Macy's Parade

by D. R. Grady

  “Are you okay, Dad?” Bryce’s voice.

  “Don’t know,” he said, assessing his body. He couldn’t seem to move anything. Now why was that?

  “He’s still out of it from the accident and the pain meds he was given at the scene. He’ll be groggy for a while.” An authoritative female voice he didn’t recognize spoke above him. Were they talking about him? Weird.

  “Is he okay?” Brandt asked.

  “He is. We’re still running tests and observing him.”

  “Is there a chance he could die?” Savannah’s voice again. He heard the anguish there and thought about her mother. His heart suddenly ached. She couldn’t handle losing both of them to car accidents.

  “No,” he said firmly before the other voice could answer.

  “There you have it, right from the patient himself.” There was a faint smile in the voice, and Nick thought that was probably a good sign. If she smiled, that meant she wasn’t too concerned.

  “Dr. Cox, are there any internal injuries?” Macy’s voice didn’t sound as confident, but he thought he caught wisps of bravery.

  Good for you, honey, he thought before the world went black. Nick didn’t fight the darkness that swirled around him. Instead, he hoped he might actually get some sleep for a change.

  ***

  He hadn’t turned away from her. Of course, he barely knew who they were. Macy wasn’t convinced Nick knew who he was. That didn’t bode well. But his doctor seemed fairly confident he’d be okay.

  The doctor seemed concerned when he slipped back into unconsciousness and had ushered them out of the room. Now they sat in the waiting room down the hall. Feeling listless, restless, and aimless, she, the kids, and Lily all tried to engage each other in games and puzzles. Al, Nick’s dad, called for status updates whenever he could leave the meetings he was stuck in.

  Everyone attempted to remain upbeat and hopeful. So far none of their efforts seemed to work.

  While Dr. Cox obviously knew her job, Macy was still worried. Shouldn’t Nick be more coherent? Had anyone questioned him about the accident? Did he know he’d been in an accident?

  The questions piled and clamored through her head. She couldn’t seem to settle on any one thought because they kept moving and tumbling until she wanted to scream.

  Starla finally fell asleep and Savannah settled in with a fashion magazine. Macy saw she held it right side up, which upped the odds that she actually read. Bryce seemed involved with the book he held in front of him. Brandt had managed to switch channels on the TV and was watching a rather violent cartoon.

  Lily gazed out the window. Macy hated to break into her private thoughts so she leafed through the poor selection of magazines on the table beside her. Would this day ever end? Her stomach rumbled, reminding her it was probably past time for supper.

  They’d waited an extra two hours for Nick, which meant it was seven before the police had ever shown. Now it was nearing nine. She hadn’t fed the kids. Macy hefted her purse and glanced at Lily. “The kids must be starving. I’d better go find them something to eat.”

  Lily nodded as understanding and sympathy lit her eyes. “I’ll wait here with them.”

  “I’ll be back,” Macy promised and made her way through the maze of halls and corridors. She decided against the elevator. She found the stairs and took them instead.

  The cafeteria was closed, but several machines offered a selection of sandwiches, snacks, and drinks. Keeping each person’s preferences in mind, she made her selections. Lily hadn’t mentioned being hungry, but eating would give her something to do and keep up her strength, so Macy also bought her a sandwich.

  Her stomach protested at the thought of swallowing anything, but Macy knew they had to eat. The kids needed the nourishment, even if she and Lily didn’t. She hadn’t been eating regularly and her clothes showed her lack of nutrition. After buying herself a sandwich she didn’t want, Macy found an empty box and loaded it with her purchases.

  Then she made her way back to the waiting room.

  “Any news while I was gone?” she asked anxiously when she entered the room.

  Lily shook her head. She trailed over to where Macy set the box down and doled out the contents. Lily knew the kids preferences as well as she, because she didn’t pause as she handed off sandwiches and drinks.

