Running Home to You (The Running Series)

by Sweeney, Suzanne

  Ryker explains, “Remember my desert rose with the big green eyes?” I nod. “She’s not alive anymore because the man she loved lost control. I’ll be damned if I’m going to just sit back and watch it happen all over again.”

  “I know what this may look like, but honestly, it’s nothing. We just had a fight. It happens all the time,” I reassure him.

  “You guys fight like that all the time?” he immediately responds.

  “No. I just meant that couples in general have fights. Evan and I hardly ever fight. Ask anyone – they’ll tell you,” I try desperately to explain. This conversation isn’t going very well. “Can we please just drop it?”

  “Okay. I’ll drop it, for now. But I don’t like what’s going on.” Ryker returns to the kitchen, but I’m not at all certain that I’ve convinced him there’s no cause for concern.

  Before I even have a chance to try and calm myself, Emmy is at my side. She takes me by the hand and escorts me to a booth in the corner of the restaurant. “Spill. What the hell was that all about? Is everything okay with you two?” she asks.

  “I don’t know, Emmy, I’m so confused. We have our moments, but that’s all they usually are – moments. This was different,” I sigh.

  “I’ll say. I think he just needs a reminder of how much you love each other. Why don’t you go home, light some candles, and tie a big red bow around yourself? No, wait – I’ve got it. Get a sexy cheerleader costume – you can borrow mine. Put your hair in pigtails and make up a cheer for him. But make sure you bounce up and down a lot. And don’t wear a bra. Or panties! He’ll forget all about this nonsense. You’ll see.” Emmy looks so hopeful. She thinks it’s a simple fix, but nothing could be further from the truth.

  After I finish up at work, I decide to take the long way home and stop at Auggie’s for a visit. I haven’t seen him in nearly a week and I need to talk. Relief washes over me when I pull up and find his car parked in the driveway. I knock on the door, cautiously open it, and call inside, “Anybody home?”

  I’m immediately rewarded with a cheerful, “Jepetto! Come on in, girl.”

  We sit together and chat a little about Auggie’s work and love life. He’s terribly happy on both fronts. He just closed on a house in Manasquan that sold for almost a million dollars. He and Lucas seem to be hot and heavy. Auggie tells me all about the last play they saw, Chicago, currently starring one of the contestants from American Idol or the Voice – I’m not sure which. He shares with me the pictures proudly stored on his iPad that were taken backstage, hobnobbing with the entire cast.

  My mood immediately sours as images of the previous headliner, Averee DeVeau, come rushing into my mind. She accepted an offer to do a short stint on Broadway starring as Roxy Hart just so she could be closer to Evan. The ramifications of her intrusion into our lives are still being felt today. Evan’s physical scars left behind will heal with time, but I’m not so sure about his emotional scars.

  “I’m sorry, Jepetto. I should have realized.” Auggie walks over to me and gathers me up in his arms. “Chicago. Averee. I’m a real idiot sometimes,” he laments. “What’s going on with Evan? Is he still sidelined?”

  “Nope. He’s been practicing with the team for a couple of weeks now. Adam says he’s actually better than before. There’s no more numbness. He can throw. He can catch. He’s quick on his feet,” I explain.

  “Wow. Sounds great. So what’s the problem? Why so glum, chum?” Auggie asks as he pours me a glass of white wine.

  “We just had a terrible fight, Auggie. I don’t think Evan’s really dealt with the kidnapping on an emotional level. The slightest things seem to be setting him off lately.”

  “I don’t know what you mean. Give me an example.”

  “Okay, well, there was our night in Atlantic City about a month ago. He got really upset about a bullshit article about him taking drugs. I thought he was actually going to cry.” I stop for a moment to take another sip. “Then, a few days later, at our unofficial Grand Opening, he got really jealous of Derek when I went behind the bar to help out. He thought we were flirting.” Auggie gives me a look that tells me I’m not an innocent bystander in all of this.

  “Don’t tell me today’s fight was about Derek, too,” he warns.

  “Well...” I don’t have to say anymore. He knows.

  “Is there anything else?”

