Ice (Thor Book 2), page 9
Sissy nodded, pressed her lips together briefly, and straightened her back.
“I hate having to say these things to you, Reena, but you work in an ER just like this one, so you know... You know it isn’t good that they brought him down here and not to the local hospital. You know it isn’t ever good to be in the ICU. You know it isn’t good that you’re led away to a private room. And you know that he should have been awake by now.”
Reena pushed out a sob, and Ice heard Black mutter the curse he wanted to roar at his fucking sister for calmly telling Reena things neither of them wanted to hear.
“You need to get a grip, honey,” Sissy continued, with a hint of steel in her voice. “I know this whole situation sucks so bad and that you’re in shock, but you can’t be. Not now. Swear to God, we’ll help as much as we can, but right now, you have to take a deep fucking breath, straighten your back and go in there to do what needs to be done for your son. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” Reena whispered, sucked in air, and it seemed as if some color returned to her cheeks. “Yes, goddamnit,” she snapped. “Of course, I can do that.”
The scared and quiet woman seemed to fade away, and Ice suddenly felt like hugging his baby-sis instead of shouting at her.
“Good. We’ll be here when you get back. Black and Joke will go get some food,” Sissy said.
“Good,” Reena echoed, flashed a tense smile, and said succinctly, “I'd really appreciate it if someone could get me a burger. Double portion fries. Chocolate shake. Some cookies or a brownie if they can find it.”
“They’ll find it,” Sissy confirmed calmly. “Go. Ice will go with you.”
Reena turned toward him, but before she could tell him he wasn’t needed, he turned her around, put a hand in the small of her back, and said, “Let’s go.”
***
Reena
It felt surreal to sit and discuss how worried we should be about Toby's fractured vertebrae, and I felt my hands trembling.
“I’m sorry,” the doctor said abruptly and glanced at Ice. “Perhaps I should explain in a way that is easier to understand, so –”
“Just go on,” Ice said calmly. “Someone will explain it to me later.”
“But –”
Ice leaned forward, which made the other man move backward slightly.
“You don't get it,” Ice said patiently. “I don't need to understand now. Right now, I'm just here for her so that she can be here for Tobias.”
He took hold of my hand and held it against his strong thigh. Sissy’s lecture had pushed me out of the cold, paralyzing bubble of fear I’d been caught in, but Ice’s statement suddenly made everything around me slowly shift into sharp focus.
I would be there for Tobias because I had to. I had no one else, but he didn’t have anyone else either, so I had to.
Then held Ice’s warm hand in mine, drawing strength from him while I listened to details about bleeding inside my son’s head, and how it wasn’t too bad and hence likely that he'd wake up. The doctor smiled reassuringly but shared that they did not know how much of Tobias we would have lost.
And how they weren’t sure if he’d ever walk again.
It hurt, but Ice's thumb slowly caressed the top of my hand, so I clenched my jaws and listened to the doc describing what seemed to have been a pretty horrific car crash. Then I asked if they'd mind if I got a second opinion.
“No, of course not but –”
Before he’d finished that sentence, I’d pulled my phone out and called my boss.
“Benson,” I said, and choked up a little with relief when I heard the deep, calm voice of the man who was the head of my ER but who had spent most of his career researching spinal injuries. “I need your help.”
Chapter Eight
Rogan or Boise?
Reena
I was so tired my head spun, but I couldn’t sleep. They had put a chair in Toby’s room and told me to get some rest, and I smiled and nodded and watched as the staff left me with my son. Everyone had been fantastic from the second I walked into the hospital, but when Benson showed up the next day, things had gone from friendly helpfulness to booty-licking and bending over in all angles for Tobias.
I had apparently not understood quite how well known and respected my boss was.
There had been additional tests and x-rays, and long discussions about what to do. His medicines had been adjusted, and new people got involved in his case on what felt like an hourly basis. I wanted to be a part of that but also sit with Toby as much as possible, so I hadn’t had much time to relax, and now I simply couldn’t.
The rhythmical hum from the machines surrounding my son grated on my nerves, and I pushed the uncomfortable plastic chairs to the side and moved closer until I could put a hand on his cheek.
We’d decided not to do surgery on Toby’s back, which was a relief. It had been a quick decision because Benson had stared at the gathering and stated that this would be only be done as a last resort. They had all nodded in agreement, so when Toby woke up, they’d do more tests. If we were lucky, they would be positive, and then we’d discuss pain management and rehab.
“He should be able to walk, Reena,” Benson said. “It might take a little while, but the back does not look too bad. You've seen injuries like this before, so you know that there's hope.”
I knew that, but hoping a patient would walk again was something entirely different than praying for a man who had been a small boy sleeping in your arms.
“I taught him to walk once, Ben,” I said with more grit than I felt. “I can do it again.”
“Of course,” he murmured. “If anyone can, it’s you.”
Then he told me he’d put me on unpaid leave, but that I would have my job back anytime I wanted it. We both knew that I could be needed to help Toby recover for just a few weeks, but also that it could take a lot longer than that.
“Thank you, Ben,” I said, and swallowed. “I really appreciate it.”
