Page 222 of The Locker Room

surgery waiting room.

As Xander walked in, he was suddenly assaulted by Cliff"s words

in the car, and the sweet little moment between Cliff and his wife was

forgotten.

“Is he… his spine? His head?” Oh God. Spinal injuries… brain

damage… all of it came back, and Xander grabbed the doorframe,hard,

because if he keeled over, there wasn"t a soul in this room who could

catch him.

“They"re fine,” Andi said, coming up to him and putting her

shoulder underneath his arm. He wanted to laugh at the idea that she"d be

able to support his weight, but he couldn"t. It was too close to the truth,

because his knees almost buckled.

192 Amy Lane

“Fine?” He looked at Andi, because her face was still tight and

stoic with worry. Chris was obviously not fine.

“He"s got some internal injuries,” Andi said, blinking hard. “They

were able to stop the bleeding in his kidneys, and they had to remove his

spleen, but it"s… it"s his legs. That"s why they thought there might be

spinal damage. He whacked his head pretty hard, and while they were

testing his reflexes, there wasn"t any response, but it"s because his legs

were—” She stifled a sob, and Jed"s arm came around Xander"s body as

he took Xan"s other side. Xander shook them off gently, and took their

elbows to lead them back to the couch. He was grown. They"d taken care

of him when he"d had no one—he could be their strength now.

“Tell me,” he said gently, when Andi was weeping softly on her

husband"s ragged denim jacket.

“His legs were crushed,” Jed said brokenly. “He"d punctured his

main arteries in a couple of places, and they"re trying to get them

repaired now. When they"re done with that, they"re going to start to put

them back together—pins, sutures, Xander, it"s going to be a mess. It"s