The doctor nods, looking over the chart. “The EMT says that you mentioned a broken tibia?”
“Yes, I was pinned under a seat. When I tried to move, it fell on my lower legs. At that point, my pain was twenty. I don’t know for sure, but I think you’ll find that’s the diagnosis, Doc.”
He lets out a laugh. “He also said you were in good spirits. That’s good. By the looks of you, Dr. Batin, and I’m sure you are already aware. You coming out the way you did, is nothing short of a miracle.”
“Oh, I’m aware.”
He looks back to his board, then to me. “Okay. I’m scheduling a head scan, x-rays of your legs and spine. Then we will go from there.” He offers me a smile, then continues. “But all in all, Doc. It’s looking good.”
He turns to walk off, but I need to know. “Doctor, the others? How are they?”
He moves back to my side. “I’m not the one on their cases, and as you are aware, I can’t tell you anything beyond that.”
“Are they still alive?”
He looks up to the nurse that is standing at the foot of my bed, and she gives him a nod, almost as though they have a telepathic link, then she walks off. “Nurse Jenkins is going to see what she can find out for you. After all this, you at least deserve to know the status of your friends.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course.” He turns but then shuffles back, looking to me with a pinched brow. “Oh, I should also mention that there is a very persistent woman with what seems to be an entourage, threatening a rebellion if she doesn’t get answers about her sister. She wouldn’t happen to belong to you, would she?”
“Half-pint brunette with eyes of glass and a tongue like a whip?”
He nods. “That’s her.”
“Nope. No idea who that crazy woman belongs to.” Letting out a laugh, I then tell him. “It’s my sister, and ‘the entourage’ is the rest of my family. She’s my next of kin along with my brother-in-law, Liam.”
“Okay, tests first, and then I can allow them to see you two at a time, and just for a while. You need your rest.”:
“Understood, but you may have a hard time explaining that to her—good luck!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
-Ben-
When the call came through from Kai that they had found her, and she was alive, it’s like everything before me, changed. I no longer cared about anything but her. Nothing, not the business or the big house, or what happened in our past; none of it mattered anymore. I could walk away from it all because, at that moment, I realized all I ever needed and would ever need was her.
“What is taking that doctor so long?” Gwen lets out in irritation.
Liam takes her in, wrapping his arms around her. “Patience, Gem. We already know she’s alive, and from what Kai said, she is doing really good. The doctors will give us an update when they can. Right now, she is their only concern.”
She lets out a sigh, laying her forehead to his chest. “I just want to see it for myself. I want to see her.”
“I know, and we will, soon enough.”
I walk past them and over into the waiting area where the rest of the family is sitting. Ewan, Grace, Mom, Dad, Thea, and Ginny. Bane is still with the officials going over what the next steps are legal-wise, and Kai is debriefing at the station. Thankfully, Elise and Alex volunteered to watch over all the kids, so we didn’t have to drag them along.
I take a seat beside my mother, who, through this whole thing, has been unusually quiet.
“Hey, Mom.”
She leans in, taking my hand in hers. “How are you doing, love.”
“Good, but I’ll be even better when I’m actually able to see her.”
She nods and lowers her voice to a whisper. “I understand, but I’m going to ask that you allow Gwen to go in before you. I know you desperately want to be by her side. But the right thing to do is to allow Gwen in first to see her.”
I look to my mother and nod. “I know, and I will, but can I ask you a question?”
“Always.”
“When will Gwen no longer have to be right there in all of Ati’s decisions? I mean, when will it just be Ati and me?”
My mother lets out a low snicker. “Oh, my boy...never. Gwen is like a mother to Matilda, and will always feel that she is the one her sister needs the most. It’s not necessarily true, but Gwen will feel it’s her duty to continue to look after her. Your role is to allow that to happen because doing that will show Matilda that you respect her relationships and care for what she needs. Don’t worry, though. She’ll always come to you when it matters the most.”
“So, what your telling me is that when I marry Ati, and I will. But when I marry her, I’m marrying Gwen as well?”
My mother smiles. “Yes, exactly. But in this family, you also get me, Eugenia, Thea, and Grace, so consider yourself lucky.”
I look from her to my father, who I know is listening to our conversation. “You think they’re in need of a building contractor and obstetrician in Alaska?”
He gives me a side glance and smirks. “There’s no hiding from them, son. You may as well submit now; things will go a lot easier if you do. Besides, they have that group chat with video, there’s no way to escape them.”
I look to my mother and smile, leaning in and giving her a side hug. “I’ll take it. As long as I have her by my side, I will take whatever comes our way.”
My father turns to me with that look of pride in his eye, giving me a nod. “My boy has become a man.”
It’s funny, the words are simple, yet from my father, they actually hold a lot of weight for me. After all, I hope to be at least half the man, husband, and father he has been.
We are waiting patiently, shuffling between sitting, pacing, and taking turns to go to the nurses’ station to check for updates. Finally, the doctor walks through the doors. “Is the family of Matilda Batin here?”
He’s looking right at us, so he’s obviously been made privy to our countless inquiries.
