Chapter 20
There’s a knock on the door, but I’m in an exam room with a patient, so I’m not sure why someone would be knocking. I open the door far enough to see it’s my clinic nurse. “Doctor Greene, you have a call on line 1.”
“Take a message.” I’m confused as to why she wouldn’t have done that in the first place.
“They said it’s important. It’s about your brother.” Shit!
“Okay. I’m coming.” I turn to my patient. “I want to see you in two weeks.”
I shut the door behind me and walk to the front desk. I hit the button for line one. “Hello.”
The daytime caregiver is frantic. “Sierra! Mark left the house when I was in the bathroom. I’ve looked everywhere, but he’s gone!”
My heart begins to race. “I’m coming now!” I hang up and tell the receptionist, “Cancel the rest of my appointments.” I rush to my office, quickly grab my belongings, and run to my SUV.
I speed all the way to my house and run inside. “Heather!” I yell.
She comes running into the living room. “I’m so sorry. I thought he was napping.”
“How long has he been gone?” I start running through the house, checking around for him myself.
“Thirty minutes or so,” she answers behind me.
“Okay, I’m going to go look for him. You stay here in case he remembers to come back.” I run out the front door and jump back in my SUV.
Grabbing my phone, I call Hacker. “Hey, Red.”
“My brother’s missing,” I cry into the phone.
“Fuck! Okay, babe, stay calm. Where would he go? I’m grabbing my keys and I’ll be there soon.”
“I don’t know—he could be anywhere!” I hit my steering wheel. “The caregiver said he’s been gone at least thirty minutes.”
I hear his motorcycle start. “When Shelly takes him on walks, where do they go?”
“They walk to the park and back.”
“Start there. I’ll meet you at your house after you check there.”
“Okay.” I try to control my emotions and my breathing, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles are white to keep my hands from shaking. I drive to the park and scan the whole area, but he’s not here. I drive back to my house, jump out of the SUV, and run inside. I yell, “Has he come back?”
“No,” Hacker answers. “Give me your keys, I’ll drive.” We rush back out to my vehicle, and Hacker begins to drive. “Where else could he go?”
“I don’t know!” I’m frantic. What if we can’t find him? What if something happened to him? All of these what ifs run through my mind. Mark has never taken off like this, but he’s never had the chance before. Someone has always been with him, but Heather knew not to leave him alone unless he was for sure napping.
“He mentions home a lot—would he remember where his old house is?” Hacker glances at me for a second before looking back at the road.
“Maybe?” I give him directions.
Fifteen minutes later, we pull up to Mark’s old house and, sure enough, he’s sitting on the front porch. “Oh, thank God!” I open the door and start to run up to my brother.
He looks up, confused. “Could you help me?”
“What are you doing here?” I ask calmly.
“I’ve lost my keys, can you help me? I thought I had them when I left work, but I guess I must have left them there. Kyra won’t be home for a few hours and I need to pick my son up from the babysitter,” he rambles.
“Mark?” I question, trying to get him to focus.
His eyes meet mine, and his brows pull down. “Do I know you? Do you know my wife?”
“Mark it’s me, Sierra.” I step closer to him.
“No, Sisi is away at college. She’s going to be a doctor.” He smiles proudly.
My heart hurts. I clear my throat to push down the lump that’s forming. “Why don’t you come with me and we will see if we can find your keys.”
“Okay.”
I open the door of the SUV and help him climb into the backseat, stealthily clicking the child lock into place before shutting the door for him. When I get into the passenger’s side I mouth, “Thank you,” Hacker and take his hand in mine. We drive back to my house safely in silence, where we get Mark inside and into his room.
I shut his bedroom door, then walk down the hall and into the living room, where Hacker and Heather are. “Heather, you can go home.”
She tries to apologize for the hundredth time, but I just can’t hear it anymore. “I’m really sorry, Sierra—”
Putting my hand up, I stop her from saying any more. “Please, just go.” I feel exhausted and I realize it’s time Cash and I had a talk.
Heather grabs her things and shuts the front door behind her.
