by Anna Martin
“Hey, Max.”
“Your dad got caught up with something at work, so I’m collecting you today.”
“Yeah?” she asked brightly.
“Yeah. Can you go get your bag for me please?”
He went to quietly speak with June’s teacher while she gathered her things. It wasn’t his place to comment on what was going on with Tyler, and she seemed to have already been given a heads-up that neither Tyler nor Angela would be collecting June today, so at least he didn’t have any issues.
“Ready?” he asked June when she came over to give him a hug.
“Yep.”
He took her hand and let her swing it between them as they walked back to the car.
“How come you picked me up?” June asked.
“Your dad got busy with something. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Can we practice signing?”
“Sure can.” Max had been practicing himself, in front of YouTube videos and online tutorials, wanting to get better so he could keep up with June. He was the one with the hearing loss, and she was definitely better than him at learning ASL.
“What’s my Daddy doing?”
“I don’t know,” Max said truthfully. “You know he has an important job.”
“Yeah. Keeping people safe.”
“That’s right.”
“Are we going back to your house?”
“Not tonight,” he said. “I’ll take you home, and we can have a snack.”
“What sort of snack?” she said, suddenly suspicious.
“How about… apple slices with peanut butter?”
She considered that for a long moment. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he agreed and squeezed her hand gently.
Max managed to get Juniper home, changed into nonschool clothes, and settled on the couch with her snack before he called Angela again. His heart was thumping a little too hard as he found her number in his address book and hit the Call button.
She didn’t answer for a long time, and he was almost about to hang up when someone—not Angela—answered.
“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Max.”
“It’s Dana.”
“Hey, Dana. I’m at Tyler’s place with June. There’s no problem,” he said, leaning against the counter in the kitchen so he could see June in the living room, “I’m just checking in.”
He was answered by silence on the line.
“Hello?”
“Sorry, Max.” Dana took a deep breath. “Tyler was hurt. Mom’s trying to find out what happened. They’re taking him to the hospital now.”
“Oh God,” Max whispered.
“I don’t know what’s happening either. I can’t get hold of my dad or Mike, and someone needs to pick my kids up, and—” She broke off with a sob.
“Text me everyone’s numbers,” he said. “I’ll organize them.”
“No, I can—”
“Dana,” Max interrupted her. “Just let me help. Please.”
“Okay. Okay. I can do that. Give me a couple of minutes.”
He ended the call and went to sit with June in the living room, stealing a slice of her apple and crunching it loudly to make her laugh.
Max knew he could do this. He could hold it together for June and this family who had welcomed him back into their community. He could do it for Tyler.
He lifted his arm and let June cuddle into his side. He could do it all one-handed, because it was more important to give June some comfort than it was to text with two thumbs.
Max managed to coordinate all of Tyler’s siblings, nieces and nephews, plus Tyler’s parents and his own. He became something like the hub of communication, taking whatever information Angela could get to him and passing it on to everyone else. He quickly found he didn’t mind; it was a good way of keeping his mind focused.
After he’d gotten June to eat her dinner—spaghetti and marinara sauce; he could manage that—he sat down with her again in the family room. Angela had agreed that once she’d eaten, Max could let her know what was going on.
“June, I just heard from Nana Angela. Your daddy has been hurt at work.”
June immediately burst into tears.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, gathering her into his arms.
“What… what…?” She sniffed, then started to sob again. “Can I talk to him?”
“I’m not sure what’s happening, but there’s some very good doctors looking after him at the hospital.”
“Can I go?”
“Can you go…?”
“To the hop-sicle.”
He gently smoothed her hair back from her face. It wasn’t really his place to make the decision. But if it was him and his kid, he’d want her close.
“We can go,” he said. “Let’s find your shoes.”
If he was going to get shit for it, Max would take it. In his heart, he knew this was the right decision.
He hustled June into the car and gave her his phone to play on as he drove out of town toward the hospital. Sweetwater wasn’t big enough to have its own ER. All emergencies were taken a few miles out to Louisville, on the other side of Richmond. He kept the radio playing too, the volume low, another distraction for them both.
June had gone quiet since Max had told her the news, withdrawing into herself. She was usually such a bubbly little girl that Max was concerned, not sure if this was something he should be worried about or not. Well, he was about to hand her over to her grandmother. Angela would know what to do far better than Max did.
June stayed quiet, her hand tucked into Max’s, as they made their way through to the family waiting room in the hospital. Angela was there with Geoff, but everyone else had apparently gone home to their families.
“Nana,” June whispered, then burst into tears again.
Max let her be comforted by her grandmother as he exchanged a tight hug with Geoff.
“What’s happening?”
“Tyler’s in surgery. He was shot in the shoulder—in and out. He was lucky.”
Geoff sank back down into one of the big pleather chairs. Angela had already scooped June up onto her lap and was gently rocking her back and forth.
“Jesus,” Max muttered. He took a seat next to Geoff and dropped his head to his hands.
