Page 25 of Lost King

"I'm his son," I inform her as we walk out of the exam room.

"I was instructed to take your mom to the chapel. I'll take you to her."

The chapel? My stomach sinks. The nurse notices the look of concern on my face, and just before the double doors open leading to the back, she pauses. "The doctors are with your dad right now. The chapel is a quiet place for the family to wait," she tries to assure me. It does nothing to ease my nerves. Just as we pass the nurses station, Emerson walks out of an exam room, her arms clasping her laptop to her chest. She looks up, surprised to see me "Quinn?" Quickly her eyes shift to the nurse beside me. "What are you—"

I interrupt her, "my dad was brought in. Something happened to him at work."

"Dr. Evans, I was taking Mr. Beckett's son to the chapel to wait with his mother," the nurse explains. "Dr. Chamberlin is with the patient now."

"Thank you, Tracie." Emerson faces me and places her hand on my arm. "I'll go see what I can find out. Right now, go comfort your mom."

Giving Emerson a quick hug, I follow the nurse. Upon opening the doors to the chapel, I find Mom sitting on the small front pew with her face buried in the palms of her hands. "Mom," I say softly trying not to make her jump out her skin. Her tear stained eyes breaks my heart as she lifts her worried face to mine.

"They haven't been in to tell me anything. Not knowing is the worst part for me right now," she wipes the wetness from her face with a tissue she has in her right hand. Sitting beside her, I bring her close and wrap my arm around her.

"Dad's strong. Whatever happened, he'll pull through," I do my best to soothe her.

The door to the room creaks. Turning my head and looking over my shoulder I see Emerson making her way in. Following her is a tall, dark-haired doctor.

"Mrs. Beckett?" he appears in front of us. Squatting, he brings himself level to talk with my mom. Emerson sits beside me, her hand resting on my thigh.

Ringing her hands together my mom addresses him with a plea. "Please tell me the love of my life is going to be okay."

Dr. Chamberlin's face softens with understanding. "Your husband is going to be okay. He suffered a gunshot to the kidney region. We've confirmed the bullet went through the left kidney so he's being prepped for surgery and I'll be the surgeon taking care of him."

"Shot?" my mom asks in a state of shock.

"Mrs. Beckett," Emerson speaks, "I talked with the guy who rode with him, Bob I believe he said his name was."

"That's a coworker of his. They've worked together for years," I clarify.

"He said that Mr. Beckett rode out to investigate a potential poacher on the property that someone had called in this morning. An hour later he received a distress call over their hand-held radios that your husband was shot." Emerson finishes with the information she was able to find.

"But, he is going to be okay? Right?" my mom wants Dr. Chamberlin to confirm.

He looks from me back to my mom, settling his attention on her. "Yes. All his vitals looked good. He's fit and healthy for his age. I have no reason to believe otherwise." He states. Placing his hand on his knees, Dr. Chamberlin stands, and I stand as well and put out my hand.

"I'll take care of him." Dr. Chamberlin assures shaking my hand. "Thank you," I tell him.

He gives me a nod and leaves the room. Suddenly the air is a lot less thick and we all breathe a sigh of relief.

"Unfortunately, I need to get back to work," Emerson stands. "I'll take you two to the family waiting area and get you some coffee. As soon as he's out of surgery, I'll come get you." Mom and I stand, and Emerson steps closer and embraces my mom and rubs her back as she hugs her. "How about some coffee or some warm tea?" she offers as we exit into the hallway.

"Tea sounds nice," my mom conveys.

After walking us to the waiting area, Emerson makes a quick trip to the cafeteria and reappears with a cup of tea in one hand and a coffee in the other. Mom sips on her drink as I take the offered coffee from her. "Cream and sugar the way you like it," she smiles and I pull her close to me so that I can feel the warmth of her body against mine.

"Thank you, Sunshine." Leaning in, I kiss her.

"I'll see you soon," she whispers as I let her go.

A couple of hours later Dad is in recovery resting comfortably, with Mom by his side holding his hand. They couldn't repair the damage to the kidney caused by the bullet so now he's left with one. My brothers showed up too. Jake closed the shop early, and even Gabriel shut down and rescheduled clients for the rest of the day to be here. Every one of them sat out in the waiting room waiting to hear the final word after surgery before leaving.

"Quinn, honey, would you pick your sister up from school and stay home with her tonight? I'd like to stay here, and once she finds out about Dad, she'll be upset," my mom strokes my dad's hair with her fingertips.

"No problem." I walk over, lean down and kiss her cheek, "Call me if you need anything. Do you mind if Emerson stays too? She's about to clock out for the day," I ask.

"Of course, sweetie. Emerson is always welcome," she says sitting down in the chair beside the bed looking exhausted.