Chapter Fourteen –Little Bit Trouble #2
I hung up and ran into the house to grab my keys.
Andie had followed me inside and placed the candy bowl on the side table.
I ushered her back out, slammed off the porch light, locked up, and ran down the steps.
I was already in my truck, with the ignition turned over, when Andie slid in on the passenger side.
I glanced over. “What are you doing?”
“It’s Luca, right? He has Akela, so you’ll need help.”
I didn’t have time to argue with her. I just backed out of the drive, keeping a careful eye out for any of the lingering kids and their neon bags, and then headed toward downtown and the Italian restaurant that had been there for nearly seven decades.
“What happened?” she asked.
I repeated all I knew from Luca.
Traffic on Main Street crawled along as families wove in and out of the shops, collecting the treats each store was handing out. When I caught sight of Luca’s slicked-back hair and makeup-covered face standing just to the left of the restaurant doors, I double-parked behind two cars.
My son stood, shoulders slumped, clutching Akela’s leash, his eyes fixed on the ground.
Andie trailed right behind me as I jogged through the small crowd gathered on the sidewalk.
“What happened?” The words tumbled out as I reached Luca’s side.
Relief hit a beat later when I realized my parents were there. Mom sat on the sidewalk with Wysteria. The girl lay on her side with a rolled-up jacket tucked under her head and her eyes closed. Dad hovered above them, holding people back but giving Mom and the teen space.
I pulled Luca into my arms, hugging him tight before looking over his head at my father. “Dad? What’s going on?”
It was Mom who answered.
“Wysteria had a seizure. We’ve called her mom.”
“A seizure. She has epilepsy?” I asked.
I felt my son nod.
Goddamn it. How had I not known? I’d barely met Wysteria’s mom at the school one day and hadn’t bothered to ask if there were any health conditions I needed to know about.
In LA, whenever Luca had friends over, their parents usually gave me a laundry list of things to be aware of, each kid coming with a dozen labels and concerns.
“Luca, let me take Akela for you,” Andie offered, reaching for the leash.
My dad’s brows hit his hairline as he looked from me to Andie and then back.
I didn’t have an answer for his unspoken question, so I turned my attention to the crowd. “Everybody, move along now. We’ve got this handled.”
I wasn’t sure we did, but even as I said it, the ambulance pulled up behind my SUV, and Bugsy, the lead EMT in town, hurried toward us with her kit. Her partner was right behind her.
Bugsy had just knelt next to Wysteria as Nahomy came flying down the sidewalk, calling her daughter’s name. The woman’s dark hair looked as if she’d been tugging at it in worry as she dropped down beside her child.
I repeated my order for the spectators to dissipate, and finally, most of them did.
When I turned back to Luca, he was leaning heavily into my dad.
They were both fixated on Bugsy, who was asking the girl questions now that she’d opened her eyes.
Wysteria’s face flushed, and she sat up quickly, only to list sideways.
Her mom put an arm around her shoulders while Bugsy took the teen through another rapid-fire list of questions.
After answering them, Wysteria pushed her fingers into her temple and then said quietly, “I’m fine now. I just want to go home.”
“I think we can make that happen. I’d just like to hear from whoever was with you first,” Bugsy said, turning to take my family in. “Who can tell me what happened?”
Luca stepped away from my dad. “We were just coming out of Jack’s, and she just fell to the ground and started twitching.
When it happened in class last month, the teacher said not to stop her, but she put a blanket under her head, so I put my jacket there.
I rolled her to her side, like our teacher did, and that’s when my grandparents came out of the bakery and saw us. Pops called 9-1-1.”
“You did a good job, Luca,” my mom said, standing and squeezing my son’s arm reassuringly.
My mother looked nothing like Luca or me. She was short and round, with flaxen hair that had almost as much white and gray as blond. Her diminutive size was deceptive, though. She could sling hay and wrangle spirited horses with almost the same ease as my father.
“Mrs. Wylee is right, Luca. You did exactly what you were supposed to,” Bugsy told him.
After a few more minutes, they were able to get Wysteria to her feet.
“I’m sorry,” the teen said to Luca. She looked worn out. Like she’d been awake for a week straight, run a marathon, and then hiked to the top of Panther Peak and back. “I didn’t mean to ruin our night.”
Luca’s eyes widened. “That doesn’t matter, Wye. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Her mom gave Luca a small, tight smile. “Thank you for looking out for her.” Then, she glanced at me.
“I try to give her space. She needs the independence, but this is always my fear. He’s the first friend Wysteria’s had who kept their head and didn’t freak out when she had a seizure.
I’m sure that has quite a lot to do with how you raised him. ”
My throat clogged. His knowing what to do tonight had nothing to do with me. I hadn’t been able to coach my son because I hadn’t known his friend had epilepsy.
Where the hell had my brain been since I moved here? On other things. On my dad’s heart attack. On drugs being sold to teens and killing them. On a potential leak in my department. And on a stunning neighbor who had more secrets than truths.
But Luca had done the right thing. Pride filled my chest. I’d basically accused him of breaking and entering today, and he’d proven me wrong and then shown me just what kind of person he really was. A person who stood with a friend and helped them through the worst.
As my eyes fell to Andie, standing off to the side, holding the behemoth of a dog she and my son had both claimed, my heart stretched.
She and the dog had helped Luca far more than I had.
I’d done nothing but butt heads with him since we’d come to Swift Rivers.
It was Luca’s time with Andie and Akela that had flipped the switch for him.
Gratitude overwhelmed me, making it even harder to clear the knots from my throat. But somehow, I was able to croak out, “Luca’s a good kid. Wysteria is too. I’m glad they’ve found each other.”
Wysteria’s mom nodded. “Come on, girlie, let’s get you home and into bed.”
As they eased down the street with Bugsy following them, Wysteria looked back and said, “This doesn’t mean you won our bet. A little seizure isn’t going to stop me from claiming all the Nerds as mine.”
Luca snorted out a laugh.
And for the first time in a really long time, I thought my son just might be okay.
The absolute relief I felt was so strong it almost made me lightheaded.
Gratitude to Andie washed over me. If it hadn’t already been my job to ensure she was safe, if I hadn’t already been determined to ensure Luca was safe while around her, the sheer depth of my thankfulness would have had me working my ass off to find a way to give her the same relief she’d just brought me.