Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“What is this?” Danica asked as we stepped inside.
“It’s the van I told you about, baby,” Kane said as she settled into the middle-row bench. There were two empty ones behind her. “Here, take the blanket.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m so cold.”
“I know, baby,” Kane said, cuddling Jonah close to him.
“What is the van for?” Danica asked, seemingly only somewhat lucid.
“For the vineyard tours, remember? We were going to have people start here, and we would take them on a day-long tour with our partner vineyards.”
“No, I don’t,” she said, yawning and curling up into a ball, leaning against the window. “If I throw up, I’m sorry.”
“You won’t,” he said. “Because Alex is going to drive really slow. Aren’t you, Alex?”
“Affirmative,” I said, nodding. “Is Jonah strapped in?”
Kane clicked the car seat buckles into place and nodded. “Yup, let’s go.”
I drove them to the hospital as gently as I could, and when we arrived, I grabbed the baby while Kane helped Danica out of the car and inside. Once in, they called Danica and Jonah back pretty quickly, and Kane looked back and forth between them and me.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ve got my tablet and some headphones. I can wait. Go be with them.”
“Thanks, bro,” he said. “I take back everything I’ve said about you.”
“No, you don’t,” I said, laughing.
“No,” he chuckled, seeming relieved to break the tension, “I probably don’t. But some of it.”
Kane disappeared into the back, and I settled into the surprisingly comfortable seat.
I took a minute to take stock of my life. It was enough to make me sigh in laughter. I was the youngest and still didn’t have a kid yet. But I loved my niece and nephew like they were my own in a lot of ways, and I would do anything to help them. Including ditching a night on the town with Leo. He had been expecting me right at five. We were going to hit up the local sports bar to watch the game and then head out for more drinks and maybe a chance to patrol for some company for me, but I had passed it all up the second Kane called. I didn’t regret it either.
When Kane came out about an hour later, he looked relieved, and I closed my tablet, taking off my headphones to listen to what he had to say.
“Just a bad stomach bug and some dehydration. Looks like Jonah’s going to be alright,” he said. “The doc said it was smart to bring him in, what with all the stuff going around right now. But he just has a little fever, nothing babies don’t get and bounce back from naturally. It’s probably best to keep him and Danica in separate rooms for a few hours and let her sleep though, so I’ll be up tonight taking care of him all night.”
He laughed, but I could see the combination of relief and the realization that he wasn’t going to be getting any rest crossing his face simultaneously. If I knew Kane, he was going to be taking that baby into his study, putting on some classical music, and catching up on some reading while he tended to his family.
“Well, what about Danica?” I asked.
“She’s a little worse off,” he said. “Doc gave her some anti-nausea meds and said she needs lots of rest and fluids. They put an IV in her to get her some fluids for now, but we should be out of here pretty soon.”
“I bet she loved that,” I said, remembering Danica’s fear of needles. It had come up in the middle of a game night we all had not too long ago. Danica’s big fears included spiderwebs but not spiders, needles, and losing her memory. It stuck with me, because the loss of memory was a unique but so apt one.
“Yeah, she was thrilled,” Kane said. “Thanks again for bringing us out here, man. I was probably sober enough to do it, but I just didn’t want to take the chance.”
“No, no,” I said. “It’s fine. Anything for family. Go back and be with Danica until it’s time to leave.”
“Alright. Thanks again.”
He patted my shoulder as he walked away, and I resumed the television show I was marathoning in the waiting room. By the time the episode was over, I saw them making their way back toward me. Danica looked a little better and didn’t need any help this time. Kane was holding Jonah who looked like he was also feeling a world better than he had when we got there.
We piled into the car and headed back to Kane’s house. As we got there, I saw that while Kane had put on a veneer of being okay, it was just that. He was still freaked-out, and after he got Danica in the house first, he came back and told me why.