Page 248 of Redeemed

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Lucas and I get to the hospital just after midnight. He sped the entire drive while I sat numbly in the passenger seat. At some point, he put on the playlist we made together when we were teens. It helped—music always does—but not enough.

Security has to escort us up to the ICU since it’s after visiting hours. Apparently, my aunt begged the nursing staff to let me see my family when I got in, just in case Dad passes in the middle of the night. They took pity on me, I guess, because I find myself in Dad’s room a few minutes after entering the hospital.

“Hey, Dad,” I say quietly. I take one of his hands, making sure I keep my touch gentle.

He’s a fucking wreck. Cuts and bruises litter his skin, and he’s got god knows how many things going through his IV. They even have him on oxygen.

“Hi,” a young woman in pink scrubs says softly as she comes in. “I’m Kara, and I’m Phil’s nurse for tonight. Are you Xander?”

“Yeah, and this is my boyfriend Lucas.”

Kara checks over Dad’s monitors and adjusts one of the meds on the IV. “The doctor will be making his rounds around eight. That’s when visiting hours are, so you can come back and get his opinion on how Phil’s surgeries went. Rachel’s, too.”

I shake my head. “I’m not leaving.”

Her features fill with sympathy. “You can’t stay in here, honey. I’m sorry.”

“I know. We’ll be out in the waiting room.”

“If you can get some rest in an actual bed, you should. We’ve got him here, I promise.”

“No. I’m not leaving him, and I’m not leaving my little sister.”

She sighs. “I can’t really stop you, just… do your best to get some solid sleep, all right?”

“Yeah, we—”

“Xan? Xander!”

My knees almost give out from the relief of hearing Rachel’s voice. A split second later, the grimace on Kara’s face hits me, and I rush past her. “Shit, I’m sorry. She has the hearing of a bat.”

I dart into her room next door. Rachel is trying to sit up, and she has tears streaming down her face.

“Hey, hey.” I wrap my arms around her so she’s not straining her muscles. “You should be asleep.”

“Xander,” she sobs.

“Shh, shh, I’m here now. I’ve got you, you’ve just gotta be quiet for me, okay?” I run my hand over her hair. I’m sure Aunt Josie brushed it before she left, but it’s already a rat’s nest again. Typical.

“Where’s Daddy?” Rachel whispers. She’s clutching at my jacket, and when Lucas hugs her from the other side of the bed, she rests her head against him. “Luc, I’m scared.”

“We’ve got you, kiddo.”

“Dad’s in the room right next to you,” I tell her. “He’s just sleeping, that’s all.”

“Oh,” she says with a wavering voice. “W-what happened?”

I glance up to find Kara hovering in the doorway.

“Concussion,” she explains softly. “The doc said she’ll most likely regain her memory within a week. We haven’t been able to explain much to her. By the time she came off the anesthesia, she was already falling asleep from sheer exhaustion.”

“Thank you.” I turn back to Rachel. “You and dad were in a car accident. You broke your arm—that’s why it’s in a cast—and you had to have surgery. You’ve gotta be careful moving, okay? You don’t want to disrupt the healing process.”

“I wanna see Daddy. Please, Xan?”

“In the morning. For now, I have to go, and you’ve gotta go to sleep.”

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