Maverick (The Family Simon 3)

“Lily is strong, just like her mama. I’ve got no worries.”

Maverick pushed off from the wall that had been holding him up and hugged his cousin. He pressed a kiss onto her forehead, nodding at Tucker and Abby as they entered the lounge. They were in a private wing of the hospital, one paid for by the Simon foundation, and all of them were grateful for the privacy it provided.

“News?” Tucker said, sliding his arm around Abby.

“The doctors are in with them now. I expect Donovan will let us know the update as soon as she can. Other than that, I think we’re all up to speed. Just waiting on a prognosis.”

Tucker nodded. “Okay.”

Several long moments ticked by and Maverick was just about to try and call Charlie again when Grace started to giggle.

They all looked at her as if she had two heads and she shrugged, “Sorry. I get weird when I’m upset, but I’m just remembering when Tucker and Teague decided to host that Simon Survivor weekend, remember?”

Maverick grinned and nodded. “Oh yeah.”

“Like they planned it for days and spent a lot of their own money buying all the gadgets and crap they needed for the games they had planned.”

“Really?” Tucker scowled. “We’re going to talk about that right now?”

Grace snorted. “You guys caught that big turtle and made that grotesque trophy out of it and then decided to try and recoup all the money you spent, so you charged ten bucks to watch and fifty dollars to participate.”

“And what happened?” Abby asked.

Maverick had this. “What happened is that Teague and Tucker decided to do the first event. If I remember correctly, they had to take a run at each other balancing on one of the water blow ups and whoever stayed up won.”

“And?” Abby prodded.

Grace burst out laughing. “They knocked each other out, and my dad had to rush them both to the hospital because they had concussions. That was it. He stopped the Simon Survivor weekend before it even began.”

“Sounds to me as if Tucker did that all on his own,” Abby said with a smile.

The door to the lounge opened and Maverick’s heart twisted when he saw Donovan’s tear stained face. She was so damn pale and small and he immediately crossed the room and folded her into his arms.

She let him hold her for a few moments and then pushed at his chest, a tremulous smile on her face.

“Jack will be here in a moment. He wanted to fill in Noah and Eden on the latest news. And it’s good news. Lily is going to be okay.” She let out a long shuddering breath. “There could be some complications down the road, but if there are, they’re complications we can deal with.” She paused. “We can deal with it.”

“But how did it happen? ” Grace looked horrified that she’d asked the question and shook her head. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Donovan said softly. “I’ve heard and read so much and there’s still a lot that I don’t understand. But they told me that what happened to Lily is called Perinatal Asphyxia and basically what it means is that there was pressure or a blood clot I believe in the umbilical cord and it caused a lack of blood flow. It’s like having your oxygen cut off. Kind of like drowning I guess. And it’s why she went into a coma.”

Donovan’s bottom lip trembled and she leaned into Maverick. “She’s going to be fine though.”

“She’s a fighter.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Of course she is.”

Jack walked in just then, and Maverick hugged him. He didn’t do the bullshit guy hug. He pulled Jack into his arms and didn’t let him go until he was good and ready.

“Thanks for being here, Maverick. She needed you. We both did.”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

Jack kissed his wife and crossed the room to speak with his brother and sister.

“Jack got to hold her,” Donovan said softly, fresh tears seeping from her eyes. “It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” She glanced up at Maverick. “I can’t wait for you to be right here where I am.”

Maverick’s gaze slid from hers in an attempt to get his shit together before she noticed anything was wrong. But when had he ever been able to hide anything from Donovan James? She tugged on his arm, a frown on her face as she gazed up at him.

“What the hell is going on, Rick?”