“Anything you need, Reena,” he murmured. “How are you for money?”
I had to press my lips together to stop myself from crying when I saw the kindness in his brown eyes but took a deep breath and told him that we were okay. I had some savings, and it would cover us for a while, so I wasn't lying, and then I'd figure something out. I didn't exactly know what we'd do, but I would find a way.
He nodded, told me to let him know when Toby woke up, and left to go back to Boise.
And I went back to waiting.
The swelling in Toby’s head was going down, but he still hadn’t shown any signs of waking up, and I saw how the doctors glanced at each other. I knew what that meant and felt like screaming at the universe, but I couldn’t.
“Baby,” I whispered softly and leaned forward. “Please wake up.”
He didn’t move, and I caressed his cheek. There was a stubble, and I closed my eyes, remembering how I’d taught him how to shave. How we’d laughed.
I didn’t want to cry because it wouldn’t help, so I started singing softly instead. It was a stupid song, perhaps, but it had made him feel better once, back when he was just a baby.
***
Ice
“I’d do anything, for my sweet sixteen,” Reena sang quietly, and Ice felt his brows go up.
Cas kept walking, but he froze when he heard Reena’s voice hitch slightly and how she stopped singing.
“Hey,” Cas said. “Gotta love Billy Idol.”
“I was fifteen,” Reena said. “I sat there with him in my arms, and he was screaming.”
Ice felt like an intruder when he heard the way her voice became a little hoarse with emotion, but he couldn’t walk away. There was a soft sound when they shuffled the chairs around, and then Reena moved the back of her hand over Toby's cheek one more time.
“Tell me,” Cas murmured.
“He looked like a small monkey,” Reena said. “Wrinkly and too skinny... or, I didn’t know, but he was so little. And he was so pissed off. I’d given him his bottle, and he kept bawling. Then Grandma walked in. She looked like someone had hit her in the gut, and she said...” She sighed and looked at her son, lost in the memories. “He has no one else now, Reena. Only you, so you can’t be his sister. Can’t be his aunt. You have to be his mother now because he has no one else.”
“Reena,” Cas whispered. “You were just a kid.”
“I know,” Reena said with a small smile. “But the police had just been there to tell us about Tammy, so she was right. He had no one else, and he was screaming, so I asked what I should do. Grandma said to hold him close, sing him a lullaby, and he would be fine again. Except I was fifteen, you know? I didn’t know any lullabies, but I had such a crush on Billy Idol.” She tried to smile, and Ice felt his throat tighten. “So, I held him close, and when I sang Sweet Sixteen, he stopped screaming. We looked at each other and then he burped right in my face. And from that moment, he was mine.” She winced, and added, “I just thought it might work again. Perhaps if I sang it, he’d get better again. Stupid, but, yeah...”
Ice didn’t hesitate and took a few soft steps into the room as he started singing.
“I'll do anything for my sweet sixteen.” He sang for his son, but his eyes were on Reena, and she smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. ”And I'll do anything, for little run away child.”
“Ice,” she mumbled.
“Come on, Reena,” he prompted. “Sing with me.”
Without waiting for her to agree, he went on, and after a few beats, she started singing too.
“Gave my heart an engagement ring, she took everything, everything I gave her, oh sweet sixteen.”
Another voice joined from the door, and Ice smiled when he heard his twin, and then his sister chimed in. They all had good voices, and they’d liked Billy Idol too, so they knew the lyrics. Together they sang for the young man lying there in a hospital bed, unconscious and pale.
“Thank you,” Reena said when their voices faded away. “That was –” She froze and stared down at the hand she was holding. “Tobias,” she whispered and leaned down. “Baby?”
“Hey,” Toby mumbled. “The fuck happened?”
Reena swallowed visibly and moved a hand to press a button above the bed.
“Don’t move, Toby. You were in an accident.”
“Yeah, car crash,” Toby mumbled. “First curve down from A-basin. Fucker cut the corner. Bam.”
Reena sobbed once, and said shakily, “Bam indeed. You remember?”
“Red car. Didn’t see much, but I think it was a skinny guy with a striped beanie. How is he?”
“Bruised.”
“Okay. Good.” Toby opened his eyes and looked at his mother for a few seconds, and then he asked, “How am I?”
“Some minor bleeding in your brain,” Reena said calmly. “We worried you’d... but you remember. You’re okay.”
“Hurts like hell.”
“We’ll get you something for that, baby. You –” Reena cut herself off and swallowed again. “You broke your back.”
“Shit,” Toby muttered, and his eyes never left his mother. “Cervical or lower?”
Ice felt his eyes widen with surprise at the calm way they discussed Tobias’ injuries, and how he seemed to know more about back injuries than the average person.
“Thoracic,” Reena said. “Two fractured vertebras.”
“Thoracic? Not neck?”
“No, Toby. T10 and T11. It’s not like Joaquin.”
“Good,” Toby said, closed his eyes, and whispered hoarsely, “Will I walk again?”
“I –” Reena pressed her lips together briefly, but went on, “We don’t know. Benson was here, and he said that it’s highly likely with proper rehab, but it’s too soon to tell.”
“Okay,” Toby murmured. “Tired.”
