Chapter 37 – Beau
BEAU
I ’ve officially run out of distractions. I’ve prepped all the produce, reorganized the storage closet, approved everyone’s vacation requests for the next six months, and brainstormed twelve new specials. The only other thing I can think to do is clean every tiny nook and cranny in the restaurant.
My project for the last hour was emptying out the cabinets under the bar to wipe everything down. It’s a sticky, thankless task that involves a lot of crouching and scrubbing. I couldn’t come up with a better way to torture away my anxiety.
“Hey, Boss!” Tomasso yells from the kitchen. “I think you should come out and check your phone.”
I try to look up at him and accidentally slam my head on the bottom of the bar. Cringing, I rub the back of my skull.
“It’s fine,” I tell him. I purposefully plugged my phone in a kitchen outlet so I wouldn’t be tempted to check the group chat where nobody’s texting me every five minutes, or the unanswered texts to my girlfriend.
“Are you sure? Because you have fifteen missed calls.”
I frown. Who would call me that much? My mom, maybe, if something was wrong. Knowing her, that could be anything from crashing her car to forgetting her Wi-Fi password.
Still rubbing my banged head, I follow Tomasso into the kitchen and check my phone. The fifteen missed calls are from James and Nate. Cold fear ripples down my spine. The two of them wouldn’t call just to chat. Something’s wrong—seriously wrong.
A fact that’s only confirmed by the messages in the group chat. The first time it’s seen any activity in weeks.
James
Maura’s in the hospital. She had a cardiac episode. The increased blood volume from pregnancy put a strain on her heart.
Luke
Jesus, is she okay? What’s happening?
James
Doctors doing tests now. I’m getting off a flight from New York in a few minutes, and I might not get across town quickly. Can anyone get to the hospital to be with Maura?
Nate
Of course.
Luke
Coming from the distillery right away.
Ryan
Anyone who wants a ride from the building, I’ll be in the lobby in five minutes.
I check the time. I’ve got about a minute until Ryan leaves.
“Thanks, Tomasso!” I yell as I rush toward the restaurant exit. “I’m gone.”
I fly through the front door of Terrace, then down the stairs to the first floor. Nate emerges from the elevator doors right as I run down the last few steps into the lobby. His cool blue eyes meet mine.
“Hey,” he says. I know from the angle of his frown that this isn’t forgiveness. It’s momentary peace while we step up for James.
That’s more than enough for me.
“Hey. Any more news from James?”
“Just what’s in his last message,” Nate says. “Cat and Pippa are on their way to the hospital already.”
The elevator doors open again, this time to Ryan who’s already holding up his keys. “Let’s go. I’m driving.”
Nate and I exchange glances as we both do the mental math.
Without a doubt, Ryan’s going to speed through the city, ignoring silly things like street signs and common decency to get us to the hospital as fast, or faster, than humanly possible.
Visions of police lights flash through my head as I weigh the benefit of reaching James’s side ASAP against risking our lives with Ryan’s driving.
Nate apparently reaches the same conclusion I do.
“Fine,” we say simultaneously.
Eight sped-through yellow lights later, Ryan’s Mustang pulls up at Mount Sinai with all its passengers mostly intact.
While Ryan finds parking, Nate and I sweet talk the receptionist into letting unapproved non-relatives up to Maura’s hospital room.
I have to do a little bicep flexing and winking, but in the end, she blushes and gives us a room number.
Upstairs, the three of us find Pippa, carrying several sodas, still sweaty from the vending machine.
“Hey,” Ryan says, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “What’s the word?”
She tilts her head toward an open door. “I’ll tell you in here, after I put these drinks down.”
It’s an ordinary hospital room, with a few extra chairs dragged in from a waiting room.
Cat’s already sitting on the bed. Her smile falters slightly when she sees me, and the reality of the past few weeks comes crashing back in.
We’re all here because we care about Maura and James, but it doesn’t erase our problems. It just pushes them to the side momentarily.
“Is this Maura’s room?” Ryan asks.
“No, she’s down the hall. James called the hospital and got them to open an empty room for us. No idea what kind of strings he pulled to make that happen.”
“So what happened to Maura?” Nate asks.
“She was painting in her studio when she had a cardiac episode,” Pippa explains. “She managed to call James before she blacked out. They sent an ambulance, and they’ve been working on stabilizing her.
