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“Open your mouth or they’ll drip everywhere,” Maddox said.
Weird thing to be bossy about, but now I was curious.
“And?” There was defiance in Alys’s retort.
“I’ll drip them on the photos.”
“Are you really forcing me to ea—”
Maddox shoved the fries in her mouth, cutting her off.
She scowled, but the expression faded as she chewed.
I wasn’t sure I appreciated that this felt fun. “You’re such a dork,” I said to Maddox.
“And yet, I’m not the one being childish.” Maddox looked at me. “Are you both going to sit here ignoring each other for the rest of the day? Aren’t you supposed to be the grown-up of the group, Onyx?”
“I never asked for that.” No, really. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be anything that he said with that level of disdain.
Alys swallowed. “You give the best spankings.” Her playfulness was lined with hesitation.
I did miss that. Not the spankings—okay, those had their place—but Alys being playful. After only a couple of days, I missed it terribly. “Do you want to watch? I’m pretty sure Maddox just earned one.”
Alys gave a half smile. “I’m not the one who likes to watch.”
The front door swung open, and one of the nurses from the clinic stood there, scanning the room. Her gaze landed on us. “Maddox. Thank goodness. Someone said they saw you come in here.”
“What’s wrong?” Maddox’s playful mood is gone.
“Your father… He doesn’t have any emergency contact information on file. We needed to get a hold of one of you…”
No. My gut soured.
“What’s wrong?” Maddox repeated, this time with more force. “Is my dad okay?”
“He had a heart attack. He’s on his way to the hospital in Ogden.”
That meant he was still alive.
Maddox had stalled. He wasn’t saying anything or moving, only staring at the nurse.
“Give me your keys.” I didn’t wait for his reply, but reached into his pocket.
Gage was already at our table, grabbing our trays. “Go. I’ll wrap this up until you get back. Call me with news?”
“Yeah. Thank you.” Alys tugged Maddox to his feet, and he stood like he was a zombie.
I unlocked the doors on Maddox’s Land Cruiser, and Alys urged him into the passenger seat. Within a few minutes, we were on the freeway, heading toward the nearest hospital.
Alys leaned forward between the seats, and rested her hand on Maddox’s arm. “You should make sure Xander knows.”
He nodded slowly, and sent off a text, before letting his phone drop into his lap.
Alys kept her hand on him the entire drive.
Longest thirty minutes ever. I didn’t know what to say. Did he want comfort? Distraction? Yeah, his relationship with his father was antagonistic, but this was more serious than some terse words exchanged in passing.
At the hospital, we were directed to the right waiting room and told that Mr. Haddar had just gone into surgery.