“When all this is done, we can talk about your relationship with my son, hmm?”
“I guess we’re not being as subtle as we thought we were,” Max said wryly.
“There’s something you should probably know, though it may not be my place to tell you.” Geoff’s voice was light, even though his expression was still grim. “No one outside of our family has ever taken care of Juniper. Ever.”
“Oh,” Max said softly.
“When she was a baby and Tyler had to work, me and Angela would watch her. Angela retired early so she could be there for Tyler and Dana, did you know that? And now… not only does he trust you with whatever you have going on between the two of you, but he trusts you with his daughter. Tyler doesn’t trust anyone with June.” Geoff cocked his head to the side, considering. “He trusts you.”
Max rubbed his fingertips over his eyes. “I guess there’s a conversation I need to have with him.”
“Tonight we’ll say a prayer of thanks that you’ll get that opportunity.”
Max nodded. He’d never put much stock in prayers himself, but he thought he might say a few of his own too.
“How long until we find something out?”
“He’s in surgery now,” Geoff said in a low voice, clearly trying to keep June from overhearing their conversation. “There was a kid….” Geoff choked up. Then shook his head. “A teenage boy, from what we’ve been told. Took care of him until the paramedics got there.”
“Sounds like a good kid.”
Geoff nodded.
They settled into an uneasy silence. Not that the hospital was silent around them. People rushed past the open door to the waiting room, other families came and went, and every time a doctor w
alked in, everyone went on high alert.
Max tipped his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. For a while he just wanted to not think.
He almost startled when a little hand tugged at his shirt.
June’s face was still a little splotchy with tears, and she was sucking her thumb, something Max hadn’t seen her do before. He wasn’t about to deny her that comfort.
Without saying a word, Juniper climbed onto Max’s lap and tucked her head under his chin. Max wrapped his arms around her as tight as he dared, and let himself breathe.
Time moved differently in the hospital. June refused to go home, not with Angela or Geoff or Max, and wanted her dad. Max didn’t blame her. He was sure there were people who knew far better than him what was the best thing to do with kids in this situation. Max couldn’t find it in himself to care.
He did know it was past her bedtime, and there was no way they were going to send her to school tomorrow. How those two things were related, he wasn’t sure. June seemed reluctant to leave Max’s lap, and when she needed to go to the bathroom, she insisted he take her, rather than Angela.
Max wasn’t sure what it meant, this sudden attachment June had for him. He wasn’t going to question it, though. He could be there for her, if that’s what she wanted. He could be strong enough for the both of them.
When they got back from the bathroom, a doctor in scrubs was talking to Angela and Geoff. Max scooped June up into his arms and held her on his hip as he made his way across the room to them.
“He’s fine,” Angela said, her eyes brimming with tears. “He’s going to be fine.”
“You’re Mr. Reed’s….”
“Partner?” Max suggested.
“Okay. Mr. Reed came through the surgery incredibly well. He’s a strong and healthy man, which has helped us out a lot, and he should be able to come home in a few days once he’s healed up.”
“Thank God,” Max murmured. He gently cupped June’s head, which was resting on his shoulder. “Can we see him?”
“He’s sleeping off the anesthesia for now. It’s probably best to come back in the morning.”
Geoff turned to the doctor to ask some questions, but Max’s attention was on June.
“Hear that, June Bug?” he murmured, using Tyler’s nickname for her. “Your daddy’s going to be just fine.”
“Good.”
“We’ll come back in the morning and see him.”
She shook her head against his chest. “No.”
“No?”
“I want to see him now.”
Max looked over her head at Angela, feeling suddenly helpless.
“Daddy’s sleeping, honey,” Angela said. She smoothed her hand over June’s hair. “When he wakes up in the morning, we can go see him.”
“No,” June wailed again.
Max set June down on one of the chairs and crouched down so he was at her height. Very gently, he tipped her chin up.
“Juniper,” he said. “I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But we have to trust the doctors, okay? They’re in charge around here, and they’ll look after your Daddy until we can come see him in the morning.”
“You can look after him,” June said.
“I can. And I will. And so will you.”
She sniffed. Max held out his arms, and she fell into them again. “You can go home with Grandpa now, and I’ll come get you tomorrow, and we’ll come and see him together.”
“Max?” June asked in a very small voice.
“Yeah?”
“Will you stay with me tonight? At my house?”
He looked up at Angela, but she was talking to Geoff, not paying any attention to them.
Ah, hell. He could sleep on the couch for one night.
“Of course I will.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Chapter 20
Tyler was woken up several times during the night so the nurses could run tests on him. Each time he felt groggy and miserable, just wanting to sleep, goddammit. He’d only been under anesthesia once before in his life, when getting his tonsils removed when he was nine, and it had affected him pretty badly back then as well.
