He couldn’t worry about them. Not now. Not when he had Karen to keep afloat until he could get her, too, out of town.
* * * *
Uncle Ian was hooked up in what seemed like half of the equipment in the hospital. Karen sat next to his bed in a chair, holding his hand that looked too normal, too much like the hand Quinn had shaken just days ago.
Quinn leaned over Ian and whispered Arthur’s message to him, then pulled another chair and sat there with Karen. She held onto Ian with one hand, the other occupied by the beads, silent tears rolling down her face.
Quinn stayed awake only because of the intermittent visits from nurses and the doctor. They were always kind and polite, sympathetic to a point that told Quinn more than he wanted to know.
“Quinn?” Aunt Karen nudged him sometime in the evening.
“Huh?” He jerked upright, startled as hell. “What is it?”
“I want you to go get a hotel room from somewhere nearby. Go get dinner, then go sleep for as much as you can.” Before he could object, she shook her head. “No. You need to rest. You need your strength and your wits. I’ll call you if anything changes and I’ll keep Arthur updated too.”
She looked determined in the way that told him it made no sense to try and talk her around.
“Okay.” He got to his feet and kissed her cheek. Then he went to squeeze Uncle Ian’s fingers and leaned in to kiss his cheek, too. “In case you go while I’m gone, I wanted to say I love you. You have been the best father figure I’ve ever had, Ian. Rest easy. Thank you.”
Without looking at Karen so he wouldn’t burst into tears, Quinn made his way out of the room, the ICU, and the hospital.
* * * *
Day called him late that night as he tossed and turned in his hotel room bed.
“What’s the situation?” Day asked, sounding more harried than usual.
“Ian is in the hospital. Jimmy shot him, or at least one of his guys because he’s not here.” Quinn stared at the ceiling above the bed.
Day hissed. “Shit. How bad?”
“He’s not gonna make it.” Then he explained what Brody had seen the previous night that somehow felt like it had happened days ago, not less than 24 hours.
“Okay, I’m going to urge them to start making preparations. How long do you think we’ll have?”
“Not long. I would hope he gives us time to bury his father, but with Jimmy, apparently you never know.”
“Alright, be ready and don’t take any risks. That’s not why you’re there. And for the love of all that’s holy, wear your fucking vest if you have to go in.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Quinn replied to the old argument. “You know I can’t move in those. Bye.”
“Talk to you later. Bye.”
It took him time to fall asleep, but by the time he got to the hospital around seven and forced Karen to go to the cafeteria, he felt much better.
Quinn looked at Ian, the way his larger than life uncle seemed so fragile now. Briefly, Quinn wandered if Ian was even still inside the body that looked nothing like the vibrant man Quinn had known all his life. He looked weak and wan, colorless. He’s been such a vibrant man, so loud and full of life, and now he looked diminished.
“You were right, I did need sleep,” he admitted, and Karen gave him a tired smile.
A nurse came in and Karen nodded at him. It seemed like he’d been on the shift all night.
“I’m going to go get breakfast. Quinn here is keeping an eye on Ian while I’m gone,” she said before slipping out of the room.
“I’m the nephew,” Quinn said, giving the guy a little wave.
The nurse chuckled. “I’m Gio. She told me you were here with her.”
Gio went on checking things here and there. None of it made sense to Quinn, he wasn’t in any way hospital equipment savvy despite having been hooked to them himself a couple of times more than he’d like to admit. But even Quinn knew that the way Gio’s eyebrows twitched when he took another reading wasn’t a good thing.
