Once his son returned to his seat, he turned and walked to the desk where the intake nurse sat. “My name is Lucas Vaughn. I’m the principal of all the students who were in the car crash. I know the rest of them have been discharged, but Kennedy Dixon…” He swallowed what he wanted to say and instead asked, “Have you reached her father?”
The nurse glanced at the paperwork in front of her. “No, Lieutenant Axton couldn’t reach him every time he tried, so he took a drive to their home to see if he was there.”
Even if the man were there, he’d likely be unable to come collect his daughter. He wouldn’t be in any shape to do so.
“Her father may be… unreachable.” What else could he say? It was common knowledge that the man had a severe alcohol addiction. He hated to even think it, but he knew Kennedy wasbasically raising herself and her brother. “I know you can’t tell me details, but is she okay?”
The nurse must have read something in his expression and his choice of words regarding Kennedy’s father. She looked around, then leaned forward. In a very light whisper, she said, “Head wound. Took some glass out of it. It will probably scar, but with a few days of rest, she should be okay.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he mouthed, then said, "I'm happy to take responsibility for her if we can't reach her father."
The nurse smiled at him and went back to her work. When he turned, he realized that Officer Hookstead was standing a step back and off to the side. “Thank you again. Obviously, the accident wasn’t too serious, but I’m still grateful you were there. You didn’t have to come here, but it’s awfully nice that you did.”
“You’re welcome.”
At that moment, Lieutenant Axton walked back into emergency, following a clearly inebriated Mr. Dixon. The man immediately began to try to throw his weight around, demanding to see his daughter. Lucas shared a look with the police officer who’d brought him from their home since he’d been in no shape to drive. The officer was stone-faced, but Lucas could see a flicker of anger in his eyes.
Kennedy walked out of the emergency area a few seconds later, with a large white bandage on her forehead above her left eye. The man quickly signed her discharge papers, then grabbed her by the upper arm. She winced at his touch, but she gave a quick nod to her friends and a thank you for hanging out to see that she was okay as he propelled her out of the building.
Lieutenant Axton followed the father and daughter out to his squad car, presumably to take them home.
With Kennedy cleared, the parents and students began to gather up their belongings and head out. Lucas turned again to his new SRO. “I guess I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
“See you then.”
FATHER-SON CONFESSIONAL
LUCAS
“How are you feeling, Ez?”
His son was halfway down the stairs, dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt, with his hair sticking up in every direction, rubbing his eyes as he yawned and stretched.
“Morning, Dad. Okay, I guess. Little sore,” he admitted as he gently stretched his back out.
Lucas stood on the far side of the island, one hand leaning on the countertop, the other holding his coffee cup. “Want something to eat?”
“Just a bagel.”
“One bagel, coming up.” He set down his cup, sliced the bread, then popped it into the toaster.
As Ezra sat on the stool on the other side of the island, Lucas pulled orange juice and cream cheese out of the refrigerator. When the bagel popped up, he plated it, grabbed a knife out of the utensil drawer, and slid it in front of the boy. He let him eat several bites as he sipped his coffee, then decided it was time to broach the subject. “So. Want to tell me what happened last night?”
Ezra finished chewing, then took a sip of his juice. “We weren’t drinking.”
"Good to know, although I gathered that since they didn't issue any tickets. There were seven people in that car last night.”
“Yeah.” Ezra sighed. “We ran into the girls just before the rain started. When they finally got ahold of their friends they came with, they were already home and claimed they weren’t coming back out in that crap. We hung out under one of the coaster queues for a while, but it didn’t seem like it was going to let up, so we made a dash for it to the car, and Ryker offered them a ride home. It didn’t feel right to leave them there.”
“How did the accident happen?”
“We were all singing along with the music, and I think Ryker was driving too fast in the rain. It felt like the car was skidding, and then there was a crashing sound. I flew forward in my seat, but luckily, I had my seat belt on and didn’t hit the seat in front of me.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come and gotten you and taken some of you home.”
“I didn’t want to bother you or interrupt anything. I knew you were with Jess.”
Lucas set his coffee cup on the island and leaned on the edge, his elbows locked. “Ezra. Look at me.”
