Page 80 of Nicki's Fight

“It’s going to be a long road to recovery, but your son is strong. If he wasn’t a fighter, he would never have made it to my operating table,” the doctor nodded at them reassuringly. “That, and the fact he has such a good support system, leads me to believe he is going to make it through this.”

My parents thanked the doctor, and before we knew it everyone was hugging. It was such a relief to know that Sonny was going to be all right. Whatever happened from here, we’d tackle it together.

I turned and looked for Lee and Mason to tell them the good news. I could see them in one of the consultation rooms, the door shut and the cop standing outside the door. Lee and Mason seemed to be arguing about something. I could see anger and hurt flitting over Lee’s face as he talked with Mason. The cop stood outside the door, his arms crossed. I made my way over to the room

I walked up to the door and the officer stepped sideways, barring my path.

“….Excuse me?” I said, my voice calm and low.

“They’re talking,” he said, trying to stare me down.

“I can see that. I need to speak with them,” I said. The officer just stared at me.

“Please step aside, I need to speak with my brother,” the cop just grunted at me, his hands balling into fists. I could hear Mason and my brother easily through the door.

“…I’m sorry, Lee,” he said. He sounded like he was about to cry. “I can’t stay. I can’t… endanger you, or your family, any further. Just ship anything I left at your place to Lizzie. She’ll get it to me.”

I’d heard enough. I sidestepped the cop and shouldered past him.

“Hey guys!” I said brightly, ignoring the cop’s muttered curse. “Everything okay? The doctor just came out. He said he thinks Sonny’s going to be okay. They think they were able to save his leg.”

I saw both Lee and Mason sigh in relief.

“Good. That’s… I’m really glad, Kaine,” Mason said softly, his blue eyes darting from me back to Lee. His face was so fucking… sad. It looked like his heart was breaking.

“Thanks, Kaine,” Lee said, his eyes blank, never leaving Mason’s face.

I nodded at the two of them, confused as hell by the tension in the room. It was their business, though, so I left the room, stepping around Dowling again.

“Some other time, punk,” he said as I passed him.

“You name it,” I snarled. Who thehellwas this asshole?

I went back to where my family sat. Mama K and Mama D looked up as I dropped down into the chair next to Nicki.

“What’s going on?” Nicki asked, looking across the waiting area to the room I’d just left.

I saw Mason walking down the hall with the cop, and Lee just sitting in the consultation room, his head bowed.

“I’m not sure…” I said truthfully. “But I think Mason’s leaving.”

“What the fuck?” Bishop demanded. I shrugged.

“I don’t know, just heard Lee arguing with him. Plus, that cop was a dick,” I said. I generally had a great deal of respect for anyone who wore a uniform. That guy, however, was like all the worst stories you ever heard about people in power.

“I better go check on him,” Bishop said, jumping to his feet.

A while later, we all knew Mason had left. He was gone, without a real explanation to anyone, including, it sounded like, Lee.

We visited with Hicks, briefly, but when Nicki and I went back he was asleep. The nurses said he had been really agitated about Sonny, and he wouldn’t stop trying to get up and go search for him until they finally brought Sonny down from recovery and placed him in the bed next to him.

I realized, belatedly, that I hadn’t messaged Weaver, so I took care of that once we came back from seeing the twins.

ME: Hey, Lil Bit. Both the boys are out of surgery and resting in the ICU. They were able to save Sonny’s leg, and Hicks is resting.

WEAVER: Thank goddess!

I chuckled. Weaver never did things the easy way. Not even her swearing.