"I'll come with you." He stood and glanced at his aunt. "Do you want to come, too?"
Dawn glanced at his grandmother. "No, I'll wait here."
His grandma smiled at Aunt Dawn. "Thank you. Gage's aunts and uncles will be here shortly. Could you let them know I've gone to find out why we can't see them?"
"Oh, yes, ma'am. I'd wish you good luck, but I don't think you'll need any." Aunt Dawn chuckled and checked her phone. Gage looked between the two women.
"Come on, Gage." His grandmother started walking, and he fell into step beside her. She stopped in front of a counter. "Excuse me. I'm looking for Amber Swanson and Brody King."
The woman was scrolling through something on her phone while standing behind the counter. She held up a finger without even looking at his grandmother. Gage watched his grandma lift her chin and then her eyes narrowed. "I don't know who raised you, young woman, but it is common courtesy to acknowledge someone who is talking to you."
The nurse glanced up from the phone in her hand. "Excuse me?"
"No ma'am, I don't think I will. I am Hannah King. I'm looking for my son, his father, and Amanda Swanson, this young man’s mother. They were brought in two hours ago. The emergency room sent us up here."
The woman stared at them for a couple of seconds and slowly pocketed her phone. "We haven't had any admissions during my shift." She crossed her arms.
His grandmother leaned forward. "Would you please use the computer and tell me where they were placed?"
His grandmother smiled at the woman, but it really didn't seem like a smile, more like a throw down. He'd seen fights at school. His stomach felt the same way now, like it was upset, and he was waiting for something bad to happen. The way his grandmother was looking at the nurse, he could tell she really didn't like the woman, but she was being really nice to her anyway. His eyes bounced to the other woman.
"I'm sorry, I think it's broken."
"Do you?" His grandmother asked. "Without even wiggling the mouse, you believe your computer is broken.
"Yep." The woman smiled at his grandmother. "Maybe you should go back down to the emergency room and ask again."
"Oh. I see." She leaned toward the counter a bit. "Emma is it?"
The woman smiled at his grandma. Kinda.
"Well, Emma. My husband, Chauncey King, is the Commissioner of Hope City's Police Department. Our grandson's mother and father, a police detective and a DEA agent, were brought to this hospital almost two hours ago. Now, I can have my husband, as busy as he is, contact the Executive Director of the Hope City Hospital System and ask the exact same question I'm asking you. I'm sure he can take time out of his evening with his family to find out where they are. Of course, I'd be sure to explain the exceptional help we've received here today. I’ll be sure to mention you by name." His grandmother smiled at the woman again.
The woman's eyes narrowed, and she sat down at the computer. She hit the keys hard. "What are the names again?" the woman snapped.
"Brody King and Amber Swanson."
"Mr. King is on the fourth floor. Room 412.There is no record of a Swanson being admitted."
"What does that mean, Grandma?"
She put her hand on his shoulder. "I don't know. Let's go see your dad and maybe he'll know where she is."
He swallowed hard and asked, "She's okay, right?"
"I'm sure she is, Gage. Your grandfather would have told me if there was a serious injury. Now, let's pop up and see your father." She headed away from where Aunt Dawn was waiting.
"Don't you want to tell Aunt Dawn where we're going?"
She opened a door which led to a flight of stairs. "We'll come back down and tell her as soon as we know where your mom and dad are. Up you go." She motioned to the stairs and they started walking.
"Why was she so..."
"Unpleasant?"
Gage made a choking sound. "Yeah, that." He'd call her a bitch. But not around his mom or any other adults. Around the guys, though, yeah. That's what he'd call her.
"Maybe she was having a bad night." His grandmother couldn't hide her smile.
"Maybe she's always like that," Gage countered.
"Probably." She laughed as she agreed. "Most people are nice if you're nice to them."
"Most. Some are real jerks."
"And that's a life lesson, young man. Fortunately, the majority of people you deal with will be nice."
Gage opened the door for his grandmother like he'd seen his grandfather do, and she smiled at him. "Thank you." She stopped inside the door and looked at the numbers on the wall. "All the way to the end I think."
