Xander laughed too, quietly. "Maybe I should start pointing you out, then."
"And maybe I'll have Minx teach me how to wrap you up and pin you."
He laughed again, squeezing her shoulders to bring her closer. "You can pin me whenever you like, babe." He kissed the tip of her nose, smiled gently, and went on. "Any more news about your mom?"
As Harmony shook her head silently against Xander's shoulder, Michael turned back to Cameron. "Renee's here, too?"
Cameron nodded, shaking her head as she tried to hide a smile. "She rode in with Cass, but then Cass had to get to work. So she took Renee's car, and Renee said she'd hang out today until someone could take her home. I guess Cass is supposed to drop Renee’s car at her house later – Drew will follow her and take her home. We’ll have to figure Renee out, though, since her car won’t be here."
Michael shrugged. "I can take her later; I came with Drew and Evan, but I drove my truck since Drew was still in the patrol car."
"Yeah, he hasn't even been home since he got off. He worked all night last night."
Shaking his head, Michael dragged a rough palm over his face, before dropping his hand on Cameron's shoulder. "Alright, I'll make him go home in a bit. I'm gonna go find Dad and Renee first though. You okay here?"
Cameron nodded, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she reached out to squeeze Michael's hand. "Right. You go find Renee," she said. "I know you need her right now. But Michael ... don't let Dad forget Logan's lunch.”
Michael rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like Dad would forget food." He chose not to respond to Cameron's sly comment about his needing Renee. Of course he needed Renee, she was his best friend.
Chapter Seven
In the hall, Michael took a deep breath, his back pressed against the wall as he waited for the elevator that would take him downstairs. He tried to reassure himself that his mother was fine, that if something serious had been wrong, someone would have told him already. But in the back of his mind, he couldn't shake the fact that people didn't just wreck their cars for no reason. Eva Kingsley was a responsible woman – she wouldn't have been doing anything reckless. So, what had caused her accident? He could only hope it wasn't something serious.
He wasn't looking when the elevator arrived, having dropped his head back against the wall. His eyes were closed, and there was no sound to indicate that the elevator car had arrived on his floor. He smelled Renee's perfume though, as the doors parted with a swish that brought him away from the wall.
She stepped out, long hair shining, dark eyes narrowed with concern. "Michael?" She stepped out of the elevator in a breeze of coconut, the summery scent mixed with something faintly floral. She had a drink carrier in each hand, and as she stepped out of the elevator, she blew uselessly at an errant strand of hair sticking to her lip gloss. "Hey, I’m glad you made it. Where are Drew and Evan? I’m assuming they’re the ones who found you?"
"They're with mom." As she moved closer, Michael reached out to brush the hair from her face, tucking the lock of soft strands behind her ear. "I came to find you and my dad – see if you guys needed any help.” He watched her eyes for a quiet moment, his hand still resting lightly on her forearm. “Thank you,” he said, the word finally slipping around the lump that wouldn’t leave his throat. “I’m glad you came.”
Renee shrugged, biting her lip gently as she looked away. “Well, you guys are like family now.” The words were spoken softly, and her chin trembled slightly in the silence that fell between them. “I just … wanted to be here. In case there was anything I could do. I figured you’d have your family around you, but I wanted you to know that –“ She broke off, looking away.
Michael waited, but the silence remained, and when she turned and started walking back toward the waiting room where Michael had found Cameron and Harmony, he simply followed, confused. Before he reached to open the door though, Renee stopped and took a breath, squaring her shoulders as she turned to look up at him. “I wanted you to know that if you need someone … I’m here.”
He smiled, reaching out to open the door for her. “Is that so?”
“It is,” she answered, dipping her head to walk under his arm and into the waiting room.
The scent of her perfume drifted behind her, and Michael swallowed as the beachy smell of a coconut breeze hit him. Damn, he loved that smell! “Wait – Renee?” She turned back to look at him and Michael hesitated, frozen by the soft look in her eyes. Clearing his throat, he reached out to take one of the two coffee carriers from her. “I just remembered – Cameron said Dad was supposed to be bringing up some lunch for Logan.”
