Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Nash drove Christian to the hospital, and Nora rode in the back with him, keeping pressure on his hand for the entire forty minutes.
They decided to head to Sevierville, which was farther away.
If they went to the one in Fog Lake, word about Christian would spread.
They wanted to slow down that information chain as long as possible.
Wren followed in her car with Marlowe in the passenger seat. Neither of them said much. Marlowe kept her hands in her lap and watched the taillights ahead of them. Twice Wren opened her mouth to start something then closed it again.
At the double doors outside the emergency room, Christian stopped and turned toward them.
He didn’t say anything. He just looked at the three of them standing in the entryway. But Wren knew that look.
It was fear. Maybe apology. Definitely apprehension.
And all she wanted was to snatch him back. To admit it was a bad idea to come here.
She wanted to stick her head in the sand and pretend like life could exist as normal with this new Christian in it.
But she knew that wasn’t true.
Nora checked him in.
“I want to go back alone,” Christian announced.
“Christian—” Marlowe started, reaching for him.
“I mean it.” His voice hardened. “I don’t want any of you to go back with me.”
The words hit each of them like a slap—which had probably been intended.
But they didn’t argue.
The nurse said something to him that was too quiet to hear. Then she led him back.
Wren, Nora, and Marlowe all found chairs in the corner of the waiting room, away from a television no one was watching with twenty-four-hour news droning on the screen.
“I can wait in the lot,” Nash said, still on his feet. “Y’all don’t need a stranger sitting in on this.”
“No, please sit down, Nash.” Nora didn’t look up. “You got Christian here in record time. You’re not a stranger anymore.”
He didn’t argue.
Before they could talk any more, Wren’s phone buzzed.
Cody.
She stepped into the hallway before she answered. “Hey.”
“Wren, where are you? I’m at the house. Everybody’s gone, and there’s broken glass all over the back porch.”
Wren pressed her fingers against her eyebrow as an ache began to pulse there. “I forgot to call you. I’m sorry.”
“That’s not what I asked.” His voice sounded serious in a way she’d rarely heard before.
She hesitated before telling him, “I’m in Sevierville. At the hospital.”
“Wren.” His voice caught. “Mason’s right here with me, so I know it’s not him. What happened?”
“I can’t . . . I can’t really say. But the important thing is that everybody is alive and will be okay.”
Cody didn’t say anything a moment. Then, “I don’t like the sound of this, especially if it affects my child.”
Something about his words caused her spine to tighten. “You know I’d never put Mason in danger.”
Where did Cody even have the right to say that? She was the one who’d taken care of Mason all those years when Cody wanted nothing to do with him.
A surge of anger rushed through her.
But she knew anger would only escalate the situation and make it worse. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths before responding.
“Something’s happened with my family,” Wren said, her voice surprisingly calm. “I can’t get into it on the phone, and I need you not to ask me yet.”
“Okay,” he finally said. Then he paused. “You want me to keep Mason tonight?”
She closed her eyes as she considered the possibility. She really wanted Mason with her. But she knew that might not be the wisest option, all things considered.
“Yes, please.” It pained her to say the words. “If you can take him to school in the morning, I’ll pick him up.”
“I can do that.” He paused. “Is this something I ought to be worried about? For Mason’s sake. That’s not me starting anything. I’m asking.”
She remembered the look on Christian’s face. “I . . . I don’t know yet. When I know, you’ll know. I promise you that.”
“All right.”
“And . . . I know this is going to sound weird, but don’t let Mason out of your sight. Please.”
He paused for a beat. “That sounds serious.”
“Just promise me.”
“I promise you.”
Wren stayed in the hallway a minute after he ended the call before she trusted herself to walk back in.
As soon as she got close enough, Marlowe leaned forward, and Wren knew her sister had been waiting for her to come back so she could say something.
“Mom and Dad can’t hear this from a stranger.” Marlowe’s eyes had filled, and she wasn’t looking at either of them. “They can’t. Not after everything.”
“They won’t,” Wren said. “We’re still going to tell them. Today.”
Luke’s name came up on the screen, and Nash took the call in the corridor past the vending machines, where Wren had stood twenty minutes earlier.
“Nash? It’s Sheriff Wilder. You got a minute?”
He glanced around the hospital and considered how much to say. “I do.”
“Good. Listen, I ran that address from the receipts.” Paper moved on his end. “That gas station is out on Route 9, and it closes at ten on Sundays. The guy working the counter tonight has worked every weekend night out there for six years.”
Nash checked the clock over the nurses’ station. It was twenty till seven.
“Tomorrow and Tuesdays are his days off,” Luke said.
“So it’s tonight or Wednesday.”
“I’m going tonight, and I’d love your expertise—if you’re available.”
“Just tell me where to go.”
“Meet me at the county line, the gravel pull-off just past the bridge. Forty minutes.”
“I’ll be there.” Nash pocketed the phone.
He’d only taken a step when Wren appeared. “Is everything okay?”
He explained the phone call and that he was going to meet Luke. “Do you mind if I share what happened tonight?”
Wren thought about it a moment before nodding. “That will be fine. Luke should be in the loop.”
“I agree. But I wanted to ask first.”
Wren glanced back down the corridor toward the double doors. “I wish I could come. Honestly, I wish I could be anywhere but here. It’s . . . it’s a lot.”
“They need you here. It may not feel like it right now, but you and your sisters are stronger together.”
“I know.” But her words sounded wistful.
He could only imagine all the emotions they were going through right now. Situations like these pulled out both the best and the worst in people.
“I’ll call you. Text me your number so I’ll have it. Whatever there is, good or bad or nothing, I’ll let you know tonight.” He meant the words. “It’s most likely nothing.”
Wren followed him as far as the automatic doors and stopped there. “Nash.”
He turned.
“Thank you.” She had her arms crossed against the cold coming through. “For today. All of it.”
He nodded, something about her words causing a lump to form in his throat. “I’ll be in touch.”
Then he crossed the lot at a jog.