“I’ve got six children.” Her voice was trembling. “I’ve bandaged more cuts and scrapes than I can say.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
David nodded, taking her elbow and steering her gently toward the door. “I know he really appreciates you being here.”
“Are you Jackson’s… boyfriend?” she asked delicately.
David shook his head. “No, a friend.”
She squeezed his arm and David fought a grimace. There was blood under her nails.
“He’s going to need you,” she whispered. “Her head is a mess.”
David nodded. “I’ll stay until they’re done.”
She patted his shoulder. “Good boy. Ask him to call me when he gets a minute.” David promised he would, and she went out into the dark.
Jackson came out of the hallway, papers in his hand.
“You ready?” David asked.
Jackson nodded and went through the front door, and David followed, pausing long enough to lock it, then jogging to keep up. Jackson was halfway in the car when he paused.
“Shit. I didn’t lock the door.”
“I did.” David started the car, and Jackson gave him an enigmatic look before pulling in his legs and slamming the door.
The ride to Holy Family Hospital was made in tense silence. David thought of things he wanted to ask but chose not to. Words of comfort also came to mind, but David knew they’d sound hollow when he knew nothing about Jackson’s mom’s condition. Silence seemed the best option. Jackson was as tense as a piano wire, never really relaxing into the seat, and during the entire fifteen minutes, he curled and uncurled the papers in his hand. They were sitting at the stoplight before the left for the hospital and David finally reached over and touched his arm. Jackson jerked, his eyes very wide.
“She was conscious.” David tried to give him an encouraging look. “That’s a good thing.”
Jackson took a deep breath and released it slowly.
David parked the car in the closest place he could find to the emergency room doors. When he started to get out of the car, Jackson caught his wrist. His palm felt cold and clammy against David’s skin.
“You don’t have to stay.” Jackson frowned. “This could take hours.”
“You don’t have your truck. How do you plan to get home?”
“I could call my brother. You don’t have to stay….”
David placed his hand over Jackson’s and squeezed. “Don’t be dumb.” He spoke gently. “I’m here. I’m not leaving.”
Jackson closed his eyes for a moment before he got out of the car.
David figured they wouldn’t let him go into the back with Jackson. He honestly wasn’t sure he wanted to. But after Jackson gave the nurse at the admitting desk his name, and she came around to lead him back into the ER, Jackson looked at David, hesitating. “Go, I’ll be fine.”
Jackson followed the nurse in her pink scrubs. David took a seat on one of the ugly plastic chairs near a television turned to CNN. David watched Jackson until the doors swung closed behind him. It was Saturday evening and the ER was crowded; he knew it would be a while and he settled in to wait.
Shades of blue covered the seats and floor of the large room, no doubt intended to soothe, but the chairs were uncomfortable and the florescent lighting was anything but flattering. Large plants were tucked into corners, and even though they looked healthy enough, the antiseptic smells of alcohol and disinfectant never let David forget for a moment where he was.
One by one people around him were ushered through the large electric doors to the back, and more and more filled the chairs. He watched Anderson Cooper; then the same three news stories over and over: flooding in the south, another drone strike on ISIS, a Republican primary somewhere in the Midwest. He wasn’t really paying attention. His mind kept wandering to Jackson and how very much he wished he’d been able to give Jackson’s neighbor a different answer to her question.
All of the arguments went through his head about why it was foolish. It was too soon for him to be looking at anyone. Jackson hadn’t really shown any interest. That wasn’t strictly true, though, because earlier in the day Jackson had dropped his arm around David’s shoulders, then cupped his nape in his hand, and that had been before the beer. Of course those were probably just friendly gestures on his part. But his hand had lingered on the back of David’s neck and it felt so good, so right. He closed his eyes, letting himself sink into the memory of the touch, the wide, warm palm, the calloused fingers. For the life of him, he couldn’t imagine what a man like Jackson could see in him, but he couldn’t forget how that muscled arm had felt around his shoulders. David glanced toward the large doors for at least the hundredth time, but they remained stubbornly closed.
About two hours in, a very nicely dressed couple arrived at the admitting desk. At first he was admiring the man’s dark wool coat, but he stiffened slightly when he gave the nurse a name.
“Henry,” the man repeated. “Shirley Henry. She’s my mother.”
“One moment, please.” She began to type into her computer, and David watched Jackson’s brother.
He had to be older. There was gray threaded through the dark hair at his temples. And if he’d looked at the face instead of the suit, he’d have known this man and Jackson were related immediately. The resemblance was pretty marked. They had the same dark hair, same square chin, and same pale blue eyes. Even the same slight widow’s peak. But David realized that was where the similarities ended. This man looked rigid and self-important. He was angry that he had to wait and it showed. A muscle in his square jaw flexed and his lips were pressed into a flat, hard line. The fingers of his right hand kept a steady drumbeat on the side seam of the expensive overcoat.
“Is this going to take much longer?” he asked in a clipped voice.
“I’m sorry, sir. We’re experiencing some computer problems tonight.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “If you’ll bear with me….”
