Gunner held up his hands and let Marcus get it all out. When Gunner didn’t fight back or try to grab Marcus, he paused and stared up at Gunner.
“I think you’re a brave boy for defending your mom. I’m not a bad man. Your mom was getting totes from underneath the table, and I asked a question. It surprised her…”
“Oh, did she hit her head on the latch? I’ve done that a couple times, and it really hurts,” Marcus said, wiping his nose and the tears seeping out of his eyes.
“Yes. Flick and Stella are going to come check her out to make sure she’s okay,” Gunner said, slowly moving his hand to Marcus’ shoulder. He wanted to comfort the kid, but this outburst told him there might be more to their story he needed to be aware of.
Marcus didn’t flinch when Gunner placed his hand on Marcus’ shoulder. Marcus moved closer and leaned against Gunner.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Marcus asked, staring up at Gunner.
Gunner nodded and knelt down so Marcus was face to face with him.
“You can, but if you’re in danger, I need to share it with your mommy,” Gunner said.
Marcus leaned closer, wrapping his arms around Gunner’s neck and burying his face against Gunner’s chest.
“Daddy said if I told, he’d kill Mommy and Chelle,” Marcus whispered.
Stone knelt down beside them. “You can trust Gunner and all of us. We won’t let your daddy do that.”
Gunner pushed the rage he felt at Marcus’ words deep down inside. He didn’t want Marcus to feel how angry he was.
“What does he not want you to tell?” Gunner asked, breathing deeply, his arms wrapped around Marcus. He reminded himself that the kids and Rachel were both safe here at Bluff Creek.
“I saw him pushing a needle in his arm,” Marcus said softly. Gunner had to strain to make outwhat he said. A needle in his arm—had Rachel’s husband been a drug user the whole time, or had it been something new? The small amount of time he’d been around Rachel, he didn’t see her being okay with drugs being around her children.
“All right, where’s the patient?” Flick said, walking in with Stella.
“Mommy’s here. She hit her head on the hard metal thing under the table. It hurts when it happens,” Marcus said, turning toward Flick.
“Well, let’s see how she is,” Flick said.
Gunner kept his arm around Marcus as Flick and Stella checked her over. Rachel moaned a little as she came to.
“Hey, Rachel. Do you remember me?” Flick asked.
Rachel nodded, then grabbed her head.
“You’re Beth’s husband,” she said.
Flick chuckled. “Yes, I am Beth’s husband. I’m also an EMT, and Stella here is a nurse practitioner. Does anything else besides your head hurt?”
Gunner listened as Stella and Flick ran through questions regarding Rachel’s symptoms. They’dhelped her sit up, and Flick had gone to the kitchen, returning with some juice for her to sip.
“Have you been skipping meals?” Stella asked.
“Maybe. I haven’t deliberately been skipping meals. I ate breakfast with Gunner and the kids. We’ve been so busy for the last week, and I haven’t been very hungry,” Rachel said.
“How’s your sleep been?” Flick asked.
“Not great. We’ve been traveling and I don’t sleep deeply in the van,” Rachel replied, sipping the juice.
“I think, and I can tell by Flick’s face he’s coming to the same conclusion, you’re exhausted, run down, and didn’t take in enough calories today. When you hit your head, I don’t believe your body could handle processing the adrenaline. I’d really like you to eat and drink something and see how you feel. Does a smoothie sound good, or would you rather we heated up some of the mac n’ cheese with barbecue chicken? We need to make sure you have a good balance of protein with your calories,” Stella said.
“I’m not very hungry, but the mac n’ cheese sounds better than a smoothie,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
Marcus grabbed her hand. Rachel pulled him closer. “I’m okay, buddy.”
