Page 60 of Keeping Kyle

“Maybe.” I finally got out and headed inside. “One thing at a time.”

THIRTY

AUSTIN

FOUR HOURS AFTER WE SPOKE, I still couldn’t believe Kyle had called. I’d almost drifted off when the phone rang, and I’d fumbled to grab it off the nightstand. When I saw the missed call had come from Kyle, I’d figured he’d butt dialed. Then the text arrived, and of course I called.

Not a day went by without me almost calling. I didn’t know what to say to him though. If it’d been anger at me, I could’ve apologized, but how did I fix it when he beat himself up over a perceived problem.

The possibility of saying the wrong thing was too high.

So I did nothing.

I kept my focus on AMDD. Since the innovation summit, Tamara, me, and the staff continued the task of damage control from the Atlas problem. The FBI traced the breach back to a group in China, along with over one hundred similar hacks that had happened in the same week. While a new advisory was issued to help companies prevent future intrusions, Atlas wasn’t satisfied. We expected a suit from them any day now.

Tamara and I had a board meeting on our calendars for this morning. We’d spoken to them every day to provide updates and discuss plans. They weren’t usually this hands-on, but between the financial forecast that already troubled them and the hack, they had a vested interest in getting details. Frankly, a vote of no confidence against me wouldn’t be a surprise at this point.

As I sat in the intensive care waiting room—I’d been directed here from the emergency room—in case there were any updates, I reviewed what I’d prepared for the meeting.

“Mr. Murray?”

I looked up at the nurse in the doorway. “Yes?”

She came over and took a seat next to me. “Good morning. I’m Linda Montgomery, the charge nurse here. I have an update for you. Mrs. Pressgrove is stable. We performed emergency surgery for some internal bleeding in her abdomen and that was successful. Her broken arm has also been set. The MRI showed no other concerns. As soon as she’s released from surgical recovery, she’ll be sent down here. We’ve got a room ready for her.”

“Thank you. I’ll let her son know. He should be here within the next hour or so.”

“Good. Glad he was able to get here so quickly, especially since he played last night.”

I found it comforting that at least one of the nurses taking care of Greta knew who her son was. Logically, it didn’t matter, but it still seemed good.

“Luckily, we got it worked out.” I smiled.

She nodded and stood. “I’ll let you know once she’s settled here.”

“Thanks again. I’ll be here if anything comes up.”

She left the room after a quick smile at me. I texted the update to Kyle.

Surgery. Jesus. Okay. Stable is good though, right?

I typed back immediately. I didn’t want him worrying over a delayed response. Stable is very good. The nurse was very confident sounding when she brought the info.

The three dots appeared so quickly I thought he must’ve started typing before he finished reading.

I was just told we’ll be on the ground in less than thirty minutes. Hopefully I can be there by the time she wakes up.

I smiled at the thought. She’ll like that. I’ll double check with the car service that they’re monitoring the flight and know your arrival status. I want to make sure they get you here as fast as possible.

His next message took a minute. He typed, stopped, typed some more, and repeated that cycle a few times.

The wait flared the butterflies in my chest.

I stopped looking until it vibrated.

Thank you for all of this. You made this much easier even though you didn’t have to. I’ll let you know when I get in the car.

I didn’t need to think about my response. You’re welcome. See you soon.