Chapter 32
The Accident
Nervous tension filled the truck on their drive to the hospital. Matt followed behind them in his own car, keeping the pace with Owen’s speed. Owen wasn’t one to break the speed limit on a normal day, but guilt wracked him, knowing his son needed him and he wasn’t there.
His singular focus was to get to the hospital and comfort Avery, then figure out exactly what was going on. The voicemail from the whitewater rapids resort Maddy worked at had left a voicemail that she’d been airlifted to the hospital after an accident, but that’s all he knew.
Ava pressed against him in the middle of the bench seat, her bouncing leg betraying her anxiety. When he placed his hand on her thigh to soothe her, she covered it with her own soft hand, lacing their fingers together in a tight grip.
The ringing of Owen’s cell phone came through the truck’s speakers, and he answered the call immediately.
“You’re on speaker, Summer. What’s going on?”
Summer exhaled a shaky breath. “They’ve taken her into surgery, but I don’t know much more. They won’t release specifics to me since I’m not family or her power of attorney. Please tell me you have the paperwork so they will talk to you?”
“Yup, Matt’s bringing them from his office. He’ll be right behind us. How’s Avery holding up?”
“He’s scared,” she said in a low tone. “Want to talk to him?”
“Yeah, put him on, please.”
Owen tried to relax his shoulders, the tension bringing them almost to his ears. He had to be calm for Avery.
“Dad?”
Avery’s trembling voice stabbed Owen’s heart, the guilt threatening to crush him. I should’ve been there for him.
“Hey, bud. How you holding up? I’m on my way.”
His small sniffle intensified Owen’s sense of failure.
“I’m okay. I’m worried about Mom. What if she never wakes up?”
Ava squeezed his hand on her thigh, communicating without words she was just as affected by Avery’s fear as him. And in that moment, he was so incredibly grateful to have someone in his corner, and to not shoulder the burden of parenthood alone.
“It’s okay to worry about your mom. She’s in good hands and the doctors are going to take the very best care of her, alright? But you’re not alone, understand? You have so many people who love and care for you, and we’re all on our way. I love you, bud. So much,” Owen said.
“I love you too, Dad.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“OK, bye.”
The line went silent. The truck returned to its earlier tense atmosphere, neither of them speaking. There was nothing to say.
He pulled into the first parking spot he could find that didn’t have a reserved or tow-away sign and helped Ava out of the car.
Ava’s heels clicked on the pavement as she kept up with his long strides to the entrance.
Matt caught up to them in the lobby, a folder in his hand, and the three of them signed in with security and found their way to Maddy’s assigned room.
Summer and Avery sat in two chairs in the hallway, Avery leaning into his aunt as she whispered to him.
When they caught sight of the three of them, Avery jumped up and ran toward them.
He threw his arm around Owen’s waist in a crushing hug.
Some of the guilt in Owen’s chest went away as he held his son close.
Summer joined them more slowly, giving Ava a tight smile and Matt a side-hug.
“Thank you so much, Summer,” he told his sister. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a quick hug, squishing Avery between them. He appreciated her presence more than she knew.
“Of course. Family looks out for each other,” Summer said.
In his periphery, Owen caught Ava’s wince at Summer’s words. Neither of them had shared the exact nature of their fight with him, but he had a feeling that what Summer said struck a raw chord between them.
Summer pointed over Owen’s shoulder. “That’s the nurse. I’ll grab him,” she said.
Owen ruffled Avery’s hair and bent down to look at him. His freckles stood out more than normal against his pale face, his worried expression far out of place for a nine-year-old.
“I’m going to check on your mom. Everything’s going to be alright. We always figure things out, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Avery nodded.
Owen straightened and walked over to the nurse. He stood a few feet away from their group with Summer, leaving Avery with Matt and Ava. The three of them sat down, with Avery in-between them. Summer shifted anxiously next to the nurse.
“You’re the family member?”
“Yes, can you tell me what’s going on with Maddy Winslow? She’s in surgery?”
The nurse glanced at Avery and back to Owen before lowering his voice. “They are performing a craniotomy now to relieve pressure on her brain. She has a severe head injury that caused brain swelling. The surgery can last two to four hours, depending on the complexity.”
Owen’s mind spun out of control with the information. His singular focus was on Avery. “And how long has she been in surgery?”
The nurse checked his watch.
“Transport came thirty minutes ago, so they should start the procedure any time now. It’s going to be a few hours.”
Owen loosened the tie around his neck, suddenly unable to breathe. He had a long list of concerns, and his anxiety grew with each new one.
