Chapter 43
Bolo
After their skin to skin time together, the nurse had put Collin back in his little pod to rest and another nurse had come to find Devyn because it was time for her to take her meds and have an exam.
I’d hugged her and watched her leave, promising that I’d stop by and see her in the morning when she woke up.
My brain was fried. The lack of sleep, food, and the emotional drain of seeing my old lady and son together was starting to take a toll. I laid back in the recliner, ready to finish that nap.
I had no clue how long I was out for, but I awoke as someone came into our room. The grogginess had me reaching for my gun—which wasn’t in my waistband—as I sat up quickly.
“It’s just me, Bolo,” Relay said, pausing in the doorway until my eyes focused on him. “I thought maybe you’d want to go home. Get some real sleep? Or a shower. Please.”
I rubbed a hand over my face as my heart beat hard against my ribs.
I must’ve been dreaming and thought Relay was Collective for my body and half asleep brain to have reacted that way.
Crazy how now that Collin was out of immediate danger my brain went right to the next threat.
At least this was a threat I could face.
Getting up, I went over to the isolette and looked in on Collin. He was asleep. His monitors were quiet and steady. I sighed and stretched my neck. “I don’t want to leave him.”
“Bro. You look like shit. And smell just as bad.”
Scowling at him, I flipped Relay off. “You try going this long without actual sleep and see how pretty you fucking look.”
“Which is exactly my point,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I offered to come. Just so you know, Dad was already on his way. And if I go back to their place instead of you going home he’s going to come over here and kick your ass until you leave.”
I grunted in response.
“He’s dying to come see both of you. But you know Mom’s going to be pissed if he gets to see the baby more than she does.”
She wouldn’t really be mad. In fact, I was betting she was climbing the walls not having anything to do to help me, Dev, or Collin.
She was a nurturer through and through. I was betting it was my dad who was keeping her from sitting in the guest chair next to me every minute of every day.
He knew his son well and somehow knew I’d needed some space while I processed all this.
Even though it had been a lonely journey, it was one I’d needed to go through by myself.
Well, me and all the medical staff here.
“Okay, okay. I’ll go get a couple hours of sleep,” I told him when he just kept staring at me.
“Twelve.”
I snorted. “I can’t sleep twelve hours on the best fucking night of my life.”
“How about after the roughest week of your life?”
Shaking my head, I grumbled, “Four,” as I started for the door. Looking at him over my shoulder, I warned him, “You better look after my kid.”
“Nothing will happen to him while I’m here.”
I knew it wouldn’t. Relay would protect Collin with his life. Actually, that wasn’t right. He would slay the world itself to protect Collin. There was no level of violence too far for Relay when it came to protecting his loved ones. “I have my phone on. Call if anything happens.”
“Will do.”
I made it back to the house and slept for six hours and felt like a new man when I woke up.
I was ready to take on the day and the coming night.
Ready to give him any kind of comfort I could and take comfort in being able to participate in his care times.
It was the only chance I got to connect with Collin.
He needed dark and quiet, which I was more than willing to give him, but I would also take every opportunity to connect with him.
There were three nurses frozen in the hallway when I walked up.
They were all staring at the door to my son’s NICU room.
Fear crashed over me, thinking something was wrong with him, but then I heard it.
A sound I hadn’t heard in too many years.
I stopped behind the women and a smile slowly spread over my face.
Relay had always had this deep baritone. He used to sing all the time. Was always humming under his breath. At least he had before…
That he was singing to my son now sent a crack shooting down my heart.
As much as I loved the new version of my brother, I missed the old him as well.
Maybe with Collin here we could gain a little of that older self back.
He certainly had been showing up more and more these last few months as he helped with my old lady, and now with my son.
One of the nurses jumped a little when she realized I’d caught them listening. “Why does that song sound so familiar?” she asked after a moment of silence between us.
“It’s Misty Mountains Cold.” She frowned at my answer. “The dwarves’ song from The Hobbit.”
Another nurse gasped, “I love that movie! I knew I recognized it.”
It was the perfect melody and range for my brother’s voice. I smiled at the women, then stepped into the room.