“It might be faster if you walked back there and looked.”
“Travis.” The woman with him took his arm, her voice soft but emphatic. He pointedly didn’t look at her. But David did.
She was very attractive, her reddish shoulder-length hair neatly styled, and her burgundy dress, short fur jacket, and black stiletto heels elegant. A gold band paired with a very large diamond solitaire graced her left ring finger.
“She’s doing her job,” she went on to his rigid profile. “Don’t take it out on her.”
“Ah, here we go,” the nurse said. “There’s already someone with her and we limit family members to two in the ER.”
“I’ll wait out here,” his wife said. “You go on back.”
“How about you”—he pointed at the woman behind the desk—“go tell my useless brother to come out, and then we can go in together.”
David stiffened, clenching his teeth in irritation.
“Travis, I can wait out here. I don’t mind.”
Travis bared his teeth. “I mind.” He turned back to the nurse, who was watching him warily. “Check.”
She hesitated, then stood and left the desk.
“You need to calm down,” Travis’s wife said softly. “I know you’re concerned but you can’t act like this.”
“I’m not concerned,” he retorted. “I’m royally pissed off. I want to know why my mother is in an emergency room with a gash in her head.”
“Jackson told you, Trav.” She attempted to calm him by running her hand up and down his arm. “She got dizzy and fell and hit her head on a bookcase. We knew dizzy spells were likely when she was diagnosed.”
“This is why he’s supposed to be with her. Why wasn’t he there? He has one job, Juanita, one, and that’s to make sure Mom is okay. So why the hell wasn’t he home?”
“I don’t know why he wasn’t home. Maybe he was working—”
Travis snorted.
“—maybe he wasn’t. But he’s entitled to a life, Travis.” His nostril
s flared, but she didn’t seem cowed. “And what if he’d been in the living room when she fell in the office? You can’t prepare against every eventuality, and you can’t blame him for everything that goes wrong. Your mom is an independent lady. He is here with her now and he did call you. It’s not his fault we didn’t get the message until the dinner was over.”
Travis leaned against the desk, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re always making excuses for him,” he groused. “Sometimes I think you like him better than you do me.”
“Oh, I do.” Her eyes were bright with suppressed humor. “But he’s gay.”
David chuckled until Travis snorted. “Yeah, don’t remind me,” he muttered, and David’s humor slipped away. He and Gil certainly had irritating siblings in common.
The nurse returned, and behind her was a tall, powerfully built man with skin the color of dark chocolate, wearing a security guard’s uniform. He stopped next to the desk, his hands propped on his belt. “Your mother was adamant about having your brother remain with her,” the nurse said, her back stiff, “but you’re welcome to go back with Officer Bailey.”
Travis gave her a scornful look. “You called security?”
The nurse faced him, her chin lifted. “Sir, it’s my job to make sure the patients in this ER aren’t disturbed by anything more than their own injuries or illnesses. Your decision to take issue with your brother while inside this hospital is not acceptable. I understand you’re upset, and I understand that you’re concerned, but those are family matters best dealt with outside of this ward. Officer Bailey is merely here to make sure that the peace is kept.”
David wanted to applaud but decided it was probably a bad idea.
“Sir, I’d be happy to take you to your mother.” Bailey’s voice matched his appearance, and David bet not many people gave him trouble. Bailey gestured toward the electric doors and Travis looked at his wife.
“I’m fine, really. I’ll catch up on the news. You go on.”
The muscle that seemed to throb in concert with his irritation was moving in Travis Henry’s jaw again, but he preceded the security guard through the door.
“Ma’am, I am sorry,” the nurse began. Juanita Henry reached across the desk and touched her hand.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m perfectly fine out here. And please allow me to apologize for my husband. He’s in the middle of a congressional campaign, and the stress is making him very cranky. Even at home.”
“My condolences.” The nurse gave her a wry grin and Juanita laughed.
“I’ll take them.”
He was running for Congress, was he? David was pretty sure he knew for which party. And he hadn’t done anything to garner David’s vote.
Mrs. Henry crossed around the bank of chairs and sat in one two over from David. He covertly studied the expensive patterned burgundy silk, the jacket he’d bet was real fur, and the giant diamond on her hand. He recognized her elegant, strappy heels as being by designer Betsy Johnson. He wasn’t as much of a clotheshorse as Trevor, but his mother had always loved shoes, and he found himself looking at department store fliers all the time. Those were in the latest Macy’s ad for two hundred and ninety-nine dollars. They were also a good way to start a conversation.
“Lovely shoes,” he offered, gesturing to her feet. “Betsy Johnson?”
Juanita Henry looked over at him, clearly pleased. “Why yes, they are. And thank you. I’ve wanted them forever, but they were finally on sale at….”
“Macy’s. Two hundred and ninety-nine, down from three fifty.”
“Yes.” She studied him. “How nice to meet a man who knows so much about ladies’ shoes.”
“My mother loves shoes. It was become a convert or die of boredom every time I took her to Nordstrom.”
She laughed and it was a lovely, musical sound. She held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Juanita Henry.”