They approached the counter and the nurse behind the desk looked up. "Oh! Mrs. King?"
His grandmother stopped and smiled. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't recall your name?"
"I'm Candice. I was Brock's nurse while he was with us last winter."
"Oh, yes. Candice, so nice to see you again. My son Brody was admitted?"
"Yes, ma'am. Right this way. I thought you'd be here sooner." The woman stepped away from the desk.
"We had a slight problem and were routed to the third floor. We've been waiting for almost two hours. I finally had to talk to the nurse on duty at the station."
"The third floor? That's for same day surgeries and by this time of night there's only an aide on duty because the floor should be vacant." Candice stopped. "She let you sit there for two hours?"
His grandmother nodded.
"I'll talk to my supervisor and see what we can do."
"Thank you so much. Could you also call down and ask the young lady, Emma, I think her name is, to be so kind as to tell his aunt and any of our family who have gathered to come upstairs?"
"Absolutely. Your son is this way." They started to walk again.
"We're also looking for Amber Swanson, my grandson's mother?"
The nurse nodded. "I'm pretty sure she's with your son in his room. Pretty lady with long golden red hair?"
As if summoned by the nurse's description, his mom appeared in a doorway.
"Mom!" Gage bolted from his grandmother's side when he saw his mom. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, almost smothering him.
"It's all right. I'm here."
He moved away and pinched his nose. "Sheesh, you stink!"
His mom laughed and hugged him again. He let her for a minute and then he backed away. "Where is Dad?"
"Right here." He looked beyond his mom and saw his dad sitting up in a bed with an oxygen mask covering his mouth. He walked to the bed. "What happened?" There were bandages on his hand. Big white strips of cloth wrapped around them, and his face looked like it had a real bad sunburn.
"Well..." His dad coughed hard and held his hand up, like the woman had earlier, but you could tell his dad wasn't being disrespectful. Finally, he said, "I was getting some evidence from a building that had caught fire. Your mom helped me to get out. We got a lot of smoke in our lungs, and I burnt my hands a little."
"But you're okay?"
"Going to be fine."
Gage stared at his dad for a long time. He'd talked to his father on the phone a lot while he and his mom worked, but he was still kind of a stranger. "Do you have to go back to working there?"
"No," his mom said as she sat down with his dad on the hospital bed.
"Well, thank goodness for small favors." His grandmother spoke for the first time. "We've been waiting downstairs for the last two hours. I didn't know you were up here."
"No worries, Mom. You didn’t miss much. I just got back from x-ray. We would have texted you, but our phones didn't make the trip."
"X-ray?" His grandmother stood up straighter.
"Precaution. They'll take another one in a couple days." His dad coughed again. "It's because of the persistent cough. The doctor didn't want to take any chances, and he's playing it safe."
His grandmother nodded and then reached forward and pushed some of his mom's hair away from her face. "And you? Chauncey said you were tr
ansported here, too?"
His mom smiled and shook her head. "Treated and released. I made it up here just before they took him to radiology. I was going to try to get Dawn and have her contact you."
"She's downstairs, Mom."
His mom sent him a questioning look.
"We were told you were going to the third floor. After waiting forever, Grandma persuaded the woman to find out exactly where you were."
His dad chuckled and then coughed, but not as bad as the last time. "You persuaded the woman, Mom? A nurse? Please tell me you weren't in hover-copter mode."
His grandmother kicked up her chin. "She was an aide, not that she was of much assistance, and I was perfectly nice. Right, Gage?"
He glanced up at his grandmother and then at his mom and dad. "I don't ever want Grandma to be perfectly nice to me. Ever." He rolled his eyes, and all three of the adults started laughing. Both his mom and dad ended up coughing, but it was worth it to watch his grandma's shocked expression. "I'm ten, Grandma, not two. She was disrespectful and you put her in her place."
His grandmother sniffed and stuck her nose up in the air. "Sometimes people need a little encouragement."
He glanced at his mom. "You know that word I can't say that Nick and Simon say cops are?"
