by A. J. Marcus
Cara’s trunk touched Ed’s shoulder, then reached past him toward Eddy. The first paramedic jumped back.
“Is it safe?”
Ed nodded. “Let her sniff him. Then she’ll let us take him away.”
Cara gently sniffed, starting at Eddy’s feet and ending at his hair. She barely touched the darkening bruise on his forehead or his broken arm. She lifted her trunk, and as the men rolled Eddy away, she let out a loud, plaintive cry that Ciro and Gwen echoed.
Bryan rushed up as Ed opened the back gate for the paramedics. “Is he okay?”
“They don’t know about the head injury. Can you handle things here while I ride with Eddy to the hospital?”
His brother nodded. “Of course.”
“Do you want me to go with you or stay here and help Bryan?” Adrian asked. He held Trina’s hand.
“Go tell Trish what’s happening. Then meet me at the hospital.”
Adrian let go of Trina and caught Ed in his arms. For a second, the tears threatened yet again, but Ed fought them back.
“I’ll be there as quickly as I can,” Adrian promised. “You hang in there. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Ed only nodded as he heard the ambulance pull up. Adrian kissed his forehead. Trina hugged his leg, and he reached down and picked the girl up.
“Daddy, Eddy’s going to be okay. I know he is,” the little girl said. “He won’t leave me just as I’m getting to know him.”
The tears found their way through. He clung to the girl as Adrian hugged them both. “I know that, Trina. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he’s okay. You go and bring your mother to the hospital. Okay?”
Tears streaked the little girl’s face as he set her back on the ground, but she squared her shoulders and took Adrian’s hand. “I’ll tell Mommy.” “We’re ready to go, sir,” the paramedic called.
Ed looked and saw Eddy’s gurney secured in the ambulance. For a moment, he flashed back to his father’s accident. The elephants continued to trumpet. Cara and Gwen would be remembering his father’s accident too. Wiping the tears from his face, Ed headed for the ambulance.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Adrian called.
Even with the door closed, the sound of the elephants’ distress still filled the metal box that carried Ed and his son swiftly away from the faire.
Chapter 27
Adrian kept hold of Trina’s hand as they hurried across the festival site to get to the costume shop Trish and Samantha ran. All the way there, his heart pounded. Seeing Eddy lying so still on the ground was terrifying. The pain in Ed’s face struck him like a physical blow. Moments before, everything had been wonderful, and now….
“Dio, what’s going on?” Mel shouted at him as they crossed the footbridge.
He stopped and waited as Mel, Jade, and Sebastian caught up to them. “We don’t know for sure yet. Eddy got hurt. Paramedics are saying a broken arm and probably a concussion. He hasn’t woken up yet. They’re on the way to the hospital now. Cara had some woman pinned against the wall. Bryan and the other workers might know more about what happened.”
Trina tugged at his hand. “I know what happened. We kids saw everything from the fence.”
Apparently, no one had thought to ask the girl anything. Adrian glanced back toward the elephant ride, where security and the police were questioning people. For a moment, he wondered how they’d managed to get past them all, but he didn’t ponder on it. “Sweetie, what happened? Were you kids supposed to be off wandering around?”
“Yeah, we saw part of your show. It was really pretty. I liked the music and the dancing.” She looked up at Jade and Mel. “Maybe when I’m older I can be a belly dancer too.”
Jade reached down and patted her on the head. “I’m sure you’ll make an awesome belly dancer, Trina, but what happened to Eddy?”
“Well, he wanted to stop by and check on Ciro. When we got there, everyone was busy getting folks on or off rides. Cara was over getting a drink, and Ciro was lying down in the shade. Eddy spotted that woman inside the fence where she shouldn’t be. He crawled through to tell her to get outside where she belonged. She did something to Ciro, and he knocked Eddy down and stepped on him. I’m sure it was an accident. Ciro wouldn’t hurt Eddy, would he?”
Adrian shook his head. “No, sweetie, Ciro wouldn’t hurt Eddy on purpose.”
