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“Right.”
Maybe this was more serious than it sounded. "Did anyone talk to a doctor recently?"
"I did," Leo said. "They said she'll probably need to stay a few hours until the IV is empty, and then she can go home. I'm going to stay here and wait until that's happened, then drive her and Grandpa home." Leo glanced at Grandfather. "Actually, you know what? Why don't you and I go home? Then Nick or Maddox can bring Gran once everything is over."
I appreciated that more than I could say. Grandfather wasn't fit enough to sit on these uncomfortable chairs for hours on end. I was grateful that my half brothers were here too. Their concern for our grandparents made me look at them in a whole different light.
Nick and Leo reminded me of my youngest brother, Gabe. They were quick with a joke and lightening up the situation, and they usually played off each other. But right now, even they appeared very concerned.
"We already went in to see Gran. You can go too," Maddox said, then walked my way.
"Do the rest know?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Grandpa called everyone. Gabe is on the way. I came as soon as he called. I wanted to make sure this was the right place for Gran and that she didn’t need a bigger hospital."
Zoey sat next to Grandfather, and they began chatting under their breaths. Grandfather nodded and seemed a bit more energetic than before. I couldn’t believe she'd already had such a positive effect on him.
Then Grandfather looked up at me. "Colton, why am I just now meeting Zoey?"
I cleared my throat. "I was waiting for a good moment."
"And you thought that was when your grandmother was in the hospital? She’s going to have a field day with this. You know," my grandfather told Zoey, "I really thought she was barking up the wrong tree with this."
"What do you mean?" Zoey asked.
Maddox looked at them with interest.
"She came home from Colton's office, declaring that she thinks there's finally someone who can... well, challenge Colton. I couldn't believe she was right again."
"No shit," Maddox said. To my amusement, he sounded a bit panicked. Then he turned to me. "She mentioned that to me, too, but I thought... You know what? Never mind. We don't want to scare Zoey away with tales of our insane family dynamics."
"I agree," I told him. "Can we go see Grandmother now?" I asked Grandfather.
"Yes. She's surprisingly awake, but the doctor did tell us not to overwhelm her. You can go in. We already saw her, so we won’t go in again for now."
“All right.”
“It’s the room down the hall on the left.”
"I can wait here," Zoey said, "if you’d rather go in alone."
"And risk Grandmother's wrath?" I asked.
Both Maddox and Grandfather started to laugh. Zoey got up from the chair, smiling.
“You managed to lift his mood in just a few minutes,” I told her when we were out of earshot of Grandfather and Maddox. "How did you do it?"
"I shifted the focus to positive stuff, like how much I love Jeannie's work. Instead of him thinking his wife is sick and in a hospital, he had to focus on the times when she was healthy and full of energy."
"That's very smart," I said.
"So your grandmother thought you needed someone to challenge you? Did she say that when she was in your office and I missed it?"
"No, but she's been saying that on every other occasion for years," I clarified.
"Then let's give her a show, shall we?"
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
