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“C’mere, girl. I gotta question for you.”
Ginny slunk over, sleek as missile in a skintight red tank dress. Tyler immediately thought of Ellie plastered against Roger in her flirty red dress and gritted his teeth.
“Yes, boys?”
“It true you ladies think of Tyler here as only good for a one thing?”
Ginny stared at Tyler speculatively. “Well, Junior, I’m not speaking from firsthand experience, you understand, but I can confirm Ty’s rep as a first-class personal toy. They don’t call him Footlong Longfoot for nothing.”
“Awesome,” Tyler murmured. “Thanks.” He pushed his beer away and started to get up from the bar.
Ginny stopped him. “Shush up, I’m not done yet. Plenty of girls around here would love to tempt big, bad Tyler Longfoot into something more than a fast thrill, but for the longest time it was pretty obvious that’s all you wanted. Nobody minded. God knows you had some fun coming to you after growing up with Big Joe for a daddy.”
“Wow, I feel much better now, knowing women have been sleeping with me because they felt sorry for me.”
“Oh, please. Nobody slept with you out of pity. I’m just saying all the girls who climbed on your bike knew exactly what kind of ride to expect and decided to sit back and enjoy the scenery. You’re sexy as hell and could charm the pants off my eighty-year-old auntie, but you were always up-front about what you had in mind. You never made promises you didn’t intend to keep, and you never left any hard feelings behind when you eased out the door. But, alas”—she fluttered her eyelashes and sighed—“I fear those freewheeling days are over. More’s the shame ’cause I never got a ride.”
“Don’t give up so easy, Red,” Junior piped in before Tyler could give him the shut-the-fuck-up stare. “My boy’s still on the lookout for fast thrills.”
Ginny shook her head at Junior, and then gave Tyler a disconcerting look. “Men are so clueless sometimes. The only thrills this one’s interested in nowadays involve a certain diminutive doctor. See?” She swept Tyler’s hair off his forehead in an affectionate gesture he found oddly moving. “He’s got the shell-shocked eyes. We all knew it would happen one of these days, but still. If you listen closely, you can hear hearts breaking all across the county, because deep down, Tyler’s always been a keeper.”
“Thank you,” he said softly, truly overwhelmed.
She patted his cheek. “That, or because this idiot here shot your dick off.”
Beer sprayed from Junior’s nose as she walked away. “Jesus.” His eyes did a quick, nervous slide to Tyler’s. “Nobody in their right mind thinks I shot your dick off. You want me to spread the word your nickname still fits, I will. No problem.”
“Uh, no thanks. The less time people spend discussing my dick, the better.”
“Well, I can’t speak for anybody else around here, but to me, you’ve never been irresponsible or useless. You’re loyal. You stick by your friends and don’t hold a grudge, even when one does something crazy and stupid in a drunk, jealous fit. If Ellie can’t see your good qualities, you have to find a way to make her look harder.”
Tyler stared at his boots. Junior tended to look at his friends with kind eyes, but he was right about something. Tyler had been a lot of things in his life, but never a quitter. He wasn’t about to become one now, with Ellie.
…
“He should buy a lottery ticket,” the young, somewhat intense ER doctor told Ellie, “because luck was definitely on your father’s side tonight. Somebody called 9-1-1 right away, based on h
is lethargy, confusion and his complaints about fatigue and thirst. On top of poor diet and lack of attention to his blood sugar levels, he picked up a flu, and the combination brought on ketoacidosis. Thankfully, he’s responded to treatment. But if he doesn’t learn to manage his diabetes better, his luck’s going to run out, and one of these days he’ll end up in a coma.”
The hospital’s harsh white corridors, sharp, astringent smell, and pervasive atmosphere of controlled chaos usually didn’t rattle Ellie, but tonight the combination produced slippery waves of nausea. She concentrated on the doctor’s tired, gray eyes. “I know, Dr. Pendleton. We’re working on it.”
His eyes flashed with something close to sympathy. “I’m sure you’re doing all you can, Dr. Swann. He needs to work a little harder. I’m going to check on him one last time before I head home, and I’ll tell him the same things I just told you. After I’m done, you’re welcome to visit with him.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate…” What? Saving my dad’s life, caring enough to deliver a lecture to him when he’s ignored all mine? “I appreciate everything.”
His smile conveyed understanding. “No problem.” He started to turn away, then stopped and glanced back at her. “Oh, and his friend, Ms. Greene, is in the waiting room at the end of the hall. As she isn’t a spouse or relative, I wasn’t able to disclose much about your father’s condition. I’m sure she’d appreciate any details you’d care to share with her.”
Ellie hoped her face didn’t reflect her complete and utter surprise. Since when did her father have a friend decent enough to sit in a hospital waiting to hear his condition? She nodded and made her way to the waiting area, glad she’d taken three minutes to change out of the slutty red dress and into jeans and a T-shirt before she’d rushed to the hospital. In the waiting room she spotted an attractive auburn-haired woman who might have been anywhere between forty and fifty holding a Styrofoam cup and staring off into space.
“Ms. Greene?”
The woman turned. A weak smile touched her lips and she held out a pretty, manicured hand. “Yes. And you must be Dr. Swann. I’m sorry to meet you like this.”
“No, no. I appreciate your calling me.” She shook the woman’s hand. “Can you tell me what happened to my father tonight?”
“Of course.”
They settled into two of the institutional-grade black vinyl and steel interlocking chairs populating the waiting area. “Frank was exhausted, dying of thirst, and he seemed confused by simple questions. We were worried, so we called the paramedics. He handed me your card and asked me to call you right before they loaded him into the ambulance. Then they were gone, and I haven’t heard anything concrete about his condition.” Sharon shook her head. “Does he have—?”