  “I feel like I don’t know how to make him happy anymore. He’s not happy when I spend too much time at work. He’s always crabby and moody when he comes home from practice lately. As soon as he started practicing with the team again, it started getting worse and worse. But when we have a day off together, he’s great. When we’re alone and it’s just the two of us, it’s perfect. As soon as either one of us sets foot out the front door, he’s an emotional wreck.”

  “How bad was the fight?” Auggies asks.

  “Pretty bad. He said he’s almost ready to ‘cash out’ because he’s sick of my games. Auggie, I swear to God, I’m not playing games. Derek and I were laughing and having fun. That’s all.”

  Auggie points out, “That may be all it was, but I’ll bet my bottom dollar that’s not how it appears, especially to Evan.”

  “But Auggie,” I argue, “I’m not doing anything wrong. It’s just harmless flirting.”

  “Maybe it is and maybe it’s not.” He gets up and walks around the room for a moment before he continues. “Let me ask you this – why don’t you like Lucas?”

  “Wait a minute, that’s not fair. You can’t compare the two. He was ... well, I didn’t like the way he ...” He’s right. The only thing Lucas is guilty of is flirting with Derek. Lucas didn’t actually do anything wrong. “All right, I get your point.” I slump down in my seat.

  Auggie looks at me with a sad expression of disappointment on his face, holds up a picture he took of Lucas and adds, “Pot, I’d like you to meet kettle.”

  Chapter Nine

  Hour of Need

  I take Auggie’s message to heart, mostly because he’s right. Evan’s not here when I arrive home. He’s definitely been here, though. There’s food in Maddy’s dish and I see his dirty clothes in the hamper. The first step in making amends is preparing a romantic dinner. I find a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio and place it in the refrigerator to chill. It’s Evan’s favorite wine. To go with it, I decide on another one of his favorites, shrimp and grits. His years in Maryland and Texas have definitely affected his palate. He’s complained to me more than once that it’s nearly impossible to get good grits here in Jersey.

  While the grits are cooking, I head out to the deck and do my best to set the right mood. I put out a white tablecloth and bring out our best china for a romantic dinner for two. I gather a bunch of candles of all different sizes and arrange them in the center of the table. The shrimp are deveined and will cook up quickly in the garlic butter sauce I melted in a saucepan. I won’t cook the shrimp until he arrives; they’re best freshly sautéed.

  While I wait for Evan, I turn on the music and sit back on the couch with a good book. I’m definitely in the mood for a smutty romance, and my Kindle has plenty to choose from. Maddy curls up at my feet as I lay back reading and waiting. I must have dozed off at some point, because when I wake, it’s pitch black outside.

  First, I check on the deck. Everything is exactly as I left it. I wander into the kitchen and find the pan of grits transferred to the refrigerator. The shrimp are bagged and refrigerated, too. Evan’s been here. He didn’t wake me. He’s madder than I originally thought.

  I look up at the clock and see that it’s nearly midnight. Wow, I must be more tired than I realized. Evan’s probably in bed by now. When I go into our room to check, he’s not there. He’s not in the shower, either. I wander around the house and I cannot find him – anywhere. The workout room is empty. His office is empty. But when I peek into the garage, his Porsche is right there where it belongs.

  There’s only one room left – the guest bedroom. I peek in, and there he is, sou
nd asleep. My heart sinks as the realization of our situation becomes clear. Evan doesn’t want me, not tonight anyway. I slip away without disturbing him and return to the kitchen to clean up. There will be no romantic dinner tonight.

  My ringing phone wakes me up at around two o’clock in the morning. I check the caller I.D. and see that it’s Auggie. “Hey, Auggie, is everything okay?” I ask groggily.

  “Jette, it’s not Auggie, it’s Lucas. There’s been an accident. Can you get down here right away?”

  Lucas sounds terrible. His voice is shaky and he’s completely out of breath. “Lucas, what happened? Where are you?”

  “We’re at Jersey Shore Hospital. We were out celebrating. Auggie seemed fine when he dropped me off at home. I swear. I don’t know how it happened, but he crashed, Jette. It’s pretty bad. You better get down here.”

