In Your Honor (43 page)

“
Shane's gonna meet you
there,” he continued. “You'll see, I bet by the time you get there,
Triny will be back out at the house making sweet tea and cussing at
all the worry that Mac has caused.”

Lucy nodded against his chest but didn't
release her grip. He motioned for Lenny to get ready as he stood,
pulling Lucy with him.

“
Lenny's gonna help you
get changed, babe. Kendra's not going to leave your side, and I'll
join you when I can.”

Her eyes went wild and she looked at him in
terror. “No, you have to come with me!”

His heart was breaking for her. “I can't.”
He held her face in his hands and made sure he had her attention.
She gripped his hands with her own. “Shane is going to be there
when you land. I promise to be right behind you.”

“
What if—?” A fresh wave
of tears poured down her face and he stopped her.

“
Nope, Triny owes me
money, and he's never squelched on a bet before. He'll wait 'til I
get there.” He tried to smile, but he had no idea if his face made
the movement.

Then he handed her over to Lenny's capable
arms, despite every instinct in him telling him that he shouldn't
leave her side. She didn't break eye contact with him as he watched
her go into the back lounge, then Lenny shut the door behind
them.

Grief. It's the thing they knew best about
each other. The bond that had connected them forever. It went deep,
so deep that Blake knew in his heart, Shane wouldn't have a clue
how to help her. How to reach her if she shut down again. Blake
would have to teach him. That thought hurt like a punch to the
throat.

“
This sucks,” Taylor said,
breaking the awkward silence.

“
Yup.” Blake sighed and
reached for a towel and shut the shower off. “I'll get changed and
then I'll see you on stage.” He nodded at the bald musician and
trudged barefoot back to his own bus, grabbing Lucy's phone off the
couch.

His brain was scattered but he kept focused
with the mission at hand. Triny was the closest thing he had to a
father figure, and the thought of losing him at this point in his
life was overwhelming. Getting Lucy to him was priority one. He had
to focus on that.

After changing into fresh clothes he stopped
Kendra as she hustled past him, pressing Lucy's phone into her
hand. “Did you get it all arranged?” He wanted to ask more, but
couldn't find the words.

Her nervous face was filled with compassion
and she impulsively hugged him. “I'm going to take care of her,
Blake. She won't leave my sight and I'll text you updates as I have
them.”

“
Thanks.” He frowned
against the fear settling in his belly. “She's... she's everything
to me.” He clenched his jaw tightly.

“
I know,” Kendra responded
quietly, her eyes round with worry. “I have to go now.” She gave
him one final look of empathy and hurried away.

Blake went through the set without a hitch.
He played all Lucy's parts with precision, and Taylor shortened the
set so he didn't have to sing. All he could think about was how she
should be in the air by now. During the DBS set he figured she
should be close to landing. He prayed her dad would pull through.
That he would at least wait until she could see him.

When he left the stage, Carl directed him to
a waiting cab. Blake frowned in confusion.

“
Your flight leaves in an
hour,” Carl said with less gruffness than usual. “We're postponing
the next few dates until we have more information.”

Blake tried to think of something to say to
express his thanks, but he couldn't. He cleared his throat and
looked at his tour manager.

“
We do what we have to for
family,” Carl said, his voice thick and raspy. He suddenly grabbed
Blake in a hug, clapping him hard on the back. “Now, get out of
here.”

Blake checked his phone in the cab. Kendra
was indeed keeping him updated. They had landed a half hour before,
and Shane had been waiting in the terminal. He had driven them
straight to the hospital, but they hadn't spoken to any doctors
yet.

As he waited for the call to board his
flight, he called Mama. She didn't answer, and he left a short
message telling her where he was going to be. Lucy was going to
need all the people who loved her nearby.

***

Shane brought Lucy another cup of coffee
from the hospital coffee maker. She hadn't moved from her post in
the waiting room of the ER. They still didn't have a lot of
information and she wasn't speaking, but Kendra said it wasn't as
bad as when she had first gotten the news. She used the word
'catatonic,' and Shane couldn't imagine his Lucy like that. She was
always so full of color and life.