“How serious is it?” Ryan says.
Pippa shrugs. “I know it hit her hard, but I have no idea what happens now. All I know is the last time I heard, she and the baby were doing okay.”
Just then, Luke appears at the door, holding a little white box.
His eyes sweep over everyone, including me.
His jaw clenches, and for a moment, I’m absolutely certain that he’s going to punch me again.
It’s the first time we’ve been in the same room since the fight.
My lip has healed, and by the looks of it, so have Luke’s knuckles.
That doesn’t mean the bruises underneath are gone.
Thankfully, Luke turns to Pippa. “I got James a sandwich from the cafeteria.”
“He’s still on his way from the airport,” she says gently.
“I’ll take it,” Ryan offers.
“I think I’ll just hold onto it till he’s here.”
Luke nods. With the final quick glance at me, he takes a seat on the opposite side of the room.
Ryan and Pippa sit by him, while Nate joins Cat on the bed.
I’m left awkwardly leaning against the wall with no one to talk to.
I pull out my phone, just to have something to do with my hands.
There are no new messages, no emails to reply to.
I’ve never wished that my job involved more emails until this exact moment.
Then Brinley appears in the doorway, with Eden just behind her. For a moment that feels like hours, we all stare quietly at each other.
“James called me,” Brinley says, defensive even though nobody’s attacked her. “He told me to come.”
“Maura was okay, the last time we heard,” I reassure her. “We’re just waiting for an update.”
“The baby’s fine, too,” Cat adds unprompted. It’s as much a reassurance that nobody plans to fight today as it is reassurance about Maura’s condition.
Eden looks around at the group, then seems to make an executive decision. “How about we turn on some shitty daytime TV?”
“Yeah, why not?” Pippa says with a shrug.
An hour later, I’m sure that Eden’s a genius, because turning on The Price is Right gives us all something to focus on besides worrying about Maura.
Cat fiddles with the ends of her hair, twisting and untwisting it.
Ryan compulsively checks his phone then puts it away, like it might tell him what’s going on in that room full of doctors down the hall.
When James finally appears at the door, we’re all wound so tight, I’m surprised nobody jumps.
James looks hollowed out. His shoulders are slumped, his usual cold composure gone. Instead, in the face of possibly losing his wife and baby, he just looks exhausted and afraid.
Cat flies across the room and wraps her arms around James. He stiffens, then gives into her hug.
“Thank you,” he almost whispers.
“How’s Maura?” Brinley asks.
“Stable, for now. She’s had attacks like this before, but the pregnancy complicates her treatment. They’re keeping her here for observation. We’re not out of the woods yet—another cardiac event could happen. But the doctors are optimistic.”
Relief hits me like a wave. I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Next to me, Nate does the same.
“Oh, thank god,” Brinley says tearfully. Pippa hands her a tissue, then wipes her own eyes.
“Is she awake? Can we see her?” Cat asks.
“She’s resting,” James says. “The whole thing exhausted her. She was barely awake long enough to talk to me.”
“Sit down for a minute,” Luke says, patting James on the back. “Take a break. Have a sandwich.”
James shakes his head. “I need to get back to Maura’s room. I want—I need to be there, in case she wakes up. She can’t have other visitors for now. Maybe tomorrow, if everything goes well.”
“Is there anything else we can do?” Eden asks.
“Not right now. And nobody has to stay here, if you have other things to do. But I’m glad you’re all here. Your presence, when I needed it…well, it means a lot to me. The room is yours, for as long as you like.”
It’s the most emotional I’ve ever seen James. I never thought he’d admit to needing us.
I’m not sure who moves first, but suddenly all the guys are hugging James in some kind of messy huddle. Luke doesn’t flinch when I stand beside him, or when I pat him on the back. Ryan insists on hugging everyone individually, including Eden.
Once James extracts himself from the group hug, he goes back to Maura’s room.
Nate runs downstairs to get everyone pizza from a place down the block, and the girls get to work organizing meals by shifts.
It’s unspoken that we’ll be here as much as we can until Maura’s better, because we all refuse to live in a world where she doesn’t.
All the lies and secrets get pushed aside for the moment. Our grudges don’t disappear, but they shrink to their actual size, which turns out to be much smaller than a heartbeat on a monitor.