Past Transgressions - Mature 18+

Chapter 29

Christmas passed in a pleasurable haze, the love of friends and family making Brace understand what had been missing for the 2 years she was away.

However, with Christmas out of the way they were now in full swing to get the house ready for them to move in before the new year. They had lots of help with the painting and changes that they wanted made to the bathrooms and kitchen, that could be done to suit their style right now without needing to deal with a drastic renovation.

It was a few days until the New Year, with just the last two rooms having gotten their last coat of paint Brace sent everyone else home. Lex would arrive shortly to help her finish cleaning up to let the place dry out completely tomorrow and then they would start to move things in the day after. Rowan had taken up residence on some of the blankets they had finished gathering up from having laid down to protect the floors and was having a snooze while Brace worked in the kitchen on cleaning the paint from the paint brushes.

After she finished cleaning the last brush she realized that quite some time had passed and Lex still hadn't arrived, hearing Rowan whine she took him outside to do his business. Coming back in she grabbed her phone intending to call Lex to find out where he was when it rang, the number showing up as the hospital.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Ms. Ryerson?"

"Yes, this is she. What's wrong? What's happened?"

"I'm sorry miss, there has been an accident. Mr. Dublin is in critical condition and you are listed as one of his next of kin."

"I'm on my way!"

Grabbing her purse, she tucked Rowan in his kennel and locked the door as she ran to the SUV and ignoring the speed limit signs sped to the hospital to find out what happened. She asked at the front desk to find out where the ICU was located and taking the elevator to the floor, exiting forcing herself to walk and not run down the hallway. As she neared the nurses station she heard familiar voices coming from the waiting room to the right of it, turning instead toward the voices rather than the nurses station she was greeted with Marcus and Bit as well as Jake, Topaz and her parents.

"Marcus..." Brace said still feeling somewhat numb

Hearing her call his name Marcus turned, seeing her shattered look he gathered her up in his arms, "It's alright, he is a fighter he will pull through."

"What happened?"

"They said it was an accident at the shop" Marcus said not meeting her eyes

"An accident at the shop?" Brace questioned hearing the lie behind the words.

Hearing a throat clear behind her Brace whipped around to be greeted by the doctor,

"Ms. Ryerson, Mr. Dublin, please take a seat." the doctor advised

Grabbing Marcus' hand unconsciously Brace sat in the chair beside him to hear what the doctor had to say.

"Mr. Dublin suffered a broken arm and leg, a punctured lung as well as many lacerations and cuts, however these things will heal over time. Our big concern is the head trauma, he currently has an edema or swelling of the brain that needs to be monitored closely to ensure it goes down"

Breathing deeply, Marcus asked "What happens if it doesn't go down?"

The doctor looked closely at him and said "Let's focus on monitoring for a couple days before we worry about crossing that bridge."

Brace clenched his hand tightly hearing that but was too numb to shed any tears, "Can I see him?"

"Yes, you can follow me down to his room now."