Page 11 of Shuttered Hearts

He stops in the middle of removing his seatbelt and looks at me. After a moment, he lets go and mirrors my position. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“It’s nothing terrible,” I start. “First, considering everything, Dad’s okay.” I wait for some kind of acknowledgment from Max before continuing. “He fell down the stairs earlier. He broke his leg and passed out. They’re worried he might have a concussion. Last I spoke with Caleb they were running a few more tests before deciding if they were going to keep him overnight for observations.” I pause and take a breath. “If he’s not home tonight, he should be home tomorrow.”

I’m quiet while I let Max absorb what I’ve told him. I know I gave him a lot of information, but I’ve learned it’s better to be honest with Max. He understands much more than we wish he did.

“Okay. Are we going to the hospital now?” he asks after a few minutes of silence.

“I was planning on waiting for Caleb’s call to update us on what the decision was about keeping Dad. I thought we could go have dinner with him and bring him some stuff to occupy his time if he’s staying overnight.”

Max hesitates before nodding his head. “Okay.”

“We can go now if you want. I’m sure Dad would love the company,” I offer, seeing the worry on Max’s face.

Max was seven when Dad was first diagnosed. I know he remembers almost everything from that time, but he wasn’t part of these kinds of conversations back then. Caleb and I wanted to shield him from everything the best we could.

It might not have been the best decision, but we wanted him to be a kid as long as he could be. Now he’s older, and there’s no hiding anything from him.

“Can we call Caleb and get an update now?” Max asks, hope shining in his eyes.

“Sure. Let’s go inside, and then we’ll call.”

We both get out of the car, gathering our things before heading to the front door. As I unlock the door and step inside, I quickly glance to the stairs, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. You’d never know someone might have fallen down them a few hours earlier.

I continue to the living room, setting my bags down on the coffee table before taking a seat on the couch and pulling my phone out of my pocket. I wait for Max to join me on the sofa before hitting Caleb’s contact information.

“Hey, I was just getting ready to call you,” Caleb says as a greeting.

“Great, I’ve got Max here with me. He wants an update before deciding if we should head to the hospital now or wait,” I say as I turn the call on speakerphone.

“Hey, buddy. How was school?” Caleb asks.

“It was fine.” Max glances at me before continuing. “Can we talk about school after you tell us about Dad?” I understand Max’s nervous energy. I want to know about Dad as much as he does.

“Of course. They are going to keep Dad overnight, but not because of the concussion. It turns out the break in his leg is worse than they thought it was, and he’s going to need some surgery to correct it. It’s a routine procedure, so they don’t expect any complications. It will be first thing in the morning, so he should still be able to go home tomorrow.”

“So there’s no concussion, or it’s mild?” I ask, keeping an eye on Max.

“It was a mild concussion. Dad only lost consciousness for a few seconds. Lucy was there, so she heard the fall and called 9-1-1, but he was completely alert when the ambulance arrived and on the ride to the hospital.”

“Good.” We’re quiet for a moment, the three of us taking everything in. “Well, since Dad will be there overnight, I’ll pack him a bag, and we’ll bring some dinner as well.”

“That sounds great. My shift ends at six, so I’ll try to join you if I can. Emily is here with him now to keep him company.”

I smile, thinking about my sister-in-law. Caleb and Emily met when they were both in medical school. Him with plans to go into emergency medicine, and her with plans to go into general surgery.

Caleb claims it was love at first sight for him, but being the grumpy idiot he is, he refused to follow his heart and made the biggest fool of himself. Rightfully so, Emily did not give him the time of day. But somewhere along the way, he let himself feel his feelings, and she fell for him in return.

She is the best thing that’s ever happened to my brother, and the way the two of them love and support each other makes it hard for me to deny that true love exists.

“Is she going to stick around?” I ask.

“Yeah, I think she will. Can you make sure you bring enough food for all of us?”

“Sure thing. We’ll see you all in a bit,” I say, hanging up the phone and looking at Max. “You okay?

“Yeah. Thanks for telling me the truth.”

“Of course, bud. You have every right to know what’s going on. But if it’s ever too much, you have to promise to let Caleb or me know, all right?”

---