out of this bed and into my own clothes.
“Hey handsome!”
It’s about ten in the morning when he turns up to see me, looking well-rested and fresh as a daisy. While I’m skank man with stubble and armpit stink, at least one of us is comfortable.
“I brought you a chocolate croissant and a double cappuccino,” he says, kissing my temple before dropping into the chair. “And good news. Supposedly you’re being released in a couple hours.”
“Great,” I say, trying to believe him. “Thank you.” I take the coffee cup he offers me and swig it, but my stomach clenches a second later. Fuck. I set it on the table. If I can’t even handle coffee, you might as well just take me out back and shoot me.
