Page 7 of Free Heart
“Oh, and I’m brutal?” Rye says, rolling his eyes. “You’re terrifying!”
Lowell gazes at him intensely. “Would you prefer I get your permission before I talk?”
Rye full-on flushes. I’m baffled, and starting to get a little angry too. I don’t care what kind of behind-the-scenes battle is going on between them. Not right now. “Okay, but what about Dan?”
“Right.” Rye focuses back on me again. “Well, tomorrow, probably. As soon as possible, they’ll want to do surgery. Get that leg set and all. An orthopedist will look at him tonight, I’m sure.”
“They’ll have to do surgery for that?”
“To insert a rod and screws,” Lowell says.
“The breaks are bad enough they’ll need to hold his bones together so they can heal.” Rye adds, “Any other questions?”
“No.”
Rye smiles and slips his arm through mine again. “Then let’s eat. You’ll feel better when you’ve had some food.”
I don’t think I’ll feel better until I’ve seen Dan for myself, but I let Rye lead me through the cafeteria line, watching him put a variety of items on trays for both of us. Lowell is behind me, and he gets a few things too. When it comes time to pay, Lowell steps up and Rye acts as if that’s expected. I start to get my wallet out, but Lowell waves it off.
“But you’ve already done so much—driving me here, and—”
“Lowell likes being of service,” Rye says. “Don’t worry about it.”
Lowell puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “The only thing you need to worry about is looking less scared when you see Dan. He’s going to need you to be strong while he goes through this. Think you can do that?”
I nod and follow them both to a table. We sit together and I pick at my chicken and rice while Rye and Lowell eat theirs. I’m surprised I can swallow anything given how tense I am, but I manage to get enough down that neither Rye nor Lowell mention how much is left on my plate.
“How did it happen?” Lowell asks. “Do we know?”
“Tom called it in and said Dan fell, but based on his injuries, I’m pretty sure he tried to downclimb and jump to the ledge. We practiced that move recently, but something must have gone wrong. Like he had to jump from higher than we’d trained for,or he got pumped out and had to leap with less control than he needed. Maybe both. It’s amazing he didn’t roll off the ledge. It’s really narrow.”
I put my fork down and rub a hand over my face.
“Hey, hey, it’s done. It’s over.” Rye rubs my back and soothes me.
“Kind of,” Lowell says.
“What do you mean?”
“Getting hurt is easy,” Lowell says. “Now it’s the hard part that’s left. Getting better. Some people don’t ever manage it.”
He seems like he’s talking about himself.
Rye’s phone buzzes, and he looks down at it. “They’ve moved him upstairs to three-oh-five.”
I stand and pick up the tray. Rye begins to rise as well, but Lowell touches his arm. “Let him go alone.”
“What if Sejinwantsme to go with him?”
Lowell meets my eye, the questionis that what you wantwritten over his face, but he says nothing.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to see him by myself at first.”
Rye relaxes back into his seat and nods. “I get it. No problem. I’ll be here for a few more hours if you need me.”
Lowell nods at me.
“Thanks for driving me here.”