  “I bought you a sandwich,” Macy told her, when she was left with two turkey sandwiches on wheat.

  “Thanks,” Lily said and peeled off the wrapper. She didn’t seem enthusiastic about eating, and Macy could sympathize.

  Not even Brandt seemed to enjoy his meal. Macy noticed he didn’t touch the chips, his favorites, until she persuaded him. He was her best eater. Starla took two bites of her sandwich before shoving it away.

  Savannah hadn’t even taken the plastic off hers. “Savannah, you need to eat,” Macy said. “Peel the meat off, and just eat the cheese, okay?”

  The teenager looked like she wanted to argue, but she eventually nodded and did as Macy requested. Macy took the cheese from her sandwich and handed it to Savannah and accepted the meat from the girl’s supper.

  “I don’t feel like eating, either, but Macy’s right, Savannah,” Lily coaxed, stroking her granddaughter.

  “We need to try,” Macy said and tried not to grimace as she took another bite of her sandwich.

  “What if I throw up?” Savannah whispered.

  “You probably feel nauseous because you need to put something in your stomach.”

  “But what if I throw up?”

  Hooking a thumb over her shoulder, Macy pointed to the doorway behind her. “The bathroom’s across the hall. You have time to make it if you need to.”

  “Dad didn’t look good,” Savannah whispered. She stared at her sandwich but made no attempt to take another bite.

  “No, he didn’t, but he’d just been in an accident.”

  Macy doubted she’d forget the dried blood that covered him in some places. She figured the emergency crews would attempt to clean up some of the blood, but Nick’s life would have been their priority. She suppressed a shudder at the thought of how much blood he’d likely lost.

  Plus he was hooked up to a bunch of machines, with various tubes circling him and poking from under the sheet. While monitors beeped and pulsed around him.

  A stat code came over the intercom and Lily’s eyes, huge and fearful, met hers. Please don’t let that be Nick, Macy pleaded with a higher power. The nurse’s voice sounded tense and tight, and Macy tried to take another bite of her sandwich.

  It tasted like cardboard. Swallowing the bite took everything she had. Like Savannah, she feared she might throw up. But how could she expect the kids to eat if she didn’t?

  Lily appeared to be making the same progress she made. Macy noticed her eyes kept darting to the bathroom door. When no one was looking, Macy stashed her sandwich in the trash.

  This looked to be an endless night.

  Chapter 24

  When he awoke with a start, Nick had no idea where he was. He didn’t recognize the walls covered with equipment or the bed with rails he slept in. The first thing he recognized was the smell. The place smelled of antiseptic, sickness, and bodily secretions.

  A hospital.

  He vaguely remembered his kids, Macy, and his mom standing around his bed. Why? Then the accident images rose to remind him, not to mention the multitude of aches and pains in his body. Remorse swept through him at the thought of the worry and grief he’d caused his family.

  When he hadn’t called home, he could only imagine their reactions. Especially Savannah’s. But the other kids would have been affected too. And he’d been pulling away from Macy. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he also didn’t want to be hurt, so he placed the new distance between them. With the thought of his heart uppermost in his mind he had been unable to think of anything else to do.

  Lying here now, though, Nick realized something. Life was too precious to worry about things like vet school. Macy needed to do
that, but they would simply find a way to keep their relationship alive.

  They had to. He couldn’t let her go, and now that he realized how precious life was, he hoped she felt the same way. Living life without her wasn’t worth it. They might only have a month together, but maybe they’d enjoy forty years. Or fifty.

  The important thing was they needed to spend as much of the time they did have together. He was a smart guy, he could figure these things out, but later. When his head didn’t pound and he didn’t feel like he’d been run over by all the cars that had apparently crashed into each other.

  He was lucky to be alive. Great, but he was so sleepy...

  When he woke up the next time it was to see Macy’s face in front of him. There were tears in her eyes, and despair there, too. His heart clenched. He reached out and took her hand, thankful he could focus well enough to see where it lay clenched on his bed.

