When He Returns

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “Ready to go?” he asked.

  “Yep,” she said as she grabbed her purse and slid the strap over her shoulder. As they walked down the stairs, she told him about the call she’d received from Makayla after the doctor had stopped by on rounds earlier that morning.

  Overall, it was good news, though Ethan still wasn’t out of the woods. Dalton supposed that would be the report for a few more days. He wasn’t sure what state Ethan had to be in when he’d no longer be in the woods, so to speak.

  This time, when they got to the hospital, Sierra’s steps didn’t slow. She seemed almost eager to get to the waiting room. Dalton was glad that she seemed more upbeat than she had been the day before, but at the same time, he kind of missed her needing him, even if it was just a little.

  For a brief period, his life since becoming sober held a bit more meaning.

  But as much as he might have wanted to continue to feel that way, Dalton didn’t want Sierra to be back in that place that had left her feeling vulnerable and alone. He knew how that felt.

  When they got to the waiting room, he spotted his parents and Makayla, but no one else. As they hugged them, his mom told him that Bennett and Gabe had gone to visit Mitch. That sounded like a good idea to Dalton, so when Sierra went in to see Ethan, he headed for Mitch’s room.

  It was hard to see Mitch banged up like he was, but the fact that he was alive and able to interact with them was a huge bonus when his condition could have been so much worse. Dalton was sure that Sierra would have taken that over where her brother currently was. He hoped that her time with Ethan didn’t leave her too upset. He’d be there for her regardless, but he didn’t want her to be overwrought again.

  “Is that a get well present for Mitch?” Gabe asked when Dalton walked into Mitch’s room.

  Dalton looked down at the bag he carried, having forgotten about it until just then. “No. It’s a new phone for Sierra.”

  Gabe arched a brow. “Buying her gifts?”

  “Have you seen her phone?” Dalton asked.

  “I’m sure I have, but why is that getting her a new one? From you?”

  Dalton was used to his older brothers—particularly Gabe—teasing him, so he’d learned over the years that getting overly defensive just got him teased even more.

  “You just wish you were getting a new phone,” Dalton said. “Plus, with half this family being millionaires or married to them, it sucks that it’s taken me to see that her screen was so cracked she can hardly read it. The fact that I have seen it, and I’m doing something about it while you’ve done nothing, says more about you than it does about me.”

  “Oh boy,” Mitch mumbled through swollen lips. “He got you, Gabe. Baby boy has grown up.”

  Gabe scowled at him, never one to accept being called out. “If I had known that, I would have gotten her a new phone.”

  “Well, you didn’t know, and I did, so I’ve done something about it.” Dalton paused. “Of course, now I’ll need to figure out how to convince her to accept it.”

  Even Bennett laughed at that. “Yeah. Just don’t get it into your head to buy her a car. She’ll definitely fight you on that.”

  “But her car…needs help.”

  “She loves that car, though. The arguments Ethan has had with her over getting a better one are never-ending. To be honest, she probably could afford a new car and a new phone herself, but from what Ethan says, she has some struggles with change. With getting rid of something that has served her well, even if it’s for something better.”

  “Well, great,” Dalton said with a sigh as he slumped down into a nearby chair. “That ups my chances of getting her to accept a new phone to pretty much zero.”

  “What you have on your side is that you haven’t been around to witness the arguments people have had with her over a new car and a new phone.” Bennett gave a shrug. “She might surprise you.”

  “You knew she needed a new phone too?” Gabe asked indignantly.

  Bennett sighed. “We can’t help it that you’re the least observant of us all except for when it comes to Maya.”

  “At least he’s focused on the right person when he does make observations,” Dalton said. “We can give him props for that, but not much else.”

  Dalton was glad to see that Mitch was able to join in on their conversation and would even tease a little. Given he’d had a concussion, Dalton had worried about that a bit. He also knew it was a concern of Sierra’s for Ethan, though, admittedly, the reasons for her concern were more significant than his for Mitch.

