“When can we see Tommy?” Nevvie asked.
“They’re getting him settled in the ICU now. Give them about twenty minutes then go on back. I understand that they already have special instructions concerning your situation and will be flexible with you with visitation.”
“Thank you.”
“Go ahead and stay here for a few minutes if you need to.”
The doctors left. Nevvie laid her head on her hands and cried, long and hard, with Pete and Bob patting her back. This wasn’t hysterics—this was relief.
Peggy spoke up. Her voice sounded ragged. “He’s tough, sugar. Our Tommy’s a tough man. He’ll be fine.”
Pete stepped out to update Eddie. When Nevvie composed herself she looked at Bob.
“Will you please handle all the paperwork about the accident? Insurance, his bike, all that?”
“Of course I will.”
“Oh, dammit. I need to call Elliot and Steve about Tyler before word gets out.” Tyler’s publicist and agent needed to know what was going on before the press caught wind of it.
Bob stopped her. “Write them down and give me Tyler’s phone. I’ll call them and anyone else who needs to know.”
She closed her eyes. “Crap.”
“What?”
“I’ve got to call Delores.”
“Who?” Peggy asked.
Nevvie sighed. “Tyler’s mother.”
* * * *
Nevvie walked outside with Tyler’s phone. She found a bench in the shade and looked up Delores’ number in Tyler’s contact list. With a deep breath she hit the send button and waited for an answer.
She didn’t know or care what time it was in England. She needed this done and off her plate. She wasn’t fond of the woman, had only met her once and spoken on the phone with her twice during her five years with the boys. Tyler rarely talked with her.
When Delores answered, Nevvie forced herself to speak. “Delores? I’m sorry I didn’t check the time before I called. This is Nevvie.”
“Nevvie?”
“Tyler’s wife.”
“I know who you are. Why are you calling me?”
“I’m calling you because I don’t want you finding out from the press. Tyler’s in the hospital. He had a heart attack this morning.”
“Oh my God! Is he all right?”
“He had surgery. He’ll be in the hospital for a few days at least.”
There was a moment of stunned silence from the woman. “Is he going to die? Is his will in order?”
Nevvie bit back a sarcastic reply. Maybe she should have called Delores at the start. Her anger would have kept her from losing her mind over the news about Thomas. “No, he’s going to be just fine.”
“Did you two finally get married? Did he get rid of that guy?”
“What?”
“You called yourself his wife. Did he finally marry you so my grandson’s not a bastard?”
Delores had never even seen Adam, never acknowledged him in any way despite Nevvie sending her quite a few cards and letters with pictures of him enclosed.
Nevvie tried counting backward. Nope, didn’t work.
“If you’re referring to Thomas, no. We are still a marriage of three, like it or not, you old harpy.”
“
What
did you call me?”
Nevvie couldn’t help herself. She needed a target to unleash on and had her sights locked and loaded. “I called you an old harpy. H-A-R-P-Y. He loves Thomas, you old bat, and Thomas loves him. How dare you insult their relationship just because you don’t like it.”
“This is all his father’s fault, you know. That bloody bastard, filthy bugger. If he hadn’t left the way he did, maybe Tyler never would have turned into a homosexual like—”
“All right lady, you know what? I’m
not
having this conversation. I only wanted to give you the common courtesy of calling you so you didn’t find out about this in the papers.”
Delores’ tone immediately changed, whining. “Can I come see him?”
Nevvie knew what Delores was implying because the woman was perpetually broke. “I don’t want you anywhere near him. I’m damn sure not paying for a ticket to fly you over. I’ve got enough grief to deal with as it is, and it’s not like he’ll want to see you.”
There was a moment of stunned silence from the older woman. “How dare you talk to me that way!”
“I’ll bloody well talk to you how I want to,” Nevvie screamed, unconsciously mimicking Tyler’s speech habits in her anger. “He’s
my
husband, and it’s
my
job to take care of him!”
“We’ll see about that, missy,” Delores hissed, then hung up on her. Nevvie was too angry to ponder what the hell she meant by that.
Fueled by rage, Nevvie stormed into the hospital and flung open the conference room door. “I’m going to the ICU. Bob, you come with me.”
Pete and Bob exchanged startled glances. Bob scrambled to follow, grabbed her arm to slow her strides. “What happened?”