“But then Cara got upset and pushed the woman against the wall. All the adults started running around. The people on Gwen got scared, and then you and Daddy got there.”
“I bet the woman was one of those crazy animal rights people,” Mel said.
“I think crazy is the right word to get in the corral with the elephants without supervision.” Sebastian spoke up for the first time.
“Look, you guys go back and tell the police what Trina just told us.” Adrian straightened, still holding the girl’s small hand in his. “We’re on the way to tell Trish what happened; then we’re on the way to the hospital. If they need to talk to Trina, that’s where we’ll be. Make sure Bryan and the guys are okay.”
“If we can help them out in any way, we will,” Jade assured him. “We’ll see you up at the hospital later.”
“We all will,” Sebastian said. He stared at Adrian for a second, then threw his arms around his friend. “I’m sorry this happened, Dio. I know Ed and Eddy mean a lot to you. Let me know if I can do anything.”
For a second, Adrian was stunned. Then he hugged his friend back. “Thanks, Bastian. I’ll see you later.” Then Adrian and Trina resumed their walk toward the front gate.
They’d just rounded the last corner when they nearly ran into Trish, hurrying in their direction.
“Oh my God, Trina.” She snatched her daughter up. After hugging her for nearly a minute, she looked at Adrian. “What’s going on? I heard that someone was hurt at the elephant ride.”
Adrian nodded. “Ed sent me to tell you. There was an accident.
Eddy’s been hurt. They’re on the way to the hospital now.”
Her dark eyes widened. “Why was Eddy there in the middle of the day?”
“According to Trina, they stopped by after watching the belly dancing show. Ed was watching it too. We were backstage when Cara went off. Ed got there as fast as he could. It looks like Ciro may have trampled Eddy by accident. Eddy has a broken arm and possibly a concussion. He was still unconscious when the ambulance left.”
“I’ve got to get to the hospital,” Trish said, clinging to her daughter. “We have to go tell Sam. She can close up the shop and follow.” She dashed for her shop.
Adrian fell into step with her. “I can drive you. I know where it is and told Ed I’d meet him there.” There was no way he was not going to be at Ed’s side through this. His world was just starting to fall into place, and he was going to do what he could to hold it together.
Chapter 28
Ed stared at the bed where Eddy had lain minutes before. The doctors had rushed him off to get a scan of his head. They said it would help them determine if the boy had any major brain injuries and let them know what they needed to do for him. There was only a small indentation on the bed where his son had rested. Somehow, it should be larger. The spot in my heart that is there for Eddy is larger. How could the spot on the bed be so small?
The door to the room opened. Instead of the doctors bringing Eddy back, Adrian walked in, followed by Trish and Trina. Without pausing, the flutist hurried over and caught Ed up in his strong arms. It felt so good being held by the man. For the first time in his life, Ed had the hope that he wouldn’t have to go through things with just his mom and brother to lean on. His developing bond with Adrian felt much stronger and more intimate than any he’d had before. The two men stood there together for a moment.
“How’s Eddy?” Trish finally broke the silence that had settled over the room.
Ed lifted his head from Adrian’s shoulder, but didn’t remove his arms from the man’s waist. “Sorry.” He apologized for not ackn
owledging Trish when she walked in. “They’ve taken him for a brain scan. They’ve already set the broken arm. It was a simple break; they figure it should be good as new in no time. But he still hasn’t regained consciousness, and they are worried about that. I just wish I knew what happened.”
Adrian ran a soothing hand through Ed’s hair. “We might know. Trina was there and saw everything.” Adrian related what the girl had told them.
Ed released him and walked over and knelt down in front of Trina. “Are you sure that’s what happened?” His little girl nodded.
After hugging her, Ed went to the window that looked down into the mostly empty parking lot. It was all he could do to keep the anger inside him from spilling out. But he couldn’t do that. Not here. Not in a hospital. Not in front of his daughter and Trish, and especially not in front of Adrian. Like dealing with the elephants, he had to lock the anger down, keep it caged.
