Page 2 of Salvaging My Heart
Leif jumped to his feet and stood just shy of at ease. Getting off to a bad start with the nurses wasn’t a good thing to do. He needed them on his side.
“Apologies, ma’am. I just got in from overseas. The Red Cross—”
“You’re Kim’s brother,” the nurse said, cutting him off. “I didn’t recognize you at first.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied hesitantly, having no clue who this woman was. This could be a good or bad thing that she knew who he was.
“You don’t recognize me, do you?” She paused before continuing, “Cindy Graham. I went to school with Kim.” She stood there with an expectant look on her face. Yeah, she’d be waiting a while if she thought he’d remember her.Time to fake it till I make it.
“I’m sorry. I’m dead on my feet. I haven’t slept in more than two days trying to get here as fast as I could. I’m lucky I remember my sister’s name.”Oooh, look at him with the believable lie.
Shaking her head, Cindy stepped over and put a hand on the door. “In you go. Kim should be awake,” she said pushing it open. “Rise and shine, beauty. Missing brother has shown up.”
“Cindy! What the fuck! Leif isn’t missing. He’s overseas training. He called before he deployed and won’t be back stateside for another three weeks.” Leif heard Kim before he saw her. Two steps brought him to the doorway.
“Surprise?” Leif said as he moved over to the bed. Kim was definitely not going anywhere anytime soon. Her left leg was suspended from the ceiling with a cast that ran from her toes to mid-thigh. She had bruises covering her arm and up her neck, from what he could see. An IV was running into her right hand with a bag hanging above her head. Must be giving her some good drugs and maybe some antibiotics.
“Leif! How did you get here?” Kim reached up and pulled him down to her.
“I called the Red Cross. That’s how,” Cindy interjected. “What? You think you’re going to be bouncing around town any time soon?”
Kim released him and flipped off her friend. Some things never change. “Not happy to see me?” Leif asked trying to head off Kim’s temper.
“Of course I’m glad to see you but you’ve got bigger things to do than be here at my bedside. Have you seen Mom yet?” Kim narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “You look like shit.”
Leif pressed a hand to his chest and sighed. “Oh the love of my sister. How it warms my heart.” He walked around the bed and dropped into the chair there, being careful not to jar Kim’s leg. “Want to tell me what happened? All the information I was given was ‘your mother and sister are in critical condition and you need to watch your nephew.’”
“I’ll leave you two. I told Ginny that someone would pick up Nick tonight. With her newborn and Lonny, she’s pulling her hair out. Jim’s on forty-eight hour shift,” Cindy said as she left the room.
“So…” Leif said as it seemed Kim had drifted. He needed to hear from her what happened before he talked to Mom’s doctor and he was sure there was a lot more he’d need to know. Nick was in school and played… soccer?… if he remembered correctly. “Give me the brief so I can make things happen.”
“Mom and I took an overnight to the casino. Remember? She won a trip. I had a few days that I needed to use before I lost them. We dropped Nick off at school and headed out. Drove up. Had a nice dinner and saw a show. Slept late and then went to the spa before heading back. We were planning on picking Nick up after practice. He’d spent the night with his best friend, Lonny. Guess that deer had different plans for us. We were on three-seventy-five, and boom! A deer jumped off the median and into my driver’s window. Car spun into the railing and then… I’m not sure what happened next. I remember hearing sirens and flashing lights. Calling out for Mom and her not answering.” Kim stopped and closed her eyes. Leif reached over and put his hand on hers.
“Shh, it’s okay. It wasn’t your fault,” he said, trying to calm her. It wouldn’t be good for her to get worked up.
“But I was driving and they won’t tell me where Mom is and I don’t know what I’m going to do with Nick and I’m in this bed forever and you went AWOL and—”
“Whoa! Stop right there. You are not going to be in this bed forever. Your doctor told me about two weeks. Next, I’m not AWOL. Command sent me home on emergency leave. I am not in any trouble nor will I be. I’ve got more leave than I’ll ever use. Mom’s doctor is in surgery and will call me as soon as he’s available. I came here first to check on you. Now, I’ll go up to the ICU and see Mom.” Leif watched as Kim processed all he said before he continued. “While I go check on Mom, you need to write me a list of what you need me to bring you and a routine for Nick.”
Kim sniffed a few times, wiped at her eyes. Leif could tell she was holding on by a thread. “Okay, you focus on that while I recon.” He tapped her hand before standing. “Be right back.”
Leif didn’t wait for Kim to say anything and walked out the door. He corralled the Area Search Platoon’s eight divers. How hard could it be to keep up with his nephew’s schedule for a week or two?
“Circle up, players.” Aaron always erred on the side of caution when addressing the team. It was so hard these days for kids. They were pushed to grow up way too fast. “Practice went really good today. The defense was getting around the offensive line a lot. Good for them. Something for the offense to watch out for. Hayden, you were throwing a tight spiral. And thank heavens, we’ve got a kicker now,” he said as he smiled at Nick, hoping to see him smile back. He didn’t. Aaron needed to talk to Nick’s mom before they left today. Something was up with him.
“Coach? Can we wear our shirts to school tomorrow?” one of the boys asked, snapping Aaron’s attention back to the group.
“Yes, you all can wear your jerseys to school. We’re playing this weekend,” Aaron answered. “Remind your parents, be at the field at twelve-fifteen on Saturday. We’ll warm up and run a few plays before lining up for the game.” Aaron turned to the other coaches. “Anything to add?” When they all shook their heads, he dismissed the team. “You’re all released. Nick, can you come here please?”
Aaron watched the little boy’s shoulders drop as he walked over. “I’m sorry, Coach. I’ll try harder. I—”
“Whoa, whoa. Nick, you’re not in trouble. You’re knocking the ball strong. Good thing you accidentally kicked the soccer ball into our practice a few weeks ago. You’re one of the best kickers I’ve seen in a while.” Aaron squatted down so he was eye level with the boy. When he looked close, he could see tears in Nick’s eyes. “Oh buddy, what’s wrong?”
“Mom and Mimi were—” Nick started crying. Aaron’s heart was breaking as he pulled the little boy into his arms and just held him.
“Shh, it’s okay. Everything will be okay,” Aaron just murmured the phrases over and over, trying to calm the little boy. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he’d be damned if anyone was hurting one of his boys. Aaron’s knees starting aching, letting him know he’d been down there long enough when a deep voice startled him.
“I have no clue who you are but you better let go of my nephew right fucking now!” a man demanded from behind Aaron.
