Page 116 of No Way Home
For once, it didn’t hurt that Cash knew things about Griff that I wasn’t privy to.
Griff grinned conspiratorially, his eyes flicking to Cash and then to me like there had never been a rift between us. Whatever he was about to tell us was juicy. “About that--”
The double doors swung open, and a doctor walked into the room, still in scrubs. A short, super buff Indian guy who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was wearing an unreadable expression.
Everyone shot to their feet.
“James is a fighter,” he said in a solid American accent.Is. Present tense.
The collective exhale we released would’ve been funny if the situation weren’t so tenuous.
“I’m Dr. Farouk. I repaired James’s lung and ribs, performed the splenectomy, and assisted with the femur stabilization. He came through the procedures and is now in recovery. He’ll be transferred to the ICU in the next half hour.” His voice was clinical, deliberate, too careful—as if each word had to be weighed before speaking them.
“So we can see him then?” Mom asked, so much hope in her voice.
“See, yes,” Farouk said. “But we’re going to keep him in a medically induced coma for at least twenty-four hours. With all the injuries and the news he’ll receive when he wakes up—” He paused, like he was giving Sage a moment of respect. “—we need to make sure he can handle what’s coming.”
Sage’s mom, Heidi, stifled a sob. Her husband, Scott, held Willow while he watched his wife helplessly. Sage was their only child—an IVF baby after years and years of trying. And now she was gone.
Mom walked over and wrapped Heidi in a hug. “You’re a part of our family. Always. For every event, every holiday, Sunday dinners, all of it. James will want you there.”
Heidi sniffled. “I know.” But then she was crying again.
Dr. Farouk and the rest of us were quiet, giving her some time. Then, finally, Farouk’s eyes warmed. “The baby is going to be a very good thing. It’ll give James something to live for. He’s going to need that.”
Dad nodded. “James will be an excellent father.”
We all murmured our agreement. James was excellent at everything he did. It’s just who he was. If a girl had to grow up without her mom, James was the right dad for the job.
“We’ll help too,” I said.
Everyone spoke up after that.
“We’ll babysit,” Belle said, arm hooked around Jane’s shoulder.
“Me too,” Cash’s sister, Addie, said.
“Not me,” Tristan huffed.
“Tris,” Aunt Tally said.
He held his hands up. “Just being honest. You don’t want me babysitting. Cate got her leg broken on my watch.”
“What?” Griffin laughed.
“True story,” I said. “He put her in a box and pushed her down the stairs like it was a roller coaster.”
Tristan slumped onto the couch. “How many times do I have to tell y’all, she wanted me to?”
“She was eighteen months old,” Ashton barked. “When she saw you and Emily doing it, of course, she wanted a turn.”
“Whatever,” Tristan grumbled.
Ashton pointed his finger at Tristan. “Whatever me again. You’ll bemucking out Gramps’s barn for the next six months.”
Ford grinned, and Peyton and Christy fell against each other laughing, always up for everyone else’s drama.
“Don’t bring me into it.” Gramps chuckled. “I’m not going to be the bad guy.”
