Chapter Seventeen
COLTON
We arrived at the clinic forty minutes later. I’d never been inside it before. It only had two levels and a small reception area manned by one guy.
"Hello! I’m Colton Whitley," I said. "You received a patient named Jeannie Whitley this morning."
“Sure. Please go upstairs and join the others.”
I took Zoey's hand, leading her up the staircase. I didn’t want to bother with an elevator, as it might slow us down. "I think my brothers are here."
"Oh?" Zoey asked. "Do you want me to, I don't know, wait downstairs until they're gone or something?"
"No. It's as good a time as any for you to meet them."
“Okay.” Her eyes flickered.
"What's that look?" I inquired.
“Nothing. I've always wondered if your brothers are like you.”
I chuckled. "You’ll find out today."
I heard my grandfather's voice before I saw him, then stopped in my tracks.
My half brothers were here too. Maddox, Nick, and Leo were pacing the hallway.
They bore only a slight resemblance to my brothers and me.
We all had blue eyes, and theirs were green and brown.
They had also inherited our father's dark brown hair, whereas my brothers and I were a few shades lighter.
Grandfather was sitting, looking distraught. My entire body tensed. They all glanced up when they saw me.
"Colton!" Maddox exclaimed, then glanced at Zoey.
"Zoey, these are my half brothers." I introduced all of them by name. She shook hands with each of them. "Grandfather, any news?"
"No, they're doing tests. They think it's simply dehydration." He shook his head. "Sometimes she gets so involved in what she's doing that she forgets to drink water."
I relaxed a bit. “That doesn't sound so bad.”
"They gave her an IV with electrolytes,” Maddox said. They usually took everything in stride, but he sounded concerned.
I tensed again. "She needs an IV?"
“Right.”
Maybe this was more serious than it sounded. "Did anyone talk to a doctor recently?"
"I did," Leo said. "They said she'll probably need to stay a few hours until the IV is empty, and then she can go home.
I'm going to stay here and wait until that's happened, then drive her and Grandpa home.
" Leo glanced at Grandfather. "Actually, you know what?
Why don't you and I go home? Then Nick or Maddox can bring Gran once everything is over. "
I appreciated that more than I could say. Grandfather wasn't fit enough to sit on these uncomfortable chairs for hours on end. I was grateful that my half brothers were here too. Their concern for our grandparents made me look at them in a whole different light.
Nick and Leo reminded me of my youngest brother, Gabe. They were quick with a joke and lightening up the situation, and they usually played off each other. But right now, even they appeared very concerned.
"We already went in to see Gran. You can go too," Maddox said, then walked my way.
"Do the rest know?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Grandpa called everyone. Gabe is on the way. I came as soon as he called. I wanted to make sure this was the right place for Gran and that she didn’t need a bigger hospital."
Zoey sat next to Grandfather, and they began chatting under their breaths. Grandfather nodded and seemed a bit more energetic than before. I couldn’t believe she'd already had such a positive effect on him.
Then Grandfather looked up at me. "Colton, why am I just now meeting Zoey?"
I cleared my throat. "I was waiting for a good moment."
"And you thought that was when your grandmother was in the hospital? She’s going to have a field day with this. You know," my grandfather told Zoey, "I really thought she was barking up the wrong tree with this."
"What do you mean?" Zoey asked.
Maddox looked at them with interest.
"She came home from Colton's office, declaring that she thinks there's finally someone who can… well, challenge Colton. I couldn't believe she was right again."
"No shit," Maddox said. To my amusement, he sounded a bit panicked. Then he turned to me. "She mentioned that to me, too, but I thought… You know what? Never mind. We don't want to scare Zoey away with tales of our insane family dynamics."
"I agree," I told him. "Can we go see Grandmother now?" I asked Grandfather.
"Yes. She's surprisingly awake, but the doctor did tell us not to overwhelm her. You can go in. We already saw her, so we won’t go in again for now."
“All right.”
“It’s the room down the hall on the left.”
"I can wait here," Zoey said, "if you’d rather go in alone."
"And risk Grandmother's wrath?" I asked.
Both Maddox and Grandfather started to laugh. Zoey got up from the chair, smiling.
“You managed to lift his mood in just a few minutes,” I told her when we were out of earshot of Grandfather and Maddox. "How did you do it?"
"I shifted the focus to positive stuff, like how much I love Jeannie's work. Instead of him thinking his wife is sick and in a hospital, he had to focus on the times when she was healthy and full of energy."
"That's very smart," I said.
