didn’t feel the cold. Easton stood numb beside me, one hand resting on Logan’s head. The dog seemed to sense Easton’s unrest.
When they closed the ambulance doors, blocking our view, I nudge the cowboy. “Come on.”
He followed robotically, not saying a word. The whole ride, Easton wrung his hands and ground his teeth to the point it gave me shivers down my spine. When I parked, Easton jumped out and ran inside the health care facility. It wasn’t a hospital, but it was the next best thing in Jasper. At least they dealt with emergencies.
I stuck close. It was nothing like an emergency room in Edmonton. There were only a few people present at this early hour, but when the ambulance pulled up with Percy, he was the center of attention. The on-call doctor and a few nurses surrounded him, asking questions and taking his vitals.
Uniformed officers littered the small waiting area while Chief Elkhart spoke with the admitting doctor. Easton pushed his way through the crowd of people to get near Percy but was held back by an attendant.
“Let him through,” the chief barked. The fire in his eyes made the attendant step back in apology.
No one was going to deny Easton access to the young boy. Not if they knew what was good for them.
Without a word or a glance back, Easton followed the bustle of people as they went through a pair of swinging doors to another section of the facility. I sat hard on a chair in the waiting room, my blood pounding in my ears. There was no chance I was leaving. Not until I knew Easton and the kid were okay.
Chapter Sixteen
Easton
They did a complete physical on Percy when we arrived then took x-rays to confirm he had a broken arm. I’d been asked to step aside more times than I liked, and the next person who told me I wasn’t privileged enough to receive information was going to be sorry.
I was on edge. Every time Percy called out for me, my heart broke. Windsor came and stood outside the exam room with me where I’d been asked to wait while they casted his arm.
“How’re you holding up?”
“They keep kickin’ me outta the room. Won’t tell me shit.”
“I’ll talk to them.”
“You tell them I wanna know everything. I don’t care if I’m family or not. His family don’t care about him. I do.”
“I said I’ll talk to them.”
I stared through the small square window on the painted metal door, trying to get a glimpse of Percy, but there were too many people around him.
“I need you to sit with me and make a report about what you found in the mountains and everything Percy shared with you.”
“I ain’t got time for that.”
“You’ll make time. For Percy. Child Services is on the way. I don’t want that boy back in his father’s care any time soon, you hear me? Your report is vital.”
A fire burned my core when I recalled the race through the woods, listening to Logan’s howls, and knowing something was wrong.
“Where’s Mervin? Does he know what happened? Because he best not show up here. I can’t promise I won’t tear that man limb from limb. I will regret nothin’.”
Windsor chuckled. “Oh, I know. He’s been taken into custody. I’m letting him sober up before I figure out what to do with him. Figured it’d give us time to talk with CAS and see what they’ll do.”
“I don’t care what they say, Percy ain’t goin’ back there. Over my dead body, you hear me?”
Windsor said nothing for a few minutes while I continued to stew at the window to the exam room.
“They’re going to be a few minutes. How about you come and sit and we’ll make that report.”
Reluctant to go far, I insisted we sit on a bench beside the room where they casted Percy’s arm. I told Windsor about how Logan’s urgent calls had sent us up into the mountains. I told him how we’d found Percy unconscious and bleeding, about the rifle, and how Percy said he was in a tree when he shot at a rabbit and fell because his father had told him to grow up and get his own damn food.
Windsor wrote it all down and didn’t interrupt except to clarify when I mumbled too much my words weren’t clear. He read it back to me afterward, and I nodded.
“I’m going to talk to Percy at some point too. The doctor said they’re keeping him at least