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“Let your brother and his family go home and put their son to bed. I can get you and Reagan home safely.”
Devon put his hands on Oakley’s shoulders and gave Pike a raised-eyebrow look from behind her. “We can bring her.”
“I’ve got it,” Pike said, voice firm.
Devon looked down at Oakley. “Oak?”
She sighed. “It’s fine. You guys get back to your camping trip and get Lucas to bed. I’ll send Hunter out. Thank you for getting her here and taking care of her.”
Devon kissed the crown of her head. “Not a problem.”
Oakley gave Pike a quick look and then she turned and hurried toward the double doors that led to the back. Once she was out of sight, Devon faced him. “Coffee? It’s absolute shit here but you might be out here awhile. I saw the pile of paperwork she needs to fill out.”
“Yeah. That’d be great.”
“Keep an eye on my kid?”
“Sure.”
Pike took a spot next to the sleeping child. The waiting room was pretty busy but as cold as a morgue despite all the people. Babies cried. People coughed. Parents soothed. The whole scene made him shiver. How many times had he been in places like this when he was a kid? They hadn’t had insurance, so any illness or injury that came up had to go through the emergency room. He could remember long hours of sitting with feverish, crying siblings under florescent lights. And then there were the other times when he was the patient, his mother coaching him on what to say. Say you fell. Say you got in a fight with another kid. Say you burned yourself with your own cigarette.
That last one had been a fun one to explain. It’d been another of his mom’s winner boyfriends. The guy had been drunk off his ass one night and had told Pike real men didn’t cry. Then he’d proceeded to put a line of cigarette burns along Pike’s inner arm to try to get him to cry. He hadn’t stopped until Pike had vomited from the pain. Six burns. With his and his mother’s lies, the doctors had labeled it self-harm. And maybe in a way, it had been. He’d wanted to prove he could take whatever the guy dished out. Now he had a phoenix tattoo on the inside of his arm that blended the burns into the feathers of the beast. It’d been his first major ink.
If only he could go back and tell the truth to those doctors and social workers, maybe his brother and sisters would’ve had a chance to get out of that family, too. But back then, he’d been only fourteen and the unknown of where all the kids would end up if taken away from his mom had been too overwhelming to think about. She wasn’t great, but he’d known even then that things could always be worse.
He wondered how many children came through this very room with the same stories, with nervous mothers, and paper-thin lies. The thought made acid churn in his stomach. He leaned back in his chair, and Devon’s kid slid his head onto Pike’s shoulder as if sensing body heat was near. Instead of the urge to scoot away, he had to resist the instinct to touch the child’s head.
“Sorry about t
hat.”
Pike looked up.
Devon handed him a steaming paper cup and then set his own down. “I can take that spot. Luc’s a drooler.”
Pike smiled and put his hand under the child’s head so he wouldn’t fall over during the transfer. Devon probably didn’t want his kid leaning on a stranger. He didn’t blame him. Devon slid into the spot and in an instant, Lucas slumped all the way down and put his head on his father’s thigh and snored loudly.
The sight warmed Pike. At least this kid was safe. He only knew Devon through what Oakley had told him about her brother, but the guy had taken care of his sister when she needed help and was still doing it sometimes. He’d done what Pike hadn’t for his own siblings.
“He’s out cold,” Pike said, trying to make conversation and block out the bad memories.
“I think all the excitement did him in. He and Rae are really close, and it was hard for him to see her get hurt. He thought it was his fault because he’d been the one who wanted to go ride on the trails. But it could just as easily have been him. Reagan raced ahead, and there was a fallen branch that launched her off her bike. We were only a few feet behind but couldn’t get to her quick enough. I should’ve led the way.”
“Sounds like he’s not the only one blaming himself.”
Devon gave him a chagrined smile. “I was the one in charge. Parental guilt is a wicked bitch.”
“I wouldn’t know.” Pike sipped his coffee and tried not to make a face at the taste—warmed-over dishwater.
“Yeah, I guess having a family would be pretty tough with your job.” Devon took a long draw from his cup, but his eyes didn’t leave Pike’s.
Pike had the distinct impression he was being evaluated. “It’s not ideal, no.”
Devon nodded. “Which begs the question, why are you in the waiting room of a hospital, waiting for my sister and her daughter to get discharged so you can bring them home?”
Pike’s attention snapped to him, gazes colliding. “Because I’m trying to help.”
“She told you she didn’t need it.”
