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What if that anchor broke off?
Shit and damn.
Bobby was right, I couldn’t break.
I had to keep bailing, I couldn’t get used to an anchor.
“Mom and Lottie might be here,” I mumbled to Eddie’s chest.
“Cariño…”
I lifted my head, put my hands to his waist, pushed away a bit and looked at him.
“I have to go out there and talk to them. See if the doctors have anything to say yet.”
He stared at me a beat and then, finally, he said, “You aren’t in this alone.”
I tried to pull away, but he brought me back with his arms tightening.
“Jet, you aren’t alone.”
I nodded and tried to smile.
It didn’t work.
His hands came to my face, holding me by the jaw and he did a lip touch.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
His lips twitched but it wasn’t exactly amused and it wasn’t exactly unamused.
Then he whispered back, “You’re so full of shit.”
TWENTY-FIVE
CHILI
By the time we got to the waiting room, Mom, Daisy, Tex, Ada and Lottie were there. They’d been told Dad was in surgery. That was it, nothing else. It was now a waiting game.
Eddie took his badge out of his back pocket, hooked it onto his belt and walked to reception to see if he could get more answers.
I caught the gang staring at the blood on my jeans then Mom moved forward and pulled me into a one-armed hug, Lottie joined us and we became the McAlister huddle.
Tex engulfed us with his wide arm span and Daisy burrowed in, bringing Ada with her.
Tex, Daisy and Ada gave the only thing they had to give, seeing as they weren’t surgeons, nurses or miracle workers. They gave comfort and we took it.
Eddie walked up to us. Tex noticed and we disengaged. Eddie put me into the Eddie’s Woman Hold and said, straight out, “Gunshot wounds were from the other night and shoulda been treated, stab wounds more recent. He lost a lot of blood and Slick did a lot of damage. It doesn’t look good.”
I was glad he said it straight out. I wanted to know and it said a lot that he trusted me enough to say it, though tears started rolling from Lottie’s eyes.
Indy came in a few minutes later with the cookies she’d made the night before. Ally followed her with a cardboard tray filled with lattes that Jane had made.
It was the beginning of the parade.
Mom made some calls and Trixie, Lavonne and Bear showed up. Lavonne and Trixie stationed themselves like sentries next to Mom and Bear sat alone with his head in his hands, probably thinking twice about his career choice as a bum.
Vance and Matt did fly-bys, doing chin lifts to me and talking to Bobby and Eddie, then they peeled off and disappeared.
