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Alana didn’t put her phone on speaker so Egan couldn’t hear specifically what Tilly was saying, but he did catch a word here and there.
Derek.Hospital.Bad.
“Yes, it’s true about Derek being admitted to the hospital,” Alana said to Tilly. “I’m with Egan now while he waits for news.”
Egan caught another word.Way. He also caught the sudden frantic look in Alana’s eyes.
“No need for you to come here,” Alana told the woman. “I can text you when we know something.” But judging from Alana’s huff, she was talking to the air because Jack’s mom had already ended the call.
Egan groaned. No way did he want to have to deal with seeing Jack’s mother today.
Alana put her phone away and nodded as if she’d known that would be his reaction. “Odds are Tilly will get sidetracked once she’s in the ER, but if she makes it here to my office, I’ll take her down to vending under the guise of everyone needing coffee and candy bars to keep them going. The vending machines always jam so it’ll take a while to churn out enough Snickers, honeybuns and bad coffee.”
Egan muttered an automatic thanks just as her phone rang again. Alana’s reaction was even stronger this time, and she clearly wasn’t looking forward to the call. She took it, anyway.
“Aunt Loralee,” Alana greeted after a really long sigh.
He understood Alana’s sighing reaction. Her aunt Loralee, who was the principal at the elementary school, had raised Colleen and her after their parents basically ditched them in Emerald Creek when they’d been kids. Their aunt had been good enough to take them in and give them a decent life, but to label her overprotective was like saying Texas could get a tad bit warm in August. Egan figured at times the smothering could feel like actual smothering, especially since he’d heard Loralee considered Alana permanently heartbroken and fragile because of losing Jack.
“Yes, it’s true that Derek Donnelly’s in the hospital,” Alana said, responding to her aunt. “But there’s no need for you to come since the ER waiting room is filling up fast,” she quickly added. “I’m with Egan, and as soon as we hear anything from the doctor, I’ll let you know.”
Silence. No audible murmurings from Loralee, no response from Alana. For a long time. And Egan knew he was the reason for it. Unlike everyone else in town, Loralee did not think of Egan as a hero, and she blamed him for Jack’s death. He deserved that in spades.
Loralee was also fully convinced Egan was at fault for Colleen cheating and ultimately divorcing him and leaving town. Apparently, if he’d been a more attentive husband instead of gallivanting around in fighter jets—and yes, Loralee had used the wordgallivanting—Colleen wouldn’t have looked elsewhere.
“Aunt Loralee?” Alana finally said to prompt her aunt to respond.
If there was indeed a response, Egan didn’t hear it because his own phone rang, and he saw the name on the screen. His stepmother.
“Audrey,” Egan greeted when he answered, and he got the usual pang of awkwardness at addressing a general officer by her given name. It didn’t matter that this particular general officer was also married to his dad.
“Egan,” she stated. Yeah, she definitely sounded more like a general than a stepmom. “I got your message. What happened? How’s your father?”
He went with a quick briefing, trying to keep the emotion out of it. Of course, that was impossible. The emotion was there. “He had a massive heart attack, and his condition is still to be determined. He’s in ICU.”
Audrey muttered something he didn’t catch. “Has Derek asked for me?”
“I’m not sure,” Egan had to admit. “I was at the base when it happened, and by the time I got to the Emerald Creek Hospital, he was already in ICU. I haven’t been able to see him or speak to him.”
“All right,” Audrey said, as if that info had caused her to reach some kind of conclusion. “I’ll make some calls and see what I can find out. If this is as serious as it sounds, I’ll see if I can arrange a visit. It won’t be today because I’m at Ramstein, Germany, but I’ll try to get there soon.”
He hadn’t missed herI’ll seeandI’ll try. Definitely not firm commitments to hurry to her husband’s hospital bed. She ended the call, leaving Egan to wonder if Audrey would tryto arrange a visitbecause she still loved his dad or because it would look bad to her peers and subordinates if she, an Air Force general, didn’t show up to be with her critically ill husband.
And maybe her motive didn’t even matter.
His dad had chosen to stay married to Audrey for over twenty-five years, and if the woman could help his dad in any kind of way, then Egan was all for that.
He wasn’t sure how long he sat there staring at his phone, but when he looked up, Alana had finished her conversation with her aunt and was looking at him. She quickly glanced away, of course, pretending to be interested in a paper on her desk. No, not a paper he realized when he spotted the envelope next to it. A pale yellow envelope that was identical to the one Alana had given him earlier at his place.
A letter from Colleen.
That reminder likely would have given him a good jolt of anger or at least annoyance that his ex was trying to contact him, but there was a tap at the door a split second before it opened. Dr. Abrams came in.
Egan practically jumped to his feet and saw that Effie was with the doctor. No one else, though, which meant Abrams had maybe thought it was best not to have an audience for what he was about to say. Alana must have picked up on that, too, because she quickly muttered something about going for a cup of coffee and left, after giving Effie’s hand a gentle squeeze. Egan moved to circle his arm around his grandmother, pulling her close to him.
Dr. Abrams shut the door behind Alana and then met Egan’s gaze. “Your dad’s alive.” And while that gave Egan a whole boatload of relief, that was all the doctor said for what felt like an eternity. “We’ve stabilized him and are still in the process of assessing the damage.”
“Damage,” Egan repeated under his breath. Oh, yeah, a fresh gut punch of emotion came.
