They could hurt themselves with those toy parts.
“I think I’ll go see if they need a hand,” I say, standing up and making Hunter look at me in surprise with wide eyes.
“You want to—” Hunter starts but gets interrupted by Sloan, screaming his name from Lio’s room.
Without a second thought, we all rush over, only to find Lio unconscious on the floor, his head in Sloan’s lap. She kneels before him, her hands on the sides of his face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
My heart sinks before it starts beating rapidly.
Walking into the bathroom… her lying there unconscious… so much blood.
Not her. He. Is. Not.Her.
He isn’t dead.
“He coughed and simply fainted. I don’t know what to…” She starts, shaking like a leaf when Hunter and I kneel too. Nash rushes out of the room.
I pull myself together and him away from her, making sure he is lying flat on the floor to help him breathe easier. “You should have told one of us immediately when he startedcoughing!” I hiss out at her while Nash comes rushing back with his inhaler and spacer.
Taking it from Nash, I bring it to Lio’s mouth. My hand is on the back of his head, propping it up slightly so I can push the inhaler and ensure he breathes in the medication.
“I’m so sorry,” Sloan whispers, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She’s standing beside Nash now, hugging herself.
“It’s not your fault. He does that from time to time. It’s been happening more frequently lately,” Hunter tells her, but his gaze is on me.
It’s been happening way too frequently.
And all the doctors tell us is that he reacts to something.
Well, fuck yes, he reacts to not getting enough oxygen.
Lio comes to, his eyes fluttering, and I hand the inhaler back to Nash. I push Lio’s hair away from his forehead, searching his face. He always gets frightened after such an episode.
Lio’s breathing steadies, and I feel my heart trying to match the rhythm of his improved breaths. “You’re okay,” I say, a mantra for both of us. “You’re okay.”
He starts to cry, scrunching up his face and trembling. But just as I want to pull him to me, he presses out between sobs, “Uncle Hunt.”
A sharp pain slices through me when he puts his little hands out for Hunter, and Hunt struggles to stand before he bends down and picks up Lio. He moves over to sit on the edge of the small bed with Lio on his knee, his face buried in Hunter’s chest, while he soothes him, stroking his little head, whispering softly.
My own son prefers his uncle to his dad.
Not that I could hold it against him.
I would too.
“There she is!”Tim hollers from the back of the restaurant when I arrive for my shift, still shaken from what happened since I left here last night. Between North and Nash, the talk with Saylor, Hunter’s story, and Lio’s fainting spell, I’m still reeling.
And the smile on Tally’s face as she comes out of the kitchen tells me I’m not catching a break here.
“Aaand?” she singsongs when I pull off my jacket and step up to them.
“And what?” I ask, acting dumb.
Not that it will help anything.
“Spill, girl. What happened? Our eyes nearly fell out when we saw North getting up to follow you out without saying goodbye to anyone.”
Tim grins. “True, though Nash looked like he was tempted to kick North’s ass. He only lasted ten minutes longer before he said goodbye and went after you guys.”