“He is. I guess he’s probably on his way up by now. When I left him, he was still waiting for Logan's food to be finished. I offered to wait with him, but he said he didn't want all the coffee to get cold.” She smiled up at him, shrugging, and then turned away as Harmony and Xander crossed the room to retrieve their drinks.
By the time everyone had something to drink, including Michael, Drew, and Evan, Xander and Harmony had gone to take their turn visiting Eva – and Adam had arrived in the waiting room with Logan’s lunch. Cameron had taken the boy over to a table in the corner, and they were chatting quietly together as he ate. Michael smiled as he watched Logan tap Cameron on the tip of her nose; she ruffled his hair, laughing, and stole a potato chip from his plate.
“She’s really good with him, isn’t she?” Renee nudged his elbow with her own, drawing his attention. She had been watching, too; when Michael turned to look at her, she was still looking at Cameron and Logan. “They look made for each other. He even tips his head the same way she does. Look, there they go.”
Michael turned back, watching Cameron play quietly with her son. “It's funny how that happens,” he said. “It hasn’t been that long, but they look like they’ve always been together.” He waited a while, sitting quietly with Renee beside him. “I thought I’d have that myself, you know? By now.”
“Me too,” Renee answered softly.
“You getting excited for your date?”
“Not really.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “He’s not really my type, I guess. But maybe I don’t have a type, right? I mean, I’m in my thirties now. Still single. I feel like – I don’t know. Like I owe it to myself to at least try, you know? So I’m going. But honestly, I’d rather just watch a movie with you or something.” She shrugged, her knee brushing against his as she moved to cross her legs. “Maybe I’m just meant to be a spinster,” she sighed. “Like in the old days? Or one of those creepy old ladies that’s all alone but has seventeen stray cats?”
Michael laughed. “You know, happily married, perfectly beautiful women like cats too, Renee. And men. Men like cats.”
Renee rolled her eyes, shaking her head; she laughed too, though. "You don't."
"Only because one of those furry little bastards tried to kill me once."
She laughed again, slapping his arm. “It did not! When?”
"When I was three and I tried to pull his tail off." Michael shrugged, grinning. “I just wanted to borrow it though. It was bushy. But he wasn’t very good at sharing.”
“Yeah. I’m totally sure that was the problem. It was a totally selfish cat.” Renee shook her head.
"Well,” Michael said, "he was.''
Renee looked up as the waiting room door opened. "I think it's your turn to go sit with your mom,'' she said, nudging Michael's elbow.
"Yeah." He stood slowly, stretching his hands above his head with a low groan, as Harmony and Xander stepped into the room. He watched as they made their way over to Adam, smiling softly when Harmony bent down to kiss their father's forehead. "You guys leaving?" he called.
After a quiet exchange with Adam, Harmony straightened. "Yeah, we have to." She pursed her lips, pouting slightly before she went on. "We're on the show tonight and Xander's match has been set for weeks. It can’t really be changed."
"And Mom yelled at you for offering to stay?"
Harmony laugh
ed. "She sure did. Said she wanted to watch and she'd be mad if we didn't go." Shrugging, she glanced over at Renee. "I told her you've been here all day, and she says you're to come down the hall with Michael."
"Hmm," Renee answered, looking up at Michael before bringing her eyes back to Harmony's face. "Am I in trouble?"
Grinning, Harmony shook her head, her ponytail swinging behind her. Her blue eyes sparked with laughter; she glanced from Renee to Michael and back again. Renee arched her eyebrows in question, and Harmony laughed, shaking her head again. "No, she wants to thank you," she said. "For taking care of Michael, and –"
"Hey!" Michael interrupted. "I resent that!"
