Page 40 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

“Yeah, fuck.”

“My mom has Wren, thank God. But I’m not gonna to call her until I know they’re awake. I will need her to keep Wren for I don’t know how long. And then that makes me feel guilty too, being away from my baby girl. This was my second full night away from her.” I run my hands through my messy hair and yank off my suit coat, which has Kendra’s blood all over it. Fuck.

“You are where you need to be, your mom will understand. And she can bring Wren up here later to see you. You are doing an awesome job with her. You’re a really great dad, Eli.” The sincerity from one of my oldest friends cracks my chest. Everyone knows me as a fuckboy, not a father. Nobody ever thought this would be my path, least of all me.

It’s been at least an hour and we are still waiting for an update when I hear a man’s voice at that nurse’s station.

“I’m here for Kendra Powell.” He’s older, with thick, lighter brown hair that is going grey at the temples, a stocky build on his probably five-foot-ten frame. His worried blue eyes are a mirror to the ones I see on Kendra every day.

The nurse gives him the same information—that Kendra is still in surgery and they will give an update when they can.

“Mr. Powell?” I inquire as Kendra’s dad makes his way over to me and Danny.

“Yes?” Weariness and worry etch every wrinkle and crease on his face as he cautiously shakes my outstretched hand.

“I’m Eli Hargrove, Kendra’s neighbor and . . . friend.” It feels like a lie. I’m more, want to be more. But what the hell am I supposed to say that’s any different in this moment? Kendra’s dad narrows his eyes as I continue, “And this is Detective Danny McEntire.”

“I’m Max Powell, Kendra’s dad. The hospital called and said that she was brought in after an accident and was in surgery? What happened? She was at the wedding tonight? I just talked to her this morning.” The tears forming in his eyes and the quivering in his questions make me want to run from having this conversation. I don’t want this man to know what horrors his daughter went through tonight. Thankfully, it’s Danny that speaks first.

“Mr. Powell,” he begins, but Kendra’s dad holds up a hand.

“Max, please, call me Max.”

“Okay, Max. Well, Kendra was at the wedding tonight. She left with her date, Bennett Cross. He took her home, and a couple hours later Eli found her in the living room of her home. She was alone and severely beaten.” Max stumbles to the nearest chair, collapsing into its hard embrace, and I drop down in the chair next to him.

“I called an ambulance, and we got her here as fast as we could. They said she has a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding. That’s what she is in surgery for right now. We haven’t had any updates yet though,” I explain.

“My little girl,” Max whimpers and buries his face in his hands.

Danny exchanges a glance with me, not sure what we should do.

“Eli,” Max says, “thank you, thank you for finding her. For getting her here. God, I can’t even think about what would have happened if . . . I guess for this I can forgive you for breaking her heart all those years ago.” I gape at him and Danny gasps in surprise.

Welp, I guess the cat’s coming out of the freaking bag tonight.

“I’m so sorry, Max. For everything. But I promise, I will never hurt her again. I will never let anyone else hurt her again.” Max takes in my words with the scrutiny of a loving father, something I never experienced myself but hope to provide for Wren.

“I believe you, son.” He pats my hand as tears cloud my vision.

A man has never called me that word, ever.

Even the years my father was around, it was not a title or a tie to me that he claimed with any kind of pride. He snapped his fingers at me in irritation and called me boy or my name. But here was Max, saying son so casually, and yet with complete sincerity. It was embedded with the forgiveness he was issuing me for hurting his daughter all those years ago. Forgiveness, that in my eyes, I still needed to earn.

Several cups of shitty hospital coffee that Danny kept supplying for us later, a doctor stepped through the double doors and called for Kendra’s family. Max and I both jumped to our feet.

The older, short Black man with a mahogany complexion pulls the scrub cap scattered with stars from his head and shakes our hands. “I’m Dr. Allen and am in charge of your daughter’s care,” he says with a deep, exhausted sigh. “Well, Ms. Kendra is out of the worst of it for now. We got in there and it was a lot of damage. The spleen was totally ruptured and there was a significant amount of internal bleeding. Thankfully, she was brought in to us in time to get her to my OR so fast.”

“When can we see her?” Max asks.

“She is in recovery now, so we can bring two people back at a time in a few minutes.”

“What about her other injuries?” I ask.

“Yes, Kendra also suffered two broken ribs, a break to her left ulna. It was a clean break from what the X-ray showed, which was fortunate. She won’t need surgery, just a cast for probably six to eight weeks. But our ortho doc will be in to follow up with that just to be sure.” Max and I nod along with the information being thrown at us. Dr. Allen continues, “She has a lot of bruising, a split lip, and we believe a Grade 3 concussion, but it’s of course hard to say until Kendra wakes up and is able to answer some questions for us.”

Danny walks up and introduces himself, having been off to the side listening and taking notes. “I’m sorry, sir, have to ask, given the nature of this case and my investigation. Was there any indication of sexual assault?”

I suck in a sharp breath. That is something I should have thought of, but my mind was so focused on all her other injuries I didn’t even consider that Kendra could have suffered even further trauma at the hands of that sick motherfucker.