  He hung out for a little while with the guys then he and Bennett made their way back to the ICU waiting room. As they walked, Bennett talked a bit about how Makayla’s visits had gone with Ethan earlier that day. Dalton wondered how long Bennett planned to come to the hospital each day. With Ethan out of commission at the company, he didn’t think that Bennett could stay away indefinitely.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Upon returning to the waiting room, Dalton saw that Sierra was back from her visit. She was sitting next to Makayla, the two of them engaged in quiet conversation.

  While Bennett went to sit next to their dad, Dalton settled on the seat beside Sierra, setting the bag on the chair next to him. There were a few more people in the waiting room that day, so it was probably good there were fewer of their family present.

  “How was Ethan?” Dalton asked when Sierra looked over at him.

  She gave a bit of a shrug. “Same as yesterday, basically. He’s still stable, but they’re keeping him sedated for at least another day.”

  “Did they say why?”

  “The swelling in his brain hasn’t gone down to a level they’re comfortable with yet.”

  “But it has gone down?”

  “Yes, it has. And he is getting better, but he’s just not at that point yet where he’s better off not sedated.”

  Sierra went on to explain some other things about Ethan’s injuries, but it all went way over Dalton’s head. Short of having some sort of medical degree, he most likely wouldn’t understand the majority of what she said.

  No doubt, Makayla was going to have a much better understanding of the medical jargon by the time Ethan was fully recovered from his accident. Dalton remembered that even though he’d been a young teen when his mom had had her aneurysm, they had all learned more about brain injuries than they would have otherwise as non-medical professionals, especially his dad.

  Some of what he’d heard was coming back to him now since it seemed that Ethan also had a brain injury. He hadn’t paid that much attention when his mom was sick though, so he was still at a loss when it came to understanding the medical details that were being shared with them. He needed to pay more attention this time around.

  When Sierra fell silent, Dalton reached for the small paper bag with the twined handles. He braced himself for her reaction, realizing now that maybe he’d made a mistake in picking up the phone as a surprise.

  “Hey, I got you a little something this morning,” he said as he handed her the bag.

  Sierra’s brow drew together as her gaze went to the bag and then back to his face. “What is it?”

  “Probably something you’re not actually going to be happy about, but I think that maybe you could still use both.”

  “Both?” Sierra asked. “Both what?”

  “You’re going to have to look inside to see for yourself.” Dalton held out the bag. “And maybe I’ll just move over a little bit.”

  “Well now I’m curious,” Sierra said with a laugh as she took the bag.

  Dalton shifted over a seat and stared out at the waiting room entrance.

  “Dalton Callaghan. You did not.”

  He swung around to face her again. “You’re absolutely right. I didn’t. It was Gabe.”

  What were brothers for, if not to throw under the bus? And besides, Gabe deserved it for trying to come for him.

  Of course, Sierra was no dummy.

  “Sure he did. Maya already offer
ed to buy me a phone, and I turned her down, so I doubt Gabe went ahead and did it.” She angled a look at him. “You…on the other hand…”

  “Okay. Fine.” Dalton held up his hands. “But in my defense, I didn’t realize that your phone was practically a member of your family.”

  “Not practically,” Sierra said, pulling her phone out. “Definitely.”

  “Well, think about it this way. When a family member gets older, sometimes they need to retire—like Dad did—and then another member of the family can take over—like Bennett did. Your old phone doesn’t have to be thrown away, just retired. And the new phone can take over the responsibilities while the old phone enjoys its new life of luxury.”

  Sierra sat staring at him, her eyes wide. Dalton wasn’t sure if she was seriously considering his idea or not.

  When she opened her mouth to say something, Dalton, figuring she had come up with her polite way to tell him no, quickly said, “And if Old Phone doesn’t want to completely retire—kinda like Dad—he can still be useful for things like playing music. See, maybe only semi-retired Old Phone.”