The drugs were making him woozy too. Tyler thought they probably hadn’t given him morphine when he was nine. Now it made him hazy, unable to remember anything in detail. He had been dreaming in between the interruptions to his sleep. Strange dreams, with gunshots and screaming and his daughter.
When he woke again, it was morning, though being early summer, that only meant it was sometime after 6:00 a.m. He considered calling for a nurse because his mouth was so dry, he thought he might choke on his breathing, but instead he lay there for long minutes, counting his blessings. Then counting them all again.
A nurse bustled into the room, then stopped short.
“Oh, you’re awake,” she said, smiling at him. “That’s good.”
“Hi,” Tyler croaked. “Can I have some water?”
She grabbed his chart and quickly scanned it. “Looks like it. I’ll go fetch you some.”
In the time it took her to get back, Tyler felt very, very alone.
The next hour was a bustle, nurses coming in and out to check on him, arranging for him to get something to eat, and checking the dressings on his wound. It stung like a bitch.
He convinced them to take the morphine drip out, not liking how it felt. Tyler wasn’t particularly fond of pain, but he disliked feeling out of control even more. They switched him to a painkiller in pill form instead and got him out of bed and moving.
The nurses were hard-core and meant business, and Tyler respected them immensely.
“I don’t have a phone,” Tyler said as he was helped back into bed. “Can you get a message to my family?”
“Of course,” he said. This nurse was a bigger guy, one who had no problem maneuvering Tyler around. “Do we have your next-of-kin details?”
“You should have my mom’s number. I have a daughter. Do you know when she can come in?”
The nurse checked his watch. “It’s almost nine. Visiting hours start at nine thirty.”
“Oh. That’s good.”
“I’m sure they’re on their way in already, but I’ll get a message to them anyway,” he said with a smile.
Tyler nodded and leaned back against the pillow. Even the small amount of movement set his stomach feeling queasy again. He’d been assured that was just an aftereffect of the medication.
He was in a postsurgery room with six beds, though only four of them were currently occupied. The curtains were drawn between the beds, which was a shame. Tyler was good at talking to people.
He dozed for a little while, then stirred when someone came over to his bed. He cracked his eye open to the sight of June being carried by Max.
“Daddy, you’re awake!”
“I wasn’t sleeping, just resting.”
Max set her down on the bed, on his good side. Tyler pulled her in for a hug, wrapping his arm around her to anchor her close.
“How are you feeling?” Max asked, taking a seat in the single visitor’s chair.
“Okay,” Tyler said. “The shoulder is sore. I wasn’t expecting to see you today, if I’m honest.”
“Well, consider yourself lucky.” Max winked at June, who was still clinging to Tyler’s chest. He didn’t mind.
“Is that my shirt?” Tyler recognized the dark red button-down from his own closet, and it looked big on Max. Though still good. Max managed to make most clothes look good.
“Yeah. I slept on your couch last night.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Juniper asked me to stay over.”
“You did?” Tyler asked her.
“Yeah.”
“Why was that?”
June wiped her face in his hospital gown, which was gross, but he also didn’t care.
“Because he was sad too,” she said quietly.
Tyler thought there was probably a conversation that needed to be had.
The expression on Max’s face confirmed that. Instead of answering, Tyler leaned down and kissed her head.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“What happened to the bad person who hurt you?”
Tyler wasn’t sure he had the energy to explain everything that happened, and he had no idea what had gone down after Matthew shot him. Still, he explained as best he could. Until he spoke with Sheriff Coleman, he wouldn’t know exactly what had happened to Matthew.
Tyler hoped they had taken him alive. The guy needed help—some counseling, some perspective, and a few months to get clean probably wouldn’t hurt him.
His mom arrived thirty minutes after Max and June, since his dad had needed to drop them off before going back to the house for her. She looked frazzled, and Tyler couldn’t help but feel guilty. He’d put her through a lot in the last twenty-four hours and would likely spend the next few months making it up to her.
“You’re only supposed to have two guests at a time, apparently,” she said. “But I don’t care. I’m your mother.”
“I can go,” Max said quickly. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“There’s space for us all.”
With June still on the bed curled up against Tyler’s side, she was right. Tyler thought June might be sleeping. She probably hadn’t slept very well the night before, even with Tyler’s dad and Max in the house with her.
“I spoke with Sheriff Coleman,” his mom said once she was settled in the chair Max had vacated for her. “He sends his best wishes and says he’ll be over to see you soon.”
“Thanks.”
“He also said that you’re to take as much time as you need to get back to full strength. And that there’s a desk job waiting for you when you’re ready.”
“Well, that’s something to look forward to,” Tyler said drily.
His mom looked up at him and swallowed hard. Tyler’s heart clenched.
“I’m sorry,” he mouthed over the top of June’s head.
She shook her head at him. “I love you.”
When June complained she was hungry, Tyler’s mom scooped her up to try to find something in the hospital cafeteria she would eat. Not that she was a particularly fussy eater; Tyler just knew what a nightmare hospital cafeteria food could be.