“You okay?” Hacker pulls me into his arms. I shake my head against his chest, and the tears start falling.
“I’ve never been so scared before. I didn’t know if I would find him.” I sob and pull back, tears blurring my vision. “He didn’t even know who I was, Hacker, what am I supposed to do?”
His hands rub my shoulders then move up, cupping my cheeks so I have to look into his eyes. “I’ll be here to support you with whatever you and Cash decide, but I think you know what would be best.”
“Thank you.” I give him a small smile. “Will you stay while I talk to Cash?”
“Yeah, babe, I’m not goin’ anywhere. I’m just gonna make a couple calls real quick.”
Hacker walks outside just as Cash walks in. “Hey, Sierra.” He smiles.
“Hey, buddy. Umm...” I rub my forehead. “We need to talk.”
“Okay.” He sets his backpack down and follows me into the dining room.
We sit at the table. Cash stays quiet, waiting for me to start. “You know your dad loves you so much, right?”
He nods. “Yeah.”
“And you know he’s not getting any better, right?” I ask as Hacker sits next to me.
“I know,” he quietly tells me.
“Today, while you were at school, he left the house.”
He interrupts me, “Is he okay? Did you find him?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. We found him sitting at your old house. He didn’t know who I was, Cash.” My bottom lip begins to tremble, but I have to stay strong for my nephew.
His brows pull down. “He’ll remember. You know he just gets confused.”
Looking down, I fidget with the hem of my blouse. “I know, Cash, but there’s going to come a time when he won’t remember. He won’t come back. I think it’s time we need to consider putting him in a nursing home.”
He starts growing visibly upset, his brows pulling down tightly. “He’s not old, Sierra! He needs to be here with us!”
I meet his watery eyes. “Cash.” I tilt my head to the side. “I want him here with us, too.” I reach out, grabbing his hand in mine. “But they would keep him safe and take care of him.”
He throws back, “We take care of him.”
“I know, buddy, but this is what’s best for him.” How can you really make a ten-year-old understand you have to send his father away?
He wipes a tear away from his cheek. “Can we still see him?”
“Of course, we can. As much as we want.”
He nods and looks away.
Hacker chimes in, “Why don’t we all go together, and we will find the best placement for your dad. Sierra won’t make any decisions unless you are okay with it, sound good?”
Cash looks at Hacker. “You promise?”
“Yeah,” Hacker answers, taking my other hand in his and lacing our fingers together.
Cash looks at me, and I nod. “I promise.”
“Okay. I’m going to my room now.” He stands and walks away.
I watch him go. “I hate this.”
“I know.” Hacker’s thumb rubs the top of my hand.
The doorbell rings. I stand and walk to the door, opening it when I reach it. “Hey!” they all say. Zoey, Jacey, Ever, Chatty, Tinsley, Daphne, and Audrey stand on the front porch.
“What are you all doing here?” I’m shocked; I don’t know how they found out where I lived.
“I called Hanger,” Hacker says behind me.
My head snaps in his direction. “You did?”
“Yeah, Red, you need family.”
“Family?” My eyes begin to water again.
“Yeah, family,” Zoey responds. “And wine.” Each one of the girls walks in, hugging me as they go by.
“I’m gonna go by Stilettos, give y’all some time to do your chick shit, and later on I’ll be back.” He starts to walk past me, but I reach out, grabbing his arm. He turns to look at me.
“Thank you.” My eyes search his as he leans in, placing his lips against mine softly in a chaste kiss.
“You’re welcome.” I smile as I watch him walk out the door.
I go into the kitchen, grab enough wineglasses for everyone out of the cabinet, and join the ladies in the living room.
“It was really sweet of Hacker to call Hanger,” Zoey says.
“Yeah, it was.” I smile. My phone rings on the coffee table. “Hello?”
“Doctor Greene? It’s Darla—I’m in labor.”
“How far apart are your contractions?” I put my wineglass down and stand up.
