Arden listened patiently. She felt vaguely nauseous. Travis was in the hospital. Travis had been stabbed. She repeated these facts to herself, but couldn't manage to make them seem real.
"Come on, Arden. It's all the way to Bixy. If we get there soon enough, maybe you can see him before he goes in. I don't know if he's conscious."
Arden couldn't feel anything. Nothing. She stared around her at all the concerned faces. Why were they so worried? Why were they looking at her like that?
"He should have waited for the cops," Arden said. Her voice sounded funny. Sort of far away.
"I know, honey. Let's get going."
Arden shook her head. "It's Christmas Eve. I should be with my family."
"Arden, we don't have time for this..."
"You go on," Arden said. Firmer this time. She was getting a grip. She was doing the right thing. "When you find out something for sure, give me a call. I'm not going to go all the way over there to pace around in a waiting room."
Emma gaped at her.
Arden didn't care. Something had snapped inside of her. She didn't want to go to the hospital. She didn't need to. She felt nothing.
"Arden, this is your boyfriend."
"I'm playing a game with my cousins," Arden said. "I'm busy."
Emma looked to Laura for help.
Laura stepped in and put her hand on Arden's shoulder. Arden stood and pulled away.
"Sweetheart," Laura said. "You need to go be with him."
Now Arden felt something. She felt angry. "No!" she shouted. "I'll go when I want to go. I don't 'need' to do anything. I'll wait and find out." She looked around her. "Why are you all looking at me like that? This isn't that big of a deal. He'll be fine and I'll go see him tomorrow. Let's get back to enjoying our evening."
She knelt back down on the floor at the coffee table where they had been playing their card games. It took a few moments, but eventually the cousins took back up their cards and started playing, albeit hesitantly. Arden heard the front door open and close. She put the whole thing out of her head. She was playing cards with her cousins. That was what she was supposed to be doing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Travis woke up on Christmas day in the hospital. He was in some pain and it hurt a little when he breathed, but otherwise he was alive. He blinked against the sunlight coming in the window. He pressed his palms to the bed and tried to push himself up, but stopped as soon as pain seared through his abdomen.
"He's awake," said a female voice.
And then Dustin and Emma appeared at his sides.
"How are you feeling?" Dustin said.
"Do you need pain killers?" Emma asked.
And then the two of them glared at each other.
"No," Travis said. His voice was scratchy. "No painkillers."
Dustin gave Emma a satisfied smirk and she continued glaring at him in response. Travis desperately wanted to sit up. He fumbled around the edge of the bed looking for the button to angle the bed up. Dustin read his mind and handed it to him.
Once Travis got settled in a more upright position, he took another breath to relax. "Where's Duane?" he asked.
"Jail." Dustin looked down at his feet.
Travis nodded. "Where's my girl?"
Dustin looked to Emma. Emma tried to put on a smile, but came off looking sad anyway. Travis felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Is she okay?" he asked.
Emma took a deep breath. "She said she'd try to make it in later. She wanted to have Christmas with her family and apparently she has a lot of other things she's busy with."
Travis squeezed his eyes shut and cursed. Then he laughed in relief. "I was talking about Emily. She's okay?"
"Oh!" Emma laughed in relief too. "Yes. She's fine. She's still with Shannon and Russell. Would you like me to bring her here to see you?"
"It depends. Do I get to go home today?"
"No way," Dustin said. "Probably not till day after tomorrow at the earliest. Your lung was punctured. They had to sew up a bunch of other stuff too."
"I'll have Shannon bring the baby over," Emma said. "She'll probably bring Alice too. Alice has called, like, five times already asking about you. I didn't realize you and she were so close."
"She's a good friend," Travis said. He was so glad to be seeing Emily soon. It had hit him, recently, just how helpless he would be if Tonya ever came back for her. If he thought Tonya had a stable, loving environment to raise her in, he'd give Emily to her. It would probably break his heart, but he would do the right thing. But as it was, if Tonya came back wanting her baby, Travis didn't know what he could do, legally, to keep the baby. He determined to get a lawyer just as soon as he was back on his feet.