  It took some prying, but he eventually managed to loosen her fist. “Macy,” he whispered. The tears in her eyes dripped down her face. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She looked stricken. “For what?” The agony in those two simple words nearly undid him.

  “For not calling home. For scaring you.” Saying the words took a lot of effort.

  “Nick, you didn’t have any control over that.” Some of the pain seemed to have lifted from her. He could almost feel a lightening of her burden. Why was that? What did she fear?

  “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “I know you didn’t want that accident to happen.” A pretty inane conversation if he ever heard one. Who wanted an accident to happen?

  Time to change the subject. “Where is everyone?”

  Her lips curled up in a wan smile. “They’re all in the waiting room, asleep.”

  “Why aren’t you asleep?”

  “I couldn’t.”

  “What were you so worried about?” He didn’t even need to ask why she couldn’t sleep. Somehow they seemed to hover on the same wavelength. She’d been worried about him, but what else was bothering her?

  “I was afraid...” she sucked in a deep breath, and he saw she barely met his eyes, “afraid you wouldn’t want to see me.”

  He couldn’t imagine not wanting to see her. “Why not?”

  “Because you’ve been distancing yourself. You haven’t kissed me lately.” The pain in her eyes made his physical discomfort seem mild.

  “Macy, I...I,” Nick stared at her, not sure what to say. Knowing he had to tell her how he felt. “Macy, I love you. But I couldn’t handle seeing you leave in the fall. I didn’t know how we could work out a long distance relationship.”

  “You love me?” She gaped at him.

  He frowned at her. “Thought you were supposed to be smart.”

  “You love me?” she repeated, like she couldn’t believe he’d said those words.

  “Yes.” Where had she been these last few months?

  The hope that shone in her eyes made him grasp her hand a little tighter. “I hope this means you love me, too?”

  She nodded. “I think I’ve loved you since the moment you opened your door to interview me.”

  He didn’t think the world could look quite so bright and beautiful. “I’m glad. I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved any woman,” he admitted. Not sure where that had come from, but knowing it was true.

  “Even more than Melissa?” She asked like she had to know, and it wouldn’t hurt her to know the truth.

  “Yes. Even more than Melissa. I’ll always be grateful to her for having my children, but I don’t think I knew actual love until you.”

  More tears washed over her cheeks, and Nick stared askance at her. “I thought that revelation would make you happy.”

  “It did. It does,” she answered with several hiccups. But the tears continued.

  “Then why are you crying?”

  “I’m happy.”

  “I’m glad. Just knowing you love me,” he said, but his eyes felt so heavy, Nick finally stopped resisting the temptation to close them. He had more to say to Macy, but he couldn’t think at the moment.

  He felt her lips on his forehead and the splash of her tears on his cheeks. She sighed and said, “I love you, Nick.”

  Now was a good time to take advantage of the situation. “Marry me?”

  “Oh yes.” There was no hesitation in her voice.

  His lips curled into a smile before he rushed headlong into the sleep that came to claim him.

  Macy loved him. He was a lucky dog.

  ***

  Macy trailed back to the waiting room aware her feet likely didn’t touch the tiled floor. She didn’t care. Nick loved her. They could work through anything if they loved each other.

  Vet school was important to her, but not as important as Nick. She’d nearly lost him today. She had time to go to vet school later. But her loved ones, Nick and his children, could be snatched from her in a heartbeat.

  Maybe she would have to put her dreams on hold, but she couldn’t put her family on hold. They meant everything to her. Yet a small part of her protested. She’d worked so hard for the day when she’d be accepted into vet school. And now she planned to turn her back on that goal?

  Macy shoved the treacherous thoughts from her mind. Right now, she needed to concentrate on Nick and his recovery. She had four kids and a mother-in-law to take care of. Vet school would have to wait.

