“No, baby,” she said, blowing me a kiss over her shoulder. “But I’m gonna sleep in your bed, if that’s alright? I don’t like sleeping in our bed without Cody.”
“Of course.”
I backed out of the room as she pulled the band out of her hair, letting it fall in soft blonde waves down her back.
If Mom was home and Dad was awake, it was probably time for me to make my way back to the hospital.
Forty-five minutes later, I was striding into my dad’s hospital room.
He was sitting up and grinning about something my Uncle Grease was saying when I got my first good look at him. The tubes and wires were still connected to his body, but the difference from when I’d seen him the night before was startling. He looked like my strong, capable dad again, even with the lines of strain around his eyes.
“Lilybug,” he called out when his eyes met mine. “Baby girl, you didn’t have to come home.”
“Thanks,” I replied dryly, making my way into the room. “I feel so welcomed, so loved.”
Dragon and Grease stepped back from the bed as they chuckled, giving me room to kiss my dad hello.
“You know I’m always happy to see you,” Dad chided as he kissed my cheek with chapped lips. “But you’re in the middle of the semester.”
“You’ll be happy to know that I’ve already left messages for my professors telling them I had a family emergency.”
“What, did you tell them I was dyin’?”
“Close to it,” I joked. “I even cried a little.”
“Thatta girl,” Uncle Grease praised.
“We’re gonna head out,” Dragon said, reaching forward to flick my dad’s foot. “Give you some time with your girl.”
“Thanks, man,” Dad said with a small nod.
“You need anythin’, just let us know.”
“I will. Have Brenna and Callie check in on Farrah, would ya? She was keepin’ it together, but I don’t wanna come home to find out she’s got a tattoo on her face or some shit.”
“Will do,” Grease said as they left the room. Then it was just me and my dad, smiling at each other until his face fell.
“You know what happened?” he asked as I sat down in the chair next to his bed.
“Yeah. Rose told me when we got here. How you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” He grew quiet for a minute, staring at the wall in front of him. “Survived, yeah? Can’t ask for much more than that.”
“You know it wasn’t your fault.”
“Don’t make it any easier that she was ridin’ with me because she wanted to get home safe to her boy, and she never made it there.”
“Boy?” I asked softly, swallowing hard. I’d never asked and no one had ever volunteered any information about Leo’s child. Even my nephews were old enough to know that Uncle Leo wasn’t brought up to Aunt Lily under any circumstances.
“Yeah,” my dad said, watching me closely. “Leo’s got a little boy named Gray.”
“Funny name.”
“Yeah, Ashley liked it and somehow she got Leo on board.”
“Cool,” I whispered, staring at anything so that I didn’t have to meet his eyes.
“You’re gonna have to see him,” my dad said gently. “With all this shit goin’ on, you’re not gonna be able to avoid it, and it’d be shitty if you did.”
“I already saw him,” I replied with a small shrug. “He was standing outside the hospital when I left last night.”
“How’d that go?”
“Fine, I guess.” I leaned back in the chair and finally met my dad’s blue eyes. “He didn’t say much, just walked me to the truck and followed me home.”
“Makin’ sure you got home safe.”
“Yeah.”
“I was proud of ya for the way you handled things, you know,” he said, his mouth tipping up on one side. “You didn’t wallow in shit, just made plans and went through with them.”
“Ran away, you mean.”
“Got yourself out of a situation you weren’t ready for.”
“Same thing.”
“But I hope you’re not holdin’ grudges. Life takes some crazy fuckin’ turns sometimes. No one’s fault.”
“I’m not holding a grudge,” I protested, picking at a loose string on my jeans.
“You loved him,” my dad said easily. “Everyone could see it. But beyond that, you two were friends.”
“Yeah.”
“He’s gonna need a friend, Lilybug.”
“He’s got plenty of friends.”
“You think he’s gonna talk to Tommy or Will? I fuckin’ doubt it. He loves them like brothers, but there’s just some shit you don’t share with your brothers.”
“Well, Cecilia might be coming up,” I said. “Maybe she can be the shoulder he leans on.”
“That’s shitty, Lily,” Dad said sternly, making my head jerk up. “And it ain’t you, so knock it off.”
“I know.” I shook my head in defeat. “But I don’t think he wants to see me, Dad. We were friends, yeah, but I left him.”
“He always knew you would,” Dad said seriously. “Just didn’t anticipate the way you’d do it.”
“That doesn’t make it any better.”