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“But he’ll be okay?” I asked.
A reassuring smile spread over his face. “He’s going to be just fine. We’ll keep him a few days, then release him. The recovery time for a punctured lung is six to eight weeks, and just about the same time for the broken ribs. He’ll need to do some breathing exercises and limit himself to mild activity, but moving around is important. We just need to make sure he doesn’toverdo it with the moving. The nurse will go over all the dos and don’ts before we let him leave. No driving is a pretty big one.”
I nodded and could see everyone else around me nodding too.
“But his lung will recover?” Mom asked.
“His lung should recover, and he shouldn’t experience any lasting issues.”
Reaching for his hand, I shook it. “Thank you so much. When can I see him?”
“You can go back and see him now. They just moved him into a room, but he’s still asleep. Might want to keep the visitors to only two at a time for right now.”
Dad stepped forward and also shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you so much for taking such good care of our boy.”
“Are you his father?”
My heart squeezed in my chest.
Dad’s smile faded some as he said, “Sadly, no, but he’s like a son to me.”
The doctor nodded. “Well, it’s clear he has a lot of people who love and care about him.”
“Damn right, he does.”
All heads swung to Grams. She shrugged. “Well, he does.”
Dad and I went to Maverick’s room first. My mother talked Nathan into leaving with Rose and Kipton, with a stop on the way home to get some cat food and supplies for the kitten. He appeared to be ready to be separated from his mother. Mom and my grandparents remained in the waiting room.
After about thirty minutes of sitting quietly in the room, Maverick slowly opened his eyes. He wore an oxygen mask, but I still saw the small smile appear when he saw me. He winced, and it was probably from the cut to the side of his right eye, which required a few stitches. Whatever had hit him and broken a rib had also made a gash near his temple.
“Hey,” I said as I took his hand in mine and kissed it. “Don’t try to move. You broke your ribs, and one of them punctured your lung. You’ve got a tube inserted to help with it.”
He gave a short nod, then looked over to my dad. “Nathan?”
“He’s okay. He has the kitten you saved.”
Maverick closed his eyes and smiled slightly again before looking back at Dad. “I told him…to stay put.”
Dad smiled. “He did, and he’s just fine. The fire is contained, and nothing but the old barn was lost.”
A look of relief washed over Maverick’s face.
My father moved closer on the other side of the bed. “You scared the shit out of me, Maverick.”
His eyes snapped back open.
“Don’t ever do that again. I don’t know what we would have done if we’d lost you.” Dad wiped tears off his face, and I watched Maverick’s eyes widen with surprise.
“You’re like a son to me, and it doesn’t have anything to do with you dating Lily. Do you understand that? You are part of this family, and if we’d lost you, Maverick, I’d have never forgiven myself for letting you and Nathan near that fire…”
I quickly walked around the bed and hugged him. “He’s okay, Dad. They’re both okay.”
He nodded and forced a smile, swiping at his wet cheeks. When my eyes met Maverick’s, I could see they’d pooled up with his own tears.
Dad cleared his throat. “Right. Well, no one else got hurt, so that’s good. The doctor said you need to take it easy for a bit, and I don’t want you worrying about anything.”
“I’m sure he can still come to the barn since the doctor said he can’t sit around.”