He handed her the cup of hot liquid and she
gave him a small smile, but it was distant and detached. He felt
utterly useless. He'd gotten more out of Kendra than Lucy over the
past few hours, and he really couldn't explain away the feeling
that he was simply a prop, waiting to be needed.

The ER doors opened and a man in scrubs
approached them. “The Triny Newton family?” he asked, and Lucy
stood up quickly.

“
I'm his daughter,” she
responded, her brown eyes wide but dull. Shane rubbed her back
softly, letting her know he was still here.

The doctor motioned for her to sit again and
he sat in a chair across from her, leaning forward with his elbows
on his knees. “Your father has suffered a myocardial infarction. It
wasn't that severe, and he should recover from it quite easily.”
The doctor paused. “It was the fall from the horse during the heart
attack that has me worried. We've done what we can, but there's
quite a bit of swelling and head trauma which has pushed him into a
coma.”

Lucy's hands started to tremble and Shane
took the coffee away from her, setting it down. Trying to be
useful.

“
We won't know the extent
of the brain injury until he wakes up.” The doctor sighed. “Your
father is in remarkable condition, he's very healthy overall and
the heart attack itself makes very little sense. But like I said,
we'll know more when he wakes up.”

“
When can I see him?” Lucy
asked, gripping Shane's hand tightly. He squeezed back, as if to
say, “I'm right here, you don't have to do this alone.”

“
We're moving him into the
ICU for now, so only one person at a time. I'll have one of the
nurses come and tell you when he's settled.” The doctor hesitated
and looked at Shane more when he spoke. “You should probably try to
get some rest, there's no telling how long he'll be like this. If
something changes, we'll call you.”

“
I'm not leaving,” Lucy
whispered resolutely, ready to fight anyone who tried to make her
go.

Shane nodded in understanding at the doctor
who left them alone then. Lucy crumpled against Shane's side and he
rubbed her arm. He was at a loss. It seemed like whatever he tried
to say or do, she didn't really respond. But he kept on trying.

“
The doctor said your dad
is really healthy, I'm sure he'll pull through this.” Shane ached
for her. He wanted badly to take this pain and fear from her,
return her to the happy, carefree girl he loved so much. He didn't
know what Lucy needed, and for someone as put together as Shane,
that lack of knowledge was frustrating.

He noticed Kendra in his peripheral vision
as she sat in the corner, silently texting. Shane couldn't help but
feel like they were out of place. Like he and Kendra were intruding
on something they couldn't understand or explain. It was gnawing at
him; they weren't the ones who should be here.

When the nurse came to get Lucy so she could
see her dad, he hugged her tightly and then staggered over to the
near-empty coffee maker for his own refill. It had been a long
night so far.

He saw Blake coming down the hall and gave
him a short wave. He'd made good time, and Shane was relieved.
Maybe he'd have some insight into what he could do.

“
She just went to see
him,” Shane said, handing the other man a cup of coffee.

“
Yeah, Kendra has been
keeping me updated.” Blake nodded at the assistant who yawned and
curled into a ball in the chair, resting her head on her
purse.

“
How's she doing?” Blake
asked as they sat down next to each other.

“
She's quiet,” Shane
answered, sipping at his coffee.

“
Thanks for making it here
so quickly.” Blake's voice was pinched. His anxiety and weariness
were evident in the pronounced dark circles under his
eyes.

Shane looked around the almost-empty waiting
room and at Kendra's now sleeping figure. “Yeah,” was all he said.
But there was so much more happening internally.

Kendra had been tight-lipped but cordial
throughout the whole ordeal, and Shane didn't feel quite like she
hated him as much as she apparently had the first time they had
met. She really cared about Lucy, that was obvious. So it was nice
having her around when Shane was at a loss for what to do. Kendra
didn't push Lucy to talk, and she would give Shane these little
head-shakes if he was asking too many questions. Now that Blake had
arrived, it seemed she was off duty. Damn, his only ally was taking
a nap. Who was going to help him navigate these waters with Blake
now?

