Page 52 of Keeping it Casual
Lachie, who is sobering up fast, is now in severe pain and panicking about what breaking his leg actually means. He’s never broken a bone before.
Jeremy sits on the edge of Lachie’s bed, talking him through the options of where his leg could be broken and what that would mean in terms of rehabilitation. I’m so used to seeing Jeremy’s fun side that it’s disconcerting to see him in professional mode. His calm, matter-of-fact voice soothes both Lachie and me.
When the other boys’ parents arrive, the full story emerges of four idiotic teenagers who thought it would be a good idea to combine drinking beer stolen from Sheldon’s parents’ fridge with a stunt where Sheldon tried to jump across the other boys on his BMX down at the skate park.
There’s a range of injuries, including a fractured wrist, bruised ribs, and a concussion.
All of the other parents look exactly how I feel, a mixture of relieved our kids aren’t more seriously hurt combined with anger that they were so stupid to attempt the stunt in the first place.
The doctor finally comes back and confirms Lachie’s tibia is fractured. Then a nurse comes to put a cast on him.
Meanwhile, a storm of guilt and recrimination builds inside me.
How the fuck had I let this happen?
I have a rule about Lachie not going to group sleepovers, knowing studies show that when a bunch of teenagers are together, their capacity to make sound decisions is significantly reduced.
Yet I’d neglected to check if there were going to be other kids at Sheldon’s house.
Why hadn’t I thought to check?
Because I’d been too distracted by the idea that Lachie going for a sleepover meant I would get a whole night with Jeremy.
The realization makes my body feel cold.
A nurse aide comes with crutches, and Jeremy shows Lachie how to use them. Seeing Jeremy setting the right height for the crutches and patiently talking Lachie through the correct techniques for using them causes a warm feeling to start inside me. But I quickly quell it.
With Jeremy providing some helpful tips, Lachie manages to make it out of the hospital and across the car park to where Jeremy and I are parked.
Together, we manage to get Lachie into the backseat of my car, his leg propped up and crutches stashed in the boot.
Jeremy pauses and turns to me before unlocking his door.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly. “Do you want me to come home with you?”
I shake my head. “No. I need to be alone with my son right now.”
“Okay.” He gives me a small smile, but I can’t manage more than a slight upturn of my lips in return.
“Thank you for coming,” I say stiffly.
“Anytime. Absolutely anytime.” Is there something deeper lurking in Jeremy’s voice? I rip my eyes away from his gaze. I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to think about that now.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” Lachie says as soon as I’m in the car. His voice is small, chastened.
“We’ll talk about it in the morning when you’re sober.” I deliberately keep my voice steady.
Lachie’s not the only one at fault here.
I haven’t been paying close enough attention to him. I’vedone exactly the same thing I did with Robbie, let a guy distract me from being a good parent.
Before I start the car, I see a bunch of messages on my phone from Stephanie. I’d sent her a garbled voice message after calling Jeremy. But I’d left my phone in the car in my haste to get to Lachie. Shit. She must be so worried.
I call her now, and she’s already almost reached Mineral Creek. She jumped in her car as soon as she got my message.
She’s making the hour-and-a-half trip from Auckland on a Saturday night, leaving her own family, all because I didn’t do my due diligence as a parent.
What a clusterfuck all around.
