23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kaison
My phone is ringing, but I can tell it isn’t time to wake up. When my eyes open, it’s dark. Late. I shouldn’t be awake, so who the hell is calling me? It stops, so I go back to sleep, only to wake up some time later and wonder who the hell it was. If they called in the middle of the night, it must have been important. Not sure how long ago it was, but I roll over and check.
Missed Call
Cora
4:51 a.m.
I sit up and call her back right away. It was only about five minutes ago she called, and if she’s calling me at this hour, something is wrong. Even if she has a morning shift, she doesn’t wake up until five. And even then, she wouldn’t call me.
The phone rings once, twice, and she answers on the start of the third .
“Kaison,” she says, and just the way she says my name, I know something is wrong.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? What happened?”
“I need you,” she says. “Please.”
I’ve already got my jeans on and tearing a shirt from the drawer. “Tell me where you are.”
“I’m-I’m at the hospital.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, not really. I’m fine. It’s just… can you hurry, please?”
“I’m on my way,” I tell her, stepping into my boots and racing out the door, grabbing my keys from the hook on the way out.
I end the call to race to the hospital, making it there in record time. I burst through the emergency doors.
“Davies,” I blurt out at the nurses’ station. “Where are they?”
The nurse behind the desk must realize I mean business because she doesn’t ask me anything further, just clicks something on her tablet and says, “Room twenty-seven.”
I look up, noting the numbers above the emergency room bays. Ten is behind me, and I head in the direction of them getting bigger. We don’t have a hospital in town, so we go to the one just on the outskirts.
I yank the curtain back, a sigh of relief leaving my lungs when I see Cora sitting in the chair. It doesn’t last long when I see her father in the bed, his right arm and parts of his face covered in white bandages. Cora gets to her feet the second she sees me, the blanket she had around her falling to the floor. She falls into my arms and sobs. She smells like smoke, and it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to put the pieces together.
All I can do is hold her. It’s what she needs, and what I need too because damn, my girl is hurting and all I want to do is make her better.
We stand there for a long time, not saying a word, me just holding her and her crying. Eventually she quiets down, and I help her into the chair, covering her with the blanket. I walk out of the room, glance into the one beside hers and note it’s empty, so I go in and grab the spare chair and bring it back into the room, and not without getting dirty looks. But I don’t give a fuck about that. Let them say something to me. I sit in front of Cora, taking her hands.
“Tell me what happened,” I say.
She blinks a few times, then sniffles and grabs a few tissues from the box that’s beside her on the end table. She wipes her eyes and blows her nose. I take her hands, brushing kisses along her knuckles. Don’t care if that’s gross or not. She’s my girl.
“I’m not really sure,” she says softly. “I woke up, and the fire was already out of control. I don’t even know if the house is still there. EMTs got there first. Firetrucks got there as they were loading Dad into the back, and I didn’t stay to watch.”
I nod, not knowing what to say. I don’t want to say it’s just a house because yeah, it is just a house, but it still sucks. All her stuff was in there. I don’t want to give some cheesy line about being lucky that she’s alive, because there’s no way she’s thinking about that right now .
“Have you been checked out?”
She nods. “They gave me some oxygen, said my throat might be irritated for a few days, but I’m fine.”
“And your Dad?”
More tears fall from her eyes, and I swipe them away with my thumbs, scooting closer.
“I don’t know,” she whispers. “He’s okay. He’ll live, but…”
“But what, sweetheart? Tell me.”
She sucks in a sharp breath. “I just keep thinking about what he said to me today. Or yesterday, I guess. We had such a good day together, and he told me I shouldn’t be wasting my life taking care of him. I told him he was crazy to say that because he’s my dad and I love him. But then he made me promise that I would put him in a home if it got too much, and I think… I think it’s too much.” Another sob leaves her, and she buries her face in her hands, shoulders shaking as she cries hard. I drop to my knees in front of her, pulling her to me.
“Shh, I got you. It’s okay. I’m here.”
When she stops, she reaches for the cup of water on the table and takes a small sip.
“I just don’t know what to do, Kaison.”