"So your grandmother thought you needed someone to challenge you? Did she say that when she was in your office and I missed it?"
"No, but she's been saying that on every other occasion for years," I clarified.
"Then let's give her a show, shall we?"
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Let’s take everyone's mind off things. Just follow my lead."
"Sounds good."
Grandmother looked well. I'd been dreading the moment I saw her. I wasn't a fan of hospitals, but she was relaxed and even had some color in her cheeks. She had on headphones, which she immediately took off when she saw us. "Colton, you came with Zoey."
"Are we bothering you?" Zoey asked.
"Not at all. I was listening to an audiobook. I wanted to read, but the doctor said I shouldn't. Honestly, I'm not even sure if I could. I'm afraid the headaches could start again."
"You have to take it easy, Grandmother," I said. “And drink more water.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Tell me you didn't come here to berate me."
I ducked slightly forward and straightened again. "I didn't come just for that."
Zoey sat at the side of her bed and looked at me over her shoulder. "Hey, be nice to your grandmother. That's no way to talk to someone who's in a hospital bed." She winked at me.
What was that about? Oh right, that plan she has.
My grandmother smiled brilliantly. "Attagirl. I'm so happy my prediction turned out to be true."
"You don't know that," I said, somewhat affronted. I knew Zoey had a plan to take Grandmother’s mind off being sick, but I had some pride too.
"Ha," Grandmother exclaimed. "Want to tell me why you two are together on a Saturday? And before you ask why I know you were together, it’s because you both showed up here.”
“It could be any number of reasons,” I challenged.
Zoey looked at me over her shoulder, winking again. “Is that so? You’re not going to own up to your grandmother to what we were really doing?"
She was great at this! Grandmother was having a field day.
"Fine, Grandmother. You were 100 percent right. We were on a… date."
"That's good to know." The smile on her face was addictive. That Zoey could do this for her, for our family, was huge in my book.
"Now, I know you said not to berate you, but you need to take it slower," I urged.
"It’s a headache."
"Grandfather said you get them when you overwork yourself because you forget to hydrate."
"He has a big mouth," she muttered.
"Grandmother, you know he only cares about you. "
She pursed her lips and shook her head. "You're right. I only had a few headaches here and there, and I didn't realize they were getting stronger and more frequent. I'm going to take better care of myself. I'm determined to live to see every single one of you give me great-grandkids."
"What? Every one of…" Zoey stumbled over her own words.
"Don't mind Grandmother," I said.
"Oh yeah, do mind me, because I'm very serious," Grandmother insisted, eyes twinkling.
Zoey glanced at me, and for once, she didn't look sassy. She seemed a little panicked. I should have warned her. But this was fun to watch. I'd never seen her caught off guard.
She turned to Grandmother again. "Jeannie, whatever gets you motivated to stay healthy is good."
"That's what I say all the time," Grandmother replied. Then she yawned.
"Okay then, we should go," I said.
Zoey immediately rose from the bed. "It was nice seeing you again, Jeannie."
"Don't be silly. Seeing me on a hospital bed can't be a highlight, but don't worry. I'll get better in no time, and then I'll have you all over to our house."
That was going to be catered, and I wasn't going to take no for an answer. But I wasn't going to bring it up now.
We stepped outside into the corridor. Grandfather and Leo had already left. Maddox and Nick were talking to Gabe, who must have just arrived. He looked up at me, and then his eyes fell on Zoey. Judging by his grin, he knew who she was.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" he asked.
"Gabe, this is Zoey. Zoey, this is my youngest brother and a pain in the ass."
"He took the words right out of my mouth," Gabe said, winking at her. “I was going to use the exact same introduction.”
Zoey laughed. "Do you want to go see your grandmother?" she asked. “Better hurry because I think she's going to nap soon. She seemed a bit tired."
"Sure," Gabe said. His smile fell. "How is she?"
"She's good," I assured him. "Just tired."
"Okay, good. By the way, our brothers will arrive soon."
After he left, I wanted to ask Nick what he'd found out from the doc, but Maddox said, "Did you by any chance look at that email I sent you a few weeks ago?"
Zoey cleared her throat. "I saw a coffee machine downstairs. I'm going to make myself one. Colton, you'll let me know when we’re ready to go?"
"Sure," I said. Only after she left did I realize she'd done it on purpose to give us privacy.
“Yes, I read it," I told Maddox. "Wanted to ignore it and delete it.”
He nodded. "I thought about doing the same. But then I figured if he didn't hear from us, he might ask our grandparents."
Fuck, that had never occurred to me.