Page 15 of Not Even A Mouse
The right move
Myron
The lights inside seemed just as blindingly bright as the ones in the parking lot, and Myron fought the urge to shield his eyes, narrowing them instead. He followed Andy’s directions and within a few minutes, found himself in the hallway outside the designated waiting room. Through the doorway, he spied Andy in a chair, head tipped forwards.Hands clasped between his knees, he seemed to be staring at the floor, but the moment Myron entered the room he looked up as if he’d been waiting.
They met in the middle of theroom,and a momentary relief that none of the Rebels had demanded to accompany him rocketed through his brain. But then Andy’s arms were around him, and Myron hadn’t stopped himself from returning the embrace even thoughthere were other people in the room. He wrapped himself around Andy, cupping the back of his head to hold himcloser still.
“You came.” The disbelieving words preceded a series of wracking shudders, Andy’s frame shaking with palpable anguish and suddenly Myron’s heart was in his throat.Jesus, is she...am I too late?
“I came,” he agreed softly.Please, God. He willed there to be no bad news.Please. He’d only met her the once, but after talking and playing with her for an hour, he’d been in love. Natalya had stolen his heart, something he hadn’t believed possible. All he could do was reassure. “I’m here. Promise. I’ll be here.” There was no way the radiance that was Andy’s little girl could be gone. Andy’s stories of her antics had been the highlights of so many days. She was brilliant,and sweet, and so loved.It’ll break him. Keeping his voice positive, he asked, “Tell me. What do you know?”
“Nothing,” Andy said, words spit out as if they were bitter on his tongue. “They took her back to surgery and promised to keep me updated, but no one has come and told me anything. That was over an hour ago.” Andy took a series of deep sighs, slowing his breathing until he arched againstMyron’s arms, leaning back. They were staring into each other’s eyes, and Myron realized they were almost the same height. In his mind, his memories of their encounters, Andy always seemed so certain of himself, so confident; he’d seemed so much larger. His presence commanding.Maybe it was because I needed him, and now, he needs me.
“What happened?” He shifted towards the chairs, and Andy clutchedat Myron’s arms, coming with him in a way that said he needed the contact even more than he’d let on. Myron wrapped his hand around Andy’s, holding tight. Guiding him to a seat, Myron settled Andy and then sat beside him, hand on his forearm. The muscles under his palm rippled repeatedly, and Myron looked down to see Andy making a fist, over and over. He stroked Andy’s arm, waiting until Andyhad begun to relax to ask, “Why’d you have to bring Talya in?”
Through the story, he steadily held Andy’s gaze, listening without interruption. When he finished, Andy seemed to deflate, sagging until he came to rest against Myron. They sat like that for amoment,and Myron relished the warmth in his chest knowing Andy needed him. Then, as it always did, Myron’s brain kicked into gear, lookingfor a way to help in a tangible way.Maybe I can get info for him, learn how Talya is. “I know some folks, okay? Lemme see what I can find out.” Andy’s expression litup,and Myron struggled against the need to touch his face.Not here, not in public. “Lemme make a call.” This was what Myron did best, pulling together data and facts from sources that might be unwilling, but he’d be entirely willingto lean on whoever heneeded,if it would get Andy what he needed.
He started with Bulldog, securing a promise that the man would make his own calls and get back to Myron quickly. His next call was toGoose,because as an EMT, he had his own medical connections. Another promise to reach out, another promise to let Myron know as soon as anything broke loose. Carefully untangling himself from asilently resistant Andy, Myron left him in the waiting room to troll a path down to the nurses’ station. Enough of them knew men in the club, so it was no surprise he found one willing to gossip a little about their young charge.Stillin surgery, they were having problems keeping her stable. She’d lost a lot of blood.
Fuck.
On his way back to the waiting room, Myron went out on a limb and calledDeeDee, basically Slate’s mother-in-law. If the club had a matriarch, she’d be it, having been associated with the club for decades. She promised to contact the women and organize a blood drive. If Talya hadneeded asmany transfusions as the nurse had indicated, it was one way the club could help.