Relay quit singing and glanced at me over his shoulder. “He was fussy.”
It was all the explanation I needed. Anytime he got fussy inside his little isolette, the alarms would start going off. I swore I’d heard them while I was dreaming. We were only five days out from Collin’s birth, but already I was learning what everything meant.
Devyn was still admitted to the hospital as they tried to get rid of all the fluid her body was retaining, and make sure her kidneys and blood pressure were going back to normal. Her heart was fine now that she’d given birth, thank fuck.
But she was doing well. Her body was starting to respond to the meds, though Dr. Natalie had told her she wouldn’t be able to leave for a couple more days. She was able to come to the NICU and visit, though, and had been as much as she was able.
“That wasn’t twelve hours,” Relay said, leaning back against the counter. The lights were down low and Collin’s isolette was draped with a cover to keep him contained in an area that mimicked the womb as much as possible. They’d keep him like this for at least a month.
Despite the low light, I could see the worry on Relay’s face. He rarely showed much emotion anymore, so seeing it there meant I’d looked like absolute shit when he’d arrived.
“We agreed on six.” I was damn grateful for this NICU.
Some of them had visiting hours, where parents could come visit but they couldn’t stay twenty-four hours a day.
Not this one. The nurses and doctors encouraged parents to stay as much as they could.
And from now on I could grab naps in the recliner as things were quiet.
The nurses understood that people had to work, or had other kids at home, but they were all excited that I was here with my boy all day and night. I was eating out of the hospital cafeteria, and while the food wasn’t the best, I didn’t mind. I’d eat gravel if that was all they had.
We both looked over as the alarms started going off. Relay’s brows drew together, but he didn’t say anything as we waited. Sometimes Collin’s numbers went up on their own, other times the nurses would come in and check on him. This time they stabilized on their own.
“Did you eat?”
I looked over at Relay and shrugged. I hadn’t thought of it. My only concern had been getting back here.
“I’ll go pick you up something,” he said with a shake of his head. “Drop it off for you.” He paused, then sighed. “You know you can’t help either of them if you drop from exhaustion.”
“Everything’s fine.” I didn’t bother to explain any more than that.
“‘Course it is. I’ll be back soon.”
I went and lifted the cover on the isolette, smiling when I saw my son lying there. He looked comfortable. Or as much as he could be with all the tubes and wires in him. Dropping the cover, I went back to my chair to wait.
It was about an hour later when Relay showed back up.
I went out to the front to meet him and bring him back to the room.
Since he was technically on the list of our approved people—along with my and Dev’s parents—I didn’t need to escort him, but I did anyway.
Figured it would be easier on all the nurses, so they wouldn’t have to check with me each time.
They already recognized me after just a couple days.
“Thanks,” I said, pausing outside the NICU at one of the tables and cracking open the boxed food. It was Chinese. Not that I cared what it was. “You having any?”
“Could you actually eat all of that?” Relay asked, arching a brow.
There were three bags filled with containers. “Yeah. I could.”
He scoffed. “Well, you’re going to have to share.”
We sat down at the table. I knew Collin would be okay for ten minutes.
The nurses were incredible and watched over him closely.
Me being here constantly—and Devyn wanting me here—wasn’t because we didn’t trust them.
These people knew exactly what they were doing and we were trusting them with the most precious person we had in our lives.
It was more about being there for moral support in case anything happened.
So he wouldn’t be alone. Collin may not exactly know the difference, but we did.
We both started digging into the food. “Damn,” I groaned. “This is good. Thanks.”
“No problem.” He was quiet for a minute, then spoke. “I know once Devyn’s out of the hospital she’ll be here and you two will take shifts watching over him.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Until then, why don’t I come back each morning? Give you a chance to get some sleep until she can take over. And when you two need some time together, because you will, I’ll sit with him.”
I glanced up and studied the look on his face. It wasn’t the usual neutral expression I’d come to expect from my brother. Though, I couldn’t exactly pinpoint the emotion written all over his features either. “That’d be great.”
“Mom and Dad have been stopping by?”
“They’ve stopped in a couple times.”