Chapter 18 #2
That sure as hell beat six to seven hours. “Thank you so much.”
“We’re sorry about your son and nephew, but we’re hearing they’re going to be okay.”
“Yes, they are, thank goodness.”
They handed Max a headset to wear to mute the noise and so they could communicate with him if needed. As they lifted off, Max looked out the window at Manhattan in the distance. His phone vibrated with a text from Lexi.
SO relieved to hear they’re going to be okay. I’m thinking of you and them nonstop. Please keep me posted. Love you. PS: I finally got through to cancel the rental car.
Max smiled as he read her text, comforted by her kind words and her love. Thank you. I’m so sorry I had to leave the way I did. Was having the best time ever. Will make it up to you. I promise. Love you, too.
She wrote right back. No need to make it up to me. Caden is your top priority, and I totally understand that. I’m here if I can do anything for either of you. Xoxo
Thanks for understanding. Means a lot to me. I’ll try to call you later.
Call me any time.
Max felt better knowing she wasn’t upset about the way he’d left her.
He felt terrible about not bringing her with him, but he still felt this wasn’t the time to try to force things between her and Caden.
He would want Max’s full attention, and that’s what he would have until he was recovered from his injuries.
After that, Max would work on making the three of them into a family.
The helicopter landed about three miles from the hospital.
Linc was waiting in his new Range Rover when Max stepped off the chopper in a remote field, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
But after having attended college in Burlington, Max recognized the location a short distance from downtown and the University of Vermont campus.
He jumped into the passenger seat of his dad’s vehicle. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“No problem. I’m glad to see you.”
“Same. What a hellish day. I’m never leaving him again.”
“Don’t say that. Everyone deserves a break, especially single parents.”
“Being far away from him when he was hurt is the worst feeling I’ve ever had.”
“I understand that, but you can’t be with him all the time.”
“Yes, I can.”
“No, Max, you can’t,” Linc said gently, “and you shouldn’t be. As he gets older, he’ll spend more time away from you, which is the natural order of things. You have a right to your own life.”
Max shook his head. “I don’t want my own life if it means I’m not there for him when he needs me.”
“You’re always there for him.”
“I wasn’t today.”
“But we were. Will and Cam were. He was surrounded by people who love him almost as much as you do, and that will always be the case in our family.”
“I know, but it should’ve been me.”
“Max… I need you to hear me on this. You did nothing wrong taking a few days for yourself. It’s good for Caden to have that time away from you. Remember when Mom and I went to London when you were in high school, and we left you with Gramps?”
“The time I broke my wrist skateboarding?”
“Right. How do you think we felt being across the pond when you were in the ER? I’ll tell you—it was terrible. We felt awful that we couldn’t be with you. But you were with the next best person with Gramps, and he took wonderful care of you until we could get there.”
“Yes, he did,” Max said, smiling at the memory of two days off from school with his Gramps tending to his every need.
“When you look back, do you think about how we weren’t there when you broke your wrist?”
“I haven’t thought of that in years.”
“Exactly my point, and just think, if we hadn’t been away when Charley fell off the mountain, she might never have gotten together with Tyler. That would’ve been tragic.”
“For sure.”
“Do you understand what I’m saying to you, son? You must forgive yourself for not being there today. You left him with people who love him. And not for nothing, I found I was a better father when I had a little time away to appreciate my ten hellions.”
Max laughed. “I’m sure.”
“How’s Lexi?”
“She’s great.”
“I thought she might be with you when you got here.”
Max winced at the reminder of how he’d rebuffed her offer to come. “I didn’t think Caden would be receptive.”
“Aw, Max. You gotta remember who’s in charge.”
“Him, right?”
Linc laughed. “Not hardly. In a day or two, when your boy is on the road to recovery, get your lady here to support you both. He’ll come around.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“He will. He doesn’t know her yet, so he’s threatened by her. Once he gets to know her, he’ll see that nothing that really matters will change if she’s part of your lives. That’s what’ll matter to him.”
“You sure about that?”
“Maxwell, if there’s one thing I know a thing or two about, it’s kids. And yes, I’m sure.”
They parked in a huge garage and made their way inside to the pediatric ICU. Having the boys in that unit spiked Max’s anxiety. His dad led him right to Caden’s room. Seeing his little boy in a hospital bed receiving oxygen through the thing in his nose had Max’s knees buckling.
Linc’s hand on his back propped him up.
Max stepped up to the bed, delighting in the way Caden’s eyes lit up when he saw him.
“You’re here,” Caden said.
“I’m here. Sorry it took so long.” He leaned over to kiss his forehead and breathed in the distinctive scent of his hair as relief flooded him. “How are you feeling?”
“My side hurts bad, and they said my lung collapsed. I’m not sure what that means.”
“It’s like a balloon when it pops.” Max stroked his hair, filled with gratitude to be talking to him after imagining the worst-case scenario for hours. “But they fixed it so you can breathe.”
“Chase got hurt, too.”
“I heard.”
“He’s okay, though, right?”
“He’s going to be. You both are, thank God.”
“It was the weirdest thing, Dad. We were skiing, and then the next thing I knew, we were here. I heard we were on a helicopter. I’m bummed I missed that.”
Max laughed. “We’ll ask Patrick to take you for a ride on his helicopter. That’s how I got here from New York.”
“Was it sick?”
“So sick.”
Molly came into the room and hugged Max.
“How’s Chase?”
“He’s doing well, but he’s got to have surgery on his jaw. They’re hoping to do that tomorrow.”
“I hit his face with my helmet,” Caden said, his chin trembling. “He knows it wasn’t on purpose, right?”
“Of course he does, sweetheart,” Molly said. “He feels bad that you got hurt, too.”
“When can I see him?”
“Hopefully tomorrow,” Molly said.
“You can stay, right, Daddy?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Max said.