Letti pulled away from me making a run for him, throwing her arms around his neck and he picked her up in a bear hug. “Hey, baby girl. How ya been?”
“Not bad,” she said, settling her hands on both sides of his face. “Your beard is epic.”
He chuckled. “Tell my wife that. She wants me to trim it.”
“Oh, then you should trim it,” she said.
Hatch rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I probably should.”
“I love the car,” she said, and he chuckled.
“My truck’s in the shop, so Maisie insisted I take her car instead of a loaner.” He focused on me. “How was the flight?”
“Good,” I said, as Hatch popped the trunk.
“You wanna head straight to the hospital or stop home first?”
“Hospital,” I said, and Hatch nodded.
We loaded the bags and pulled out of the airport.
One of the things I appreciated the most about Hatch was he wasn’t chatty. Friendly, yes, could match you in any conversation, definitely, but if you didn’t want to talk, he let there be silence.
Violet, on the other hand, was the opposite. The only time she didn’t fill the quiet with nonstop chatter was when she was asleep or when she was engrossed in a book. It was something that I both loved and annoyed me, depending on the circumstance.
But the fact she hadn’t spoken more than a few words since we left Denver didn’t sit well with me. She was worried. There was no way she could hide that, but I couldn’t soothe her right now because my head was whirling with shit I did not want out in the ether.
And I did not like that she was worried. I liked even less the fact I didn’t have the capacity to soothe her.
Fuck. All of this was nothing more than a shit sandwich.
I reached my hand back to Violet, sitting behind Hatch with me sitting in the front passenger seat. She grabbed for me, leaning forward to kiss my palm, then linking her pinky with mine. Our silent promise to each other and the chains around my heart started to loosen.
Hatch pulled up to the hospital entrance, shifting to face me. “Head on in and I’ll park. Meet you up there.”
I nodded, climbing out of the car and waiting for Violet to do the same, then we made our way to ICU, and I steeled myself for the worst.
* * *
Violet
Aero nearly broke myhand, he was holding it so tight, but I didn’t pull away because I knew he needed me close. He hadn’t stopped touching me since we left, and I was happy to provide whatever comfort he needed.
Arriving at the ICU desk, Aero asked to see his mom and the nurse nodded. “We can only allow one person in at a time.”
“Who’s in with her now?” Aero asked.
“Your brother.”
His body locked and he growled, “I don’t have a brother.”
“Give me a second and I’ll figure out what’s going on,” the nurse assured us, rushing away as I gripped Aero’s cut and tugged on it.
“Honey, you need to see your mom.”
“I’m fuckin’ trying to,” he snapped.
“If you go off half-cocked, you’ll be kicked out, so I need you to settle.”