Gwen rushes over. “I’m her sister. How is she?”
The doctor looks to her, then to all of us as we gather to hear the news. “A miracle. She’s doing great, anxious to see everyone.” We all let out a sigh of relief. “That being said. She’s tired and in much need of rest. We just finished running the last of the tests. She’s dehydrated and could use a good meal. We are also still working to bring her body temperature up slowly before we can get her into surgery.”
“But you said she was fine. What is the surgery for?” Gwen asks.
Just then, Kai walks in, taking his place beside Ginny. “It’s her legs, isn’t it?”
The doctor nods. “We ran some x-rays, and they are showing that there is severe damage to the tibia of the left and right leg. They have both been broken into two pieces. The right one is in the part of the bone near the knee, and the left is near the ankle, but both are also broken in the middle of the long bone. Sometimes we are able to align them back up and cast them, allowing them to heal that way. Unfortunately, for Matilda, that is not the case.”
“What does that mean?” My father asks.
“Well, we will prep her for surgery shortly. We wanted a chance to allow you all to see her before that. After, she will be in traction for a couple of weeks then on the mend in casts for a few months. This is a little more involved than just a break. But with proper rest and the right physiotherapy, she should be up and moving by Christmas. It will take her a good year before she’s completely back to normal, but I’m positive she will get there.”
I need to see her, but from the corner of my eye, I see Gwen almost ready to jump from her skin. “Can we go see her now?”
“Yes, two at a time, and only for a few minutes. We really do need to get her in surgery,” the doctor says.
Gwen takes a step forward, taking Liam by the hand, but then she stops and looks up to him. Nothing is said, but Liam nods his head, giving her a smile, then she turns to me. “Ben, would you like to go first?”
I can see in her eyes that the offer is real, but I also see the anxiousness. “It’s okay, you go, but thank you.”
Gwen not needing to be told twice, nods, then pulls Liam with her through the doors. My mother comes to my side, linking my arm with hers. “I know that was hard, but it was the right thing to do, love.”
“I know, and it’s okay I’ll see her in just a few. I’ve waited this long, a couple more minutes won’t kill me.”
She gives my arm a squeeze then heads back to her seat by my father.
Two by two, the others head in taking their turn. I decided that I wanted to go last, so when my turn came, I was ready. I moved through the doors as had all the others, and was led down a long hall to a private room at the end.
The nurse turned to me, nodding into the room. “Five minutes.”
I nod back, take a deep breath, and step inside. The second I see her, laying there, the odd scrape here and there knowing that this could have all turned out very differently, I am overwhelmed. My eyes well-up, and I clear my throat. “Hey.”
“Hey.” The expression on her face is not what I had expected. It’s almost—emotionless.
“It’s really good to see you. To see that you’re okay. How are you feeling, you know, overall?” I ask, scrambling for something to say. It’s like I almost have to force a conversation with her. It feels all wrong.
“There’s a little pain. They gave me something for it earlier, but are going to prep me for surgery soon.”
I nod, giving her a nervous smile. She’s looking at me, but when I look up to her eyes, she looks down to her hands, then away.
Feeling like this isn’t going to get any better, I decided to cut it short. “Well, uh, I’m really happy to see that you’re okay. You had us all really scared.”
“Gwen had mentioned that everyone was there with her and really helped.”
“Yeah, well, we were all worried. We love you, Ati.”
She looks up to me as if she’s about to say something more, but then decides against it and just looking away.
“Well, I guess I should let them do what they need to in here.”
“Thank you for everything you did for Gwen. I know she really appreciated it, as do I.”
I move to her side. “Angel, I did it for you.”
She turns her head up to me, the emotionless look back on her face. “So, where’s Alex?”
Um, okay. Not sure why she’s asking for Alex. “She and Elise are probably anxiously awaiting the arrival of everyone. They’ve been watching over the kids since we all came here.”
“Well, that’s nice of her. She’s really making a place in the family. She fits right in,” Ati says.
“Yeah, I guess.” Are we honestly that far off sync that we are talking about Alex?
“Look, Ati. There’s so much to say, but not enough time. The nurse was very direct when she told me only five minutes.” I say with a hint of humor trying to lighten the mood.
Ati looks to me with a smile, but it’s definitely forced. “It’s okay, Ben. Really. Thank you for coming today and everything you’ve done for Gwen and the family. It’s appreciated.”
Why do I feel like she’s kicking me out? I need to figure this out. “Okay. Well, I’ll be waiting out there for when you come out of surgery.”
“You don’t need to do that, really. Go home, Ben. You look like you could use some rest. I’m sure after I am discharged, I’ll see you around the house because I don’t think Gwen is going to let me stay at the apartment with someone else to look after me,” Ati replies.
“No, I’ll definitely be up here to see you before that, Angel.”
She shakes her head. “That’s really not necessary, Ben. Really, you’ve done enough.”
“No, I want—,,” I’m cut off by the nurse coming in.
“Time’s up. We really need to get Dr. Batin prepped for surgery.”
I look to Ati about to speak, but she does first. “Take care, Ben.”
