“You are. But you are not here, Brooke. This house is too big and empty. He wants to go and live near his papa and mama while they are still alive. You know, life is short, and no one is promised tomorrow. We don’t want to spend all our time on the run. We want to enjoy the simple things now.”
Brooke never thought about how short life could be until today. Normally she’d have accused her mother of trying to guilt her into staying home longer this time. But she wanted her parents to be happy and if her father had always wanted to return there, he should.
“Please tell me you’re not moving before I return.” Brooke didn’t want to think about where she was going to stay or what she was going to do. At least not right now. She already had enough stress worrying about Gareth.
“You know your father, when he decides something, he acts promptly.”
Great. The timing sucked. Brooke was going to have to tell Janet she couldn’t fulfill her one-year contract so she could go home and see her parents one more time before they sold their house and moved to Panama. She could always find an apartment somewhere, but why? It wasn’t as though Brooke planned on staying there very long herself.
“Mother, I need to take care of a few things here. Maybe we can talk more about this tomorrow?”
“Of course, dear. But don’t forget, you need to come home and get your things in order before we move.”
“Yes Mother. I’ll. . .I’ll start making plans.” Of course they weren’t for the reasons her mother had hoped.
“Have I provided you a strong enough distraction yet?”
Oh, not even close.“You have given me plenty to think about. But Mother, I really need to go. I love you, and we will talk more about this later.”
“I love you too, dear.”
When Brooke ended the call, she turned back toward Ziva. The doctor had just come out and Brooke rushed over to him. “How is he? Can I see him?”
“He did well in surgery. We were able to remove all the wood and stitch him back together. It appears he also dislocated his shoulder. He must have been in excruciating pain.”
Holding on to me.“But he’s going to make a full recovery, right?”
“Yes. Did you notice if he hit his head? Because he appears to have a slight concussion.”
God, what else?“I . . . I don’t know. I wasn’t able to see him from where I was.” Dangling over a cliff.
Ziva said, “I wish Logan was here. He’d take care of him.”
Brooke knew Logan was a top-notch neurosurgeon. Please don’t let him need one.
The doctor didn’t seem offended about Ziva wanting to bring in a specialist. If anything he seemed to be in agreement. “I wish he was here as well. Head injuries should always be monitored closely. But so should his shoulder and back. From what I hear you are the one who took care of him until he was able to be brought to the hospital.”
“Yes. I did the only thing I knew.” That wasn’t much. Very basic first aid she had learned in high school.
“Your actions probably saved his life. It definitely saved his arm,” the doctor explained. “But my recommendation is he gets home as soon as possible. He is not from Tabiq, and my fear is infection setting in. I cleaned the wound, but there are still particles inside.”
She felt another wave of nausea. Saved his arm. She had known it was bad, but never had she thought he could’ve lost it. Focus. Don’t look back. Look forward. Brooke nodded. “Get him home. Okay, I can do that,” she said confidently, even though she had no idea how. She could ask her parents to use the private jet, but that would mean explaining everything to them. She could ask the Hendersons to fly him out as well, but that didn’t seem like the right thing to do either. They were friends, but Gareth needed more. He needs his family. She would ask Gareth what he wanted when she saw him. “Thank you so much for taking care of him. Can I see him now?”
“He’s still asleep. Why don’t you give him another hour or two, then you can go in.”
She nodded and the doctor left. Then she turned to Ziva. “You heard the doctor. We have to get him home. Do you know how to reach his family?”
Ziva shook her head. “Neither Alex nor I have ever met them. But I’m sure they are not that hard to find. Everyone knows of the Lawsons in New York. At least that is what Alex said. If you want, Alex can make the call.”
“No. That’s okay. I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure? You look like you’re about to drop right here. I don’t think you need the stress,” Ziva said.
“Gareth talked to me several times about his brothers. I feel like I know them.” Brooke never expected to meet or speak to any of them, but she knew this information needed to come from someone who truly cared about him, not from some hospital official or a Henderson, who she still wasn’t sure if they were simply one of Gareth’s customers. Even with everything she knew about Gareth, this showed her how little that really was. When they arrived at the hospital, she didn’t know anything about allergies, medical history, or heck, even his date of birth. At least she could provide his family the facts, and give them the hospital contact information so they could call with any further questions. It was the best she could do for Gareth, and God knows she owed him.
“You promised you’d get yourself checked out once you knew he was okay,” Ziva reminded her.
But he’s not okay, is he? “I will. But only after I talk to his brother.” She didn’t need a doctor to tell her what was wrong with her. It was damage to her heart. Damage that was beyond repair. She almost lost the man she’d come to care very much about. Everything has been perfect. Too perfect.