“I wish I could give you an answer, but this is your call. It’s your dad, your life.”
“What would you do?” she asks, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes.
I grit my teeth. “Can’t really help you with that after what I just found out about my father. ”
She frowns, and I lean in to kiss her forehead. “We’ll save that for another time.”
Not only because I don’t want to bring negativity into this room, but I’m not even sure I should tell her. This isn’t something I should tell people. It’s my brother’s business. But I could tell her something without telling all of it. I need someone to talk to about this, too. Kolton won’t allow me to, and I’m sure it’s something that I’ll need to let out eventually.
“Honestly, not sure I’ll have much of a choice. We don’t have anywhere to go,” she says.
“You can stay with me.”
She shakes her head. “No, I can’t do that. Dad is…” She sighs. “He’s just too much.”
“He is not too much, Cora. He’s your father.”
There’s a knock at the door and we both look up. A young male doctor walks in.
“Told you he was a fighter,” the guy says as he walks in. Cora smiles, but it isn’t very happy. “I just wanted to let you know that I found your father a room at a nursing facility, if that’s what you decide.”
“You did? How? I thought they took months to get into.”
He smiles. “Sometimes they do, but I have a brother who happens to be the director of one and I called in a favor.”
“Why would you do that?” Cora asks.
Yeah. Why would he do that?
“As a doctor, it isn’t only my job to treat patients. I need to look out for their family, too. I know this isn’t an easy situation, but Cora, this is getting dangerous and I think it’s time you really consider this. I wanted to make sure the option was there, right now, if you decided on it.”
“I don’t know what to say…”
I take her hand, kissing the back of it.
“How long does she have to decide?” I ask.
“Best I can do is three days,” he says.
Cora doesn’t react to that, and I can’t tell if it’s because it’s good or not.
“Thank you,” she says. “I will think about it and let you know.”
He walks in further, handing her a card. “Call me with your answer, either way.”
“How quickly would he move in?” she asks.
“We could set it up so he goes right from the hospital there. It would make the transition much easier.”
She nods again, putting the card down on the table.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
“Of course.” He leaves the room, and I keep my eyes on Cora.
“What are you thinking?” I ask her.
“That I’m a terrible daughter for wanting him to go to this home.”
“Sweetheart, you said yourself this is what your dad wanted.”
“But what if he didn’t mean it?” she asks, wiping her eyes again.
“I’m sure he meant it. Your father loves you. He wants what’s best for you. Part of being a parent is being selfless. Put yourself in his shoes. If this was reversed, like if you were the parent with a child in your shoes, what would you do?”
She sighs again, sinking into her chair. “The same thing he is.”
“Yeah, you would. And so would I. There’s nothing wrong with that and you’re not a bad daughter. This isn’t about getting rid of him, it’s about giving him a safe place to live. And it’s not like you’re shipping him off. I’m sure you can visit whenever you want.”
Cora doesn’t respond, just closes her eyes and tries to get comfortable.
There’s another knock on the door, and it’s a nurse this time.
“Hi, you must be Cora, Mr. Davies’ daughter,” she says, stepping into the room and offering her hand. Cora takes it. “I’m Vivienne, one of the RNs. We have a room for your father. We’re going to take him up to it now. It’s room 309 on the third floor. You can come up to get him settled, but visiting hours don’t start until ten. You can use the time from now until then to wash up, get something to eat. Maybe take a nap?”
You can tell by the way she talks that she’s no non-sense. She’s been doing this work for a while and only wants what’s best for her patients. I like that.
“I’ll make sure she does,” I say. “Where is the best place to wait for her?”
“No, I want you to come with me,” she says, grabbing onto my hand. I look at the nurse for an answer because something tells me throwing my weight around with this nurse won’t work.
“I’ll allow it, but just this time.”
“Thanks,” I say, giving her a smile.
She leaves the room for a few moments, and I help Cora to her feet and make sure she has her phone and the card from the doctor. The nurse comes back soon after with another nurse and they get Calvin’s bed situated to move. We follow them into the staff-only elevator, then down the hall and to his new room.
