“Jesus fucking Christ. Okay. Okay, you call me soon as you hear something. I’ll…”
He’d what?
Ride to the fucking rescue?
He shut the phone with a snap, growling as he stumbled, slammed into the door. “Momma! Momma! Bax is hurt!”
“Well, open the door, you fool man.” Momma was whacking on the other side of the door, calling him names.
“I’m fucking trying!” His Goddamn head was swimming, but he finally got it, yanking the door open. “His leg snapped. AJ called.”
“Oh. Oh, well, damn it all.” Momma grabbed his arm, pulling him along to the front room. “Jack! Jack, we need to find out where they’ll take Andy for x-rays.”
“Y’all’ll have to go get him and bring him home.” He stumbled along behind her.
“Jesus fuck, Jason. You look like shit.”
“Fuck you, Jack. That doesn’t matter.”
“We can’t leave you here.” Jack took hold of him, leaving Momma to run amok and get shit together.
“You sure as shit can. I’ll be fine.” He was a grown man, goddamn it.
“Jason, don’t be stupid. Andy will be asking for you.” Momma was all over, her voice bouncing crazily.
“I can’t go. Sports medicine’ll be all over. You just go get him.” He couldn’t let anybody know.
“I’ll stay here, then. Jack, you go get Andy and bring him home. Everyone knows I hate to travel.”
His phone rang again, cutting off Momma’s last word.
“‘lo? Bax?”
“Hey, Mini.” Oh. Hell, yes. It was Bax. “You okay? AJ didn’t rile you all up, did he?”
“I’m sending Momma and Jack to get you.”
“Oh, now. I’ll be…” He heard the sharp indrawn breath, the harder curse word Bax spat out. “Goddamn it, Shaun, would you quit poking!”
Shaun was one of the best sports medicine assistants around. Looked as if Bax wasn’t on his way to the ER yet.
“What happened?” He sort of spun a second, Jack leading him over to a chair.
“Oh, shit, Mini. I got hung up between the bull and the fence. You know how it is. He caught my leg.” Bax swallowed, the sound a dry click, then chuckled. “It’s all pointy.”
“They going to have to cast it up or surge on it?” Fuck, he should be there. He should be helping.
“I dunno. They’re wanting to give me the good drugs now, but I wanted to talk to you. Make sure you were good. If I have to get surgery, I’ll come home and have it done.” Yeah. Yeah, Bax hated the big city hospitals with a passion.
“I’ll send family to get you. I should be there.”
“It’s… It’s okay, Jase. We can be all roughed up together, huh?” Bax got to laughing, the sound adrenaline fueled, a little crazy. Just like always.
“Yeah, yeah. You let Shaun and them work on you. Momma’ll be there in a few hours.” Where the fuck was Bax, anyway?
He got grunt, low and guttural, the sound one he damned well knew. Bax in pain. Then he heard a clacking and shuffling. “Jason? It’s Coke, man. They’re moving him. He sat back here through the rest of the short go, the damned fool. You tell your folks to stay put. I’ll bring him on home. Been wanting to see you anyway.”
“Coke?” He swayed, queasy as hell. “You don’t let them cut him open there.”