His mom narrowed her eyes and nodded.
"Yeah, well Grandma is the OG of badass."
The way his mom and grandmother sputtered and fussed at him shouldn't have been so funny, but his dad thought it was hilarious and laughed until he started coughing again.
Chapter 23
Brody glanced around the front room of his apartment. The setting sun filtered through the floor to ceiling window tinting the room with a golden hue. Brock, Blay, Sean, Kyle, Rory, Carter, his dad and Colm McBride sat around two nice card tables he and Blay had built. They folded and the legs collapsed so they traveled when needed. Tonight, they made the trip from Blay's apartment to his. Blay and the guys at the station had borrowed them last weekend for a marathon game of Pokémon. And no, he still couldn't understand the fact grown-ass men were playing a child's game and taking it seriously. Some shit did not compute.
The men had spent the last hour laughing at corny dad jokes, and they tossed harmless insults around, it was a good time. What was better? Sharing this home with his wife and son. Gage's football sat in the corner of the living room along with his shoulder pads. Brody had taken him down to sign up for football as soon as registration opened up. This year, Gage was playing tight end. He was too big and not quite fast enough to be a wide receiver, but he was perfect as a tight end, even though the coach had to be convinced to give him a try in that position. Brody smiled remembering the day the coach was convinced to change his mind on where to play Gage. His size tended to intimidate people. His size, plus Brody, Blay, Kyle, Sean and Rory had unequivocally silenced any argument the coach had about where Gage would be playing. He was so glad they could come to a quick and equitable agreement. Gage had great hands, and he was growing fast. When he caught up to his body and gained some coordination, the kid would be phenomenal.
"Yo, Brody, you going to raise or you going to daydream?" Brock's voice brought him out of his musings. He glanced down at his three aces and two queens and grimaced. "What's the pot at?"
"Fifty cents to you." Carter put his cards down and lifted his glass. "I'm on empty. Anyone else?"
The chorus of yeses put a pause on the games as the tables emptied and the men moved into the kitchen and the makeshift bar. Brody put his hand down, careful not to let anyone see his cards. This pot was his.
Brock kicked his feet under the table. They didn't get up to refill their glasses because Blay was pressed into duty even though he was sitting at the other table. When he looked at his older brother and arched his eyebrows in question, the guy smiled at him. "Welcome to the ranks of the married."
Brody chuckled. He and Amber had made a fast trip to Boston and gotten married last weekend. Boston was nearby, out of town and away from family. It was a perfect place to tie the knot. The only person they’d told was Gage, and the kid kept the secret. Much to his grandmother's dismay. Amber had handled it perfectly, asking Hannah to help her with a family reception next month.
After the Friday afternoon ceremony, they'd spent the weekend doing the tourist thing and eating tons of great food. They'd splurged on a hotel room with two master suites. Gage about freaked out, in a good way, when he realized he had a room to himself. It took about three hours of research and a ton of phone calls to secure that exact style of room. He wanted Gage with them when they were married, but he was going to have a honeymoon, too. The split masters put a living room between them, which worked perfectly for his plans.
"Where's Gage tonight?"
"Johnny’s dad organized an overnight camping trip. The last one before school starts."
"How is Gage taking moving to a new school?"
"He's bummed, but they'd be changing schools moving into sixth grade anyway. He already knows a couple of the kids, the ones on his football team, so he won't be going in as a complete stranger."
"And Amber? How is she adapting to JDET?"
"God, she's a perfect fit. Rayburn and Watson have adopted her. You can't separate those three." He laughed and leaned his weight forward, glancing into the kitchen where Rory and Blay were clowning around and amusing the rest of the crowd. "I've always loved her, man. I always will. Tell me you found that with Kallie."
Brock smiled and closed his eyes for a second. "She's my perfect counterbalance."
Brody leaned back as Blay walked their way, two cups clutched in one big hand. Brody thanked his brother for the drink before he told Brock, "I know the feeling."
"What feeling?" Kyle and Carter sat back down with them while his dad, Colm, Blay, Rory and Sean sat at the other table.
