30. Lincoln
I don’t think I can do one more day in this fucking office, I think to myself as I sit across from my father in a meeting I shouldn’t even be in, but he insisted.
After all the shit he pulled with Becca’s conservatorship and then—come to find out—again with Lillian and Grace’s court hearing interference, he really is going to sit across from me with a smile on his face like I’m not two fucking seconds away from breaking his jaw.
Walking into this office everyday for the past two weeks has really tested my patience. There is a letter of resignation sitting in the top drawer of my desk, and I think it’s time I used it. Got out from under his thumb once and for all, maybe even start my own practice. Or just go anywhere new.
Lillian’s face pops into my head, and I wonder if she’d want to move in completely with me, or if I should broach moving closer to her. With her losing Grace, she may want a fresh start. But on the other hand, her family is all in Flagstaff. Even without Grace, staying close to them might be a priority now.
I could make the move. There’s nothing keeping me in Phoenix after I quit. Becca is eighteen now, so she can either come with me or choose to get her own place. It would hurt to lose her again after she just moved in, but I have to respect her decisions. And after last night’s conversation, she may be moving anyway if she decides to take off and go to college.
As I’m off in my own head, not listening to a single word being said by the man standing in the front of the conference room, I feel my phone buzz in my inside breast pocket.
Etiquette be fucking damned, I pull it out and look at the screen.
Lillian.
She should be in the apartment working, so I’m not sure why she’s calling. With a glance at the time, I see it’s just after lunch. Maybe she’s looking for something she needs to cook with. I think about sending it to voicemail, then remember I’m quitting anyway.
I stand up, drawing the attention of at least half the men and women in the room. Including my father. Disdain drips all over his face at my interruption. Not even looking at him, I fit together one button on my suit jacket, nod at the few people around the table I actually care about in apology, and exit the conference room.
“Hey, babe,” I greet. Noise in the background grabs my attention immediately. That doesn’t sound like the quiet of our apartment.
“Lincoln,” she says, voice a little louder than is necessary. Probably trying to talk over the noise in the background. But it’s the tightness of her voice, the tears in it, that has me on high alert.
“What’s wrong?” I ground out, already on edge.
“It’s Grace. Talia overdosed.” Her voice sounds far away.
“What? Where is Grace? Is she okay?” My palms start to sweat, and I head in the direction of my office at a half run, half walk to grab my things.
“I have her. But they’re making us go to the hospital to get Grace checked out before they’ll release her into my custody.” A small breath of relief rushes out.
“Good. Okay. But she seems fine?”
“Yes. Shaken up but physically fine.” Her voice wobbles, and I know this is killing her. Being forced to give up her daughter, knowing full well that it wasn’t the right thing for her, only to have her almost come to harm’s way less than a week later. I’m itching to hold her, comfort her. Both of them.
“What hospital? I’m on my way.” She rattles off the name of a hospital a few miles from the office. With traffic, though, it”ll still take me twenty minutes to get there. “What about Talia?” I practically spit out her name. Like fuck will I call her Grace’s mom.
“Alive. They were able to administer Narcan and revive her in time,” Lil says, voice deceptively calm, hiding the storm I know is brewing.
Fuck.
“Okay. We’ll deal with it, I promise. Nobody is taking her from us again.” Over my dead-fucking body. “Meet you at the hospital in twenty.” I hang up as I make it to my desk. I grab my car keys and wallet. Before I turn on my heel to walk away, a thought hits me.
Opening the top drawer of my desk, I root around until I find what I’m looking for, grab it, and turn to go see my girls.
Speaking of… I pull my phone back out and shoot off a quick text to Becca telling her to meet us at the hospital, too, when she can. Then I’m out the door.
Mercifully, I make almost every green light. As I turn into the hospital parking lot, I hear an ambulance. My eyes dart to the rearview mirror in time to see it turn into the lot as well and head straight for the emergency room entrance. I find the nearest open parking space and jump out of my car, running toward the ambulance.