Nevvie turned on him. “Tell hospital security that if that woman shows up, she’s not allowed to see Tyler or get any information about him. I don’t even want people to know he’s in the hospital.”
“What? She’s coming all the way from London?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put anything past that greedy bitch.” Nevvie filled him in.
“Okay. So we hook up Em and Delores and they can gay bash together.”
Nevvie froze, then laughed, throwing her arms around Bob and laughing until she cried. It took her a few minutes to regain her composure.
“You feeling a little more stable now, hon?”
She wiped her eyes. “I think so. I needed that. Thanks.”
“Don’t worry. You know I love a good fight and hey, it’s just billable hours.”
Nevvie laughed again. If Bob could crack jokes it meant her boys would be okay.
She maintained that upbeat mood until she stepped into the ICU. The nurse at the desk waved her in. After scrubbing up they first stopped at Tyler’s bed. “How is he?” she asked his nurse.
“He’s okay. I’m taking care of Thomas, too.”
“They told you not to tell Tyler, right?”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
Nevvie kissed Tyler’s forehead and brushed the hair away from his face. “I’ll be back later, honey. I promise.” With trembling legs she stepped to the next alcove, where the curtain was pulled but the sliding glass doors stood open.
The nurse, Carol, laid a hand on her arm. “Remember, he’s been in an accident. He looks pretty bad right now. Don’t let that scare you.”
“I’m sure I looked pretty damn bad my first few days, too.” Nevvie remembered Carol from her prior stay.
Carol smiled. “That’s right, you did. Just remember, stay calm.”
Nevvie stepped through the curtain, Bob right behind her.
Thomas looked horrible. Two black eyes, face bruised and battered, his head bandaged, on a ventilator. His left leg was bared, an incision on his hip still surrounded with orange residue from the surgical soap, and his leg bore several large, angry, sutured wounds. He also had IV tubes in both arms.
Nevvie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn’t fall apart anymore, that luxury was gone. She opened her eyes and walked to the head of his bed, kissed him on the forehead.
“Tommy, sweetheart, you’re going to be okay. I’ll bring Mom and Karen back in a few minutes to see you. Tyler’s going to be okay. He’s out of surgery and he’ll be fine.”
She carefully took his hand, holding it so she didn’t disturb his IVs. Dropping her voice she said, “I need my tough guy, Tommy. I need you back. I don’t care what shape you’re in, I don’t care how bad you’re hurt or what we have to do to help you. I don’t care. All I care about is that you’re alive and you don’t leave us. You’re my husband and I love you.”
She kissed him again. With her lips near his ear she whispered, “I need my sweet master to come back to me. Do you hear me, Thomas? Your little slave needs you because she loves you and misses you.”
She spent a few more minutes with him before letting Bob lead her to the conference room. Nevvie took a deep breath and pasted a smile on her face. “Okay,” she said to Peggy and Karen, “you come back with me. Guys, why don’t you wait in the waiting room for us?”
Pete looked at Bob, who shook his head, staying the other man’s questions.
With Peggy on her left and Karen on her right, Nevvie held the women’s hands and led them to the ICU.
Nevvie introduced Peggy and Karen to the nurse. “You’ll be seeing a lot of all of us.”
“That’s okay. I’ll make sure my replacement tonight knows what’s going on. I think it’ll be Ben. You might remember him.”
Nevvie did. He was a sweetheart totally sympathetic to their situation and never gave them grief when the boys visited her—except for playfully trying to flirt with Tyler. He also frequently closed the curtain and let them well overstay the visiting times.
“Please tell them I want it to be Ben. For both of them.”
“I will.”
Nevvie led the way through the curtain. Karen gasped. Peggy seemed prepared and nodded.
“He’ll be okay, girls. I know he will.”
Nevvie stood at the end of the bed and let them have time with him. She absently stroked his right foot through the sheet and started to run through things in her mind. She’d need to talk to Karen in private, ask her to stay for a few weeks. She’d give her money to pay her bills so she could take the time off from work. She had to get with Kenny and Cal and Maggie at the office—crap! Another call to make.
She’d need to get organized, buy a calendar book so she could track doctor appointments and prescriptions and everything else. So much to do. More anguished tears threatened and she forced them back.
