Ride Wild(5)

"Yes. Ben will want you there." And so do I. Because he wasn't sure what  he was walking into, or how bad it was going to be. Jesus, the thought  of his boy being hurt made him want to vomit. "Get dressed," he said,  manhandling her toward the stairs.

"But what about meeting Sam off the school bus?" she asked, peering up at him as they raced down. "He's gonna be freaked out."

She was right about that. "I'll get one of my brothers to bring him to  the hospital," he said, hoping someone would be willing to do that for  him after Slider had pretty much gone ghost on the club after Kim's  death. They all thought that was because he was wrecked with grief, when  really it was because her cancer had made it so he could never reveal  all the ways in which she'd given him cause to grieve. And the more he'd  dwelt on her lies, the more he hadn't known who or what he could  believe in-even the club. And that had killed him even as he hadn't been  able to stop himself from pulling away from his brothers.

Nothing like betrayal to shut you down and make you unsure who or what  in your life was true, was real, was worthy of your trust. Sonofabitch.

"Okay," she said dashing toward the laundry room. "I won't be thirty seconds."

True to her word, Cora returned quickly, dressed again in the same  clothes as before, his white T-shirt hanging out under the sweatshirt as  if she hadn't wanted to take the time to change out of it. "Ready," she  said, stuffing something into her purse.

The hospital was only a fifteen-minute drive across town, but it felt  like a fucking lifetime until they were pulling into the lot at the  emergency department. Slider cut the engine and jumped out in one  frantic motion.

And then they were inside, waiting in the line to talk to someone while  Slider lost his ever-loving mind. The smell. The fucking smell. It took  him right back to Kim's illness. The countless visits. Those final days  when her death was simply a matter of when not if. His sons'  heartbreaking good-byes.

And now Ben was here all by himself. Was he remembering all of that,  too? The thought made Slider want to tear down doors and walls to get to  him.

But he could hardly blame the tall, bald guy in front of them for being  in the way when his blood had soaked through bandages he wore around his  left wrist. "Got bit by a dog," he told the intake nurse. "Pit bull."

"Was animal control involved, sir? Do you know if the dog had rabies?"  she asked. It was the first of about a half-dozen questions she asked  him, and Slider's patience significantly decreased with every one.                       
       
           



       

Finally, it was their turn. "My son, Ben Evans, came in by ambulance  from his school," Slider said before he and Cora even made it all the  way to the counter. "He's only six."

"Of course, Mr. Evans," the woman said, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "You can come right back."

Finally. Thank fuck.

The receptionist's gaze cut to Cora. "Are you family, too?"

Slider saw it. The little step backward Cora was about to take as she  bowed to the hospital's rules. But he wasn't having it. Not for a  second, not when Ben might need every bit of combined strength they had  to offer. So Slider took Cora's hand in his, and the tiny catch in her  breath just made him hold tighter. "Yes," he said. "Now, please take us  to him."





Chapter 3




As bad as Slider's earlier words had made Cora feel, his actions now  made her feel more important than anyone else ever had. Except Haven, of  course, who never once let Cora believe she was anything less than her  best friend in the world. Slider's behavior was confusing as hell, but  Cora went with it, because she was worried out of her mind over Ben.

And given how scared she was, she couldn't imagine how Slider was feeling. Not after having lost a wife.

So Cora was determined to be there for both of them. In whatever ways  and for however long they might need her. Because it was good to be  needed. And no one else seemed to need her except the Evans men. Not  even Haven anymore, who now had a man who was absolutely devoted to her.  After everything she'd been through, Haven deserved that devotion-and  every bit of the happiness she'd found with Dare Kenyon.

But it left Cora more than a little adrift in her own life.

"The doctor will be in to see you soon," the nurse said as they arrived at a curtained exam room.

Slider nodded, and then his pale gaze cut to Cora like he was looking  for something from her. But she didn't know him well enough to do more  than squeeze his hand in reassurance. "I can wait here until you've had a  chance to see him."

"I want you with me. He's, um, going to want to see you, too." His hand still around hers, he pulled her inside.

Whatever pleasure she'd felt from those declarations quickly fell away  when she took in Ben's little body, looking so small in the big hospital  bed.

Slider's face was a stone wall, but she felt the jolt of his reaction  where they were connected. "Hey, Benji," he said, his voice strained.

The boy's eyes swam open and finally focused. And even though his  forehead was bruised, bandages covered the side of his head and one arm,  and an IV ran into his other arm, the kid's face still managed to light  up when he saw his father. "Dad, I got to ride in an ambulance," he  said with a hint of his usual exuberance.

Slider managed a chuckle as he eased onto the edge of the mattress and  took Ben's hand. "Yeah? Did they turn on the siren for you?"

"It was loud," Ben said, eyes wide. "And everything inside was shiny.  And the man told me knock-knock jokes the whole way here." Cora heaved a  relieved breath. Hearing the kid talk gave her hope that he'd be okay.  "He was almost as funny as you, Cora."

She smiled at the sweet compliment. "No one's as funny as me, Bean. No  one." Even though, just then, humor was eluding her in favor of  bone-deep relief. This kid had lost a mother at the age of four. The  last thing he needed was any kind of permanent injury at the age of six.

He rolled his eyes. "Coowa, it's Ben!"

Happy tears threatened. "Yeah? Well, Ben, how's that noggin feeling? Is it true you dented the monkey bars with it?"

"Noooo," he said with a giggle as he nodded toward the bed opposite from  where Slider sat. Even though the man had made it clear he wanted her  there, she couldn't help but feel a little like she was intruding, so  she'd hung back. But now she made her way to Ben's side. "I have a  headache. And my elbow hurts. And I might need a case on my arm. But I  didn't break the monkey bars. Or, at least, I don't think I did."

"I think it's called a cast, buddy," Slider said.

"Oh, yeah. And they said I could pick the color of it," Ben said. "Isn't that cool?"

Slider nodded, his eyes suddenly blinking fast. "Really cool," he managed.

Seeing the normally stoic man struggle with emotion almost brought tears  to Cora's eyes. "Definitely the coolest," she added, admiring the kid's  positivity. He'd been hurt, taken a probably scary ride by himself in  an ambulance, and been poked with a needle, yet what he focused on was  how fun the ride was and that he'd get to choose the color of his cast.  She pulled a stuffed animal out of her purse. "Brought someone for you."                       
       
           



       

"Blue Bear!" he exclaimed, grasping his favorite toy, lumpy and  misshapen, into his hands. Belying its name, it was more gray than blue  from being washed and loved on again and again.

"I knew he might worry about you," she said, "so I thought he should come."

"Yeah, he does worry sometimes," Ben said, rubbing the bear's face against his own. "But I'll make sure he doesn't get scared."

Just then, the doctor came into the room and detailed more specifically  exactly what Ben's condition was. He had a broken elbow, for which they  were waiting for the orthopedist before they set it and put on the cast.  His bandage hid a cut on the forehead, which had already received five  stitches. And he had a concussion that required some scans and overnight  observation because Ben had briefly lost consciousness.

But he would be okay.

That left Cora feeling like she might float right up to the ceiling.  She'd known him only a few months, but she'd become really fond of Ben.  Of all the Evans men, if she were honest. Even Slider. For all his  brooding reserve, he was a good dad. And the way he'd come after her  this morning proved that, on some level, he cared about her, too. Even  if it was just because he valued her as a caregiver for his kids.