“What’s wrong with his temperature?”
The doctor looked down at the notes in his hand. “It was a little high with the anesthetic. Not scary high, but enough that I just want to see it go back down to normal before he’s discharged, especially as this was his first general anesthetic.”
Nodding and feeling worried for a whole new reason now, I looked at the door. “But he’s okay?”
“Absolutely. Cody will be sore, but with the normal painkillers, some TLC, and some rest, he’ll be just fine.”
Thanking him, I walked quickly through the doors and stopped when I saw the sight that greeted me.
Alex and Dave were sitting on either side of the bed, grinning down at my son, who lay on his back, looking lost in the hospital bed. What stopped me was the smile on his face as he listened to what they were saying to him. I hadn’t seen him smile like that in a long time.
Noticing me, Alex tilted his head in my direction and said something to Cody before raising his hand for a high five.
Resuming walking, I moved around the bed and stopped next to Alex.
“Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got kicked in the balls by a bronco,” he rasped. “I’m thirsty.”
“He’s allowed small sips of water,” a nurse said, appearing behind me out of nowhere with a glass. “Keep them small to begin with. Your stats are good, so we’ll be moving you in a minute. Things are quiet on this floor just now, so you’ve got your own room.”
Leaning over with the water, I helped him take a few small sips of it while Dave continued talking to my son like he’d known him for years instead of minutes.
“Hey, your own room, that’s pretty neat. When they say you’re okay to eat, I’ll get permission to get you what you want instead of the sh—” Dave stopped and winced. “The shtuff they serve here. Hospital food doesn’t help anyone, but it definitely makes you get out of them faster.”
“Tacos,” Cody replied instantly, his eyes lighting up. “From the place in town.”
Dave’s eyes lit up. “Now that’s a request I can agree with. What’s your favorite thing from there?”
As they weighed up the pros and cons of everything on the menu at Tambien Tacos, I looked over my son, making sure he was okay on every part of him I could see. I knew that under the sheet and under his skin was a different ball game altogether, but every parent would do what I was doing at that moment.
I’d just opened my mouth to say something to Cody when my phone beeped with a message. Pulling it out of my purse, I expected to see something from my parents or one of my siblings, but instead, Neil’s name was taunting me on the screen.
Fucking great!
It was what the message said that made my blood boil, though.
Neil: Oh. He’ll be fine. It’s just puberty.
I didn’t realize Alex was looking over my shoulder until he hissed quietly, “Fucking unbelievable. Is he always that much of a dick?”
Nodding, I typed out a message on the family chat Maeve had set up a few hours ago, so I didn’t have to keep sending individual texts to them all. After telling them that Cody would be released in the morning, I pasted a screenshot of Neil’s message for them all to see.
Within seconds, the replies came back at a crazy rate—happy and sending love to Cody, furious and scathing toward Neil.
Nudging me with his elbow, Alex murmured, “Tell them I say he’s not an asshole because even those have vital uses. He’s a complete fucking waste of air, and the best part of him was left drying on his mom’s—” he stopped and winced. “Maybe don’t add the last part. Just tell them the first bit.”
Chuckling, I wrote out the part about assholes, then added he had more to say that he felt wasn’t suitable for their fragile eyes and minds.
Again, their responses came back in a flurry until my dad suggested I just add him to the chat so he could stop being a pussy and just tell them what he’d meant to say.
“I’m good with that,” he agreed, without me even asking him. “But they don’t stand a chance in hell of me telling them with Maeve and your mom on there.”
This was proof he’d never been in a room with all of us. There was a time, a place, and a situation where certain things could be said without Mom and Maeve looking disgusted, but things could get pretty crude amongst us. I was fairly certain this was one of those times, but I could understand why he’d be holding back.
So, I added him.
Then I landed him in it.
Me: And because he’s too shy to say it on here to y’all, he said Neil was a complete fucking waste of air and that the best part of him was left drying on his mom’s leg. At least, I think he meant to say leg. Maybe that’s why he stopped talking before he ended the sentence?