  Sierra started laughing, and for a moment, Dalton thought he was out of the woods, but then, much to his horror, she began to cry. And not the laugh-til-you-cry type of cry.

  “Sierra,” Dalton said, reaching out to take the phone and bag from her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Don’t worry about it.”

  But when she tugged the phone away from his hand and held it to her chest, Dalton could only stare at her warily. He looked at Makayla, hoping for some help, but she was focused on Sierra, her arm around her shoulders.

  “I don’t know what I did,” he said when Makayla glanced up at him. “I just bought her a new phone. I didn’t know it would upset her like this.”

  “It wasn’t that.” Sierra said the words between quick breaths. “It’s just, as I listened to you talk about how I could justify accepting a new phone without getting rid of my other one, I realized that I wanted to accept the new phone.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” Dalton said then frowned. “Or not?”

  “It’s good.” She glanced at him then, her eyes still watery with tears. “It’s just that my first instinct was to tell…” She swallowed as her voice broke. “To tell Ethan that someone had finally succeeded in getting me to accept a new phone.”

  “Ah, sweetie,” Makayla said, leaning her head against Sierra’s. “You can tell him the next time you go in to see him, and then you can tell him again when he wakes up.”

  “But what if he doesn’t remember?” Sierra asked, her expression as distraught as her words. “Or what if he doesn’t think it’s funny because he’s changed?”

  “We’ll just have to pray that he’s our Ethan when he wakes up,” Makayla said, and Dalton could see that she was trying to hold it together for Sierra’s sake. His admiration for his sister went up several degrees as he watched her with Sierra.

  It was then that he realized that while he’d always known her as sister Makayla, right then, he was seeing mom Makayla in a way he never had before. She’d probably had a lot of practice keeping it together over the past couple of days as she dealt with her children.

  He knew that Sierra, with her medical knowledge, probably wanted to argue, but instead, she just sat, staring down at the phone box in her hands. Dalton realized that Sierra, Makayla, and his mom were the strongest women he’d ever known. Granted, he hadn’t had a lot of close relationships or friendships with women over the past several years, but still, he could see the strength in each of them. They stood tall, bending when storms buffeted them but never breaking.

  Dalton reached over to a tissue box on a nearby table, pulled out a few, then held them out to Sierra.

  Let me wipe your tears.

  Sierra took them and wiped her cheeks. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I’m okay.”

  Dalton doubted that was true, but he understood her desire to have those around her think she was. He wouldn’t call her on those words, and he was pretty sure that Makayla wouldn’t either. Instead, they’d just try to care for her through it all.

  He was glad that she was letting him see her vulnerability. He knew it wasn’t something she likely showed many people, so that made him even more grateful.

  “I will keep New Phone,” Sierra said with a glance at him. “And partially retire Old Phone.”

  “I’m sure they’re both relieved to hear that,” Dalton said, trying to keep his voice and expression serious. “New Phone rarely gets rejected, so that might have been difficult to accept. It might have needed counseling after that.”

  “iTalk?” she said with a small smile.

  Dalton didn’t even have a chance to hold back the bark of laughter that erupted from him. Glancing over, he could see Makayla was smiling a bit too.

  Let me share your laughter.

  Though he knew they hadn’t magically turned a corner that meant there would be no more tears, Dalton was grateful for the momentary levity.

  “I’m probably going to need help setting this up,” Sierra said as she opened the box and looked at the phone itself. “This is a lot bigger than Old Phone.”

  “Pretty sure most phones are bigger than Old Phone,” Dalton said. “But he served you well, so we’ll not disparage his size.”

  “Her size,” Sierra corrected. “Old Phone is actually a she.”

  “And she hasn’t objected to being called Old?”

  “Okay, now you’re just carrying this too far,” Makayla said with a shake of her head.

  “Anyway,” Dalton said with a sideways glance at Makayla. “I can help you set it up. I think. I mean, it seemed pretty straight forward when Jesse set mine up.”

