“Thanks.” Susan set the phone to silent and dropped it into her pocket.
*
Andrew was vaguely aware of a ringing phone and Susan leaving. He looked up when she wandered back in. She gave Kandace a cup of coffee and a pink-frosted cookie wrapped in plastic.
“The cafeteria is closed”—Susan crossed the room and handed him coffee and a granola bar—“so I had to get vending-machine food. I’m sorry it’s not fancier. You both should eat,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am.” Andrew forced the food down his throat, not tasting any of it, and washed it down with coffee that scalded. When it all hit his stomach, he realized how hungry he was.
Susan handed him a second bar and sat.
Kandace ate more slowly, sectioning off pieces one at a time. “Thank you.”
Susan yawned wide, not masking it well with her hand. Was she on her second sleepless night, after what happened with her father? That seemed so long ago.
Andrew patted his knee. “Come here.”
She shifted in her seat until she could lay her head on his leg. The warm weight helped focus his thoughts. He trailed his fingers through her hair and turned his attention back to Lucas. Please, God. Whatever you want, let him be all right.
Seconds turned to minutes, and Susan’s breathing slowed. Andrew let her sleep. Someone should be able to get some rest. He looked at Kandace. “I can’t keep leaving him after a couple of weeks. This will be my first Christmas ever with him, and it feels wrong there haven’t been more.”
“You can’t take him back to Georgia.” Kandace sounded as exhausted as he felt.
“Because it’d be selfish of me. Isn’t that what you always say? The way you always get me to leave him in your hands?”
She shook her head. “He’s got his friends here.”
“He’s got a school and a support foundation who have pushed him to think he doesn’t deserve to live if he likes other boys that way.” Andrew kept his voice low, despite the anger thrumming through him.
Kandace crumpled the empty plastic wrapper, then watched it expand, before squashing it in her fist again. “I’m not saying you need to walk away from him. I’m saying you can’t take him back to Georgia with you.”
“So what? I pick up and move my entire life here?”
She looked from him, to Susan, to Lucas, then back at Andrew again. “Do you really hate this town that much?”
“That’s not the point. I’m established in Georgia.”
“And Lucas’s established here. Are you leaving friends behind? Do you have associates you can’t communicate with online? You know—through your web-based business?”
He wanted to argue, but the longer the idea bounced in his head, the harder it was to ignore.
Lucas let out a croaky groan, and Andrew whirled in time to see the boy flutter his eyelids. Andrew’s heart leapt into his throat, and he pushed the call button for the nurse. Kandace was on her feet, grasping Lucas’s hand.
Andrew grasped Susan’s shoulder. “Wake up, sleepy head.”
She sat straight up. He helped her stumble to her feet, and pulled her with him as the doctor and nurse rushed into the room. They pulled the breathing tube out, ran tests, spat numbers at each other, and checked monitors over and over.
Lucas lay there, eyes closed and consciousness gone again.
The doctor turned to Kandace. “He’s closer to safe. He’s breathing on his own, but we need him to wake up.”
She nodded.
Susan pulled Andrew’s arms around her, offering more comfort than he suspected he was giving her. She felt like the closest thing to a lifeline he’d ever had, and fuck if he didn’t need that.