Chapter Twenty-Eight
Spending the last week trying to figure out his next steps hadn’t been the relaxing vacation Brody’d planned on.
Oh, he’d spent time bumming around. Worked out with Darien a few times.
Proved to himself that he could hang with the man, but ouch.
He needed to do more than work and sleep.
He realized that he had no hobbies to entertain himself with.
Maybe he’d take up crocheting or macramé?
Cooking would be too depressing for just him.
He definitely needed to exercise more. Oooh, he could find an adult volleyball or soccer league.
“Brody, I just put a new one in nine for you. Report they’ve been dealing with chest pain for eight days. Comes and goes. Did an EKG in triage and it looked normal. It’s on Randy’s desk to review,” Leanne called out from the charge desk.
Standing up, Brody pushed his cart toward the supply closet and grabbed a rainbow set of tubes to get a standard set of labs drawn.
He pushed into the curtained area, introducing himself without looking up.
“Hi. I’m Brody and I’ll be your nurse tonight.
I hear that you’ve been having chest pains for a week.
I’m going to get some labs drawn. One of the PAs will be in shortly. ”
Drew’s voice said, “I hope you’ll be my nurse for longer than a night.
” Brody’s attention snapped up from the tubes.
Drew was standing next to the bed with a bouquet of lilies and roses in his hand.
“I don’t remember my papa, who I’m named after.
I was a newborn when he died but my grandma Kate told me stories about him.
How he looked in uniform. How he liked to whistle at her when he’d come home.
That he would bring her lilies and roses when he fucked up.
” Drew stopped and chewed on his lip for a minute.
“I know I fucked up. I know that I don’t deserve a second chance but if you’ll give me one, I promise to never put your heart in danger. ”
All Brody could do was stand there and blink.
Leanne had to have known who Drew was. Brody hadn’t told anyone about what had happened but he’d heard from Talia, Shelly, and Devon that he looked like shit when he showed up for shift tonight.
They’d demanded an explanation and weren’t really satisfied with his answer of ‘nothing.’
He watched Drew start to nod and the flowers were falling down. “I understand. I hope that one day you’ll forgive me. Biggest fuck up of my life,” Drew whispered as he stepped away from the gurney. He reached to put the flowers on Brody’s cart but before his hand got close, Brody grabbed it.
“You almost destroyed me,” Brody said around the lump in his throat. “I can’t go through being abandoned again,” he admitted.
Drew’s free hand reached up and cupped Brody’s jaw, his thumb rubbing against his cheek. “If you give me this chance, I promise that I will dedicate everything in me to working together with you to build the best life we can have together.”
A sob choked out of Brody as he threw himself at Drew. “I’m going to hold you to that. Stay with me.”
§ § § §
Drew had no idea how many rounds of Bubble Crush he’d played sitting here waiting for Brody’s shift to end.
There was no way he was leaving the hospital without Brody today.
He’d begged and pleaded with Leanne to get her to allow him to see Brody.
She’d threatened him with castration if he didn’t bring their Brody back.
Having a group of emergency nurses and technicians pissed at him wasn’t the best thing, especially if he got sick.
The last week with his family gave him the strength to try and fix things with Brody.
He’d sat with his brother for a long time.
Tristan apologized again and again. He’d never meant to push Drew into the military.
His parents, his uncles, they all asked what they’d done to make him feel inferior.
His cousins and sister couldn’t comprehend why he hadn’t confided in them.
Talking with everyone helped Drew realize that it wasn’t anything they had done.
He’d imposed the rigid standards on himself and then didn’t give himself credit for hitting them.
He’d internalized a lot that wasn’t really anything and made it huge.
Of course, Tristan would’ve accomplished things first. He was six years older than Drew.
He’d driven back to Kentucky with Uncle Mackey and Uncle Scott.
Smokey was eating up the attention they gave him.
The dog seemed to have already bonded strongly with Uncle Scott, if the way he’d glued himself to his side was any indication.
When they’d gotten to Kentucky, Rick was in the field but Drew had dinner with Coop, who passed on a message from Rick which basically translated to ‘I told you that your family had your back, dumbass.’
