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Of course, Jordan had missed some dinners too. Jude hadn’t thought too much of it. He was young and always a bit of a social butterfly. He’d moved out on his own a year ago. Jordan had probably been burning the candle at both ends, working hard and partying just as hard. There was nothing unusual about that. God knows, he’d partied plenty before he met Snow.
Then what?
“How long have you been here?” Jude asked, looking from his mother to Carrick.
“We arrived about fifteen, twenty minutes before you,” Anna said.
“And you said that he’s been in surgery for at least four hours already?” That just didn’t add up. Anna whimpered and Carrick put his arm around his mother’s shoulders, drawing her close to him.
“The cops found him in a field up in Sharonville,” Carrick said softly. His voice was low and raspy as if his throat had been scraped raw. “He was naked and beaten. No ID on him. He was brought here immediately, and the docs started working on him. I think it was one of the nurses from Snow’s team that sort of recognized him. Thought he looked like you.” Carrick paused and looked down at his mother for a moment before directing his eyes back up to Jude. “They didn’t want to call you in since they figured it was a long shot, so the nurse got ahold of Rebecca, who was on shift.”
“Dammit,” Jude mumbled under his breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Rebecca was a paramedic and had been his partner for several years now. She had also been dating his brother Carrick. A regular at the Torres dinner table even before she started dating Carrick, she would have been able to easily identify Jordan even if he was badly beaten.
“Yeah, I guess they were afraid he might have a preexisting condition or at least wanted to get in touch with his family. They had her come to the OR.”
Poor Rebecca. She adored Jordan like a little brother. To have to see him like that in surgery, to see him hurt like that, had to have upset her greatly.
“Where’s Rebecca now?”
“She called just before we arrived. There was a major accident on I-71 and she had to go. She’ll be up as soon as her shift is over.”
“That poor girl. She’s got to be exhausted,” Anna murmured.
“I won’t let her stay long,” Carrick said. “But I know there’s no talking her out of being here.”
A small smile tried to form on Jude’s lips. There was no convincing Rebecca to do anything she didn’t want to do. If she wanted to stay with Carrick as they waited for news after putting in a ten-hour shift, then that was what she was going to do. She was sarcastic, mouthy, stubborn, opinionated, and Jude absolutely loved her. He was pretty sure that she was exactly what his too-serious brother deserved in his life. Carrick just needed to finally get around to proposing to her.
Shoving to his feet, Jude walked a short distance away from his brother and mother. He pushed both of his hands through his hair, trying not to look at the time on his watch. How long had Snow been gone? Just a few minutes. He could wait. These things took time. Let the doctors do their work.
In the distance, the sound of automatic doors opening jerked him back toward the entrance to the waiting room. At the same time, he saw the other occupants of the room look up expectantly as footsteps thudded down the hall, drawing closer. Everyone was desperate for a crumb of news, even bad news at this point. Something that moved their lives past this moment of painful waiting and into planning and doing. Feeling useful again.
Snow appeared around the corner at last and Jude took a step forward, then stopped, his knees threatening to give out on him at his lover’s grim and drawn expression.
“What? What is it?” Jude demanded when Snow was only a few feet away.
Snow gently gripped his arm and steered him back toward his mother, who had also jumped to her feet. He got them to all sit again, while Jude just wanted to shake him, get him to finally spit all the words out.
“I didn’t get to speak to anyone working on him. I just read his chart and what’s being added to it by the nurse as they work,” he hedged. Snow paused and licked his lips. “I think…I think you should prepare yourself for the worst.”
“No!” Anna gasped, her voice cracking. Carrick gathered her close while blinking back his own tears.
Jude swallowed hard against the lump trying to cut off his airflow and grasped one of Snow’s shaking hands. He didn’t want to hear any more, just wanted to rewind the day to when his little brother was safe and healthy, but he needed to hear it, needed to plan for the worst and help his mother.
