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“That’s not an easy answer.” She laughed. “I have a boyfriend of four years now.”
“Say no more,” I said on my way out the door.
Tommy was standing at the nurse’s station, writing on a clipboard. “You coloring in the lines?” I shouldered him.
“I haven’t needed lines for years now. Although, when I paint, I still need the numbers.” Tommy shouldered me back. “Are you going around harassing all the doctors about their weaknesses, or just me?”
“Just you. I may get around to the others later.” I went over to pour a coffee. “You need a coffee?”
“I’m on my fifth one, so I’ll pass. Just drink yours over here so I can smell it.” Tommy closed the clipboard and looked at me. “Have you made a decision on which VA?”
“No. You didn’t make either sound great, so how can I decide?” I sipped the coffee. “How much would you say I’d need for him to go to a good facility? Doesn’t have to be the best one, just a good one.”
“He’s gonna need to be there for a while, at least two months, probably longer.” Tommy paused in thought. “You’re looking at a minimum of $60,000, and that’s just for detox. You have to add to that the PTSD and the physical therapy for the leg.”
“So, more like two hundred thousand,” I blurted out, “give or take his insurance deductibles, etc, etc.”
“Yeah, that might be it. It could be less.” Tommy crossed his arms. “It could be more. There’s a lot of unknown with the Admiral.”
“Can we get him in one of the good facilities if I come up with the money,” I asked, formulating an idea, “like the one you think is the better one?”
“I can call but, when I tried before, they were pretty booked.” Tommy looked at me suspiciously. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“It doesn’t matter. I just had an opportunity come my way that might work out for Dad,” I said. “Is there something we would need to do to get him in the good place?”
“Yeah, be very wealthy and throw lots of money at them.” Tommy grabbed a clipboard. “Now go away, I have patients to go pester.”
I pulled my cell from my pocket. My fingers hovered over the send button while I paced the hallway a few times, then hit the button and held my breath.
“Mrs. Hawthorne, I’ll do it.”
Chapter 58
Sawyer
We spent thirty minutes or so flying over the island, then landing and showing him the huts.
“I’m going to come back with the boys tomorrow morning and we’ll get a path through figured out.” Gunner landed the plane back at the dock on the house side. “Let’s go talk about what you’ll be doing with the boys.”
“Where’s your plane?” I asked, noticing it was gone. “Do you think they went looking for us?”
“Nah, guarantee they’re sitting at the bar or lounging on one of those chairs you had out on the beach.” Gunner laughed. “More likely, they’re somewhere eating. They’re always eating.”
We walked back to the house. Gunner asked about the yacht and the smaller boat. I told him all about Aunt Victoria ordering me to have all forms of transportation for getting off the island, especially in a case of an emergency.
“Your aunt is not someone I’d want to mess with. I’ve had the opportunity to see her in action.” Gunner stopped walking. “That’s a beautiful sunset.”
This guy just keeps surprising me.
“It’s one the biggest reasons I love living on an island. We both stood there quietly for a few seconds. “You ready to grab some food and talk? Because, as you said, my aunt is not to be messed with.”
Lou and Robert were, as predicted, sitting at the table eating. “I should have bet money on this.” Gunner pulled a chair out at the table. “Where’s Charlie?”
“He took the plane right after you left. We thought he went to go follow you.” Lou sat back in his chair. “What did you find out?”
“We’re gonna need to hike it tomorrow morning, but I saw a few areas we could probably make happen.” Gunner accepted a glass of water Josh handed him.
“Can I get you something to eat?” Josh asked.
