"Do they know anything about his condition yet?" Alice asked, not having any other words. Sympathetic sorrow settled in like a cape over her.
Shaking her head, Trinity took a step back. “I'm guessing they don't even have an update yet to give out. The sheriff said he’d let the deputies know as soon as he was able, so they could cover any shifts he might miss. Beyond that there's nothing."
Alice didn't know what to say. She’d imagined the worst of Reed and now she felt racked with guilt. Here he was concerned about the life of a family member and she was angry about dinner. It was foolish of her and she felt even more guilt about the message she left on his phone. Hopefully he'd be able to forgive her the misunderstanding, whenever he got around to listening to it. She was mortified.
Motioning to the food, she began moving back toward the table. "Well, you and I might as well eat dinner. It's been cooling for a while but not much to be done about that." They moved toward the table. The two of them ate what had to have been the saddest and quietest meal they had ever eaten in their lifelong friendship.
Chapter 9
Finally, a little after six the doctor came out to a room full of Matthew's relatives. So full they had basically taken up the entire waiting area between the fifteen of them. When the doctor walked in all conversation stopped at once. It was as if the entire room held one collective breath as they turned and watched the man walk up to Reed’s uncle, Gabe and aunt, Vivian.
"It looks like he’ll be okay. He's got a bunch of bruises, but luckily, he was wearing a vest. He had one go in his shoulder and we were able to get that out. It missed the vital muscles and after a few months, and some physical therapy he should have general use of the arm. Might be tough to do certain things for a few months but if he sticks with it, he should have full range of motion eventually. He's kind of out of it but we moved him into a separate room, and it can hold maybe two visitors at a time. So you all will have to go in shifts. I can take the first group now if you want to figure out who's going first."
"Mom and Dad; the rest of us can wait," Robert chimed in before anyone else could speak.
When no one argued there was a general mumble of agreement, even from their grandparents; the doctor nodded and waved back Gabe and Vivian through the white double doors.
As they left the room there was a giant collective sigh of relief. Reed could feel the tension leaving everyone in the room. They were all so grateful to hear Matthew was walking away lucky. Initially they hadn’t been sure where the bullet hit him, so the news was welcome. Everyone sat in relieved silence for a couple moments. Reed sat with his four cousins in one section of seats, along with their two female cousins on their mother's side. Robert was sitting across from him and when the older man leaned forward and began scrubbing at the top of his head all of their attention turned to him.
"This is all Michelle's fault, you know."
Reed frowned, Michelle was Matthew's fiancé, who now that someone brought up her name, he realized was surprisingly absent from the waiting area. Reed frowned and looked back at Robert. He continued speaking as if to himself, only loud enough that the cousins in their section of seats could hear.
"They broke up four days ago. Jared and I were coming over to see him this weekend for consolation. He broke up with her when he realized she'd been cheating for months, since before they were engaged. Michelle didn't see any problem with what she was doing. She said the person she was sleeping with was already married, so it wasn't as if she was going to run away with him and leave Matthew. He was devastated. He told her it wasn't how he wanted a relationship to be, she waved off his protests and said everything would be fine, that it wasn't a big deal. He was so bummed when I talked to him. I can't help but wonder whether he was distracted and that's what got him shot. There's no way after a blow like that he is levelheaded this soon after."
Robert finally lifted his head as he realized everyone was listening to him in a stunned silence. Sighing, he seemed to realize he shouldn't have said it out loud. But he pushed on anyway. "This is the last thing, he is obsessed with his job. And now he's about to be both out it and the woman he loves all within a few days. Yes, he's the older, more stoic brother, but it still might be a fight for him to get back to any semblance of normal."
"That's why they broke up?" one of the female cousins from their mother's side piped in, her tone shocked. "I had dinner with him two days ago. He was still downtown at the time and reached out. He had been pretty downtrodden and when I pushed him, he said they’d broken up but didn't say anything beyond that. Oh, poor Matthew."
They all sat in silence for a long time, each lost in thought.
Reed didn't know what he could do for his cousin. Matthew was the one he was least close to and although he considered him a brother, Robert was right. Matthew was the oldest and took that job very seriously. He was stoic and doled out advice. He’d be the last person they’d expect to need advice, it was extra important he got it. Asking for support was foreign to him.
Before he came to a conclusion, Gabe and Vivian walked through the doorway toward all of them.
"Heads up," Max whispered loud enough for the group to hear and nodded toward his parents. Everybody looked up expectantly at both of them.
They both looked stricken but not as bad as they had earlier. They were holding hands in solidarity, clearly leaning on each other to remain strong. They had the kind of marriage their kids all hoped they would someday have.
"He's pretty banged up; he has a bruise on his jaw on the right side that's pretty bad. You can tell he'll probably have sore muscles. Bruises and cuts everywhere but nothing terribly serious, other than the shoulder. He is also very out of it so be prepared for him not to be able to hold conversations with you right now," Gabe announced to the entire area, clearly not wanting to repeat himself over and over. When he finished, both he and Aunt Vivian went and sat down with Rachel, Dottie, Vivian's sister and both sets of grandparents.
