All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,67
the TV remote. “Watch some TV. Would you like something to drink?”
“Can I have a soda?”
Carmen looked at Hannah, who nodded. Oliver took the remote and turned the TV on.
“I’ll bring one to you. Hannah, can I talk to you?”
“Sure.” She stepped out, and Kal said, “I’ll wait in here with Oliver.”
She gave him a grateful smile, then walked outside with Carmen.
“So, buddy,” Kal said. “Did you know I broke my arm when I was a kid?”
“Nuh-uh. You did? Did it hurt like mine hurts?”
“It hurt bad. I had to get it reset, then had a cast on for two whole months.”
“No way. Did all your friends sign your cast?”
“They did. It was pretty cool.” Back when he still went to school, when he still lived at home with his mom and stepdad. He could still remember how pissed-off his stepdad had been that day. As if he’d fallen off the top of the slide on purpose. His mother hadn’t even stepped in to defend him when, tired and crying after coming home from the hospital, he’d been forced to sit up in bed and listen to his drunken stepfather rail at him for an hour about how now he’d have to pay the hospital bill because Kal had been stupid and careless. Then his stepdad threatened to break his other arm so he couldn’t wipe his own ass.
He’d never been happier to get the hell out of that house. Being homeless had been better than living in fear of being beaten all the time. Because those threats of beatings had turned to real beatings. And his mother had done nothing to help him, too afraid of taking her own beatings to defend her little boy.
As he looked at Oliver, who wasn’t much older than he’d been when the hitting had started, Kal couldn’t comprehend anyone wanting to hurt an innocent child. He’d sworn that one day he’d have kids of his own, and he’d shower them with unconditional love to make up for the painful childhood he’d endured.
He had his adoptive parents to thank for turning around his mindset, for giving him all the love he’d never had during the first decade or so of his life. Because Josh and Laurel Donovan were the best, and he’d been damned lucky to have them as his parents.
And Oliver? He might not have had the best dad, but he sure as hell had a fantastic mom.
Carmen came back in with a soda for Oliver and some liquid meds, which Carmen said was for his pain.
“Where’s my mom?” Oliver asked.
“She told me to tell you she was going to go outside to call your grandma and let her know what happened.”
“Okay. Thanks for the soda, Nurse Carmen.”
Carmen smiled. “You’re welcome. And that medicine should make your pain feel better. They should be coming in to take you to X-ray soon.”
Not long after Carmen left the room, Hannah came back. “Grandma says to tell you she’s really sorry you got hurt, and she’s going to fix macaroni and cheese for dinner.”
Oliver grinned. “That’s my favorite.”
“I know,” Hannah said with a smile.
“Carmen gave him pain meds. It should dial down his pain pretty quickly, but might make him drowsy,” Kal told her.
She nodded. “Thanks.”
The techs came in to take Oliver off to X-ray, and Hannah went with him, so Kal had a minute to step out. Carmen was working the desk right near the room. He didn’t want to bother her, but she looked up and motioned with her head for him to come over.
“How was the honeymoon?” he asked.
She smiled. “Amazing. I don’t think I’ve been that relaxed in years. Rafe and I laid on the beach, sipped cocktails and napped a lot. We did some water sports and ate so much food I’m going to need to walk miles every day to lose all the weight I gained.”
“Bullshit. You look great. I’m glad you had a good time.”
“Thanks. Sorry about Oliver. That must have been so scary for Hannah.”
“Yeah, it was. But she’s handling it.”
Carmen tapped her pen on the desk. “She’s handling it like a champion. Trust me, I see parents fall apart all the time when they bring their injured kids in here. And it just makes the kid even more scared. Hannah’s doing fine.”
“I’ll let you get back to it because I know you’re busy.”
“Thanks. We need to all get together and catch up. We’ll make plans.”
“Okay.”
He went back to the room and waited. It wasn’t long before Hannah