Being nosy, I leaned in closer to make sure I could hear both sides of their conversation. The old me would’ve had to fight the urge to walk out of the hospital to give Lincoln his privacy, but whatever was said would affect him, and in turn, affect me because I wanted to be the one taking care of both of them through whatever happened next.
“It’s about Patrick, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is,” Lincoln confirmed. “I’m sorry about calling. I’d rather tell you in person, but as I was saying, Nixon was right that you needed to know ASAP. I’m sorry, kid, but Patrick passed away tonight. He started having seizures and they couldn’t stop them. We were trying to wait it out and see if maybe the doctors were wrong, but tonight scared all of us. He had paperwork all drawn up saying what he wanted in a situation like this and we had to abide by it. We were going to wait until you got back from the game so you could say goodbye, but—”
“I get it, Pops.” Hunter sounded totally calm about the whole thing. Almost too calm. Maybe that was because he was on a bus with his entire team and didn’t want to be seen breaking down, but I worried he was bottling his emotions. It was something I knew well, because it was my standard method of getting through shit like this. “I’m not stupid. I figured this was going to happen. And I know why you didn’t tell me sooner. I’m not happy about it, but I understand.”
“And I am sorry for that. Angie and I talked about it, and we both knew you wouldn’t play in the game if you’d known ahead of time how bad the situation was.” Lincoln’s shoulders relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief that Hunter was taking the news as well as he was.
“If you can’t make it to the game, I’ll understand,” Hunter offered.
I pursed my lips and shook my head. Knowing that Hunter was still adamant about entering the draft in a few months, this was going to be his last college game. No way was Linc going to miss it.
“We’ll both be there,” I said, loud enough I knew Hunter would hear me.
Lincoln gaped at me. Okay, so I hadn’t told him I’d be going to the game with him, but we hadn’t exactly had time to discuss it, what with the news of Patrick’s death and Lincoln finally letting go of his stoic facade.
“Sorry, hadn’t gotten around to telling you that. Teddy pulled some strings so we’ll both be going to the game. He was pretty adamant that I spend however much time I need down here with you guys. But we can talk more about that later.”
I motioned for him to finish talking to Hunter. While they talked a bit longer, I crossed the room so I could send Teddy a message letting him know what’d happened, apologizing because now that I was here, I wasn’t leaving until the time felt right. If that wound up costing me my job because the front office didn’t approve of my decision, I’d find a way through it.
This was the first time in my life I’d put anything ahead of my career, and it felt good. Right.
22
Lincoln
There’d beena time when Nixon swore he wasn’t wired to share his life with anyone. He claimed he was too self-centered and ignorant to the needs of others to even consider a relationship. The week and a half he spent with me in Alabama following Patrick’s death proved all those points to be false.
The morning after Patrick died, the smell of freshly brewed coffee eased my disappointment over the cold sheets on Nixon’s side of the bed. I walked downstairs to find him and Tanner speaking in hushed tones. Later that day, he was the one who guided Angie and me through the process of making Patrick’s final arrangements. He took care of all our needs without hovering or being intrusive.
Just as he’d promised Hunter, Nixon rescheduled my flight and bought a ticket to accompany me to Hunter’s game. I flinched every time my son took a hit and Nixon was right there with a reassuring squeeze or a gentle hand at the small of my back, silently telling me Hunter would be okay.
He knew, without me saying it, that I was suddenly worried about my son following in my footsteps because of the fresh pain of losing one of my closest friends, in part due to the damage he’d suffered while playing the game.
He quietly disappeared into my home office so he could FaceTime with the training staff following Sunday’s win. The Breakers had kept their playoff hopes alive, but they’d also suffered some injuries that would make the rest of the season harder. He was in there again now, sitting through what sounded like a tense meeting with Teddy. I’d heard Nixon say a few times that he wished he was there and smiled when Teddy told him he wasn’t welcome until he was done taking care of business.
When I heard him tell Teddy he’d be in touch soon, I busied myself straightening my tie in the mirror. Shortly, we’d be headed to the small private funeral Patrick had planned for himself. I still questioned whether his death had been an accident or suicide to release himself from the illness he viewed as a death sentence, but I was trying to follow Nixon’s advice and not dwell on that. No matter how he left this world, he was no longer suffering, and that’s what truly mattered.
Planning his own funeral was something he’d done long before his death to ease the burden on Angie. Unlike most people, Patrick had known his time was limited and used some of the time he was given to do what he did best: take care of his family.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I turned to see Nixon staring at me. He was dressed in a pair of chinos and a button-down, which was about as dressy as Nix ever got. When he’d suggested buying a suit for the occasion, I told him to save it. Patrick would’ve wanted him comfortable.
I reached for Nixon, inhaling his woodsy cologne when he pulled me against his chest. “I’m about as perfect as could be expected. Thank you for being here.”
“I promised I would be,” he reminded me, curling a hand around the back of my neck.
“I know, but I also know it’s hard for you to take the time away from the team.” I held him tighter, closing my eyes as we kissed. Nixon’s lips parted, allowing my tongue into his mouth. With everything that’d happened, this was the most we’d done since he arrived.
“I don’t—” he started as he broke the kiss. I pressed a finger to his lips, shutting down his rebuttal.
“Nixon, you’re a crap liar. I know you hate being away from the team. I heard you tell Teddy you wished you were there. But I’m glad that, despite how unnatural this all is for you, youarehere with us. I couldn’t get through today without you.” We kissed again, this time interrupted by Hunter bounding down the stairs. Or at least something like bounding, since he’d taken a nasty hit in Saturday’s game and was nursing his own injuries.
Nixon watched Hunter’s every move. As much as Hunter grumbled at first about Nixon and me getting together, he saw the benefits of having someone close at hand who’d give him stretches to heal his side as quickly as possible.
I grabbed my keys off the counter and led the way outside. We were meeting Angie and Tanner at the chapel, along with a pre-determined list of friends Patrick had requested to be there. There was no family to invite other than a few members of Angie’s family, as Patrick was the only child of only children and his parents had died within months of each other shortly before his diagnosis.