“Resemble that, you mean.” Harmony teased. “Everyone knows men need caretakers; that’s why God made women in the first place.”
From behind Harmony, Xander snorted, reaching out to drag her under his arm. She yelped, still laughing, her small fists playfully pummeling his sides. Xander laughed with her, finally releasing her, and she shot a mocking glare his way as she reached up to fix her mussed ponytail. “You know it’s true,” she said, sticking her tongue out.
“Not very nice to make us admit it though,” Xander answered, trying to force his smiling face into a scowl.
Harmony laughed again, slipping her hand through the bend of Xander’s elbow. “Alright, alright. I was only kidding, anyway.”
“Liar.” Finally giving up the effort to look annoyed, Xander pulled Harmony closer and dropped his arm over her shoulders. “Come on, let’s get going. They’ll be looking for us at work.”
Chapter Eight
It wasn’t long after Harmony and Xander left that the hospital staff underwent its evening shift change. The day shift’s by-the-books nurse signed off, and the evening shift began with an introduction to a new nurse, who shook her head and scoffed at the two-at-a-time visitor’s rule. “Go on,” she told the family, smiling kindly. “There’s no reason for all of you to be sitting in here taking turns. It’s not like Mrs. Kingsley is under intensive care, and she is in a private room. So go on in, spend the evening with her. S’long as you’re quiet about it, I will be too. But you must all be out of there by eleven or I’ll end up in trouble.” At this point, she lowered her voice and whispered conspiratorially, “But I can get a pull-out chair brought in, though – in case of someone’s wanting to stay the night with Mrs. Kingsley?”
Adam stepped forward to accept her offer, and within the hour, Eva Kingsley was surrounded by members of her family. Cameron’s best friend Tabitha had come to take Logan home for the evening, and Cass had also arrived, fresh faced and bearing food for the family. The family chatted together over takeout sandwiches and cartons of soup, trying to guess what had caused Eva’s accident in the first place.
“The car was acting fine, though?” Michael asked, swallowing a bite of his turkey club sandwich. The paper crackled as he folded it back, and he watched his mother tip her soup carton to fish for a dumpling.
“Mmm, I can’t believe how good this is. Maybe even better than mine,” she said, tucking the dumpling into her cheek. “The car was fine, Michael. I really don’t know what happened.”
Cameron looked up from a steaming carton of basil tomato soup. “I hope nothing serious is wrong, mom. I mean, you left Harmony’s fitting to go home for a nap, right?” She waited as Eva nodded slowly, and then said, “Yeah. I remember being surprised, because you usually don’t sleep in the day time. Have you been that tired lately?”
“Just this morning,” Eva answered, shaking her head. She settled her soup carton on the side of her bed table and reached for her sandwich, grimacing as a piece of tomato fell out onto her plate. “One handed eating,” she grumbled. “This is going to be ridiculous.” Michael exchanged a look with Evan, who lowered his face to hide a smile as Eva went on. “Anyway, no, I was just tired because I hadn’t slept well last night. I had the strangest dreams. I doubt I’d have been able to nap anyway, even if I had made it home. Really, all of you. I’m fine. Maybe I was just more tired than I realized.” She shrugged; having stuffed her tomato slice back into her sandwich, she lifted it and took a hearty bite.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Adam agreed, though he kept his eyes on his dinner. He had been unnaturally quiet throughout the day, and Michael had noticed that he kept looking at the door to the hospital room, as if he were waiting anxiously for something.
“When was the last time a doctor was in here?” he asked, catching his father’s eye.
Adam shrugged. “This morning. They came in to confirm the fractures in her wrist and leg. Said they had ordered blood work and the normal routine things. Set up the IV,” he said, gesturing to the slender hose that made its way from the crook of Eva’s elbow to the clear bag of intravenous fluids hanging behind her bed. “And someone came in to remove splints on her wrist and leg and wrap the casts after we got up here.” He looked to Eva then, who had been scowling at the cast on her leg. Touching her arm lightly, he asked, “Did anyone come in when we left you to rest?”