After twenty minutes, the women were ready to go. They all stopped by Tyler’s bed one more time before finding the men in the waiting room.
“Bob, I have to call Tommy’s office,” Nevvie said.
“I’ll do it. I know Maggie.”
“Thank you.” She looked at Pete. “Do you want to see them?”
His eyes looked red. Apparently the large man with the rough façade wasn’t as tough as he portrayed. “Yeah. Can I?”
Nevvie held out her hand. “Of course you can. You’re family.”
He did okay with Tyler. The sight of Thomas’s battered face finished him and he openly wept. “Nevvie, I’m sorry. It’s just…dammit, I’ve known them for years. I knew Tyler before he ever met Tommy, you know that. They’re like my brothers.”
Nevvie’s turn to comfort him. “I know.”
“We can’t let Eddie in here. He’ll be a blubbering mess.”
“I hope Eddie doesn’t mind playing nanny for a few weeks. I’m going to need him.”
“He loves the Ant, you know that.” Eddie had nicknamed Adam “Ant” after one of his favorite rock singers. “Thank God he doesn’t have a uterus or we’d have twenty kids by now.”
Nevvie laughed. Pete always cracked her up.
He squeezed Tom’s hand. “Don’t worry, buddy,” he said to Thomas. “We’re taking care of them. You get to feeling better.”
* * * *
It was after six o’clock. Nevvie felt she’d cried gallons of tears since waking up that morning. She got her keys from Peggy and drove the three of them to the house while Bob ran Pete home. Bob would bunk on the pullout sofa in Tom’s study while Peggy and Karen shared the bed in the guest room.
Nevvie didn’t relish the thought of sleeping alone in their bed, but she didn’t want anyone else sleeping there. Her boys would be home soon. Then it would be the three of them again. It was one small piece of normality she could cling to, something to keep her wanting to put one foot in front of the other.
Pete returned to the house in his car and brought Chinese food and reports of the Ant’s activities for the day. “Eddie will bring him by in an hour or so to visit and get more supplies.”
“Can you keep him overnight? I’m sorry to impose.”
“Babe, what part of ‘you don’t have to ask’ don’t you understand? You know we’ll do anything for you guys.”
“Thanks, Pete.” Pete had remembered Nevvie’s fondness for lo mein. Not remembering which kind, he brought three different varieties as well as enough food to feed half the Chinese Army. They’d never eat it all, but she was grateful for the gesture.
Maggie stopped by, her face red from crying. She started sobbing again as she hugged Nevvie. “I’m so sorry, Nev. They’ll be okay, won’t they?”
Nevvie vocalized the mantra she suspected would keep her going over the next days and weeks. “They’re strong, and they’re tough. They’ll come back to me. I’m going back to the hospital in a little while. Want to see them?”
“Can I?”
“Of course you can.”
They would have a full house. April and Cheryl would drive down the day after tomorrow and hadn’t told the two eldest sisters squat, as per their mother’s orders. They could only stay a couple of days and would take over the pullout in Tom’s office. Bob could either go home or sleep on the sofa in the living room.
Eddie arrived with Adam. Nevvie fought a new round of tears as she took her son from him. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Adam’s smooth forehead. She held him for a few minutes then passed him to Karen, who hadn’t seen him in over two months.
Staring into Adam’s blue eyes—Tyler’s blue eyes—was both a comfort and a stabbing pain in Nevvie’s soul.
Nevvie gathered what Eddie would need for Adam and took a few minutes to wash her face in the bathroom. She barely recognized herself, between the red, puffy eyes and dark circles. She’d woken up happy and in heaven. In a few hours, she’d go to bed in the depths of hell.
Maggie followed her to the hospital. Nevvie led her to the ICU. She took a deep breath and said a silent prayer before stepping through the unit doors with Maggie.
Tyler could be sleeping except for the ventilator and IVs. It was easy to picture him coming home soon. Nevvie steeled herself for Maggie’s choked sob when she led her to Tom’s bedside.
They didn’t stay long. Maggie hugged her out in the parking lot before driving away. Nevvie got into her car and sat for a moment without starting it. Then she rested her forehead on the steering wheel and screamed at the top of her lungs for several long, agonizing minutes until she couldn’t scream anymore. Only when she felt she could hold it together in front of the others did she drive home.