Page 88 of Embers in the Dark

Tucker squeezes my hand and I audibly gasp. It’s hard to see Carolyn from here because her room is still full of people moving around. I blink and I feel the moisture from the tears I was holding back.

“Once we have some more answers, we’ll update you. We’ll know more once tests start coming back.” She goes back in the room, and we walk up to the glass and stand in shock at how quickly things changed from when we went downstairs.

None of us say anything and the numbness feels all-consuming as we simply stand there, feeling as if so much of our world is crumbling right before our eyes.

It feels like hours pass before someone from the healthcare team comes out and allows us to go inside. We try to keep our composure, the lightness we carried up here from downstairs long forgotten.

I watch the cyclical way her chest rises and falls with the intubation machine. This isn’t fair. All I want to do is scream. She deserves more. Tucker and Eric deserve more.

Tucker stands at the end of the bed and he’s frozen. The shock is palpable from him. I look at him and reach my hand out, he puts his hand on the blanket and touches her feet. I smile softly. He used to do that for her when she worked long hours as a nurse at school. She used to complain her feet hurt from running around all day. Even all these years later, he remembers.

I leave him there and walk up to her side and grab her hand. “Hey, Carolyn, it’s Baylee. Tucker, Eric, and Brittany are here. We’re all here. If you wanted all the attention, you’ve got it. But now it’s time to stop all this and wake up, alright?” I move my fingers along her palm, hoping she’ll react, but I get no response.

Eric grabs her other hand and starts talking to her. Brittany moves to her shoulder and starts talking to her about all the shows she has to tell her about, so she needs to wake up because she needs her crime show buddy. We give her all these little moments she has to look forward to. The only person that hasn’t spoken to her is Tucker, who has only stayed at the foot of the bed, moving his hands along her feet, silence plaguing him.

I look back and see him looking down, most likely lost in thought.

I move over to him and touch his shoulder. “Tucker, talk to her,” I whisper.

He looks from me to her, tears streaming down his face, silent sobs wracking him. He takes a breath to compose himself.

“Ma, I still need you for some of my firsts,” he finally admits. “I need you to sit in the crowd and watch me marry my girl.” A sob breaks free and he quickly tries to hide it.

I hug his side, trying to comfort him and kiss his arm, hoping he can feel my love by his side.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” I look up at him.

He simply nods and I turn away.

I pull out my phone from my back pocket as I walk out.

When I’m in front of the elevators, I make a call.

He answers on the first ring and it’s a balm to my aching heart.

“Dad, I need a favor.”

CHAPTER 27

Tucker

“Hunter,the minute I think I know you, you surprise me with something else,” I tell him as I walk into his house.

Hunter looks back at me. “Well, don’t be too impressed. I don’t own it. It’s a rental.”

“How did you find this place?” Clay asks as he takes it in.

“The parents of one of my buddies owns it. I was stationed with their son in the Army. He was killed in action and he was one of my best friends. When I was honorably discharged from the Army, his parents offered it to me to rent. I was sort of bouncing around at the time and I decided to take them up on it.”

“It’s pretty cool,” River says. “I love the paneling and the kitchen counter is awesome.” He’s running his hand along the entire island.

“Yeah, my buddy’s dad is a contractor so he put his heart and soul into this place. I guess they decided to travel the world after Georgie died. They couldn’t be here anymore. Everything reminded them of their son. He was an only child and their hearts were broken. They couldn’t sell the place, which I get, but they also couldn’t stay here all the time.”

“I understand that,” both Ashton and Clay say.

Hunter invited us over for a guys’ day to BBQ. Ashton tagged along today; Samara’s husband isn’t one to hang out with us often. He isn’t a firefighter, but he’s River and Clay’s friend from childhood. He needed to get out of the house and he’s a pretty cool guy. I don’t mind the extra friend today.

It’s been a week since my mother’s health scare. She’s finally out of the woods and I’m shocked to say she made it out of that dark time. I honestly thought we were going to lose her.

---