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Of course, such an offer would never be accepted. That’s not how the world works. And even if it were, the trade would not be accepted. Lita and Conner are much better people than I could ever hope to be.
“I’ll never waste another day.”
It takes a second to understand that I’ve actually spoken the words out loud.
They’re all staring at me now. Lita. Dani and Gage. Micah and even little Dash.
Yet I’m not ashamed. My worst flaw is that I’ve failed to speak the truth often enough.
“There’s Tess!” Dani detaches from Gage and practically tackles Tess as she bursts through a set of double doors.
“Conner’s awake,” Tess says with breathless relief.
It seems everyone is listening. Cheers rebound from all over the waiting room.
Dani dissolves into emotional sobs and clutches her best friend. Lita wraps her arms around me.
“Thank you, thank you,” I whisper to no one in particular.
On the heels of this good news, Dani and Gage leave the room to go call Matilda. Apparently Charlotte was so distraught over the sight of her cousin’s collapse on the field that her parents had to bring her home.
Tess now holds Dash. She urges us to follow her to a row of vacant seats. While discreetly nursing the baby she tells us what she knows.
She was not allowed to actually see Conner. It’s not every day the hospital gets a patient as high profile as the Cyclones quarterback so they are being exceptionally strict and ‘cousin’s wife’ is not considered to be a close enough relation to gain access. But Tess overheard the doctors say that Conner woke up when the ambulance reached the hospital. She also heard that Conner’s medical team was communicating with his father, who now lives in Kansas and will be flying out tonight. Tess, always enterprising, knew that Conner’s father owned an insurance brokerage and tracked down his cell number. He told her that Conner will need a lot of tests over the next few days but the fact that he’s conscious and able to speak is a very positive sign after the way he was knocked out cold.
“It was a fucking cheap shot,” Micah growls as he broods against the wall. “He didn’t even have the ball anymore. The piece of shit who sideswiped him ought to be tossed from the game for good.”
“Amen to that,” wheezes some old guy whose gut nearly cracks through his Cyclones jersey.
He was obviously listening to our conversation but I doubt anyone minds. I know I don’t mind. Conner could use all the goodwill he can get. “Guess you heard the Cyclones pulled out a win. Miami ought to take the next plane out of town if they know what’s good for them.”
The game outcome means nothing to me at this point. But I know Conner will be pleased when he hears the update.
Fiona finds us and asks if I want her to bring Lita home. Naturally, I’m going nowhere until I see Conner, hospital rules be damned. But my sister stubbornly shakes her head and refuses to leave my side.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she says.
“You go ahead,” I tell Fiona. “I’ll call a car later.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Thanks for burning rubber to get me here.”
She cocks her head with a sad smile. “When you see our hero, tell him he still owes me an autograph.”
“Will do.”
When Fiona is gone, I nudge my sister with my elbow. “You didn’t have to stay.”
Her mouth puckers, like she’s insulted. “If you’re here then I’m here.”
Dani and Gage return and take the seats right across from us. Dani places a hand on her belly and watches Tess as she finishes nursing. Tessie starts to shift the sleepy Dash to her shoulder but without a word Micah reaches out and relieves her of baby duty.
Dani holds her husband’s hand and still watches her best friend. Sadness now tints her pretty face. “We’ve seen a lot of this hospital, haven’t we?”
Tess glances at Micah and a wrinkle of distress appears between her brows. “Too much,” she agrees with a sigh.
They are thinking of the attack on Micah. And the one on Gage too, now that I’m remembering. He once took a knife to the chest to protect Dani. Conner has joked about a curse in their family. A long list of awful, violent and depraved events that span generations. He and his cousins nicknamed themselves the Wicked West Rejects, a nod to the fact that they would always stand united, come what may.