As he was walking back into the waiting room, he saw an exhausted-looking doctor walk through thedouble doors of the surgical suite and into the hallway. Myron moved faster. Andy was the only one in the waiting room; it had to be news about Talya. The doctor paused a moment and swiped the surgical cap from his head, using the brightly colored fabric to scrub across his face. He took in a visibly deep breath, set his shoulders and stepped through the door just ahead of Myron. “Danfortfamily?”
Myron relaxed for a moment at the unfamiliar name. But, he saw Andy stiffen and stand, staring at the doctor with wide eyes.Danfort?Shaking off his confusion, he made it to Andy’s side to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, propping him up as best he could as they waited for whatever pronouncement the surgeon would make.
The surgeon’s voice was rough and tired as he questioned, “You’re Natalya’s father?”
“Yes. God, yes.” Andy’s response was immediate. “How is she? My little girl? She’s okay?”
NatalyaDanfort, not Kasmouski?What the hell?
The doctor confirmed, “She’s stable and in recovery. From there she’ll go to ICU.”
Air rushed out ofAndy,and he sagged against Myron. “She’s really okay? Talya’s gonna be okay?”
“It was a difficult procedure, but she’s a fighter.” After a more thoroughexplanation of the surgery, the doctor stuck his handout,and Andy accepted, their hands moving up and down, his confidence reassuring. “I’ll check back in on her soon.” He released Andy and reached for Myron’s hand. Startled, he instinctively gripped and shook. “If you want, the two of you can see her for a few minutes before we move her.” The surgeon smiled, tired but clearly pleased he couldpass alonggoodnews. “She was asking for her daddy and papa.”
Andy’s flinch and abbreviated denial of “He’s not...” came at the same time Myron dropped the man’s hand as if it burned him, stuttering, “No, I’m just…just a friend.”
Andy leaned against Myron’s shoulder, focus still on the doctor. “Her…Roger’s dead.”
There was silence for a moment, the weight of that knowledge flattening Myron.The anonymous man in the picture was no longer anonymous, he had a name.Roger. This explained so much.Dead. Andy’s quiet apology and Talya’s sadness. How Andy had seemed about to say something a dozen times, but Myron knew he’d held back.Fuck.
The doctor shook his head and then repeated himself, interrupting Myron’s thoughts as he spoke to Andy, “You can see her for a few minutes. I’ll takeyou to her.” Andy stepped away, walking out of the room with a quick glance back.
Suddenly at loose ends, Myron sat as he struggled whether to stay or go. He had been blindsided by the surgeon’s statement, and then floored by what Andy revealed. After remembering Talya’s “That’s Daddy’s seat” and now learning her name wasDanfort, he knew it shouldn’t have been such a shock. He knew the man inthe picture was important…had been important to Andy and his daughter.I just didn’t want to believe. Things with Andy felt real. A montage running through his head, every encounter looked different studied through the lens of this knowledge.
Stay, or go.
His heart and head were at war, bile twisting up the back of his throat when his imagination painted a scene of the man in that picture burstinginto the waiting room, demanding to see his little girl. Myron imagined a tearful bedside reunion in full-color detail, him standing to the side, forgotten. That had to be what Andy would prefer.No wonder he seems reserved sometimes, and pushing forwards at a hundred miles an hour at others.
The memory of Andy’s voice and tight hold finally decided him, convincing him to stay exactly where hewas. If Talya’sDaddywas dead, then Andy would need someone to help support him and his daughter during a time like this, and Myron believed Andy deserved to have whoever he wanted.I want to be that.
Myron shoved down his negative thoughts, turning back to his phone and working on various non-critical club projects. So many times his role in the club was akin to herdingcats,as if his invisiblefingers could be set against the edges of plates to keep everything spinning.
Noise at the door to the waiting area captured his attention and Myron looked up to see DeeDee and her old man, Jase, walking in. They were followed by Goose and Francine, then Brute and Bexley. Five more people affiliated with the club than he’d expected.Damn.
