“Okay, so how about you go ask if they know anything, and I’ll call her?”
“You have her number?” Dad looked surprised.
“Yeah, Makai gave it to me a few weeks ago, just so someone else had it here. I’ve never used it.” He sighed. “And I’m not happy to be using it now.”
Dad grimaced and patted his shoulder before getting up. “I’ll go see if there’s news, get the details of what they actually know.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Emil watched Dad go and took out his cell. Calling Susan Stone to tell her that her youngest had been shot wasn’t going to be easy. If it had been just being the bearer of bad news, it would’ve been better, but the relationship between Makai and his mother was complex, and Emil knew Makai didn’t normally like to think about her at all. Emil wasn’t sure why or what had exactly happened between them.
He found the number in his phone and pressed call. It took maybe five rings for it to go through.
“Susan Stone speaking,” a calm voice answered.
“Hi, Mrs. Stone, I don’t know if you know who I am, but this is Emil Newman from Acker,” he started, not quite knowing how to make the call after all.
“Oh, Makai’s… friend, right?” she sounded surprised, but not worried yet.
“Yes, right. Look, there’s no easy way to say this, but there’s been a shooting, and Makai is in surgery right now.” Emil ran his fingers through his hair and tugged as he stared at the floor.
She gasped. “What?”
“I don’t have all the details. My dad, he’s the sheriff, he’s gone to ask what the current situation is. But I know that Makai went to interfere in a domestic disturbance.”
“Wait, wait…. So you’re saying Makai went to help someone out and got shot?” Emil couldn’t read her tone at all.
“Pretty much, yes.” Then, because she was just breathing at the other end, he added, “I thought you should know.”
“Yes, yes, right. Well I’m at work right now, and my granddaughters are coming over later, so I don’t know—”
The door opened, and Dad walked in. “Mrs. Stone, my dad’s here. I’ll put you on speaker, if that’s okay?”
“Yes, all right,” she said.
“Hello, Mrs. Stone, I’m Sheriff Newman. I assume Emil filled you in for the most part, but the actual condition Makai is in.”
“Right,” she agreed.
“He took a shot to the chest at close range while he was trying to protect the victim of a domestic violence incident. It seems like his arm got in the way of the bullet, which changed the angle of it, or so they think. He had a collapsed lung and lost a lot of blood, but they’re fixing him right now, and the prognosis is good at this moment.”
She was silent for a while, then cleared her throat. “All right. Would you tell him we’re thinking of him and call me if anything changes for the worse?”
Emil’s eyes widened as he stared at his dad with disbelief.
“Yes, we’ll do that,” Dad said calmly, but his gaze was steely.
“Okay, well, I’ll have to get back to work. Bye.” The call disconnected, and Emil felt… empty.
“How can she just discard him like that?” Emil looked at his dad. “What kind of parent does that?”
“The kind who doesn’t visit their son in prison even once?” Dad frowned, disapproval written all over his weathered face.
Emil’s jaw dropped. “Jesus,” he hissed. “No wonder he doesn’t stay in touch with her.”
“Yeah.”
“He even gave her money after he got out, to make sure she’d be okay for a while at least, because I don’t think his brother is the most reliable type.”
Dad shook his head and huffed. “From what I gather, no, he’s not. Makai, on the other hand….” The smile Dad gave him then was somehow… proud. “I’m glad you found him, son.”