The nurse calls to me again, I look to her lost in a daze, then back to Ati. She looks away, then reluctantly, I turn to the door and walk out, not having a clue what the hell just happened in there.
I walk past the waiting area heading straight to the elevators. I’m standing in front of the doors when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Where you headed to in such a hurry, little brother?”
“I just need some fresh air...alone, Kai.”
He lets out a chuckle. “Yeah, not going to happen. Something’s bothering you, and I’m not going to let you do the ‘Ben thing,’ and bottle it up. Shit never gets resolved when you do that.”
I look up to Kai. “I don’t bottle things up.”
“You do, and you know you do. Something happened in there, and you can’t make heads or tails of it. So, you and I are going to leave the others up here to wait, and we are going to grab a coffee and talk.”
There’s really no reasoning with him when he gets like this, so, I concede, and when the door opens up, I gesture him in and follow behind. A brotherly chat from Kai—this should be just great.
***
We grab our coffee and decide to take a seat at a table in the cafeteria since it’s completely empty.
“Okay, start talking. What went down in there?”
I look to my brother, still confused and unsure myself of what happened. “Honestly, I have no damn clue. I went in there excited to see her and left feeling empty almost. Like I’ve just lost everything.”
“Did you do or say something to upset her?”
“No, that’s just it, Kai. Right from the moment I walked in, I could sense something was off. There was a tension between us.”
Kai takes a sip of his coffee, then places it on the table, looking into it and thinking for a moment. “Did you two ever resolve that shit that went down at Thea’s?”
“You know about that?”
He shrugs. “It was obvious something happened. I don’t know what or why, but I know it was enough to have you take off, and Ati to look like at any moment she was about to break out in tears. Thank God, her roommate, and his partner took her home. I don’t think I could have sat there much longer watching it all.”
I let out a breath. “It was nothing. Well, at the time, it seemed like something, but now, now it all seems so irrelevant after all that just happened and everything that she has been through.”
“That happens, but maybe she hasn’t forgotten.”
“I guess.” I look to my brother, then turn to look out the window in front of me. It’s pouring rain, it has been since we left Oregon. “She slept with Brock.”
Kai almost chokes on his coffee. “Excuse me?”
I give him a side look. “What we were arguing about was that she slept with Brock.”
“Recently?” He asks his eyes full.
I turn to him. “Well, no, she’s been dating me—Ati’s not like that. It’s when she was in University.”
He releases a sigh of relief. “Oh. Okay, then what’s the problem?”
“I hate Brock.”
“He’s not a bad guy, Benny.”
I shake my head. “How is that all of you are so quick to forgive. Did you all forget what he did to our sister?”
“No, of course not. But he also stood up and took responsibility for his mistake, apologized and since then has proved to be a decent human being. I mean, look what he has done for Bane and Thea. They still might be waiting for a child of their own if it wasn’t for Brock getting them connected with the right people. Some couples have to wait years, and even then, it’s so long that they decide it’s not in the books for them. Bane and Thea have things already in the works for a second. Ben, that’s all because of Brock.”
“Fine, but all that still doesn’t change the fact that he was Ati’s first, and he’s always going to have that over me.”
Kai lets out a chuckle. “Ah, so that’s what this is—you’re still hung up on the whole, ‘who’s the bigger man.
’”
‘What are you talking about?” I question.
“You hate the fact that Brock has something of Ati’s or has shared something with her that you will never be able to. It bothers you. Well, little brother...get over it.”
“I am over it.”
“Are you? When Ati left to get on that plane, were things between the two of you resolved? Did you apologize to her for being an assjack?”
I look to him. “Assjack?”
“It’s what, Ginny says every time I do something I wasn’t supposed to, and it turns out bad. Although, it somehow seems like a term of endearment when she says it. But stop avoiding, were things resolved?”
I shake my head. “No. I was an idiot and avoided her calls. I thought at the time I needed to think things over, but that was before all this.”
“Yeah, well, that’s usually the way. Things that seemed so significant before, quickly turn to irrelevant when you are about to lose or realize you could have lost, everything and anyone that meant something to you.”
“But I forgot about it now. I can look past it.”
Kai lets out another chuckle. “Question is, can she look past your stupidity at thinking it was ever an issue?”
I drop my head, now staring at the table. “I messed up—bad.”
“Yep, but rest assured that many before you have done the same and things worked out, including Liam, Ewan, myself, and even Dad. Hell, Bane has even been brave enough to piss off Thea now and again, and he’s still alive and kicking.”
I let out a snicker, then quickly flashback to Ati. “Kai, you didn’t see the look on her face. It was empty. Like she’d rather have been back out there, on that mountain, than stuck having to talk to me in that small room.”
“I don’t know then, Benny. Are you sure that’s all it was?”
I shrug. “I can’t think of anything else that it could possibly be.”
“Well, it’s something to her, and I suggest you figure out what it is so that you can apologize for that too. And before you ask, yes, whether or not you think you did anything wrong, you apologize—always. Don’t be upsetting the balance of the universe and shit. I do that enough already for all the men out there.”
Ben & Matilda- Infinite Promise Page 23