  “I’m on my way.” I toss on the jogging clothes I had lain out for my morning run, scribble a quick note to Evan and I leave. He’s a big boy. He can make his own decisions. If he wants to join us, he can, but I’m not going to guilt him into thinking he needs to drive me to the hospital. I’ve taken care of myself for a long time before he came along and I’m more than capable of doing this with or without his help.

  When I arrive, no one’s here except for Lucas. “Hasn’t anyone called Auggie’s parents?” I ask.

  “No, Jette. I didn’t. I can’t. They don’t like me. They’ll blame me. I don’t know what to say to them,” Lucas whines.

  “Lucas, seriously? You should have called them first.” As I thumb through my contacts looking for Auggie’s parents’ number I ask Lucas, “How is he?”

  “They just took him into surgery. There’s a lot if internal bleeding. They won’t tell me anything else. I don’t know what to do. That’s why I called you. I knew you would tell me what to do. What do I do? Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” By the way he’s pacing around, I’d guess he’s had several energy drinks.

  I call Auggie’s parents, and they tell me they’ll be here in minutes. While we wait, I ask Lucas for more information. “Start from the beginning, and tell me everything you know.”

  Lucas explains to me how he got a phone call from his rep that he’s gotten the lead role in a big movie. He has to fly out to California to begin filming in two days. It’s a big budget film that’s been picked up by a major studio. He and Auggie went out to celebrate. Auggie was the designated driver and only had one drink early in the night. Sometime around two-thirty, Auggie dropped him off at home and headed back to Point Pleasant.

  “So how did you find out about the accident? Did the police call you?” I wonder how he got notified before Auggie’s parents did.

  “No. Auggie called me himself. He said he hit a guardrail on the parkway. Jette, he sounded fine. Really scared, a little confused, but fine. I convinced him to call 9-1-1. I told him he needed to get himself checked out at the hospital, just to be sure. I called a cab and had them bring me here.”

  “Okay, so then what happened?” I ask.

  “Everything started happening so fast. I don’t know. One minute, the doctors are checking him out, the next thing I know, they’re wheeling him into surgery. That’s when I called you. I’m scared, Jette. What if he doesn’t make it? It’s all my fault.” I feel bad for Lucas. He really does care about Auggie.

  Together, we sit in the waiting room. Since neither of us are family, they won’t tell us anything. Before long, Mr. and Mrs. Deegan come rushing into the emergency room, frantic with worry. “Juliette, how is he? How’s James?” August is his middle name. Only his family calls him James.

  “We don’t know. They won’t tell us anything, Mrs. Deegan.”

  Auggie’s parents head straight to the nurse’s station and are immediately whisked away to the surgical unit. Nearly an hour goes by and we finally get a call from Mrs. Deegan to meet her on the eighth floor. We find the nearest elevator, and walk as fast as out feet will take us.

  As soon as we arrive, I understand what Lucas meant about Auggie’s parents not liking him. They won’t even look at him. The room is completely empty at this early morning hour except for the Deegans and they won’t even acknowledge his presence.

  Mrs. Deegan has been crying; there’s a box of tissues and a full trash can right beside her. Mr. Deegan gives us the latest news. “A nurse came out a few minutes ago to update us. There has been a tremendous amount of blood loss. They are giving him blood, but he’s losing it faster than they can replace it. If they don’t find the source of the bleeding soon ...” He pats his wife on the knee in an attempt to comfort her. “Well, they have to find where it’s coming from or the outcome will not be good.”

  Upon hearing that, Lucas gets up from his chair and begins pacing around again. Mrs. Deegan keeps looking over at him and rolling her eyes. He’s not helping, I think he’s making the rest of us more uncomfortable. I take out my smart phone and do Internet research on internal bleeding after car accidents. The top two returns are ruptures to the vessels of the heart and lungs. The outcome for either one of those is not good unless they find the source quickly.

  Soon, Auggie’s elder twin sisters arrive, Cynthia and Christina. They, too, get an update from their father. Time seems to actually be slowing down. Mr. Deegan said we would get updates every thirty minutes and it feels like I’ve been in this room for hours. When I check my phone, I’m shocked to see that it’s only been fifteen minutes.