“So the woman is in custody?” He slowly turned from the window. “Cara didn’t actually hurt her?”
“As far as we know.” Adrian nodded. “I was doing other things, but I did see her taken away by the police. Bryan should know more when he gets here.”
“Can you sue her?” Trish asked. She’d sat down in the chair next to the bed, and Trina was now sitting in her lap.
Ed nodded. “There are several grounds for a lawsuit. I don’t have a local lawyer, but I can contact my guy back in Midland.” He pursed his lips and sighed. “I also need to call Mom. I’ve been waiting until we know more, but she’ll want to be here.” He pulled his cell phone out and stared at it. Adrian walked up behind him and put strong arms around him.
“I’m… we’re right here for you, Ed,” he whispered.
Leaning into the embrace, Ed nodded. It felt good having Adrian’s strength to draw on. Staying in the shelter of those arms, Ed flipped open the phone and hit the speed dial to call home.
His mother picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Ed, you’re calling early. Is everything okay?”
“No.” his voice cracked faster than he’d expected it to. Adrian’s arms tightened around him. “There’s been an accident. Eddy’s in the hospital.”
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone.
“What happened? Is he going to be okay?”
“Ciro accidently knocked him to the ground and stepped on him . He’s still unconscious. They’re doing a brain scan now, and we’ll know more in a little while.”
“Ed, are you okay?”
He gulped. “Adrian, Trish, and Trina are with me right now.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll call Tommy next door to watch over things here while I’m gone. I’d call that girl Bryan’s been seeing, but she’s a bit too flaky for my taste. I’ll call and let you know when my plane is supposed to arrive and at which airport. I’ll get the quickest flight out. It’ll be faster than driving.”
Ed nodded, even though in his mind he knew his mother couldn’t see the motion. “Okay, we’ll get someone there. If there’s a change, we’ll let you know.”
“Ed, you hang in there. I’ll be there as quick as possible. When Eddy comes back, you tell him Grandma loves him. Even if he’s not awake, he’ll still hear you. I love you too.”
“Love you too, Mom.” There was a soft click, and she was gone. He stared at the phone for a moment before closing it.
“Any idea how long this brain scan is supposed to take?” Trish asked.
Ed shook his head. “No, they didn’t say. They’ve been gone about half an hour now.”
“Do you need anything?” Adrian asked.
“I don’t think so,” replied Ed. He patted Adrian’s arm. “Just having you here is more than I could’ve hoped for even a couple of weeks ago.”
Adrian hugged him tighter again. “Well, you’ve got me now, and I’m here for you.”
Before Ed could reply, the door swung open and nurses pushing a gurney wheeled Eddy back into the room, followed by a tall white-smocked doctor. They pulled the gurney alongside the bed and lifted Eddy back into the small indentation he’d left in the bed previously. Once the boy was settled, they fitted a series of wires to his head and chest. Ed and the others remained silent as they worked. Once the nurses stepped outside, the doctor looked at Ed. Adrian had released his hug when the medical staff entered the room, but the musician was still close by.
“So, Mr. Costa, is it okay to speak in front of these people?” The doctor asked.
“This is Eddy’s mother, Trish, and his sister, Trina.” He gestured to the woman and girl seated by the bed. “And this is Adrian… my boyfriend.” The words felt strange on his tongue, but they also felt very right coming out of his mouth.
The doctor nodded. “It does appear that Eddy suffered a major concussion. The good news is we don’t see anything that looks like it’s going to cause lasting damage. We think that as the swelling goes down, he’ll regain consciousness, probably sometime tonight. We’ve already administered an anti-inflammatory that should begin working soon.” The doctor paused and looked at the chart for a moment. “Now it says here a baby elephant stepped on him.”
Ed nodded. “Yes, I run the elephant ride at the renaissance faire. We had a problem this afternoon with an animal rights person, and Eddy got accidentally trampled by the baby elephant we have. From the sound of it, he stopped the person from stealing or hurting the baby.”