“About five minutes.” Her breathing is heavy and I hear her grunts of pain.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital!” I hang up. “I’m sorry, I have to go! Can one of you stay until Shelly gets here?”
“Yeah, sure!” Jacey tells me.
“Thanks.” I rush to get my purse and keys. I run out to my SUV and speed to the hospital.
Darla pushes for the last time and her newborn baby girl is out. I cut the umbilical cord and hand the baby to the nurse. “Get her weight and vitals.” I finish taking care of Darla, leave the birthing room, removing my scrubs as I go, and walk to the nursery. “How is she?” I ask the nurse that’s checking her over.
“She has neonatal abstinence syndrome. She’s underweight, and has muscle stiffness and rapid breathing. We have the oxygen on her and the pediatrician is deciding if we should start medication, but I would say that’s what is going to be best.”
Sighing, I nod. “Keep me updated.”
“I will. This little girl has a long road ahead of her.” That she does, because Darla couldn’t leave the needle alone and now her baby was born addicted to heroin.
When I pull into my driveway late into the night, Hacker’s motorcycle is there. He came back and stayed. Sighing, I release a deep breath and smile. After locking my Navigator, I unlock my front door, letting myself inside to see that all the lights are off. I’m sure everyone is sleeping, so I head to my room.
My bathroom light is on; it casts a glow across Hacker lying in my bed sleeping. I take the opportunity to explore him visually: all of his smooth ink-covered skin, his muscled physique, and the way he looks at peace when he sleeps. He really is a beautiful beast. I look at the ground and back up, trying to contain the happiness I feel right now. I take my shoes off and quietly open my dresser, pulling out an old t-shirt and changing. I easily pull the covers back on my side and slip into bed, trying not to wake him.
“Hey,” he says tiredly, pulling me against his side.
I lay my head on his chest, kissing it softly. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I wasn’t sleeping.” He yawns. “Everything okay with your work?”
“It was rough. The mother is a drug addict and the baby was born addicted to heroin.”
His hand rubs up and down my back. “Christ. Is the baby going to be okay?”
“Yeah, she’s going to have a rough start, though. The pediatrician is seeing how bad her withdrawals are before deciding to start her on methadone. I hope after this the mother will get treatment for herself.” I turn my head to look into his eyes. “Thank you for calling the ladies earlier. I wish I could have spent more time with them.”
“You’re welcome. I just want you to know you aren’t alone. You have all of us here to lean on, to help you with whatever you need.”
“You don’t know how much that means to me. It was always just Mark and me against the world, ya’ know. I don’t know how to ask for help or really open up to people.”
“I get it.” He kisses my forehead.
“How was Cash?”
“He’s gonna be okay. We played some PlayStation, shot some baskets, and I ordered some food. Get some rest; you’ve had a long day, Red.”
I relax into his chest; the feeling of safety and protection in his arms has me falling fast asleep.
The next morning, I walk into Darla’s room to check on her. The bed is empty, so I rush to the nurse’s station. “Where’s Darla?”
“She should be in her room.” The nurse’s brows knit. She follows me back to the room. We check around the space: her clothes are gone, the IV is lying on the bed along with her hospital gown, and she’s not in the bathroom.
I quickly stride to the NICU. “Is the baby born yesterday still here?”
“Yes, she’s right over there.” Oh, thank God! I walk over and look down at the tiny human, my eyes brimming with tears. “Her mother has left the hospital.” The baby begins to cry.
“I know we aren’t supposed to judge, Doctor Greene, but this baby is going through hell and has now been abandoned by the person who is supposed to love her more than anything. The person who is supposed to protect her. I don’t understand sometimes why women like that are allowed to have babies.”
“Unprofessionally, I agree with you. But professionally, it’s our job to take care of patients no matter their situation. Call social services.” The nurse gives the baby her medication and she calms some. I pick her up into my arms, hold her against my chest, and sit in the rocking chair next to her little bed. I begin a light rock. “You’re going to be just fine. You’re strong and you are going to have parents that love you and spoil you rotten.” I kiss the top of her head, which is full of dark hair.