"Balance. In life and at work." Brody picked up his hand and tossed two quarters into the pot. "Call."
"Who wants cards?" Kyle picked up the deck since it was his deal. Brock took two, Carter, one. He stood pat and so did Kyle.
"Balance is hard to find, but when you do, grab it," Carter said before he tossed a quarter in the pot.
"Twenty-five cents to you." Kyle was the self-appointed table monitor. He kept the game going at a good clip.
"Give me a second." Brody stared at his cards like the visual inspection would change the numbers into face cards, or at least he hoped that's what it looked like. He hadn't had this good of a hand dealt to him in years. He was going to milk it for everything he could get.
Kyle glanced at Carter. "Balance as in my sister and niece? That type of balance?"
Carter chuckled and took a sip of his drink. "I may be your brother-in-law, but I will not discuss your sister with you. Ever. I believe we've had this conversation."
Kyle narrowed his eyes at Carter. "I think that particular conversation was with Sean, but I get the gist. I'm sitting with three old married farts. Maybe I need to grab Blay and Rory and you can take Dad and Chauncey. Married men against those of us unattached.
"Speak for yourself."
"Who's unattached?"
Blay and Rory spoke at the same time.
Kyle threw up his hands. "Seriously?"
"Nah, but it was cool to see your face." Blay laughed and ducked a torpedo in the form of a crunchy cheese doodle Kyle chucked his direction.
Kyle grabbed a cheesy snack and shoved it in his mouth. The man glanced over at him and gave him a wink. Oh hell, his friend was hiding something. Did he have someone?
Rory launched another doodle, smacking Carter in the side of the face. God it was good to laugh. Things at work had been hard. Captain Terrell had aged years in the last two months. His boss, the bastard Fenton, had him removed from duty because of the clusterfuck of events which had happened when Peña's men came to clean house. It took IA three weeks to reinstate him. Three weeks of dealing with Fenton in their business every day. Dress code changes, procedure changes, reporting changes... the team
had threatened to mutiny, and they'd had many meetings outside of Fenton's observation to stem the frustration. Thankfully, the captain had been reinstated without censure, and Fenton was once again behind a fence.
"Call." He tossed in two quarters.
"That wasn't a call, that was a raise." Carter pointed to the pile. "It was a quarter to you."
Brody blinked at the pile. "Damn it. Okay then, I'm out an extra twenty-five. I raise." He sighed heavily and dropped his hand to the table. He leaned back so he could see the men at the other table. "Hey, Sean, are you working the apartment fire at Juliette and 21st?" He'd heard it was started by the building owner to gather an insurance claim.
"The case was a slam dunk. The man left a trail straight to him. There was a fatality. He's going to jail for the rest of his natural life."
Blay's head came up. "Ah, damn. The kid didn't make it?" He was the one who'd pulled the boy out of the burning building.
"No. I got the call a couple hours ago. His parents took him off life-support."
Rory tossed his hand into the pot. "What a waste."
Blay tossed his hand into the pot, too. "Maybe if I'd gotten there sooner."
"Stop. You did everything you could." Rory's words were stern, but the hand on Blay's shoulder was the connection his brother needed.
Sean sighed, "Damn, I thought you knew."
Blay shook his head. "No."
"I'm sorry, man." Sean glanced at Brock.
Chauncey took a deep breath and folded his hand, too. "The person at fault here is the building owner. He started the fire. He endangered his tenants. He is the person responsible for the boy's death. When we do our jobs, sometimes we get lucky. Most of the time we get to mop up what the worst of our city delivers to our doorstep. Moments of regret and second guessing every action happens. It's human nature. It's how we deal with those moments that define us as the men we are."
Colm McBride nodded. "If every decision we make allows an event or a person to undermine our work, erode our confidence, or lessen our effectiveness, it weakens all of us. Blay, son, you put your life on the line to get into the apartment and get the boy out. You reacted the way you were trained. It hurts, let it. Don't let the pain control what you do the next time you go after someone in the same situation."
Brody (Hope City Book 3) Page 23