Filed to story: Love on the Sidelines (Natalie & Karl)
“We’ll know more later. There’s a family room right around the corner. Why don’t you wait in there?”
I shook my head. “I want to stay with him.”
“You’ll only be in the way.” Karl put his arm around me, used it to guide me down the hall. “Come on. They’ll let us know as soon they find out anything.” The waiting room was large and decorated in a style obviously meant to offer comfort, the furniture in warm beige tones, large and overstuffed. But I couldn’t force myself to sit down. I simply stood in the middle of the room, unable to move once Karl released me.
“Should we call your family?” He gestured toward a courtesy phone on the end table near the couch.
In addition to shaking, my teeth were chattering. I ground them together fiercely and tried to think. “Cody. Call Cody. He’ll know what to do. And Jenna. Tell her to run by the house and turn the coffeemaker off.”
It seemed to take him a long time, but I still hadn’t moved when he finished.
“Everyone is on their way. Cody will try to reach your father before he heads in this direction.”
I nodded. “Thank you. You don’t have to stay. Cody can give me a ride home if I need it.”
His jaw tightened. “I’m not leaving you here alone. Besides, I love the Judge, too.
He’s the closest thing to a real father I’ve ever had.” A sob welled up inside me, closed my throat until I couldn’t breath. “Oh, God. I can’t lose him. He’s all I have left.”
Instantly, Karl was beside me, leading me to the couch, pulling me down on his lap. His arms went around me and he rocked gently. “Ssh. He’s going to be fine.” For the first time since he’d come home, I stopped fighting him. Instead, I buried my face in his neck and soaked him with my tears, let him soothe me, completely unaware that I’d just allowed him to put a huge chink in my defenses. A chink that would gradually widen until all the walls I’d built so carefully crumbled into dust. I’m not sure I would have cared even if I had known. At that moment, I would have snuggled up to the devil himself if he’d offered comfort.
“How can you love him after what he did to you?” My voice was quivery, punctuated by hiccups.
“What did he do to me?” His hands ran over my back.
“Oh, God, Karl. It was his fault they sent you away. He forced the sheriff to make you join the army. If you’d fought them, you could have stayed here, cleared your name. You wouldn’t have had to leave.”
“He did what he thought was right, Natalie.” His voice was low, soothing. “He was trying to keep me from getting hurt, maybe even going to jail. There was no guarantee that I’d have gotten off if it had come to a trial. He didn’t want me to go through that.
Besides, as it turned out, sending me away was one of the best things that could have happened to me. If he hadn’t, I’d probably still be working at a gas station, barely making enough money to survive. Did you know he was paying the property taxes on the salvage yard?”
“The Judge?” I don’t know why I hadn’t realized it before. It made perfect sense.
“Yes. I came home expecting the salvage yard to be gone, confiscated because I hadn’t paid the taxes on it. I think I wanted it to be gone, didn’t want any reminders of my life there. Instead, it was still the same, waiting for me like the monster under my bed. The Judge knew I was going to have face it and deal with the past before I moved on. He was right, as usual, in more ways than one. I’d told Daniel about how I grew up, but I don’t think he really understood everything that happened until he saw the place with his own eyes. Cleaning up the salvage yard and turning it into something good is just what I needed.”
His chest lifted as he took a deep breath. “There’s only one thing about that time I really regret.”
“What?” I lifted a shaky hand to wipe the moisture from my cheeks, but I didn’t move from his lap.
“Pushing you away,” he said quietly. “That was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.
But I was just a kid and scared half to death. I was trying to be noble, to do the right thing, when all I really wanted was to die at the thought of never seeing you again.” I didn’t believe him, of course. Couldn’t believe him. Because if he were telling me the truth, why had he gotten Lindsey pregnant? Why had he sent for her instead of me?
But I also couldn’t deal with all the anger my questions would bring right now. Not while the Judge was fighting for his life. And I couldn’t continue accepting Karl’s comfort feeling the way I did.
Straightening, I pushed away from him and slid off his lap just as Cody rushed into the room. Karl’s call must have gotten him out of bed. It looked like he’d jumped into the first clothes he’d came across and his hair was rumpled, as though he hadn’t taken the time to comb it.
We hugged each other hard for a long second before he spoke.
“How is he?”
“I don’t know. We’re still waiting to hear something. Did you reach the rest of the family?”
“There was no answer at Dad’s, but I left a message on his machine and told him to page me when they got home. I also called the local police. They know Dad and they’re going to look for him.”
He glanced over my shoulder, his expression wary in spite of his words. “Karl, thanks for handling everything and taking care of Natalie. I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad I was there.”
From the door, someone cleared his throat and we all turned toward the man standing there. He looked young to me, dressed in the dark blue ER uniform he wore, but his name tag indicated he was a doctor. Cody put his arm around me as though to protect me from any bad news we were about to hear.
“I’m Doctor Abbott. Are you the family of Mr. Collins?” No one had ever called the Judge “Mr.” before and it took me a moment to realize who he was talking about.
“We’re his grandchildren,” Cody said. “How is he?”
“Your grandfather is lucky to be alive. The stroke was a bad one, but we’ve got him stabilized for now. We’re going to keep him in the emergency room a few more hours until we’re sure it’s safe to move him, then transfer him to ICU.” Relief left me limp. If it hadn’t been for Cody’s support I think my legs would have collapsed. “Then he’s going to make it?”
“No promises, but I’d say his chances are looking pretty good. We did a CT scan and then started him on a new drug that can reduce the damage caused by strokes if the patient receives it fast enough. It’s too soon to tell if it’s working yet, but I have high hopes for his recovery.”