I help her up and tuck her in like she’s a child.
“Beckett?”
“Yeah, Donna?”
“You’re a good doctor,” she says, her eyes drifting shut. “Even if you’re a terrible liar.”
Fifty-Two
Madison
I feel like a ghost in my own home. I’ve handled this so many times, but having Beckett here changes the chemistry of the crisis. It’s no longer just my burden. It’s a shared weight, and the novelty of that is terrifying.
Every few minutes, I look at Piper and Rowan. Piper has stopped crying, replaced by a vacant, thousand-yard stare that worries me more than the sobbing did. Rowan is picking at a loose thread on her jeans, her jaw set so tight I can see the muscle in her cheek twitching.
The sharpdingof the doorbell cuts through the static of my thoughts.
I check the peephole, half-expecting a concerned neighbor or, worse, the police if the screaming had been louder than I thought.
Instead, there’s a man standing on the porch. He’s tall, wearing a charcoal overcoat over a dark sweater, and he looks remarkably calm for someone standing on the doorstep of a house that’s currently imploding.
“Madison?” he asks when I open the door. His voice is deep and entirely steady.
“Hi. You must be Beckett’s friend. Thanks for coming.”
He shakes his head. “It’s no problem. My name is Hudson.”
His gaze shifts past me for a second, landing on the stairs where my sisters are sitting. “Where is he?”
“Upstairs,” I say. “He’s been in the bedroom with her for the last thirty minutes.”
Hudson nods, adjusting the strap of his medical bag. “Beckett is a good man to have in a foxhole. He’s got steady hands and the heart of a poet, even if he tries to hide it.”
I manage a weak, watery smile. “Tell me about it.”
“Go sit down, Madison,” Hudson says gently. “I’ll go up and consult with him. We’ll figure out a plan that keeps her safe.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. “Really. Thank you.”
I watch him walk up the stairs. He passes Rowan, who looks up at him with a frown, her eyes tracking him with a mix of suspicion and something else I can’t quite identify.
“Great. Another doctor trying to get into her head,” she mumbles, rolling her eyes.
I let that go because I don’t have the energy tonight.
When I head back to the kitchen, I lean against thecounter. My legs feel like lead.
The cavalry has arrived. The specialists are in the room.
Now, all I have to do is wait for the verdict.
∞∞∞
I don’t know how long it takes before they come back downstairs.
Beckett spots me like he’s been tracking my presence even through the walls.
Hudson follows, his professional calm still intact, but his eyes are softer now.