“
Lucy hates hospitals.”
Blake broke the silence, as if sensing Shane's desire to help out.
“Her mom was in and out of them for weeks before she finally passed
away.”

Okay, all new information. Well, not
totally. Shane knew the facts of Lucy's family thanks to Google,
but they'd never actually discussed it. He sighed as he realized
that all those little things from someone's past usually came back
to play a part in the future. He should have been on top of that
one.

“
And then my dad died in
an accident at work a month later, so we became very
well-acquainted with this place in a short period of time. The
results were less than ideal,” Blake continued grimly.

“
I had no idea,” Shane
responded, not sure what else to say.

“
Just give her time.”
Blake looked at him, and Shane saw the lines around his eyes were
deeper, like his worry was taking a physical toll on his body. “She
needs you here.”

Shane swallowed hard and nodded. Blake
looked back to the floor.

“
Triny's the one who
taught me how to play guitar,” Blake spoke softly again.

“
I didn't know that.”
Shane began picking at the side of his Styrofoam cup.

“
I was ten. It was the
first birthday after my dad had died. Triny picked me up early that
morning and took me fishing. That night he gave me my guitar. It
wasn't anything fancy, but it was exactly what I needed.” His
pinched face melted into a smile and Shane was struck by the
unexpected softness on Blake's face. He wasn't used to seeing him
like that.

“
I was mad that I didn't
get to come with you guys.”

They both looked up to see Lucy standing in
front of them. Her eyes were trained on Blake, and Shane saw a
significant change in her demeanor with the rocker's simple
presence. Blake's energy changed as well. For all his posturing and
hard-ass behavior, he was immediately tender and warm when looking
at Lucy. It was suddenly like Shane wasn't even there.

Blake stood and gathered her in his arms as
she crumbled against him. Shane had always admired the way Lucy
wore her heart on her sleeve, out in the open, bravely putting it
on display. How he'd never noticed that a piece of it was missing
was beyond him. Until he saw the way she fit in Blake's arms, how
she clung to him like a second skin. Blake was the owner of that
missing piece. And he always would be. He held her like she was
treasured, beloved.

They held one another for several minutes,
the world not existing to them, then Blake opened his eyes over her
shoulder and looked at Shane. They stared at each other for a few
minutes as Blake obviously wrestled with his desire to never let
her go or relinquish her to Shane's capable hands. Just when Shane
thought he was going to be asked to leave, Blake pulled away,
leaving an opening for him to fill.

“
How is he?” Blake asked,
turning his eyes down to the floor and reclaiming his seat. Shane
took his cue and reached out to her. She sank onto his lap and he
wrapped both arms around her, noticing Blake's hand ball into a
fist at his side and then relax again.

“
He's in a coma,” she
shrugged and tried to wipe away the tear that had escaped. “They
said we should talk to him,” she continued, sniffling. Blake
reached to the table nearby and handed her a tissue. “So I did. I
told him I was here and that I loved him.” She wiped her eyes again
and Shane rubbed her back in silent consolation. “You can go see
him if you want.”

Blake stood immediately and looked to Shane
as if to ask, “You got this?” Shane nodded and held Lucy close as
Blake walked down the hall.

“
You okay?” Shane asked as
he rested his cheek against the top of her head, unsure where his
mind was with what he'd just witnessed.

“
Just don't leave me,” she
whispered.

***

Blake hated hospitals. The last time he'd
been in one was when Mike had nearly died in Cologne. He tried to
avoid them if at all possible.

He took a seat near Triny's bed and stared
at the rise and fall of the chest of the man he had helped cut
cattle with just a couple weeks ago. That man had been energetic
and bold, larger than life. He looked so out of place among the
beeping machines and sterile surroundings.