A knock at his window snapped Drew from the doze he’d drifted into. Looking next to the Jeep, Brody was standing there with the bouquet in his hands. Drew opened the door and climbed out to wrap Brody in his arms.
“Morning,” Drew whispered as he leaned in to claim a kiss. Best way to start the day in his mind. “Can I take you to breakfast?” he asked.
Brody pursed his lips as he thought about his answer. “I’m actually hungry. I haven’t eaten well recently. I can follow you to—”
“I’ll drive. Can bring you to work tonight?” Drew offered, hopeful. A big smile broke across Brody’s face. Drew took that as consent and lead him around the Jeep. A quick drive and they were seated at the Black Bear with menus and coffee.
Christ. This was harder than facing his family. Brody might have, possibly, maybe, have given him a chance but he still felt that one wrong move and he was at the curb. Every member of his family had cautioned him that he needed to be completely honest and up front with Brody about everything.
The waiter appeared next to their table. “Morning, gentlemen. Do you need a few more minutes?”
Drew looked at Brody, who shook his head. “I think we’re ready,” Drew answered and motioned for Brody to start.
“I think I’ll try the chicken sausage scramble with wheat toast and a glass of orange juice.” Brody seemed a bit defensive about his order for some reason.
“And you?” the waiter said turning to Drew.
“The mini volcano and a glass of milk.” Drew wasn’t sure if his stomach was going to even accept something as non-spicy as pancakes but he needed to order something. He needed to release all the tension he was holding before anything would stay down.
“I’ll be back shortly, gentlemen.” The waiter checked their coffee carafe before walking away.
Drew watched Brody fuss with his coffee mug, not quite looking at Drew.
Taking a deep breath, Drew started to talk.
“First and foremost, I am sorry. I treated you very badly and I am beyond grateful that you’re sitting here with me.
It was probably a good idea that Nicole was with her father when Nova got to me.
Her vocabulary would definitely be way too colorful for a one-year-old if she’d heard her mother. ”
Brody chuckled at Drew’s description of Nova dressing him down, which was a good thing. “I’m sure she didn’t pull any punches.”
“No one did. Well, after they all figured out that I was okay. Tris, Julia, and my cousins were the first line. We all watched when our dads or uncles would gather when one of them came back from deployment. They were the best support network for each other. Everyone assembled to help me get my head on straight. Then my parents, aunts, and uncles stepped in. Not going to lie, there were tears. Mental health isn’t an area that any of us studied. Well, unless you count Carter.”
“Carter? I don’t remember meeting a Carter,” Brody interrupted.
Drew shook his head. “Um, kind of a long story. Short of it, he served with Uncle Mackey and the heptad adopted him and his friends.”
“They just can’t help taking care of soldiers, can they?” Brody sounded a bit wistful as he asked his question.
“They don’t even try to not do it. They’ve pulled you into their sphere if you didn’t realize it.
” The waiter approached and placed plates in front of them.
He paused and when neither of them asked for anything, he left.
Drew and Brody took a few bites of their meals before Drew started talking again.
“Cal did a bit of research while we were all together and came up with me having an overdeveloped younger sibling syndrome. Watching all of them always, well, what I saw as always, succeeding in everything, gave me a sense of inferiority.” Drew stopped talking and took a sip of coffee.
Looking down, he realized he’d shredded his napkin.
Brody’s hand appeared in his line of sight, palm up.
He took Brody’s offering and grabbed his hand.
“Time was a bit compressed for most of the family but I did get to spend time talking with all of them. I told them that I didn’t want to stay in the military.
That I want to work search and rescue somewhere.
I thought that my announcement would be met with denial and shock.
They surprised me instead. Noah gloated about suspecting how I felt and how he should’ve taken bets.
I drove Uncle Mackey and Uncle Scott back to Kentucky with Smokey.
” In between bites, Drew told Brody about his dinner with Coop.
Before he knew it, they were both done eating and they were just playing with their mugs.
“Come home with me?” Brody asked softly.
“Check!” Drew called out. His mother had not raised a moron.