David took her hand and squeezed it. Her skin was very soft and her nails impeccably manicured. “David Snyder. Pleased to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, totally disregarding the dismal surroundings.” A slight frown line appeared between her brows but it was the only one. She had to be thirty-five, but there wasn’t a line on her face. She leaned slightly closer. “You don’t have a loved one inside do you?”
“No, I’m here with a friend. He has a loved one inside.” He paused, then decided he should be completely honest. “In the interest of full disclosure, my friend is Jackson Henry.”
Her face underwent an interesting transformation. She actually looked sheepish. “Oh, dear. You overheard my conversation with my husband, didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, truly.”
She laughed, something he hadn’t expected. “Travis wasn’t exactly trying to keep his voice down either, was he?” She sighed. “I’ll bet if I tell you he’s actually a very nice guy, you’re going to find it hard to believe.”
“It’s a stretch,” he agreed.
She lifted her chin and fixed him with a fetching smile. “Was it the charming way he treated the nurse?”
“It was more the way he described his brother as being ‘useless.’ I’ve known many people in my life, and Jackson is the least useless of any of them.”
“He didn’t mean that. He was concerned and frustrated, and Jackson is an easy target.”
David grinned at her. “Are you his PR person? You certainly should be.”
Her brown eyes sparkled. “I’ve told him that, but does he listen?” She crossed her hands on top of her small black evening bag. “So, are you and Jackson just friends or…?”
David snorted softly. That was the second time this evening. “Yes, we’re just friends. I met him when I hired him to do some work on a house I purchased recently. He was actually recommended by my mother.”
“Some of the very best recommendations I’ve gotten in my life came from my mother.”
David smiled. “Me too. If I’d listened to her about my last boyfriend, I’d have saved myself a world of hurt.”
Juanita Henry really did have a lovely laugh, and as he watched her perfect white teeth flash, David thought under other circumstances they could be friends. He doubted he’d ever feel that way about her husband.
“So not to be nosy, even though I really am a hopeless busybody.” Her eyes sparkled, and David grinned again. “Why are you here with Jackson if you aren’t… dating?”
He loved the way straight people felt the need to use euphemisms with gay men. Clearly what she meant was “if you aren’t screwing.”
“Well, the reason he wasn’t at home with his mother today was that he was helping me move an entire house full of furniture.” She angled her head to one side like a curious toy poodle. “Long story.”
She stretched out her lovely long leg and bumped her Betsy Johnson against his calf. “I’ve so many other pressing things going on here at the moment.”
David could see her point and smiled. “Okay, that’s fair. I bought a house full of furniture from a friend of Jackson’s. His dad recently moved in to assisted living, and Jackson, because he’s been doing repairs on my place, knew I was basically living with an old recliner upholstered in fabric that should be illegal and a mattress and box spring set on the floor.”
“Because….”
“Because of the boyfriend my mother hated. Possession is nine-tenths of the law and he is in possession of about everything.”
“He’s a jackass, then,” she said bluntly. David chuckled.
“Huge, enormous jackass. And apparently had me fooled for a very long time.”
“Ah.” She nodded sagely. “Haven’t we all had at least one of those?”
“I hope he was my one,” David quipped and she grinned. “Anyway, Jackson and several friends were helping me get my house furnished today. That’s why he wasn’t at home when his mother fell.”
“You really shouldn’t take what Travis said to heart. He didn’t mean it, and he’ll feel bad about it l
ater.”
David doubted it but he held his silence.
“Jackson needs to have days where he isn’t babysitting,” she went on. “Shirley is a lovely person, but they really should have someone with her all the time, and it isn’t reasonable to expect him to do it. He’s already sacrificed a lot by moving home to live with her.”
Yes, David thought, he could really like this woman.
His cell phone sounded off in his pocket and he took it out, looking at the name on the screen. “Speaking of mothers, this is mine. Pardon me.”
Juanita nodded and David pushed to his feet, paced toward the ER’s outer door, and walked outside. The temperature had dropped dramatically and he shivered as he went to a cement barricade by the parking lot and leaned his hip on it.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. Did you get the furniture moved?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Well, I promise not to be one of those moms, but I couldn’t help but notice no one is home at your place, and….”
He heard a noise in the background. “Oh, for God’s sakes, Mom.” It was Beth’s voice.
“Well, I’m trying not to pry.”
“God!”
“Elizabeth,” their mom complained. Then he heard what he was sure was the phone changing hands.
“Where are you?”
David snorted and laughed at the same time. “Hey, Beth. How are you? And is this the way my life is going to be from here on out?”
“You’re the one who bought the house across the street. Where are you?”
“What if it’s none of your business?”
“Then say so.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“You’re an ass.”
David laughed. “And you’re nosy.”
“That’s no news flash.” Beth was unperturbed. “Mom made pie for all of you.”
David sighed. “I wish she’d told me.”
“Are you out to dinner?”
“No, actually.” David glanced around the quiet parking lot, wondering if he should say anything. He decided he couldn’t see the harm in it. “I’m at Holy Family.”
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