Page 50 of The Space Between Heartbeats
Chapter 13
Knox
It takes forever to get the discharge paperwork. I guess it’s fine, though. Why should I be in a rush to get home? There’s nothing waiting for me there but more hell.
My father hovers near the door with his hands in his pockets, looking anywhere but at me. He’s been that way all day, not that it’s much of a change from his normal glowing personality, but it’s like every time he looks at me he’s reminded of the son he just lost.
“You ready?” he asks when the nurse finally comes in, pushing a wheelchair.
“I can walk.”
“It’s hospital policy.” The nurse, a guy about my age, probably fresh out of school, gestures to the chair. “Everyone gets the royal treatment on the way out.”
I want to argue but my head is killing me, my ribs are screaming, and this poor guy doesn’t need my bullshit. So I lower myself into the chair, gripping the handles like the ground will fall from under me.
Dad stops to sign something at the nurses station while I sit there waiting like a child. Other patients and families are beingwalked or wheeled into rooms. Normal people with normal emergencies, shit these people probably see day in and out.
But not us. We’re the family from the news…the miracle survivor with the dead brother.
“All set,” Dad says, following the nurse down the hall. “Let’s get you home. Mom’s waiting.”
“I want to go back to Ashford.”
He doesn’t respond, just keeps walking next to me toward the elevator doors.
“Dad, did you hear me?” I can’t stay at the lake house where we were supposed to be having a family weekend. There’s no fucking way.
“The lake house is closer, son. You need rest. Your mother needs you with her. And Ella’s still there.”
Shit. I forgot about Ella.
“Will you take me to my Jeep in the morning?”
A doctor passes us, flashing a practiced smile, while we wait for the elevator to open. As soon as she’s out of earshot, my father lowers his head so his words reach me and only me.
“Stop being a little shit. Your brother is dead and all you can do is bitch and moan. You’ll get your car when it’s convenient for me, you understand?”
His words are a slap to my already broken ribs. There’s no point in responding to him when he’s like this. And maybe he’s right…I am being a selfish prick. Not that I’d let him know that.
The elevator dings and he wheels me inside. I stare at the placard on the wall advertising the gift shop’s new hours…anything to keep me from focusing on the uncomfortable silence.
When the doors open on the ground floor, my eyes immediately land on Sawyer and her mother Helen standing near the exit. A woman in a business suit is speaking to them,and from Sawyer’s posture, I can tell that she’d like to be anywhere else.
“Okay,” my nurse says, stopping only a few feet from them. “Here’s where your royal treatment ends.” He pats my shoulder. “Take care, and I’m sorry for your loss.”
I nod, and hold my breath as I stand. Fucking shit hurts, but it does feel good to be upright. I’d run out of this place and keep going if I could.
My nurse heads back into the elevator and I notice the exact moment my father spots Helen Thorne. He goes rigid and inhales sharply. I wonder how long it’s been since he’s seen her.
We have to pass by them, there’s no other way out, but I swear I can see him scanning the lobby for alternative exits.
The closer I get to Sawyer, the more my chest aches. She’s leaning on Helen for support, and I’d bet that it’s not from injuries, but more for emotional support, and that guilt eats me alive all over again.
Helen notices us first. She stops speaking to the women in front of her and swallows hard.
“Richard,” she says, not exactly greeting him, more just acknowledging his presence.
“Helen.”