As if they had already discussed it, Matthew’s grandparents on the other side of the family got up and slowly made their way toward Matthew's room. It went like that for the rest of the night. They went in two by two, and checked on Matthew. Everyone needed to see him with their own eyes and though Reed believed no one was lying about his condition, he was more relieved when he got to see in person that Matthew looked like he would recover. Taking a deep breath even his soul relaxed.
Once everyone had a chance to visit him, everybody went back to a hotel nearby, or their houses in the cases of those that lived on the western half of the state. Normally when they all got together, they would go get a drink, but no one felt like socializing. Everyone went back to their rooms and contemplated how close they had come to losing Matthew.
~~
"I do not need babysitters, Mom," Matthew growled, clearly trying and failing at keeping his tone calm.
Reed watched as his uncle bristled and started to speak. But as Vivian laid her hand on top of her husband’s hand he stilled.
"It's adorable that you think I look young enough to be considered a babysitter. This is not negotiable, Matthew Lewis." Her tone carried the weight of authority Aunt Vivian had always possessed.
Reed guessed she would have to with five rambunctious boys. As young kids Reed was sure they had been an eat or be eaten household.
"I know the townhouse you rent has a guestroom. I have stayed there before. It isn't as if you don't have room for us." She patted Matthew's hand lightly, avoiding where the IV was connected. "Now say goodbye to your brothers and cousin; they are all headed out." She took a step back so Matthew could see them waiting in the doorway.
They all took turns giving him a hug and saying a few words before heading out. Kevin, Max, and Reed piled into Max's Outback. Reed stretched across the back seat and closed his eyes. Yesterday’s stress of not knowing how his cousin was had taken its toll. Even though he’d been able to see his cousin and know that the older man would be okay, it wasn't until they had
walked into the hospital this morning, large coffees in hand, and found out Matthew was being released today that the burden lifted off any of them. There was also an extra sense of mischievous joy that he took from the fact that his aunt and uncle would be staying with Matthew taking care of him. Next to Jared, his cousin immediately below Matthew, Matthew was fiercely independent. But he’d never been able to make himself a recluse the way Jared did so instead he had moved to the western side of the mountains. Being stuck with his mom and dad for at least a few days was funny. He could only imagine his aunt fussing over Matthew beyond the point of being ridiculous. And at the same time, it was good to know that there were two people with Matthew so if something should happen Matthew wasn't on his own. If a complication arose, he knew his aunt and uncle wouldn't hesitate to take Matthew back to the hospital, where Matthew himself might not go on his own.
"How long do you think it'll take Matthew to snap?" Max asked from the front seat, his tone amused.
"Oh, I would say under two days. I can’t imagine it will take longer than that. Injury or no injury, if he snaps in front of Dad, Dad’ll smack him," Kevin answered lightly.
Even though Reed’s cousins were amused by Matthew being stuck with their parents, there was also an underlying seriousness from how close they had come to losing their brother.
"We are still all moving Alice into her new place tomorrow, right?" Max asked without looking away from the road.
"That's right, we agreed to do that on Sunday. Geez, it’s already late afternoon Saturday? I lost so much time. So much for going home and vegging out," interjected Kevin, scrubbing his face and groaning.
"As far as I know, yes. I turned off my phone and I haven't turned it back on, so she could have changed plans. Who knows, maybe Simon is helping move her instead." He knew the disdain in his voice as he said the last part was juvenile, but he couldn't help it.
"We have time, why don't you call her and ask?" Kevin suggested hopefully.
Clearly, he’d be okay getting out of helping with the move. He also knew his cousins were right. He should check in with her and make sure the plan hadn’t changed. He knew it most likely hadn't, but that wasn't something he should take for granted. Turning the device on, he waited until it woke up. Once fully rebooted he saw he had a half dozen missed calls from Alice, and he cursed as he remembered she had made dinner plans with him on Friday and Reed never informed her about what was happening. For all she knew, he had stood her up. There went his chances; she was probably livid.
"What's going on?” Kevin asked, turning around to look at Reed.
"I have six missed calls from Alice and a voicemail I'm about to listen to. We had dinner plans on Friday. She said she wanted to make dinner as sort of a thank you for all I was doing and when I heard about Matthew, I up and left. I didn't think of anything else. My battery was near dead, so I shut it off during school and didn't charge it until last night, but I didn't think to turn it back on. I forgot to inform her I'd be missing our dinner and why."
Turning back around to face forward, Kevin gave a long, low whistle and Reed put the phone to his ear. Sure enough, Alice had left an angry, and hurt message; he’d really lost his chance with her now.
"Is it angry?" wafted Max's voice from the front seat.
"Oh yeah."
"There's only one thing to do. The grand gesture, you don't have a choice, Reed. Once she hears why you were out of town, she’ll probably forgive you, but you should really go above and beyond to win her over because we know you; once she moves out you will go back to doing nothing. Bare minimum, absolute bare minimum call her now and let her know you'll be there in about an hour and a half. At least let her know you're coming. Then, if she’s still at the house when you arrive, take her out to dinner. Lay it all on the table, tell her you have feelings for her, that you have forever and you're sorry for not telling her why you left town on Friday. As far as grand gestures go, it's minuscule but it's something." He said it all in one breath, afraid Reed or Kevin would interrupt him. When Max decided to take the reins on something, he barreled over both of them before either could protest.
