Chapter 25 #3
I blew out another breath, turning back to our coffees. Well, so much for coming clean in the moment.
Maybe this was the divine intervention I’d been counting on. Only, instead of it helping me sneak Asher out under my mother’s nose, it was coming in the form of her interrupting my admission of guilt.
A double-edged sword, unfortunately.
Now, how the hell was I going to get him out of here?
“Oh, good. Joints were a little sore when I got up,” she answered. “What are you boys cook—”
Her voice cut off quick, following the sickening sound of her body collapsing onto the floor.
I whipped around at the same time that Sully tossed the spoon in his hand and jerked away from the stove, both of us quickly moving over to where she’d collapsed.
She was in a heap on the floor, her arms bent awkwardly beneath her where she’d tried to catch herself, one of her legs splayed back at an odd angle but not enough to look broken. Her nightgown had bunched up around her knees, and Sully quickly tugged it back down when he reached her.
Her face screwed up tight as she clenched her teeth together against the pain.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, gently grabbing her under her arms and lifting her, careful not to jostle her too much as I sat her up.
She shook her head slowly. “These damn legs like to give out on me sometimes.”
Sully crouched down at her other side, slipping a hand around her elbow to help support her when she swayed to the side. “When’s the last time you ate, Emily?”
She frowned, her gaze darting between the two of us. “Last night. I just... my knee locks up when it gets cold out sometimes. Ain’t much of a big deal.”
I tightened my jaw.
Maybe that was how she saw it, but neither Sully nor I were going to let it slide that easily.
“Anything hurt?” I asked as I ghosted a hand over her back. She didn’t wince or cry out when I pressed a few spots, so that was at least a sign in the right direction.
“I’m fine, honey. Embarrassed, more than anything. Don’t you go fussin’ over me by taking me to some doctor.”
“Let’s get you up first, all right?” I murmured, glancing at Sully.
Together, we helped ease her back onto her feet and over to one of the chairs in the dining room. She winced when she settled down onto one of them, her grip on my arm tightening as I squatted down in front of her.
“Easy now,” Sully said, standing up straight again. “I’ll go grab you one of those hot water bottles. How’s that sound?”
“They should be in her bathroom.” At least she didn’t seem to be bleeding anywhere. The fall wasn’t that far, but her health since my father had passed was making a steady decline.
Without another word, Sully nodded and spun around on his heel, disappearing out of the dining room.
As much as she wanted to wave this off as a one-time thing, I couldn’t.
With how my father went out, unexpected and tragically too soon, nothing was going to ease my worries until a doctor told me to my face that I had nothing to fuss over.
My heart twinged in my chest. I just knew some disease really was going to steal her from me sooner than I wanted.
She could be mad all she wanted about me forcing her to get poked and prodded at for a few hours. If that meant I didn’t have to lose her like I did my father, then so be it.
“Hey,” she said, flexing her fingers around my arm. “Stop with that look. I’m all right.”
“I want a doctor to come look at you. I’ll call up to the clinic and have one of them make the trip out here.”
She waved her hand at me. “We don’t need all of that so early in the morning.”
“Mama—”
“Wilder.” Her tone had my mouth snapping shut instantly. “I’m fine. My knees get stiff. My joints lock up when it’s cold, same as always. There’s no need to make this into somethin’ bigger.”
I wanted to believe that, I really did. Except if it turned out this was something more—cancer or the start of another disease that would soon steal her from me—I’d never be able to forgive myself for overlooking it. No matter how many times she chided me for it beforehand.
“Mama,” I said quietly, sliding her hands between mine to hold in a light grip. “Just a simple check. That’s all I’m asking for. Please.”
She opened her mouth, already loading up to argue with me again when the sharp, stomping sound of boots coming down the stairs interrupted her.
My head snapped up the second I registered what I was hearing.
Why the fuck did he go up there?
Only a few seconds passed between me rising to my feet and Sully storming back into the dining room.
Tucked under his arm was one of my Mama’s rubber water bottles and in the other was Asher, being hauled into the room by the collar of his hoodie. Sully held the fabric in a fist so tight that it turned his knuckles white, using it to steer Asher over to one of the chairs and dumping him into it.
Asher caught himself on the edge of the table before he pitched over backward, his eyes wide as he stared up at the man towering over him.
For a second, no one moved.
“Wilder,” Sully bit out. “What the hell is this?”