Page 75 of Gray Area

He gives a nod and then grabs my hand and brings me behind the curtain. Jude Falco is on a stretcher, with a breathing tube protruding from his mouth. There are pumps and fluids hanging all around him, and there is a nurse at his bedside, starting another IV. Axel is also there, and the nurse keeps shooting his gaze over to him. I get it; Axel is intimidating as fuck.

“The doctor says he is going into the cardiac cath lab as soon as they are set up,” Declan tells Axel.

“Why?” Axel asks, never taking his eyes from the nurse who is placing the IV.

“They think he may have a blocked artery in his heart, so they are hoping to get in there and open it up to minimize damage to the heart from the lack of blood flow,” Declan explains, and Axel nods.

“How’re you doing, Axel?” I ask him, and he slowly turns his head to me like I am an alien straight off a spaceship with a happy meal.

“Fair,” he says and returns to his monitoring of the nurse.

“Do you guys need coffees or food?” I ask them, wanting to do something more than just stand there.

Declan squeezes my hand. “No, thanks.”

“Where is Slade?” I ask.

“He’s in the waiting room with Roman,” Declan says. “We’ve been switching off. We don’t want him to see Dad like this.”

I nod. “Why don’t I go be with Roman, maybe take him home, and then you can all be together?” I offer, but Declan clings to my hand. “Declan, Slade should be here with you and Axel,” I say quietly.

He hesitates, but he takes my hand to his mouth and kisses it, then lets it go. I go to the waiting room and find Slade and Roman there, both of them looking absolutely lost.

“Hey,” I say as I get to them.

“Vivian!” Roman exclaims when he sees me and jumps up to hug me, his go-to response to my presence.

“Hey, buddy, how about I sit with you, and Slade can go and talk with Declan and Axel?”

“I wanna see Dad too,” Roman informs me hotly.

I kneel down. “I know, but he’s got a lot going on right now, so he needs some time before he can talk to you.”

Roman rolls his eyes, and I laugh. I look over to Slade. “Go ahead,” I say and angle my head to the door I just came out of. Slade looks like he would rather do anything else in the world,but he heaves himself out of the chair and disappears behind the door.

I’ve been sitting with Roman for about three minutes when my beeper goes off and my mind returns to the here and now. I’m still at work, I realize. “Shit,” I say as I pick up the beeper and read the page.

“Is it a fucker?” Roman asks and I turn and look at him with a chastising look. He just shrugs. “That’s what dad says sometimes when his phone rings and he looks at it. He’ll go, ‘Ugh, what does this fucker want?’”

“No, it’s my employer,” I tell him. “I’m just going to go over there and make a phone call, okay?” I say, pointing to a hospital phone on the wall about four feet away.

He nods and grabs a book that’s on the seat next to him.

I dial the extension from my beeper quickly and then return my eyes to potty-mouthed Roman.

“Housekeeping,” my evening manager says on answering.

“Candida, it’s Vivian. I have a, uh, family emergency and—”

“I thought you didn’t have any family,” Candida says rudely.

“Yes, well, it’s my boyfriend’s dad.”

“You don’t get time off for that shit,” she informs me.

“I need to take care of their little brother. I’m really sorry, but I am not going to be able to finish my shift.”

There is no noise from the other end. “Hello?” I ask.

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