20. Saxon
Chapter twenty
Saxon
I hated being in the hospital, feeling like I was broken, the object of other people’s pity.
That wasn’t me. That meant I was spitting angry at dumbass Colten for calling my boys.
I didn’t want them here to see me at my lowest. I was supposed to be the strong daddy, supporting them. Not the other way around.
“Man, I should make a cast of your face to make a Halloween mask or something, you grumpy old man. Stop fucking scowling at me. Here.” Colten handed me a to-go cup of coffee from a shop outside—meaning not from the hospital.
“This is better than the crap they give you.” He gave me a chin lift bro-greeting.
“Thanks. Asshole.”
“Asshole?”
I took a sip of the yummy coffee goodness. The shit they gave us was disgusting, so… “Maybe a little less asshole with this.” I lifted my cup to salute him.
“Whatever, grumpy ass.”
“You know why I’m grumpy.”
“Hmm…is it because you’re in this place to start with, or that Donny is on his way here?”
“Both.”
Colten winked at me. “But. This is exactly what you need right now.”’
“Whatever. You shouldn’t have called him.”
“They deserved to know.”
“All it did was upset them. And that’s certainly not what Kay needs. He has to perform.”
“Maybe you should call him and tell him you’re okay.” The smug bastard thought he had all the answers. “I’m sure he’d feel better hearing your voice.”
“Stay out of my relationship, man.” I concentrated on my coffee, not wanting to keep arguing with him.
I snoozed on and off until lunch was brought in.
It was nearly as disgusting as breakfast, but I forced some of it down.
“If you want to do something for me. Get me a decent dinner. Or break me out of here. One or the other.” The meal was like a bad TV dinner with turkey slices, gravy, powdered mashed potatoes, and cinnamon apples.
I took another bite of the apples, since that was the best thing on the tray, and at least it didn’t have stray green beans in it, like TV dinners often did.
After lunch, I cleaned up and a nurse checked my vitals.
Again. And I sighed, wanting to go home.
Colten had gone to check in with work, so it was quiet in the room, and I started dozing off when Donny woke me.
“Daddy!” He rushed in and leaned over me, hugging me tight.
“I’m so glad to see you. But I’m also pissed. ”
I patted his shoulder. “I’m fine. Colten didn’t need to bother you.”
“What? Why? Why didn’t you call yourself?” He glared at me.
“Because this. Now you’re here. I want to take care of you, not the other way around.”
“Shut the fuck up. I care about you. We care. We want to know stuff like this.”
I patted the bed beside me. “Come here.” He crawled up next to me, and I wrapped my arms around him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you guys to see me like this.”
“Like what? Human? Sheesh.” He poked my chest.
“Uh, you’re right. Let’s call Kay.”
“Yes. We better. He was worried.” Donny sat up and tapped at his phone, putting it on speaker as it rang.
“Donny? What’s going on? Are you at the hospital?”
I immediately felt bad for worrying him so much. Colten had been right about all of it. “He is. And I’m fine, baby.” I squeezed Donny a little more, feeling better with him next to me. “Where are you?”
“We’re in St. Louis outside of the stadium. The equipment buses are stopping to unload, then we’re heading to the hotel.”
“Well, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’ll be leaving here in the morning, so you play your heart out for me, okay?”
“I will, Daddy. Oh…” he paused, but came back on with, “Joe says hello and get better soon. He’s been keeping me from being too upset.”
“Well, thank him for that for me. You’ll need to bring him with you sometime when you visit LA. He’s a good friend.” I’d heard all about how supportive Joe had been for Kay and Donny. I wanted them to have friends like that.
Donny leaned into the phone. “We should. I bet there’s some people he could meet here.” He looked at me and mouthed Colton . That was actually a decent idea.
“We can always ask him,” Kay added. Then the guys told me about how they played with the Big Wheels I’d gotten them in Chicago and how everyone joined in. It sounded like they had a good time.
We finally had to hang up with Kay because they were at the hotel, but we promised to call him the next day.
The tour drove to Kansas City in the morning, but they weren’t staying at a hotel there.
Instead, they would get back on the bus and drive through the night to their last show in North Dakota.
Maybe after the tour, they could come to LA.
“Hey, guys!” Colten walked into the room. “Chief sent me over to let you know you have the next two weeks off.” He gave Donny a knuckle bump. “Good to see you, Donny.”
Donny’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you come on the road with us? Can you? We can fly out and surprise them in Kansas City. Please? Please?” There was no calming Donny when he got too excited.
“There are some things to think about first.”
“Eh…you should go. It’ll be good for you.” Colten patted my legs. “Help you recover faster.”
“If the doctor releases me, I guess we can.” Who the hell was I to argue?