Hendrix - Kelsey Clayton Page 0,31
before hanging up the phone and jumping into the car.
The universe must be on my side, because there are no cops the whole way to the ER, and that's good because I probably break just about every traffic law on the way there. I pull up and toss the valet attendant my keys. No part of me even thinks to take the ticket that tells them which car is mine. All I can focus on is Brenna.
“My name is Saige Ambrose,” I tell the receptionist through panicked breaths. “My daughter was brought in here a little while ago.”
“Saige?” A girl in the lobby asks. She has long brown hair and looks like she's fresh out of high school.
“Yes?”
She smiles politely at me. “I'm Tessa. Colby told me to come wait for you. I'll bring you to him and Brenna.”
I follow behind her through the ER doors and down the hallway, wishing she would move a little faster. The second I see Colby standing right by one of the rooms, I run past Tessa and through the curtain. Brenna is sitting on the bed, looking perfectly fine except for the swelling of her arm.
“My poor baby,” I coo, rushing to her side. “Are you okay?”
She pouts. “It hurts, but Colby and the doctor said I'm going to be all right.”
I place a kiss on her forehead and turn to look at Colby. “What happened?”
“She was getting off the trampoline and got her foot caught in the net. Before I could get to her, she wiggled free and landed on her arm.” He looks visibly shaken up and disappointed in himself, but that doesn't stop the anger from coursing through me.
“You have to watch her, Colby!” I chastise him. “She's only five. You can't just let her do whatever she wants while you dick around with your friends.”
Brenna shakes her head. “Don't yell at him, Mommy. It's not his fault.”
Colby sighs. “No, it's okay, B. Your mom is right. I should have kept a better eye on you.”
The way I see it, I have two options. I can continue to lecture Colby on how I was right when I said he doesn't know what it takes to be a parent, or I can focus on what's most important here—Brenna. I go with option two.
“What have they done so far?” I ask him, my tone a little calmer.
“They took x-rays. We're just waiting for the results.”
Just then, the doctor steps in holding an iPad. “Okay, Miss Brenna. It looks like you broke your arm. Thankfully, it's a clean break, so it should heal just fine, but we're going to need to put a cast on it. Do you have a favorite color?”
“Pink!” she shouts excitedly.
I notice how Colby's head dropped the second the doctor said it was broken, but I'm not about to comfort him right now. He should have been watching her. Hell, trampolines come with like a thousand warnings on them. Anyone would know better than to leave her on it unattended.
The doctor chuckles. “Lucky for you, I happen to have plenty of pink. Just sit tight, and we'll be back in to get that arm casted in a bit.”
“Will I get to color on it? My friend broke her arm once and we all got to color on her cast.”
He smiles warmly at her. “You bet! I'll even give you a sharpie to take home.”
Her face lights up, like breaking her arm is all made better by a simple marker. “You hear that, Colby? I get to draw on my cast!”
“That's great, B,” he says. “But let's not make a thing of breaking your arm, okay?”
“Agreed,” I murmur, unable to ignore the tension in the room.
Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it now. There's no rewind button that will allow me to go back and tell my boss to fuck himself instead of bringing Brenna to Colby's this morning. However, the trampoline...
“What are you going to do about the—”
I don't even get to finish the question before he answers it. “I have people at the house taking it apart now.”
Well, at least he has somewhat of a brain.
THAT NIGHT, WE'RE JUST finishing up dinner when Brenna gasps. I glance up at her from my plate and can already see the tears forming in her eyes. My brows furrow as I try to figure out what's on her mind.
“Everything okay, Bren?”
She shakes her head. “I forgot Puddles at Colby's!”
Puddles is her favorite stuffed animal that Maddie got her when she