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“You are with her, as you should be. Let the doctors do their job.” Someone spoke in the background and Daniel grunted at them, then told him, “We are on the plane. We will be with you soon. All will be well.”
“I’ll see you soon.” Toro hung up before his uncle said anything else, holding the phone in his palm, head bowed as he stared down at it.
He’d never felt as alone, or as scared as he did, standing in the middle of the waiting room. He wished like hell he knew what was happening, what progress was being made. The doctors hadn’t been forthcoming when he’d asked for a prognosis. What did the bleeding in her brain mean? What were the pros and cons of the surgery? Nothing they’d shared had lessened his fear, his panic, his guilt.
He should’ve been with his mother sooner. Why hadn’t he been with her? He’d chosen to be in another fucking state with a woman who’d ghosted him. Who’d damn near fucking neutered him.
Toro dropped into one of the uncomfortable seats, making sure he had a vantage point of the direction his mother’s doctors would come from. His throat was dry and achy from all the yelling he’d done at the first responders, the doctors, demanding they fix his mother. He was also thirsty, but he refused to get up and walk the hundred or so steps to the vending machine. He wasn’t leaving, not until he had answers.
His eyes were gritty and he rubbed them, eyeing a short square-faced guy with a small scar on his clean-shaven chin dressed in a blue plaid shirt, threadbare jeans, and work boots. He stood on the other side of the room, staring in the opposite direction with a look of utter concentration on his face. He’d held that position for as long as Toro had been there.
His phone rang and he dropped his gaze, frowning when he saw Levi Nieto calling. “Yes?” He didn’t mean to sound as rough and impatient as he did, but this wasn’t the time for social calls.
“Daniel told me about your mom,” Levi said without preamble. “I’m so sorry. Can you send me the name of the hospital? Van and I are headed your way now.”
For some reason, those words choked him up, had his throat convulsing as he tried to maintain his composure, but it was a hell of a battle. He and Levi weren’t as close as he and Daniel. Of course, they weren’t. He hadn’t known Levi existed until very recently. But Levi was his uncle, his family, and in that moment Toro desperately needed family. “Yes,” he said hoarsely. “I— I will.”
“Okay, we’re on our way.”
“Thank you,” he muttered. “You and Van, thank you.”
Levi made a sound. “No need for that. We’re family.”
Toro ended the call just as his mother’s doctors appeared. There were three of them, two caucasian men and a woman with a thick Indian accent. He jumped to his feet. “What happened? How is she?” He was almost afraid to stop asking the questions, because then they’d answer, and did he want to hear what they had to say? He couldn’t gauge anything from their expressions.
“The surgery was successful,” the female—Dr. Khan—said. “We had to put her in an induced coma to help with swelling of the brain.”
A coma. He swallowed, heart thumping. A fucking coma. His legs threatened to give out on him.
“But we expect she will remain in that state just until the swelling goes down,” said one of the male doctors—the shorter of the two.
“Is she in pain? Can I see her? When can I—”
“She’s not in pain,” Doctor Khan said. “And—” She glanced around. “—you should be able to see her once she’s been brought to a room. The nurse will let you know.”
“But she’s fine?” He wanted to hear them say it.
“We think she will be, yes.”
They left after that, and he folded into a chair, dropping his face in his hands. He’d been with his mother all throughout her breast cancer journey, but she’d been awake and aware through the majority of it. There certainly had been no coma. He’d been scared for her then, but right now, he was fucking terrified.
He got up again, leaving the waiting area just long enough to use the men’s room and grab a bottle of water from the vending machine. When he got back, a nurse was waiting for him, and she escorted him to his mother’s room. His first glimpse of her had him trembling.
She was hooked up to so many machines, one of which was helping her breathe, with white bandages wrapped around her head.
“Fuck.” He raced to her, kneeling at her side, taking her limp hand in his, pressing his lips to her knuckles. He hated seeing her like that, so lifeless. He could never take it when his mother wasn’t her usual upbeat self. Full of life, spark, humor, and strength.
She needed him to be her strength, and he would be.
He didn’t leave the room, not for anything. One of the nurses brought him a flimsy white blanket that he used to cover himself as he sat in an armchair at his mother’s bedside, staring at her, at the machines, until his eyelids got heavy and finally closed.
When he opened them, Daniel and Stavros were there, and they tried to talk him into getting something to eat. To go back to his mom’s place and rest. He refused, so they brought him food from who knew where and took the keys he handed over, heading out to his mother’s place to get him clean clothes.
Levi and Van would arrive soon, they told him as they left.
The last time his mother had been sick, he’d been by himself physically, though Daniel had been with him on the phone, with constant video calls. His uncle had been underground then, in hiding. This time around it actually felt good to have him right there, fussing over Toro, seeing the care in his and Stavros’ eyes up close.
Those men were more his father than the man who’d sired him, and he had no problem telling anyone that.