An EMT pulls open the back door, and I see Lillian’s mop of blonde hair sitting in the back right away. She jumps out and waits for Grace to get wheeled out on the stretcher. The image alone is enough to stop my heart, but Grace is sitting up and talking, acting completely normal. The stretcher is probably standard protocol for an ambulance ride.
I catch up to them right as they’re wheeled into the emergency room. This hospital doesn’t have an ER waiting room, so they take her straight to a bed.
“Hey, baby,” I whisper to Lillian, giving her a kiss on her head as we both watch nurses talk to the EMTs about Grace’s vitals and other background information. When the EMTs leave, there is space on one side of Grace’s bed, so I squeeze into it.
“Linc!” she shouts, a big smile stretching across her adorable face, warming my heart.
“Hey, munchkin,” I choke out, feeling emotional at the very sight of her. “I missed you. Do you know that?” I lean down and give her a kiss, the same as her mother.
“I missed you, too.” She cheeses, leaning in and giving me a big hug that feels more akin to a feather brushing against me with her tiny arms but is her squeezing tight.
“I missed you more,” I shoot back.
“I missed you infinity!” she yells and throws her arms out wide to show me just how much ‘infinity’ is.
“That is a lot,” I gasp, eyes wide, and tickle her ribs. As she starts to giggle, an ER doctor in a white coat walks up.
“Hey there, little miss,” the tall, willowy woman greets Grace with a welcoming smile. “I’m Doctor Kingston. I hear Grace just needs a check-up?” She directs this part to us. Lillian gives a small, half smile and nods at the good doctor.
“Good then, this won’t take long,” Doctor Kingston says, and I grab Lillian’s hand and take a step back so we aren’t in her way.
We both watch her go through a series of routine steps: blood pressure, checking her ears and throat, listening to her heart and lungs. As she’s working through her steps, Lillian leans in closer to me without taking her eyes off Grace and whispers, “I can’t do this again, Lincoln.” Her breath shudders. “It would have been better if Talia died. Another year down the road and she could take a shot at getting custody back again. I can’t…” she breaks off, choking on emotion.
“You won’t have to. I promise you that.” My words are firm, sure, as I throw an arm around her shoulder and hug her tight to me in comfort.
We stand there holding onto each other before I hear panting and the pitter patter of loud sneakers hitting the floor. Becca skids to a stop beside us, face flushed and out of breath. “Is she okay?” she huffs, looking at each of us, then the doctor and Grace.
“She’s okay,” I tell my sister, bringing her in for a hug but then scrunching my nose at the smell.
“Shut up. I ran ten freaking blocks to get here.” Her words are annoyed, but she pulls back and discreetly sniffs her pits, her own nose scrunching and making me and Lillian both laugh.
As I go to take another jab at my sister’s expense, the doctor speaks up, looking at me and Lillian. “Everything looks great. I don’t see any marks,” needle marks she means, “but the state requires me to draw a little blood and send it off to be tested before I can release her.”
Great. That gives me just enough time…
“I’m going to go get coffee while we wait. Want anything?” I ask Lillian and Becca, who both shake their heads. “Be right back.” I kiss Lillian quickly as I walk down the hallway and find the nearest nurses station that isn’t in view of the emergency room.
“Excuse me.” I get the attention of the nurse behind the desk.
The annoyance on her face at being interrupted lasts just as long as it takes for her to get a good look at me. Which, normally I might roll my eyes at, but today, I’m going to use it.
“How can I help you?” she chirps in a falsely sweet voice.
“I’m looking for Talia Wilson’s room? She was just admitted.” I do my best to give her a flirty smirk, feeling dirty for it right away.
“Are you family?” she asks, batting her eyelashes at me before typing in the name on her computer.
“I’m her brother,” I lie. But really, what will they do, check my ID?
“Room 216,” she declares after a moment. “Down this hallway and to your left.”
I flash her a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” she practically fucking purrs at me, and I last just long enough to turn away from her before the eye roll takes over.
Room two hundred and sixteen comes into view, a nurse walking out. I nod at him as I walk past and into Talia’s room.
It’s empty, save for her laying in the bed, eyes closed and looking like she was run over by a train. The many machines beeping sound loud in the quiet, dark room. It’s the middle of the day, but the blinds are drawn. As if the room didn’t already scream death, they decided to help it out a little.