"No, I know you're right. I need to give her a call. Maybe I'll text her. I don't feel like being yelled at or, you know? I know it's cowardly, I just think it would kill me to hear Simon in the background."
Reed knew it was stupid and selfish to think that way, but he couldn't help it. He shot off a quick message apologizing for Friday and letting her know there were extenuating circumstances and he would explain when he got home. Then he said he'd be home in about an hour and a half. Before he could even put his phone back in his pocket it buzzed with her response; just one word, ‘okay.’
He didn't know what to make of that since he couldn’t discern her tone. Now he kicked himself for not calling her and finding out where he stood.
"Did she respond?" Max asked
Reed slid his phone back into his pocket and spread himself out again, closing his eyes. "Yeah, one word, okay."
"That could mean any number of things." Kevin snorted.
Reed didn't respond, he didn't feel like continuing this conversation. While he enjoyed having Alice at his house all week and wanted to date her, the emotional turmoil of the last twenty-four hours had made rehashing of his stupid love life choices something he wasn’t up for. After a few minutes of ignoring his cousins, they took the hint. Eventually, he fell asleep and didn’t wake until they had parked in the school lot next to his car.
~~
As he got out of the car, Kevin offered to take him out for a beer. Max was frowning at his older brother. Reed got the distinct impression that although Max would go along, he would make it clear he thought they were all being stupid. Reed declined saying he needed to face the music on this one and he would call them if he changed his mind. Then he headed to his car and drove home.
Seeing Alice's car in the driveway was a relief. She hadn't left, or at least had come back to be here when he got here. That was something. Either she’d yell and scream at him or she'd come to hear him out. Both options gave Reed hope. He knew she could technically still be with Simon, even though there was strong evidence that if he took her to the bowling alley it was only the first or second date, at least according to Kevin. Going after somebody who was already in a relationship didn’t feel right, but that didn't squelch the hope he felt.
After getting out of the car, he swung his backpack over his left shoulder. As he locked the car he turned and only had a split second to brace himself as Alice came running toward him and wrapped him in a hug. Feeling his backpack drop off his shoulder, as her blonde hair whipped around his face a second before her legs jumped up, he had to grab them to stop her from falling. His heart hammered in his chest and he knew his face held wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Luckily Alice couldn't see it because she'd wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her head was next to his.
"I am so sorry to hear about your cousin. But I hear that the shot didn't hit anything vital, so that's good news," she whispered.
Too surprised to respond, all Reed could do was hold her. She felt wonderful in is arms and it was something he'd only ever dreamed of until now.
A beat later she was slowly sliding down and then stood less than an arm’s length away from him, looking him in the face. "I am glad it was a near miss. And I'm sorry for leaving that angry message on Friday. I didn't know what was going on. Trinity told me since the sheriff was keeping his deputies appraised of the situation. I felt very foolish once I found out and wanted to leave you another voicemail, but I didn't want to fill your inbox so I figured I would wait until you got back."
“I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It didn't even occur to me to send you a text and it should have; it was wrong of me." Finally finding his voice was a relief but then a sharp stab of pain went through him and he continued to speak. "But what about Simon? Should you be jumping into my arms like that if you're with Simon?"
He watched as Alice curled her lip back a
nd frowned. "I'm not with Simon; we went on one date, that was ruined, but to be fair wasn't going that well anyway. There won’t be another with him. But that doesn't matter, grab your bag, let's head inside." With the last four words, she turned around grabbing his right hand in hers and staying still just long enough for him to bend down and grab his bag before she led him into his house.
The temperature difference was extreme; it had finally stopped snowing buckets around Lantern Lake, but the temperatures hadn't really warmed up enough for the snow on grassy or unplowed areas to have melted fully. That meant inside the house was a blast of warmth by comparison. He had to stop himself as he stood in the door blinking then chastised himself for letting his heating go out the door. He put on his backpack and shut and locked the door behind him. Turning, he saw the dining room table that he rarely ever used was full of Italian food that had to have come from the only Italian restaurant in Bunny Ridge.
Happiness welled up as he looked from the food to Alice where she stood smiling at him expectantly halfway between him and the table. "You didn't have to bring dinner."
Her smile wavered ever so slightly as she approached him. "Well, we missed our first dinner. And since you couldn't make the first date, I figured I might as well set up a second one. Just to make sure it gets done."
"Did you say date?" Saying it out loud made him feel like a moron, but he was so surprised he couldn't think of anything else.
He watched her shoulders slump, but more in a relaxed manner than defeated. "Yeah, date. I have had a crush on you, Reed, on and off since we were kids. It became clear you weren’t going to make a move so I decided I would. I'm usually not one to be outgoing and make the first move but it felt like you and I wouldn't happen if I didn't. And while I could be completely wrong, and this could be a horrible nightmare, I'm fairly certain you have feelings for me, too." He saw it then, the flicker of doubt in her eyes from where she stood two feet in front of him.
Lantern Lake Winter Collection: Books 1-3 Page 23