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“I should go,” I managed to choke out.
“I’ll see you soon,” Zach said, then he brushed a kiss over my lips. I watched him trot back to the helicopter and found myself unable to move until he’d lifted the bird into the air. Only then did I turn and hurry to the glass doors that would take me to the emergency room. As I impatiently waited for a car to pass, I focused on Zach’s words and hoped like hell he was right. When the car passed and I practically jumped toward the ER doors, my eyes fell on the lights of the helicopter as it disappeared into the sky.
For once, I wasn’t afraid of Zach not coming back to me because I knew he would. I knew he’d return to the hospital so he could be at my side, even if he couldn’t officially be there. What I was afraid of was what the situation would be like when he did return. Would my father be awake and talking or would Bennett and I be contemplating a future without him?
Chapter 31
Zach
“Any news?”
Oz and Ash, each holding a baby in their arms, were waiting to greet me when I stepped into Xander and Bennett’s house and both uttered the same question at the same time.
“Xander’s in surgery,” I said. “That’s the last I’ve heard. Jake called me just as I was leaving the hangar.”
Both men looked crestfallen. “Yeah, he called us too,” Ash said. “We were hoping you’d heard more.”
I shook my head. “He did ask me to stop here and grab a change of clothes for Bennett, Lucky, and Xander.”
Oz nodded and reached for a bag on a small table by the front door. “Here, we put some stuff together. Tell Bennett the babies are good.” Oz lifted the baby in his arms a bit.
“Where’s Aiden?” I asked as I reached for the bag. As tired as I was, I really just wanted to get back to the hospital to check on Lucky. I’d tried calling him only to discover he’d left his phone in my truck.
“He went to pick Xander’s aunt Lolly up to take her to the hospital,” Ash responded.
I nodded. “If I hear anything else, I’ll call you,” I said.
Oz leaned in to give me a half-hug. “Tell that brother of yours to come home to me as soon as he can,” he said softly.
“I will,” I assured him. I turned to go when an unfamiliar voice called out from behind me.
“Um, excuse me.”
I turned and saw a young man standing awkwardly in the doorway leading to the kitchen. “Did you say you’re going to the hospital?”
“Yeah,” I said in confusion as I glanced at Oz and Ash.
“Zach, this is a friend of Lucky’s from when they were kids.”
The man stepped forward, hand extended. “Calvin, sir. But everyone calls me Cal these days.”
I guessed the man to be about the same age as Lucky, possibly a little older. Although he was wearing a relatively sedate outfit, jeans and a white button-up shirt, the tattoos peeking out from beneath his clothes in various spots along with the small gauges in his ears made him seem out of place. His dark hair was shorn short and while he was on the tall side, he looked skinny.
“Cal and Lucky knew each other before Lucky came here to live with Bennett and Xander,” Ash interjected. Something in the way he said the words was off and when I looked back at Cal, he’d dropped his eyes.
“Would it be too much trouble to get a ride with you?” Cal asked. “To the hospital, I mean.”
“Cal got here about an hour ago,” Oz said. “He’s been… eager to see Lucky since he heard about the accident.”
“I don’t want to cause any problems,” Cal interjected before I could speak. “And I…”—Cal began rifling through his pockets—“could probably pitch in for gas money.” He pulled out a couple of dollars and some change. Color flooded his cheeks when he looked up at us. “I, uh—”
“It’s fine,” I interrupted. Although I had my suspicions about the guy, I didn’t want to embarrass him. “We need to get going, though,” I said to him.
“Yes, of course,” Cal said. “Thank you, sir,” he added as he reached down to grab a backpack off the floor.
“Zach,” I said. “Call me Zach.”
Cal nodded and hurried to follow me as I said my goodbyes to Oz and Ash and left the house. The guy kept to himself once we were in the truck. That fact should have made me happy but I soon found myself asking, “So how do you know Lucky?”
Cal actually jerked in his seat like he’d forgotten I was there. His frame was stiff as he shifted his gaze from the windshield to the passenger side window and back again.