My dress shoes squeak against the polished floor as I approach her bedside. Ruddy brown eyes pop open at the noise. It takes a minute for her to focus on me, the drugs still wreaking havoc on her system, I guess.
“Look at me.” I snap my fingers inches from her face. Her head jerks a little, but she does. “Do you know who I am?”
A small shake of her head is all she can muster.
“I’m Grace’s dad. You know her at least, right? The little girl you took away from her mom and then left to fend for herself while you went on a three-day fucking bender. Ring a bell now?”
My tone is scathing, and I swear I can feel my lip curling more with each word. The bitch has the nerve to swallow hard like she’s the one that is scared and not the four-year-old fucking toddler that just spent days with a near stranger, with probably little food or water, completely neglected.
The only thing stopping me from laying into her more is the little bit of contrition I see in her eyes.
There is also a thin sheen of sweat covering her body. Small shivers take over every ten or so seconds, too. What a fucking mess. If I were a good person, I’d wait for what I’m about to do. At least until she is better or more coherent. Or not right off an overdose. But I’m not. Not where Grace is concerned.
I can’t be, because I made Lillian a promise that I intend to keep.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I start, calming my tone just a little as I pull the papers that I had grabbed from my desk out of my breast pocket. “You’re going to sign these papers giving up your parental rights to Grace. Because we both know it”s the right thing to do.”
I had Michael draw these up after Lillian left the courthouse. Just in case. Now I’m so glad I did. When Talia looks like she might argue, I continue. “You are, and I’m going to sweeten the pot. Not that you deserve a fucking dime after what you put my girls through.” I swear to fuck her eyes light up when she hears there might be money involved. “Not so fast.” I stop the joy in her eyes. “This isn’t going toward your next fix. After you sign, I’ll pay for you to go to rehab. Whatever place you want, I don’t fucking care. Then when you get out, and you get clean, you’re going to sign an affidavit stating that you didn’t sign these papers under duress and you were of sound mind. Only then will you get anything else.” Because no way is she coming back after signing these and playing her sob story to the judge to get custody back.
I cringe as I watch her swallow a few times before speaking. “How…much?” Her words are slow and broken, throat raw sounding.
“You’ll get a fixed monthly stipend until Grace turns eighteen because we also both know that the only reason you wanted Grace back was for that check from Uncle Sam to keep you in supply.” And at that point, there won’t be any custody to fight for because Grace will be an adult in the eyes of the law. “Now,” I say and drop the papers in her lap, producing a pen from my pocket and placing it in her hand. “Sign the fucking papers.”
“Where’s your coffee?” Lillian asks when I make my way back to them in the emergency room empty-handed, save for the signed paperwork in my pocket. A weight feels like it’s been lifted off me, and I’m going back to work for a few hours to make sure these get filed today.
“I couldn’t find any,” I fib, but she doesn’t seem to care to call me on it. She simply shrugs and goes back to watching Grace. Becca is sitting on her hospital bed with her and playing thumb wars.
“The doctor came by and said she put a rush on the labs so we can get out of here,” Lillian says quietly.
Good.
I don’t tell Lillian about the papers. Not yet. Not until it’s good news for sure and Grace is ours. We’re at the hospital for another thirty minutes waiting on the labs before a nurse comes over with them. She lets us know the doctor looked them over, they’re clean, and she said Grace is okay to be discharged. No drugs were in her system. Though they were sure to tell us about the dehydration and to make sure she was getting enough to eat and drink the next few days.
The cops get a copy of the labs for the police report, and I make sure both of them are forwarded to me, too.
Heading out the doors of the hospital, Becca is walking in front of Lillian and me with Grace wrapped around her middle like a monkey. I throw my arm around Lillian as we both watch the two of them take to one another like they’ve known each other all their lives.
Lillian looks up at me with silver lining her eyes, and I get it. Everything about this scene just feels incredibly right.
“I love you,” she tells me, a tear falling free. With my thumb, I brush it from her cheek and whisper the words right back.
Then we all pile in my car. Together. Like a family.