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“You’re seventeen, right?” Amy asked.
He nodded.
“Do you know what his wishes are?”
He shook his head.
“Justin.” She rested her hand on his leg. “You aren’t able to make any decisions for your dad. Did you know this? What the doctors are putting on you isn’t allowed. If you’d like, I can remind them.”
“And if I wanted to?” he finally asked after absorbing that information.
“Do you?”
Justin didn’t respond right away, instead reaching for his dad’s hand. It was thin and limp. Justin’s hand practically swallowed up his dad’s.
“No, I don’t. I’m just here. That’s all.”
“Then you don’t have to. They made a mistake; let’s go let them know. That way they can decide what is best for your dad moving forward and he can begin receiving the care he needs.”
Amy stood, Justin joining her. Amy glanced at me. “We’ll be right back. It should be a short conversation with the doctors.”
“Thank you,” I replied, my voice coming out thicker than I wanted.
“Sometimes, we just need an adult to help in situations like this. No one has to do anything by themselves here.”
The two of them left, leaving me in the small room with the dying man. I got up and approached the hospital bed slowly. I almost expected the man to sit up and begin yelling at me.
Justin’s dad’s eyes were closed though. A coma. There were tubes in his mouth and throat, and an IV in his arm. He seemed so tiny and weak. Mixed feelings hit me. This was the man who killed Justin’s mom. The same man who beat Justin.
This broken, decrepit body before me had once been so capable of violence. So full of meanness. And now he was reduced to a pathetic state of existence, about to die any moment.
I slowly reached out and touched the skin on his arm. Cold to the touch. Stepping back, needing distance between him and me, I tried to wrap my head around what was going on.
This man was at the edge of death. His body was right there, but it was only a husk now. There used to be a day when he was conscious. When he was strong. And mean.
I swallowed my bile and went back to my seat. It wasn’t much longer when Justin came back in with Amy.
“Is everything okay now?” I asked, voice cracking slightly.
Justin frowned, noticing. His gaze went to his dad, but his shoulders relaxed when he saw that nothing had happened. Maybe he hoped his dad woke up. Or died while he was away. It was hard to tell.
“Yes,” Amy said. “Justin is good.” She turned to him and handed out a card. “If you ever have any questions, call me. If something like this happens again, give me a call. I don’t mind reminding people what is okay and isn’t okay. Cadence, a word with you.”
“Sure.” I got up and walked with her to the door.
Amy dug in her oversized purse and pulled out a manila folder.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“The current deal with the police department for their misconduct. They’re willing to settle for what they did. I think it’s fair. Unless you want to officially press charges against them and go through court.”
“Oh.” I stared at it. This was to make them pay for what they did to me, allowing me to be kidnapped as a way to charge the Ryder gang. It ended with me tied to a chair in the dark basement while a shootout happened above me. “I just want this over with so I can move on.”
“Look it over. If you’re fine with it, then we’ll move forward.”
“Okay, thank you. And what’s going on with the Ryder gang.”
Amy sighed and gave me a sad smile. “These kinds of cases take time. Currently, both sides are putting together all the evidence and making their cases. Once that’s done, they’ll go to court to go over their cases and decide on an official court date. Then the trial will begin.”