Ice saw how they held on to each other and wanted to find something, anything he could do to help. Before he could figure something out, the room was filled with staff, and they were told firmly to leave.
“Who’s Joaquin?” Ice asked quietly while they waited outside.
“Childhood friend,” Reena murmured absentmindedly and watched the door. “Climbing accident. He’s in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down. The doctors were amazed he survived, though. The idiots had snuck out and tried out a stupid stunt that didn’t work out as they had planned. They both fell, but Toby had secured a line properly, so he didn’t go far. Joaquin had been careless, and he was hurt pretty badly. Toby stabilized him and hiked for five hours to get help.” She turned toward him and smiled crookedly. “They were eleven years old.”
There was a stunned silence, and then Black cleared his throat.
“Tough kid,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” Reena agreed. “I think that’s when Toby decided to become a paramedic.”
“Tobias is a paramedic?” Cas asked.
“Yes,” Reena said. “Paramedic nurse, in fact. He didn't want to spend his life indoors, so he mostly works for ski resorts, summer camps, hiking companies, that sort of thing. Sometimes takes shifts at my hospital, and Benson likes climbing, so they know each other quite well.”
“No wonder he got here so quickly,” Ice murmured, and tried to sound casual about it and not let on how he’d been a little bit of a jealous fool. Then he turned toward his brother. “The other driver cut the corner. You coming with me, Black?”
“Of course.”
“What’s going on?” Reena asked suspiciously.
“The other driver told the police it was Tobias’ fault. Said Tobias swiveled across the road as if he was drunk.” Reena’s eyes widened when she got a piece of information Ice had deemed unnecessary for her to know about until that moment. He’d decided to simply handle everything else while she worried about Tobias and dealt with the hospital staff.
Now it was his turn to deal.
“Einar,” Cas said as they were turning. “Bring your parents.”
“Cassie, they –”
“Need something to do,” Cas finished the sentence. “And you both know that a pissed off Gee trumps pissed off twins any day of the week.”
Ice was about to protest, but since she was right, he nodded to confirm that he’d heard what she said.
“Ice,” Reena called out and followed them down the corridor. “What will you –”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I actually do want to know,” she countered.
“No, you don’t.”
She looked at him with narrowed eyes but leaned forward and whispered, “If you kill him, I’ll be your alibi.”
“What?”
“My son might not walk again because that asshole was careless and cut a goddamned curve.”
There were suddenly tears in her eyes, but she raised her chin defiantly, and Ice slid a hand over her cheek.
“Tobias will walk again, Reena.”
Then he walked off with his brother to find their parents.
***
“Please?”
“Mom,” Ice growled. “No.”
“Oh, pooh. No one would know.”
“For fuck’s sake; No,” Ice said sourly.
“They probably wouldn’t know,” Roddy muttered. “Lots of forests up here. There are bears. We could easily –”
“Dad.”
“Or cougar,” Black added. “They can crush a person’s head with their jaws, so it might –”
He stopped speaking when Ice turned slowly to glare at him.
“You,” Ice said and pointed at his brother. “Are not.” He moved to aim at his father and continued until he had his finger in his mother’s face. “Killing him.”
The man sitting on his couch in front of them whimpered.
Gee leaned forward slightly and snapped her teeth together, and Ice couldn’t stop himself from pulling his hand backward, which got him a mean smile and a brow wiggle. Since his back was toward the man, he grinned back at his mother, but arranged his face into a scowl and turned.
“Instead,” he said quietly. “This piece of fucking shit will visit the nearest police station where he will update his statement with a few details he remembered now that the shock has worn off.”
“But –”
The man was against the wall with Ice’s hand under his jaw in a flash.
“I won’t let them kill you,” Ice said.
“Okay.”
“And I’m not asking you to lie. Just go to the police and tell the truth, that’s all.”
“Okay.”
“I have friends, so I will know what you’ve told them.” Ice leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “And trust me on this one; You don’t want to deal with me if you don’t correct your statement. I’ll come down on you so hard you’ll wish I’d let them handle you.”
The man whimpered again and nodded vigorously.
“I’ll talk to the police.”
“Yes, you will,” Ice agreed.
They walked toward the door, but Ice turned to look at the man who had slid down the wall and was sitting on the floor with his hands covering his face.
“I told my son’s mother that he will walk again, so do you know what else you should do?”
“No,” the man mumbled.
“Pray that he does.”
***
Reena
“Why didn’t you call me?”
I stared at the man in front of me and tried to digest that he was indeed there. At the hospital in Denver. Immaculately dressed as always and looking suitably concerned.
“Harry?” I asked stupidly.
“You should have called me,” my ex-husband stated instead of confirming that he was indeed Harry.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
This was in my mind a relevant question because Harry had never displayed any kind of interest in Toby. He had certainly not shown up anywhere in the many years of various broken bones, sprains, stitches, and everything else we'd lived through, Toby and I.
Compared to what we were facing now, all of that had admittedly been somewhat minor, but still.
“Tobias is injured, Reena.” His concerned voice had hitched so slightly it was barely noticeable, but I heard it. “Of course, I want to know how he’s doing.”