  Makayla rolled her eyes. “Come to me if you need help. Even I know how to set up a phone.”

  “Challenge accepted,” Dalton said with a lift of his chin. He was happy to see the spark of humor still in his sister’s eyes.

  In reality, he was pretty sure he’d be able to help Sierra. Jesse had helped him with one of his phones, but he’d handled it himself for the most recent one. Still, if it made Sierra and Makayla smile even just a little, he was willing to look the fool.

  “I like the color,” Sierra said. “I’ve never had a gold phone before. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Dalton said. “And I got you a case as well. In hopes of preserving New Phone’s face from suffering the same injury as Old Phone.”

  “Well, not sure a case would have helped since it was a freak accident. She fell on her face, directly on a concrete corner.” Sierra pulled her old phone out and showed him the spot where it had hit on the glass. “But this was the only one I’ve ever broken like that. I’m usually very careful with my phones.”

  Dalton showed her the case and the earbuds he’d bought her. “But I’m not to blame for the extra stuff.”

  “You’re not?” Sierra asked with an arched brow when he shook his head. “Who is?”

  “Well, the kid that waited on me seemed really nervous, so I just couldn’t say no when he suggested them.”

  “You’ve become a softie for the underdog, Dal,” Makayla said with a laugh. “Bet he saw you coming a mile away.”

  “It’s better to be a softie, though,” Sierra said as she reached out to pat his hand. “And I’m sure you made the kid’s day with the phone purchase as well as the accessories.”

  Dalton felt a sense of relief flow through him at the realization that Sierra was accepting all the gifts. He wished they hadn’t triggered an emotional breakdown for her, but at least she’d already been willing to accept the gifts before that had happened.

  Sierra was still focused on the phone when suddenly she looked up at him. “Did you get me this phone because you couldn’t load that game onto my phone yesterday?”

  “Um…no?”

  Sierra laughed. “Nice try. I’m sure your mom taught you not to lie.”

  “She did,” Makayla confirmed. “So ‘fess up.”

  “Okay.
Well, it might have inspired the purchase, but I’d already noticed your cracked screen, remember?”

  She seemed to consider that before saying, “I suppose I should just accept it without needing to know your motivation.”

  “Exactly,” Dalton said. “You should.”

  “When Ethan wakes up and sees you have a new phone—especially that new phone—he’s going to think he’s in an alternate universe,” Makayla said.

  “I can’t wait,” Sierra replied.

  “Me neither, sweetie. Me neither.”

  When they left for home a couple hours later, it was with the knowledge that the doctors would begin weaning Ethan off the sedation the next day. He’d have thought the news would have thrilled Sierra, but instead, she just seemed worried about it.

  “I thought it was a good thing,” he said as she drove them home. “What you guys have been waiting for.”

  “It is a good thing, but also scary because then we’ll know the full extent of his injuries.”

  “Is it possible he’ll come out of this without any issues? Brain-wise?”

  It took Sierra longer than he would have liked to shake her head. It was like she had been trying to work up the ability to say yes when she knew she couldn’t.

  “How long until you’ll know the extent of it?”

  “It could take awhile.” Sierra sighed. “Initially, they’ll wean him off the sedation, but even then, he might not wake up right away, and when he does, it might take some time for him to be alert enough to answer questions that would help us gauge what he remembers.” She paused. “At least I think that’s how the process will go. I didn’t specialize in brain injuries.”

  “At least you kind of understand what’s going on,” Dalton said. “Makayla probably doesn’t have a clue.”

  “That won’t be the case for long,” Sierra said. “She’s already asking lots of questions, and I have a feeling she’s searching up even more information on brain injuries on the internet when she goes home at night.”

  “I hear that’s the worst thing to do.”

  Sierra sighed again. “It can be, but only if the person isn’t also willing to listen to the doctors. I’m praying that Makayla will ask her questions but also listen to the medical professionals. Otherwise, it’s going to be a very frustrating process for all involved.”