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She cocks a hip out and shoots him a glare. “Well, firstly, rude to ask me when cousins don’t get the invite to diner dinners.”
A laugh escapes me because Cat has always been like this, and it brings back memories. I try to cover my mouth, but not before they both notice. As usual, they ignore me. She continues, “Secondly, they’re at the hospital.”
“What?” Sly grinds out the word and steps toward the check-in desk. Looking down, I see his knuckles turning white from gripping the edge. “What do you mean they’re at the hospital?”
“Oh, yeah. They’re all at the hospital. Your dad hit his head or something in the garage.”
“What? Is he okay? Why didn’t they call me?” Sly starts to ramble on, pouring out a list of questions. I rub his back, but I can feel the anxious anger in his voice. “Hell, why didn’t you call me? Seriously, what do you know?”
She holds her hands up defensively. “Hold your horses, cuz. Geez, just when you were starting to be nicer again because, well…” Her eyes flit over to me, and I feel a small sense of pride, even with the current moment not warranting it. Cat huffs and flails her hands. “You go and get a giant stick up your ass and get all grumpy on us again.”
“You’re not answering my question,” Sly replies with zero amusement.
“Cat, please tell us what’s going on and why no one called us?” I ask, trying to keep them both focused.
“They said he was on a vacation,” she says, smiling at me before glaring back at Sly, “which, news flash, you’ve never done. So yeah, they didn’t want to bother you.”
He looks down and takes a deep breath. I know he’s trying to collect himself. I can feel the frustration oozing out of him, and I get it, because he and Cat have always butt heads, and I’m seeing that hasn’t changed.
He rubs his temples before focusing back on her. “Cat.”
“Sly,” she says coyly, and I fight back another laugh.
He exhales through his nose and narrows his eyes. “If it’s not that big of a deal, they should have called. You should’ve called, or at least texted me.”
She grins. “Lynn said you would say that and that I should tell you that your first vacation is a much bigger deal than your dad’s concussion and banged-up hand.”
“And hand? You said he just hit his head?”
“Hand, head, both, whatever. Lynn and Sisi said he’s fine, but he’s staying overnight for observation.”
“Thank you.” Sly’s shoulders finally relax. “Was it that hard to just give me the answers?”
She shrugs with an amused hum. “No, it wasn’t, but watching you get all flustered was entertaining.”
“Whatever, Cat,” he mutters. “Have a good time getting back to whatever it was you were doing.”
He angles himself toward me. “I’m going to head to the hospital. It’s already been a long day. You don’t have to come with me if you’re tired.”
I shake my head. “No, I want to come with you.”
“Seriously, I’ll be fine. You can go back to my place or your room here, I guess, if you want to relax.”
“Sly.” I prop a hand on my hip. “Are you kidding? I’m coming with you because there’s no way I’m missing out on seeing Eddie all loopy on pain meds.”
It’s honestly not even a question in my mind. There’s no way I would leave his side right now. It’s exactly where I want to be.
CHAPTER 47
SLY
Necking?
Walking down the familiar hallway, I try to ignore every memory I have of this place. From the smell of disinfectant and industrial detergent, to the lighting that’s somehow both too dim and too bright, to the sounds of pagers and beeping alarms. Everything about this place brings back feelings I wish I could forget.
Even though I’m lucky my accident didn’t end up worse, partly thanks to the staff here, I still hate this place and hospitals in general. At least this time, I have Josie with me. Her presence is more than enough to help block out everything else.
“Hey, you good?” she asks in a soothing tone when we stop at the door to Dad’s room.