“Okay, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t an animal attack. We have to report those.” The doctor closed the chart.
“The police have the woman in custody.” Adrian spoke up. “A lot of people saw what she did.”
The doctor turned toward the door. “We have Eddy hooked up to a brain monitor. It will alert the nurses if there is any unusual brain activity. I’ll check back in every hour or so until he wakes up, just to make sure everything’s okay.”
As the door closed behind the doctor, Adrian wrapped his arms around Ed again. “It sounds like he’s going to be okay.”
Ed sank into the musician’s warmth. Some of the anxiety of the past hours flowed out of him. “We still have to wait for him to wake up.” “But the doctor sounds confident that he will,” Trish said.
Several hours later, Ed and Adrian sat in adjoining chairs next to the bed. Trish, Samantha, Trina, Mel, Jade, and Sebastian had all gone for the night. Trish said she and Samantha needed to get Trina to bed, but promised to return in the morning. Mel, Jade, and Sebastian claimed to be crowding the room, but promised to check in from time to time. The belly dancers even offered to go pick up Ed’s mother from Love Field when she landed, but Bryan said he’d do it. All the support lent Ed the strength to get through his son’s trauma.
“Daddy.” Eddy’s dry whisper filled the room as his eyes flickered open. “Where am I?”
“Eddy.” It was hard to keep his voice down as Ed jumped up to look at his son. “You’re awake.”
It took a moment, but his son’s eyes slowly found Ed’s. “Where am I, Daddy?” he repeated weakly. “And why does my head hurt?”
“You’re in the hospital,” Ed informed him. Adrian’s hand on his shoulder strengthened him. “Do you remember Ciro stepping on you?”
“No, but there was some strange lady trying to lead Ciro off while the guys were busy. I went to stop her. Ciro stepped on me?” He moved a bit. His arm shifted, and his face contorted in pain. “My arm hurts too.”
Ed wanted to take the boy in his arms and comfort him, but he wasn’t sure that was a good idea. He settled for resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Yeah, Ciro stepped on your arm and broke it. You bumped your head really hard too. We’re not sure if it was Ciro or the ground.”
“Is Ciro okay?”
Ed nodded. “Yeah, Ciro’s okay.”
The door opened, and a nurse came in. “The monitors show that he should be awake.”
“He is,” Adrian replied.
“I’ll let the doctor know.” The nurse vanished back through the door.
“You know I don’t like shots, Daddy.” Eddy looked worried. “Do you think they will have to give me shots?”
“I don’t know. But you’ll be strong about it. You were there when they gave Ciro his shots.” The boy nodded. “Then remember that he didn’t cry.” Again Eddy nodded. “And what’s one of the first rules of being an elephant trainer?”
The boy pursed his lips as he thought about it. “Never hit the elephant in anger?”
Ed shook his head. “Yes, but that’s not the one you need right now.”
“Always give them good hay.”
“Nope, keep trying.”
“Always make the elephant think that you’re stronger than they are.”
Ed nodded. “Exactly. Ciro is younger than you are. If he didn’t cry when he got his shots….”
“Then I shouldn’t cry if I have to get one.” The boy put on his stubborn face. “I’ll try, Daddy, but Ciro isn’t here to see me cry.”
“No, but you know how good their hearing is.”
The door reopened and the doctor came in. He fussed about Eddy for several minutes checking various things: how his pupils dilated, his pulse, if the bruise on his forehead hurt, as well as the readout from the monitors connected to the boy. All this he noted on the chart before looking at Ed and Adrian standing by the bed.
“I think he’s going to be fine,” said the doctor. “He came to faster than I figured he would. Everything looks nice and strong. We’ll need to keep him until tomorrow afternoon, since he was out so long. I’ll check in on him before my shift is over, and again as soon as I come in tomorrow.”
Ed nodded. He didn’t think he could express his joy at that moment. “Thank you, Doctor.”
The doctor looked down at Eddy. “Now, you stay still and quiet tonight.”