"Woo-hoo!" Quinn couldn't get the phone away from his ear fast enough. He thought he might have suffered permanent ear drum damage.
"Goddammit, Ben!"
"That's the best fucking news I've had in the last eighteen months! Everything sucks, and if you expect me to do anything but whoop, you're out of your goddamn mind, Quinn." Put like that, Quinn couldn't disagree. He grinned.
"Hey, look, Kara said she's got us on the earliest flight up to Sitka."
"I know, she told me earlier. I'm picking you up."
"Are you sure? We can just grab a cab to the hospital." Quinn refused to think that they would be meeting anywhere else.
"I need to see you both, okay?" Quinn could hear the break in his brother's voice.
"I know, Ben. We need to see you, too. We'll be there as quick as we can. I love you. Give everybody else my love."
"I will."
By the time he got back to the bedroom, Kara was sound asleep, and she was lying crosswise across the entire bed. He loved that. She was such a sound sleeper, it was easy enough to crawl in and pick her up, draping her delectable form over him before pulling up the covers. She snuggled into him like a warm kitten. He found it easy to focus on the moment and the woman and fall soundly asleep.
Chapter 15
Ben's hands gripped the steering wheel of the truck tightly. As he made his way to the parking area of the Sitka airport, he thought about the news they had heard from the doctors that morning. Timothy made it through the night, and everyone was breathing a little more easily. The doctors had gone so far as to say that they expected him to wake up in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. They weren't sure about brain damage, because he had been deprived of oxygen for so long before being revived, but they were just going to have to cross that bridge when they got to it.
Ben was also really worried about Sully, who had found their brother in a pool of blood, and had called 9-1-1. So far, Sully seemed to be keeping it together, but Ben was happy Quinn would be here soon. All of the Shotbrook brothers seemed to open up to the oldest, and Sully was no exception. Quinn might not realize it, but even Timothy had talked to Quinn the most. Unfortunately, Tim was just confused and had chosen some very bad friends. Another thing they had learned when they had gone as a family with Timothy to some of his counseling sessions was that he suffered from depression and was using recreational drugs to self-medicate. After being released from juvenile detention, Ben knew that Timothy had been going to counseling and taking the medications he needed. But since this suicide attempt, Ben learned that all of Tim's self-care efforts had stopped. They even told Ben that they found heroin in Tim's system, so he was back to his old habits.
The sign at baggage claim said that the plane still hadn't landed, so he went to go grab a cup of coffee. He made a quick call to his Auntie, who said that everything was still the same, so he headed back toward the baggage carousel. He saw the bags from Juneau coming off the conveyer belt, and looked around for Quinn, knowing he would be easy to spot. But it was Kara and her white-gold hair that captured his attention. He could do nothing but stare. She was so beautiful. Then, as if she could sense him, she turned to look at him. She wiggled out of Quinn's clasp and weaved through the other passengers until she was in his arms. He hugged her tight.
"Oh, Ben," she breathed over and over into the crook of his neck. She held onto him as if her life depended on it. He felt like his did. They had just talked while they made their connection in Juneau, so she knew that Timothy's status was better, but that didn't seem to matter. She made him feel like he was the only thing, the only person who mattered. She always did that. She always made him feel a little more whole.
"Kara, I've needed you here in my arms."
"I'm here, I'll always be here when you need me," she said as she trailed kisses from the shell of his ear down the side of his face, ending with the sweetest kiss on his lips. He looked up and saw Quinn standing behind her, and for the first time since that awful call from Sully, he felt the world shift right again on its axis. Quinn put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
"Let's get going, shall we?" Ben saw that Quinn had the luggage, and he led them outdoors to the truck. Kara waited at the passenger side for Ben to open the door for her, and when she was situated, she smiled over at him and tilted her head for a kiss. She made him smile, it was so nice to have rituals that happened no matter what the circumstances. He gave her a long and lingering kiss, then made his way around to the driver's side. Kara sidled into the middle of the cab where she belonged. When everyone was settled, Quinn asked for an update.
"It's worse than any of us realized, and now Sully is blaming himself. Apparently, Tim hadn't seen his counselor for the last nine months. He'd been off his anti-depressants and we just found out this morning from the doctor that there was heroin in his system." Ben appreciated the feel of Kara's hand on his leg, and was unsurprised to see her gripping Quinn's hand in her other.
"Everything was going so well! I just don't understand it."
"Quinn, I hate to put this on you, but Sully won't talk, and you can tell he's just beating himself up something fierce. I'm really hoping that you can get him to open up. All of us boys usually ended up telling you everything." Ben had to keep his eyes on the road, so he had to wait for his brother's decision.
"Ben, that's just not true. Timothy didn't open up. It seemed like I never got through, and now this proves it."
"Quinn, we were in those same damn appointments with Tim's drug counselor." Ben felt like hitting his head on the steering wheel. When Quinn didn't respond, Kara spoke up.
"Quinn, if you insist on not seeing reason, on not believing what the professionals told you, does that mean your mom is also at fault? That she should have read the warning signs and she should have done a better job?" There was silence in the truck. Finally, Quinn spoke up.
"You know I would never want Mama to think that, Kara."
"You can't have it both ways. You can't continue to say that despite what the experts tell you, it is your fault, but then not want your mom to feel exactly the same way. You have to put this behind you and focus on what can be done here and now."
Ben couldn't stop the grin that stretched across his face. "Kara Johansen, you are the best fucking thing that has ever happened to me."
"I'm going to take that to mean you agree with her," Quinn said dryly as Ben stopped at a light. He looked over at his brother, who was looking between him and Kara.
"Mama's coped by leaning on the people at church. I haven't heard her beating herself up too often, but Auntie Dot has told me she has, sometimes. So, I imagine Kara is exactly right, that every time you beat yourself up, it stirs up the same shit for Mama. Personally, I don't think either of you deserve it," he said as he looked his big brother dead in the eye right before the light turned green.
They rode the rest of the way to the hospital in silence, Kara holding onto both of them. Ben and his family were always going to make it. He and Quinn would have eventually settled their differences, but probably wouldn't have grown this close. They probably would have become very good friends, but with Kara, everything changed. She gave the world color, and had ensured the best possible future for him and Quinn. Ben felt so blessed, and now he just wanted God to grant one more miracle for his little brother.
* * * *
It was pretty much as Kara expected at the hospital-tired and worried Shotbrooks huddled in the uncomfortable waiting area. She ended up talking Dorothy and Rosemary into going to the cafeteria with her. She wouldn't have been able get them leave Timothy's floor, if they hadn't so badly wanted to ask her about the status of her relationship with Quinn and Ben. They were seated in a booth in a far-off corner of the cafeteria, and the food looked really good. All three women were hungry, but Kara asked how much time they had before they needed to be back.
"Levi's going to text me if Timothy wakes up while I'm down here, so we can take our time," Rosemary assured her. Kara's expression must have shown her confusion, so Rosemary explained further. "It doesn't happen often. When was the last time, Dot?" Rosemary Shotbrook looked over at her sister.
"It was that Christine was going to get pregnant."
"That's right. And it suddenly came to me that Timothy is going to be fine. I saw him a year from now. I know exactly where he'll be and what he'll be doing. So he will be waking up any time now."
"She called me as soon as it happened," Dorothy said, looking over at Kara as if to ensure she wasn't going to make fun of her sister. Kara smiled at both women.