  I introduce Cynthia and Christina to Lucas, and they are much more welcoming than their parents. The girls can tell that he is rife with worry. They each take a seat on either side of Lucas and do their very best to be positive and keep him distracted by asking lots of questions about his job. I think Cynthia recognized him immediately from the Zenith movies, but she’s too couth to bring it up.

  He tells them about the film role he just got, and Cynthia has the opening she needs to start asking about show business. She asks about rumors of real life romances and affairs. Since being with Evan, I’ve developed a strong dislike for dishing dirt about celebrities. I actually expected more from all of them.

  The nurse comes out with another update, and the entire room falls silent. She pulls up a chair to speak directly with his parents. The gesture has me worried. We all gather around to hear. “Okay, we’ve had a complication. His temperature began to rise rapidly, most likely in reaction to the anesthesia. They have given him a strong dose of dantrolene sodium, which should have an immediate effect. The next few minutes will be critical. The surgeon and the anesthesiologist caught it quickly and they are very optimistic that it can be controlled.”

  Mrs. Deegan begins weeping into her husband’s shoulder. Christina asks about the bleeding. The nurse explains how they had to stop looking for the source of the rupture to deal with his body’s reaction to the anesthesia. The nurse excuses herself and returns to assist in the surgery.

  For the next thirty minutes, there is no chatter. Even Lucas is sitting quietly, contemplating the situation we find ourselves in. I’m sure everyone is saying their silent prayers. I know Auggie is as stubborn as a mule, and I hope and pray that those qualities come in handy right now.

  There’s a small window overlooking the parking lot. It’s still pitch black outside and there’s no sign of life. It’s an ominous feeling that gives me the creepy crawlies. I’m petrified. Auggie is my best friend, the brother I never had, and my rock. What would my life be like without him? My mind is a web of thoughts, each new one leading to another. I can’t stay on one topic for long. It’s just making me feel worse.

  Everyone is on pins and needles as the door opens and the nurse reappears. None of us has thought to ask for her name. She takes her seat opposite the Deegans and smiles. An immediate wave of relief floods the room. She hasn’t said a word, but it’s obvious the news is positive.

  “Okay, I have some good news to report. He responded very well to the dantrolene and his temperature is now under control. We’ve also located the source of the bl
eeding. It was a ruptured spleen. The surgeon is sectioning off the remaining vessels and he should be removing it shortly.” She pats Mrs. Deegan on the knee kindly. “Do you have any questions for me?”

  “I do,” Mr. Deegan responds. “How will this affect his health in the future? Can you survive without a spleen?” The relief that was on Mrs. Deegan’s face just a moment ago has quickly faded.

  “Absolutely. He’ll be prone to infections. His body’s ability to fight infection will be compromised. He will need regular flu shots. You must make sure he gets medical attention for even minor illnesses. Without a spleen, a small infection could quickly spread to his blood stream, causing a serious infection called sepsis,” she explains slowly and thoroughly. The news is good.

  “I do have to warn you, when you see him, he will have lots of tubes and machines attached to him. He’s going to have a long, difficult recovery. He won’t be able to put any pressure on his abdomen for weeks. That means he’ll need help getting up, moving around, and doing common tasks like reaching and showering.” She looks around at our little group and remarks, “But it looks like he’ll have plenty of help.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Christina responds.

  “Well, that’s good to hear. It will be another hour while the surgeon finishes the splenectomy and closes him up. He’ll spend another hour in recovery. You can see him after that. I’ll be back with regular updates until then.” She turns to leave the room. Just before she disappears, she turns around in the doorway and adds, “Ruptured spleens are hard to recognize in impact collisions. If he hadn’t gotten here when he did, this conversation wouldn’t be occurring. I just thought you should know.” And with that, she slips from our view.

  Mrs. Deegan walks to Lucas, seated in a chair in the far corner of the room and says, “Lucas, it’s thanks to you that James has a chance. If he hadn’t come straight here, he would have bled to death in a very short time.” She kisses him on the head and adds, “Thank you.”