Page 82 of Warrior's Walk
He pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Poly—cystic,” he mumbles, typing away.
“Kidney disease. What are you looking up?”
“Gotta learn all I can about her condition. Maybe… I don’t know, maybe I’ll find somethin’ that will help her. Maybe I’ll think of something.”
Denial. The first stage of grief.
“Come on, you can look at that while you’re sitting with your mama.” I refuse to tell him it’s pointless to think he’s going to make the next medical breakthrough in PKD. Rhett has a lot of things to come to terms with, and he’s going to have to do it alone, even if I’m standing right beside him, holding his hand the whole way.
When he stands, I round the table, taking him in my arms. He’s warm and his scent is familiar, and I just want to bury myself in him.
He sighs deeply. “I needed that.”
Taking his face in my hands, I bring my mouth to his, softly pressing kisses on his lips. Rhett opens for me and I slide my tongue in his mouth, sharing the same breath. It’s not a passionate kiss, more comforting, reaffirming.
“I needed that,” I parrot, touching my forehead to his.
In the hall, Rhett turns left to head back to the ICU and I turn right, heading for the waiting room. As soon as I push through the door, I freeze and do a double take, no, a triple take.
The entire room is filled wall-to-wall with Bitches.
Some are reading magazines, others are knitting, and others are scrolling through their phones.
I shouldn’t be surprised, though; this is what they do, show up for each other when someone needs it, but it’s one o’clock in the morning.
“Riggs, how’s Rhett?”
“How’s his mom?”
“Is she gonna be all right?”
“Guys, one at a time. He’s a mess. He’s all over the place. Retta is… not good. There really isn’t much they can do for her. It’s just a waiting game at this point.”
West comes over to me and wraps me in a hug. “We’re here for you, for both of you.”
“I appreciate it. I do, really, and so will Rhett, even if he doesn’t act like it right now.”
“Mandy called us and told us the paramedics came. It’s just like with Nash,” West recalls. “Man, Liza’s friend is gonna be pissed off. That’s the second door she’s had to replace in six months.”
Mandy snorts. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before she rents to one of Liza’s friends again.”
Nash leans over and taps Mandy on the shoulder. “I’m the best damn neighbor you’ve ever had.”
Mandy shakes his head. “Dude, I pulled a shovel out of your wall.”
McCormick takes the empty chair between them, talking around a mouthful of honey bun from the vending machine. “I always thought I made a great neighbor. I don’t have a lot of people over and I’ve never had the police called?—”
“Bullshit,” Stiles coughs.
“—Okay, that one time with the ferret, the goose, and the chick from the Piggly Wiggly don’t count. That was totally not my fault. But other than that, I idle my bike out of the parking lot, I don’t let my mail or trash pile up, and unfortunately, I don’t have loud sex that can be heard through the walls.” He takes another bite. “The perfect neighbor, really.”
He sounds ridiculous, and it breaks the ice, as everyone laughs. “Hey,” I tap Mandy. “You got another ball of yarn in there and a set of needles for me? It’s gonna be a long night.”
“Of course.” He digs in his bag and pulls out the brightest orange I’ve ever seen. “We should all knit something for Retta.”
“Maybe an afghan,” Stiles suggests.
“Even if she doesn’t use it for long,” Jax points out sadly. “Rhett will have something of hers to take home.”