I lean on the wall as I wait for Cora to say her goodbyes. She holds her father’s uninjured hand and kisses his cheek, whispering something to him before walking to me and falling into my arms again.
“Come on, let’s get you to my house and cleaned up.”
We drive to my house in silence, the sun already fully up. When we get there, I let her inside, show her to the bathroom, and apologize for only having soap for men. She laughs, which is a beautiful sound. I give her one of my t-shirts, since it’s all I have that she can fit into and toss her pajamas into the trash since they’re ruined from the smoke and charred in places.
When she’s out of the shower, I get her comfortable in my bed, draw the curtains and lay with her.
“Get some sleep,” I tell her. She hums a sound of approval, her eyes falling closed. “I’m going to stop by your house when you do. Check on things.”
I run my hand through her hair, hoping like hell there is something salvageable from her house .
It takes her a solid two minutes to start snoring, which is adorable. I get out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake her, then make my way to her house.
It doesn’t look good. All the windows are busted open, the roof is caved in over the kitchen and living room. Most of it is gone and the parts that aren’t are destroyed by smoke and flames. I make my way into the house, shaking my head when I see the whole back wall is missing. Just gone.
There’s nothing left in the kitchen but the shells of appliances. There are a few things in the living room I can grab, like some photos. I head down the hall, checking her room first. The room is covered in soot, but it looks like I may be able to get some things from here. I check her father’s room next, knowing there’s probably things in here she wants. Since it’s on the opposite side of the house, it’s not in as bad of shape. In his closet, I find an empty suitcase. There is a crocheted blanket in the closet I toss in, and consider grabbing his clothes, but I’ll get the guys to grab this shit later. Right now, I need to focus on things for Cora. I go back into her room and grab clothes from her drawers. I stuff in as much as I can. On my way out, I stop in the living room, spotting a photo of her and her dad. She looks maybe eighteen or nineteen. I tuck it under my arm, then leave. As I toss the suitcase into the bed of my truck, I call Coyote.
“I need a favor,” I say when he answers, not sure how he’s going to take it.
“What’s up? ”
“My girl’s house burned down last night. I need the guys to go by and grab everything they can that’s not ruined.”
“Of course. I’ll get them on it first thing.”
“Thanks,” I mutter.
“How you feeling?” he asks, which is a bit of a shock. Since when does he fucking care how I feel?
“Now that I’m sitting here doing nothing, in fucking pain. Forgot to take my meds before I left.”
“Your girl okay?”
“Yeah, she’s okay. Stressed, but safe.”
“That’s good, Shark. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“I will. Thanks.”
We end the call and I stare at my phone, wondering why the hell he was being so nice. Don’t really have the time to think about it because I still have two more stops to make before I go home.
First, I stop at the town store and grab her some things. I have no idea what she likes or needs, but I figure everything is better than nothing. I get shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, some razors and even tampons and pads because I’m sure she’ll need those things. I have no idea if she uses any other stuff for her hair like hairspray or gel, but I figure they aren’t important and if she needs them, I’ll get them another time. At least I have the most important things now. After paying for it all, I head to the diner.
“Hey, we heard about Cora. How is she doing?” Fia says as soon as I walk in .
“She’s at my house. She’s okay.” I look around. “I’ll work on getting someone else here to help you because she ain’t coming in.”
Fia smiles. “I already called Hannah. Figured you wouldn’t mind. She’ll be here soon.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“Let Cora know we’re here if she needs anything.”
“I actually need something.”
She looks me up and down, pursing her lips. “One, you’re my new boss, and two, I’m pretty sure you’re dating one of my friends, even if she denies it.”
I can’t help it, I laugh. “Trust me, it has nothing to do with that. No offense, but I’m not interested.”
“Good, because if you were, I’d have to chop off your balls and feed them to you. Tell me what you need help with.”
I ask her to set up a jar with a sign for donations for Cora. I have a shit ton of money I’d give her for nothing, but she won’t take it. So this is the next best thing. I pull all the cash from my wallet and drop it in to start. Couple hundred at least.
“Empty this after every shift. Leave it all in the safe.”
“You got it, boss.” Fia winks, and I head out, ready to get home to my girl.