  Staring at the kids, she didn’t flick the little voice in time. What is this telling the kids? That it’s okay to give up on your dreams? You’d better think this through.

  But she had. If she left for vet school, that was four years without seeing Nick and the kids every day. Macy realized now she couldn’t handle it. How could she concentrate on her studies when she’d constantly want to be calling and checking up on them?

  She didn’t doubt Nick’s love. Nor the kid’s love. But...

  That was the problem – there was always that pesky little but.

  “Macy?” Savannah turned in her chair.

  Macy rose and sat beside her. “Hi,” she said and patted the girl’s hand.

  “Did you see Dad?”

  “Yes.”

  “And?” Macy didn’t miss the intensity of her voice. She was still frightened of losing her remaining parent. And rightfully so.

  “He’s fine. We talked.”

  “What did he say?”

  Macy shrugged. She didn’t want to be the one to tell the kids about their forthcoming marriage. She and Nick needed to drop that bomb on them together. “We just talked about how scared all of us were. He felt really bad about not calling.”

  Savannah rolled her eyes. “Like he could call when he’d been in an accident.”

  “That’s pretty much what I told him,” Macy said, grinning and she couldn’t help herself. She ruffled Savannah’s hair. The teenager didn’t seem to mind.

  “Do you think we can go home? Is he well enough?”

  “I stopped by the nurse’s station and that’s what they advised. We can’t do much for him right now. We’ll come back in the morning.”

  “He’s not in danger now?”

  “He doesn’t seem to be. There’s always the risk of infection, but I think the worst of the scare is over.” Macy yawned as she spoke.

  “We’d better wake everyone up and get to the van. Are you okay to drive us home?” Savannah cocked her head as she asked.

  “I’m okay. It’s just hitting me now,” she admitted.

  “I’ll drive,” Lily said as she straightened in her chair and stretched.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m more awake than you are. I actually got a little sleep.”

  “You’re staying the night with us then?”

  “Yes. No sense in going home. Al’s at Nick’s now. I’ll just crawl into bed with him.”

  “Let’s wake up the kids and go home then.”

  ***

  Al wanted a full repor
t when they arrived, sleepy and groggy. Macy left Lily to give the briefing and instead herded the kids upstairs. Savannah helped her.

  “Macy,” Savannah said, once they’d coaxed the boys and Starla into bed, “is there something going on between you and Dad?”

  Since that question came out of nowhere, Macy blinked at her. Totally unsure how to answer. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve just noticed you two look at each different.”

  Macy raised an eyebrow. “How so?” She knew she was stalling, but she really wanted Nick with her when they told the kids.

  “Like you like each other as more than friends.”

  “I can tell you that we do have some news to share with you all, but we’re not ready to do so yet.” Macy hedged as much as she could. Nick needed to be with her. It wasn’t her place to tell them, not even Savannah. Still she hugged the girl and was heartened when Nick’s oldest hugged her back.

  “If you and Dad are dating, does that mean you’re planning to stay past the fall?” Her voice was intense again.

  “Right now, we haven’t made any plans. We need to get your dad out of the hospital and recovered before we make any decisions. That’s all I can tell you, I’m sorry.” Why did this have to be so complicated?

  “But you are planning to tell us what’s going on, right?”

  “Of course,” Macy answered, hearing the honesty in her voice. “You’re the first ones we’d tell. But your dad was seriously injured, so right now we need to concentrate our efforts on helping him.”

  “Okay,” Savannah said, but Macy wasn’t sure she had convinced her.

  What if the kids hated the idea of their dad marrying her? She and Nick hadn’t thought of that possibility, but it was one, regardless.

  Maybe vet school was closer than she thought.

  The thought didn’t comfort her. She wanted Nick, but if his kids protested ... well, they definitely had a say. This was their home, too. They had every right to vote on what came into the house, and what left.

  Macy blinked back tears. Oh, please don’t let her be one of the things that left.