Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Yes,” I breathed. “I’ll get him cleaned up. Then get that done for him.”
Dru smiled at me sadly and said, “Let me know if you need any help. I might be able to spare someone.”
I patted her shoulder and said, “I’ll be fine.”
I waited off to the side while the doctor and the dad of the little boy finished talking.
From what I was hearing, the little boy had suffered multiple breaks in his spine, his head was crushed, and there was really nothing left that was compatible with life.
“Apollo,” Webber said, surprising me with his soft voice. “Sept, look at me.”
Apollo.
God.
Was that who that was?
He finally looked up, and the ravaged expression on his face made me start to tear up.
“I can’t do it.”
“I don’t…” Webber began.
“I’m going to give you some time,” the doctor said before disappearing from the room.
“Webber…”
Hush.
The man that’d been in my apartment last week.
“Can we give him some time?” he asked.
The men filed out, and that’s when I saw my father there.
He’d been in a corner.
He was unsurprised to see me, and he patted my head as he left.
I waited until everyone was gone to go up to the man at the bed.
“Hey, can I get him washed up?” I asked. “We can get him all nice and clean.”
Apollo looked at his son.
I don’t know what he saw, but I could tell you what I saw.
Devastation.
This kid didn’t look like a kid anymore. He looked like a broken doll, one that would never be put back together again.
“Yeah,” Apollo rasped. “I think I’d like that.”
I left the room, passing through the group of men in the hallway.
They were standing outside of two rooms, and when I got to the open doorway of the second one, I heard Dr. Marsh having the same speech with another man dressed in a Truth Tellers MC cut.
This one was standing beside the bed of a woman with strawberry-blonde hair, lying lifelessly on the stark white hospital bed.
She looked just as broken as the boy did.
Had they been together?
As I gathered up the things I would need to give the little boy a bath, I made a mental note to offer the same services to the other man once I was done.
Dru found me as I’d gathered up everything I’d need, coming up with a handful of items.
“I got the kit they use when they have a still birth,” Dru said softly. “When you’re done with this, there’s a woman in the next room…”
“I already planned on going there next,” I said softly.
Dru patted my hand. “Thanks, friend.”
Gathering my courage, I straightened my spine and headed back into the little boy’s room.
Apollo was still there by himself, staring at the little boy’s hand in his.
I got the water warm, then filled up the small tub and added some soap.
Pulling the rolling table with me, I dunked the washcloths and started cleaning the boy up.
“What’s his name?” I asked quietly.
“Tavi.” He swallowed hard. “Octavian.”
“I love that name,” I said softly. “Tell me about him?”
So I listened and cleaned, letting Apollo talk about how great his son was.
How much life had been in him.
How he’d suffered, and he’d thought he was finally home with him.
How they’d spend forever making up for the time they’d lost together.
“What’s that?” Apollo asked.
I held up a card and some ink.
“One of our nurses, Dru, thought you might like the memento,” she said. “The babies that are born get their hands and feet prints.”
“Yeah,” Apollo croaked. “I think I’d like that.”
He helped me stamp his feet and his hands.
Still so small.
So much life left to live, cut short by one stupid kid who had no clue of the destruction he’d caused.
“What would you do?” he asked.
My eyes lifted to Apollo’s.
He was still crying.
His watery blue eyes looked so devastated that it was hard to meet his gaze.
But I forced myself to hold it anyway.
“I’m pretty biased,” I said softly.
“Why?”
I poured the water down the sink and moved the washcloths into the biohazard bag in the corner of the room before I turned to look at the grieving father.
“Every month I watch organ transplant patients come in and out of this hospital,” I said softly.
He swallowed hard.
“They come in here, all walks of life, with so much hope. Most walk out. Some don’t. But the hope that’s in their eyes as they arrive for that organ transplant…” I shook my head. “I signed up for organ donation after working here for six months. I truly think that I want my life to mean bigger and greater things. You can save so many people. He can save so many people. And I’d bet, if you could ask him, he’d say the same thing.”
There was a throat clearing behind me, and I turned to find the man that’d been in the next room staring.