Summer placed a hand on his arm and took over with the questions, now that the nurse was sharing information with Owen present.
“What’s the outcome of the surgery? Will this fix her problem or will she require additional treatment? What’s the recovery time for a head injury like this?”
The nurse glanced between the two of them, his tone calm despite Summer’s rapid-fire questions.
“During the surgery, they’ll drill into her skull, and the doctor will drain the blood clot causing the swelling.
Afterward, they’ll monitor her to make sure she’s stable and eventually take her for a CT scan to check for additional clotting or swelling.
If all goes well with the scan, she’ll be released from here, but her recovery could take several weeks to a few months.
The doctor will give you more information once she’s out of surgery. ”
Owen nodded absently, already thinking about next steps and what he’d need to make Maddy comfortable for her recovery. He might have to push back the soft launch of the bed-and-breakfast. “Thank you,” he said to the nurse.
He gave them a comforting smile. “Hang tight. Someone will let you know when she’s out of surgery. In the meantime, grab some food or coffee. Do whatever you need. It’s going to be a bit.”
“Thanks,” Summer said.
The nurse left them and continued down the hallway toward the nurse’s station.
“Come on.” Summer tugged on his arm, pulling him with her to the chairs where Matt, Avery, and Ava sat together.
Ava’s red dress rippled from her bouncing knee. She gently stroked Avery’s hair as he leaned against her. His heart seized at the image, hope and fear warring for control. Ava fit so seamlessly with their little family, so naturally, like she’d always been there. What would happen if she left?
Matt stood from his chair. “What’s the word?”
Owen rubbed at the back of his neck, his hands restless and his chest burning with anxiety.
“She’ll be in surgery for a few hours. Someone will let us know when she’s out.
Sounds like she’ll be fine, but the hospital will keep her for monitoring and a CT scan before she can go home,” Owen relayed to them all.
He kept the details of brain swelling and drilling into her skull to himself. Avery didn’t need to know those things.
Matt checked his phone. “I’ll grab us some coffee and food. Sounds like we have a long night ahead of us,” Matt offered. “Want to come with, Owen? Walk off some of that anxious energy?
Owen glanced at Avery and Ava. “Want to come, bud?”
Avery shook his head, not removing it from Ava’s chest, where he leaned against her. “Don’t want to leave Mom. I want to be here when she comes back,” he said.
Owen ached to hold both of them in his arms.
“Alright. We’ll be back,” Owen said. Matt clapped him on the shoulder and the two of them took off.
They walked in silence down the hallway, and Owen let Matt lead the way, too lost in thought to pay attention to where they were going.
Maddy would be fine. She had to be fine. He’d make sure of it for Avery’s sake. But she was looking at weeks if not months of recovery from her head injury, and he wouldn’t leave her on her own. She’d need help, and Avery needed to be with his mom after such a scary ordeal.
So where did that leave him and Ava? It wasn’t her responsibility to care for Maddy, or even himself or Avery.
They had an agreement to see where things went until she returned to New York for her interview.
But that was a week away, and they were no closer to a decision about their future, both of them dancing around the talk that needed to be had.
And he no longer had the luxury of time, not with Avery and Maddy depending on him.
Avery was relaxed and comforted by Ava’s presence.
Comforted enough to lean on her while awaiting news of his mom’s condition.
The realization struck him like a lightning bolt.
If Avery felt this close to Ava now, what would happen if she left them?
He could’ve lost his mom tonight. He couldn’t put Avery through losing a parent-like figure in his life, not when he already struggled to accept the way Maddy came in and out of his life.
The further he took things with Ava, the worse the fallout would be.
I can’t put Avery through that.
Anxiety filled every crevice of his chest with white-hot staticky pain.
He lifted a hand to rub at his chest to relieve the pressure, but it didn’t help.
He was no stranger to this type of pain, the kind that came from losing the love of his life.
Because that’s what Ava was and what she always would be to him.
But his responsibility as a parent came before any desires he had for himself.
“Want to talk about it?” Matt’s question interrupted his spiraling.
The two of them were standing in the hospital cafeteria. How Owen walked there without realizing, he’d never know.
He met his best friend’s concerned gaze.
His friend who stood by him after the first time he lost Ava, who stepped in to be an uncle to his son, whose loyalty never wavered.
Owen’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest, begging him not to listen to his head.
Matt would understand where he was coming from, of anyone.
And right now, he needed Matt’s objectivity to tell him he was making the right decision.
“I have to end things with Ava.”