Chapter Fourteen
Kylie
As much as I wanted to spend the night with Hunter the night before, he looked beat, and after his day at the ER; he had to be. We cleaned up, I kissed his cheek, and got back over to my place. It was a long night, but the morning came…finally.
I got dressed and joined the guys to drive to the doctor’s office, all of us sleepy and not saying too much. It was odd to see Hunter so stressed out. He’d always been so cool and collected before. Poor thing. I would have done anything I could to change it for him.
As the three of us waited in the doctor's waiting room for Vince’s name to be called, I kept Vince busy with children stories. Vince was fully wrapped up in the story, forgetting about the nerves of being at the doctor’s office. It calmed him a little, diverting his attention to the story.
“Vince Yonnie?” The nurse called out his name, suggesting his turn for the one-on-one consultation with the doctor. The three of us stood up and entered the doctor’s office, hearts racing fast for what was yet to be uncovered.
“Good morning, Mr. And Mrs. Yonnie. Please take a seat.” The doctor welcomed us, mistaking me as Vince’s mother.
“No, Doc. I’m just a friend.” I clarified the fact, although being called Mrs. Yonnie sounded pretty good to my ears.
“So, here’s the thing, which is honestly crazy.” The doctor sat back in his seat, putting the stethoscope on his table. “The good news is that Vince looks like his fever is gone, and he’s on the mend from the flu.”
“The bad news?” Hunter looked like he might pass out.
“I’m afraid we found something in the blood testing yesterday, but it’s a really good thing that we did. Fluke incident, but still, it’s good to know what’s going on before it becomes life threatening.”
I took Hunter’s hand and moved closer to him as my heart dropped. What the hell was going on?
The doctor continued. “The results have confirmed that Vince has diabetes. He needs to be injected with regular insulin shots to help with his blood sugar levels. He’s gotta watch how much sugar he eats too, which comes in all forms.”
Hearing the news made Hunter frown. He looked very disappointed in himself, seeing his son face a lot of things. At such young age, Vince needed to continue taking insulin shots until he got older. The pain he felt was evident and contagious. Seeing him upset broke my heart. Being a single parent had to be so damn hard.
“Was there anything I could have done to stop this?” He kept his eyes on the doctor, but I could tell he was close to breaking down.
“No, not at all. It’s hereditary. Again, it’s a good thing he came in to see us with something like the flu. We can fix this early on, and Vince will live a long, great life if he takes care of himself with insulin.” He smiled over to Vince and ruffled his hair. “We’re going to be just fine, hm, little guy?”
“Yep! I feel great.” Vince smiled up at the doctor and turned to Hunter. “Can we get a lollipop on the way home?”
“No!” We all chimed in. It was going to be okay. A huge adjustment, but something Hunter would figure out how to deal with. I just hoped that he would let me help here and there.
We went back to Hunter’s house, driving in a stony silence. It felt like no one wanted to break the ice. Not even the gleeful Vince, who barely understood what was going on around him. Poor kid, he had so much to face at such a young age and didn’t realize it.
As we reached their house, I got out of the car and took Vince’s stuff into the house. Hunter carried him to the house and tucked him in bed. The little guy curled up and rolled onto his side.
“Guess he’s still recovering.” Hunter stopped in front of the boxes of insulin. “Am I really going to have to give him several shots and poke him five times a day?”
“Yes, but it’s going to be okay.” I wrapped my arms around him from behind and kissed the back of his thick shoulder. “Let me get you something to eat. You haven’t had anything today.”
He looked pale as he turned toward me. “No thanks, Kylie. I’ve lost my appetite.”
My heart sunk. Seeing him hurting was too much for me. We didn’t have a simple fling, though it might look like it from the outside looking in. I was falling in love, or perhaps I was already there.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Hunter. Vince needs you right now. You should take care of yourself.” I followed Hunter into the living room and paused.
He hid his face in the palms of his hands and took a shaky breath. “I feel so helpless. I usually don’t feel like this, but I’m all out of options. I don’t know what to do about my son. I seldom go to the gun shop since Vince got sick. I don’t know what I should do. My head’s all messed up. It’s all my fault. I got my son sick. I’m useless.”
“I know what you’re going through. It’s tough that things got worse even though you tried hard to hope for the best. But there’s one thing I can assure you, Hunter. I will always have your back, no matter what.” I walked over and wrapped my arms around him. “Look at me.”
He ran his hands down his handsome face, his expression solemn. “I hoped I could be a good father to Vince, but I suck at this. I’ve broken a million promises, and the little guy deserves so fucking much better than what I’m giving him.”
“You are a good father, and you love him. That is huge. Don’t discount it.” I ran my hands up his throat and cupped his jaw as I leaned in, kissing him softly. He relaxed a little in my arms. “Don’t worry, as soon as things get better, I’ll help you out by fulfilling all those promises with you. I’m always here to help.”
“I appreciate that.” He searched my face and pulled me in for a longer kiss, the passion there but dampened a little by all he was going through.
I would have taken every bit of it away from him if I could have.
“Also, if you needed someone to look out for Vince, I can do that. I can keep him at the convenience store if you need to finish some work. Mom would be excited to see his precious face anyway.”
“He would love that. You just have to watch him around the candy and chips.” His expression saddened. “I know the doc said it wasn’t my fault, but I still can’t help thinking I played some part in it. You know?”
“Any good parent would think that.” I brushed my lips by his and ran my fingers through his hair as my heart skipped a beat. He was so intense looking that close up. So breathtaking. All I wanted was to make him feel like he wasn’t alone, that I was right there beside him and would continue to be.
I felt our lips touch once more, exploring each other’s taste. I had missed him. It felt like I’d waited forever to be close to him again.
He quenched my thirst, giving me the kiss I had been thinking for days. It was perfect and passionate and deep, filled with emotions and thoughts too complex for words.
Our sweet moment was destroyed by the ringing of my phone. I wasted no time and entangled from his lips, answering the call as quickly as I could.
“Kylie! Where are you? Why did you leave the convenience store? I need a lot of help today; we’ve got plenty of customers to serve!” my mother was screaming, her voice deafening my ears. Damn. I was on the schedule and forgot all about it because of Hunter.
He moved closer and ran his hands down my shoulders, guilt drawn all over his face. “I’ve taken so much of your time. Sorry.”
“All right, Mom. I’m on my way. I’ll explain later.” I turned to him and smiled. “She’s crazy. Did I mention that part?”
He laughed and pulled me in for another kiss. “Get out of here and call me later. I want to see you again. I want more of these.” He leaned in and kissed me softly, leaving my body warm for what was hopefully to come sooner than later.
“Okay. I’d like that.” I kissed him again and turned to walk to the door. “Hey, if you need me to babysit Vince, I’m just a call away.”
“Yeah. He would love that. He likes you a lot.”
“See you later, handsome.” I walked out of the house and glanced back to find him watching me closely. “Call if you need me.”
“I need you.” He smiled, and my heart swelled in my chest.
Man, how I wished his words were true.