It’s Derek, leaning one shoulder against the wall by the family entrance with his hands in his coat pockets. When my eyes find him, he lifts a hand in a half-wave.
I close the distance in eight strides.
“What did I miss?”
“Vanessa happened.” It is all I can manage.
“Everything okay?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I have to get back. I’ll talk to you later.”
He senses that I don’t want him here and nods. “Don’t worry. Message me when you want to see me. I’ve got the same number.”
I watch him leave and try not to feel guilty. But there’s too much happening, and I can’t deal with him on top of everything.
I roll my shoulders and walk back toward Miranda.
Brody has the first aid kit open across his knees, and Samuel is holding her wrist steady while Brody runs the suture. Eric has Ethan on his hip, walking him in a slow circle.
Brody looks up at me. “There are three across the forearm. Two are deep. I closed all of them with the field kit, but she’s going to want a real stitch-up tonight or she’s going to scar.”
“I’ve got it from here.”
Ethan is out of Eric’s arms before Eric has time to set him down, and the boy hits my legs at a run. I scoop him up. He buries his face in my neck, and his small body is still shaking.
“I’ve got you, buddy.” My mouth presses to his hair. “I’ve got you now.”
His fist in my collar tightens.
I look at Miranda. She is pale, but her eyes when they lift to mine are clear.
“I want to go home.”
Her choice of word makes me swallow. She didn’t say “your place.” She said “home.” After everything today, she called it home.
I help her to her feet and take her and Ethan to the car. As she gets in, I say firmly, “We’re going to the hospital first.”
“No.” Miranda shakes her head.
I put Ethan in the backseat and buckle him before coming to stand beside her door. “Those cuts are deep. If they get infected, this could get bad fast.”
“I am a nurse, Grayson. I can stitch my own arm if I have to.”
“You’re not stitching your own arm.”
“Then someone else will, but not at a hospital.”
She holds my gaze, and her decision is clear enough that I don’t push it.
“All right.” I straighten up. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Three minutes of silence pass after I pull out of the lot.
I take the highway entrance and start to ease into the lane that loops toward Silverpeak General.
“Grayson, no.”
“I just want them to look at it.”
