Story Excerpt
Hot Mess 7

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Salvador

"Dad."

I smiled every time I heard that word used by one of my kids. It had taken awhile for most of them to be comfortable with it, but nowadays, I heard it all the time. It filled me with a sense of pride and contentment every time.

Still, the tension in TJ's voice immediately sent me into panic mode. "How bad is it?"

"He slipped on the rug in the hallway coming in from playing out in the snow and hit his head on the stairs," TJ explained. "I called Dr. Jones like you taught me to and he's waiting at the hospital for us."

Damn.

"He needs to go to the hospital?"

"Marcus says he needs stitches, but that it's not life threatening."

My sigh was heavy. "I'm leaving now."

"Jamie is going to stay here and help Jenna with the younger kids. I'll ride to the hospital with Marcus and Lany."

TJ had really turned out to be a good kid. He was very responsible. As the oldest of all the children, he worked very hard to make sure everyone was okay and safe, especially Lany. He had a huge soft spot for Lany. Which made sense considering Lany had basically rescued him from a child slavery ring.

Sometimes I wished TJ would just be a kid, but he had lost some of his innocent ways after getting kidnapped by said child slavery ring and then forced to work in a drug lab. Some of the things that had happened to him were horrible to think about.

"Okay, I'll meet you at the emergency room."

"He didn't lose consciousness or anything and he's awake and answering all of Marcus's questions. There's just a lot of blood and a nasty gash in his forehead."

"Head wounds bleed a lot, TJ." I knew this for a fact. I'd experienced enough of them over the years. I was practically an expert.

Damn it.

"I'll be there soon, son." I stood even as I hung up the phone and slid it back into my pocket. "Clarke, I'm headed out," I called out as I headed out. "Lany is on his way to the hospital."

Clarke's head popped out of his office. "Do you need me to go with you?"

I shook my head. "TJ says it's just stitches, but I'll be off for the rest of the night. I have my phone. If you need me, call me."

"Will do, Boss."

I grabbed my jacket and headed out. I knew the team would be in good hands with Clarke in charge. The man had to take over for me more than once over the last several years. This was not Lany's first trip to the hospital.

My love was a hot mess. He got into more trouble than an entire drunken frat house let loose in a bordello. And if he didn't get into trouble, it came looking for him. I'd often told him he was a trouble magnet. Anyone who knew him readily agreed with me. Those who didn't changed their minds soon enough.

Lancaster Delvecchio was the love of my life, my reason for drawing every breath I took. He was also the catalyst for more migraine headaches than I cared to remember.

I tried to drive like a regular person as I headed for the hospital, but gave that up after two blocks of bumper to bumper traffic and turned on the lights and siren. Traffic was still pretty bad, but at least I wasn't having to drive up on the sidewalk.

The police commissioner frowned on that.

At the emergency room, I quickly pulled my SUV into the spot marked for law enforcement personnel and jumped out. I'm sure any regular person would have been amazed that I'd been to the emergency room so many times that I knew the security guard's first name.

I wasn't.

I waved as I walked past him.

I stopped briefly at the check in counter. "Afternoon, Dana," I said to the nurse behind the counter.

She smiled when she glanced up. "He's in room twelve, Sal."

"Thanks." The double security doors opened as I reached them. I walked through them and then made my way down the corridor and around the corner until I reached exam room twelve.

I'd been here before.

Can you tell?

When I stepped inside, my gaze instantly went to the man lying on the exam bed while a doctor carefully stitched the cut on his forehead together. His eyes were closed, but I could see the tight grip he had on the hem of his shirt, so I knew he was awake.

"Dad!"

"Hey, champ." I gave TJ a hug when the gangly teenager barreled into me. I knew TJ was really good at looking like he was holding it together, but I could also feel the kid's relief that he didn't have to be quite so strong anymore. I was there to take the burden off his shoulders.

I gave TJ an extra squeeze before digging a few dollars out of my pocket and handing them over. "Can you run down to the cafeteria and get Lany a Snickers Bar and an orange juice. His blood sugar is going to tank after this."

TJ nodded before running off.

I nodded to Marcus, who stood against the wall then turned my attention back to my husband. I walked to the side of the bed and took the hand Lany held out to me. My stomach rolled a bit as I watched the doctor thread the stitches through Lany's skin. No matter how many times I saw it, it still made me queasy.

"How bad is it, Skip?"

Dr. Seamore "Skip" Jones. He'd been treating Lany longer than I'd known either of them. He knew Lany's medical history inside and out. I was glad of that. If anyone knew how to treat Lany's frequent injuries it was Skip.

"Just five stitches, Sal," Skip replied. He smiled when he glanced up. "You might want to get the paperwork started now. I should be done here in a few minutes and then you can take Lany home. There's no reason to keep him as long as you follow the normal aftercare procedures."

I walked around to the far side of the bed then leaned down close to Lany's ears. "How are you, caro?"

"I feel stupid," Lany whispered back. His eyelids fluttered then opened, showing me his amber-green eyes, filled with pain. It was a sight I never liked to see. "You'd think I'd grow out of this crap at some point in my life. I'm the father of six kids for goodness sake."

I smiled as I brushed the light brown hair back from Lany's pale face. "You're a fantastic lesson to our kids in what not to do."

Lany's eyes rolled. "Gee, thanks."

I chuckled because how could I not? Lany was a constant delight.