“The nurse came, taking blood pressure and temperatures,” Eva shrugged. “I think we’re probably waiting for the night shift doctor to catch up and make his rounds.”
“Well, I wish he’d hurry up,” Evan mumbled, crumpling his sandwich wrapper and tossing it into the bag Cass had been keeping for garbage. “The longer they take, the more –“
“No news is good news, though, right?” Michael broke in.
Just then, a tapping on the door silenced their conversation. Eva straightened against her pillows, settling the rest of her sandwich on the table and swallowing. “It’s alright, come in,” she called.
The door opened slowly, to admit a slender man who looked close to Michael’s age. He wore glasses with bold black frames, a thick, strong mustache, and a bushy but neatly trimmed beard. “Mrs. Kingsley?” he asked, raising his eyebrows in question. His lips thinned as he took in the crowded room, but at Eva’s silent nod, he simply stepped close to her bed and offered her his hand. “Doctor Marsh. I’m sorry to have interrupted your dinner,” he said, giving her hand a gentle shake. “Should I come back? I could finish my rounds and then –“
“No. No, this is fine,” Eva said, pushing her dinner away. “We’ve just been talking about you, actually. Waiting to hear what you might have to say.” She spoke clearly, her voice strong and steady. But the line between her brows had deepened suddenly, and her fingers trembled slightly as she brought her hand up to pat her hair.
The family stood together, listening anxiously as the doctor delivered the news – and they breathed a sigh of relief as they were promised that nothing serious had gone awry. Blood tests revealed that Eva had likely had a short, sudden loss of blood pressure, probably caused by a case of moderate dehydration. The combination of these things could easily explain episodes of fainting, which was what the doctor believed had caused Eva’s accident. “This in itself is simple enough,” he said glancing around the room before returning his focus to Eva herself. “Especially if you already have slightly low blood pressure to begin with, which you do. Unfortunately, I also see dangerously low levels of potassium. Now I don’t know what might be causing that – are you on any sort of diuretics, Mrs. Kingsley?”
She sighed. “I take them occasionally. I used to have to use them a lot when I was younger, but, well, menopause.” She laughed. “It has its blessings, I suppose. But now and then I’ll take something if I’m holding a little water.”
“And lately?”
Eva nodded, frowning. “I hadn’t needed it for a while, so I didn’t have any, but I got some to take last week.”
“And you’ve been taking it every day since?”
Michael felt Renee’s shoulder press against his as they stood together, silently watching this exchange. He looked over to find her watching him; she smiled reassuringly and brought her hand up to rest in the center of his back.
“Well, at first it made me jittery, so I didn’t like it,” Eva was saying. �
�Maybe they’ve changed something in it.”
“Hmm. Some diuretics have an awful lot of caffeine in them; if you aren’t a regular soda or coffee drinker, that could do it.” He waited for Eva’s affirmative nod, and went on, looking down at the tablet he had carried in under his arm. “Alright, so here’s what I want to do, Mrs. Kingsley. What I’m gonna do is keep you here tonight and very possibly tomorrow night. We’re gonna get your potassium levels up, get you hydrated properly. And I think just in case, I’ll order a few scans of your brain. Just to be sure everything’s alright. How’s that sound to you?”
“That’s fine,” Eva answered, laughing. “You’re the doctor, so you make the orders, and I’ll do what I’m told.”
From the corner, Evan snorted. Cameron elbowed him into silence, but not before everyone heard him mutter, “That’ll be the day.” He lowered his face as Adam glared at him, but as Adam lowered his face as well, Michael could see them both hiding smiles identical to one he had attempted to cover with a cough. Beside him, Renee turned her face into his shoulder, grinning, her hand moving up his back to rest near her face. He tried to ignore the way his blood surged through his body at the touch.
More Than Friends (Kingsley #4) Page 4