Only One Forever (Only One 8)

Chapter 34

Dylan

“Just wait here,” the nurse says to us when we walk in the hospital. She looks down at Maddox. “They can come and see you when the doctor is done.” He looks over his shoulder as he follows her toward the brown doors that close as soon as he walks into them.

“I’m going to go start filling out the forms and complete the report,” Julia says, walking away from us.

I feel Alex slide her hand into mine and turn to bring her to me. The past hour has been the most excruciating of my life. “I can’t believe you found him.” She wraps her arms around my waist, and all I can do is wrap my arms around her neck and kiss the top of her head.

“I was so fucking scared.” I admit the words that I didn’t even tell my father as we drove in the car. “I was so scared we would find him hurt or even worse.”

“How did you find him?” She lets go of me and looks into my eyes, and one of my hands comes up and touches her face.

“The only thing I could think of was the park. So, we called Julia and asked for the address and then drove from park to park.” I won’t tell her how I jumped out of the car and scared about fifteen to twenty kids by yelling his name. I also will wait for later to tell her that I almost ended up in handcuffs. I look back at the door, waiting for the nurse to come out. “I’m not leaving him.”

“I know,” she says softly, putting her hands on my hips. “I said the same thing.”

“Okay,” Julia says, coming back to us now. “The report is filed with the police. I’ve spoken to my boss, and she pulled a couple of strings to get a judge to sign off on you getting temporary emergency custody of him.”

“Temporary,” I repeat the word, and she holds up her hand.

“You have to go from temporary to permanent,” she explains. “But it’s a good thing.” She looks at both of us. “Would be a touch better if you were married and not living in sin, but …” She smirks. “One step at a time.”

“So what does this mean?” Alex asks her, and I can feel her beside me almost shaking.

“It means that as soon as the doctor clears him, you can take him home,” she sighs, and I feel like I can breathe again. “I will, of course, have to escort him to the house and make sure that everything is in proper order.”

“Of course,” Alex says. “We have the spare bedroom, but tomorrow I can make sure I go out and get everything that he needs.”

She looks at us and laughs, shaking her head. “You think with the family you guys are in that you’re going to get home and it’s not going to be done? I can bet you money your mother”—she points at Alex—“has a whole wardrobe for him to wear, and your fathers”—she moves her fingers from both of us—“are assembling a bed as we speak. Throw in Matthew and I’m thinking there may even be a paint job in there.”

We can’t help but both laugh because she isn’t wrong. The nurse comes out and looks at us. “Doctor just signed off.” She looks at Julia and then at us. “He’s a bit dehydrated, but other than that, no broken bones.”

“He has a bruise on his leg,” Alex says. “I saw it when we found him. And his arms are dirty, but we are going to have him take a shower.” I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her to me, kissing her head while the nurse just smiles at her.

“I’ll put that in my notes,” she says. I rub Alex’s arms as she walks away. “You can go in and see him.”

“Well, you two,” Julia says. “Go and tell him where he is going.”

I take a step toward the door when Alex grabs my hand. “What if he doesn’t want to come with us?” she asks, and I can see the worry all over her face. “His whole life, everyone has told him what to do and where to go.”

“We can ask him, then.” I bring her hand to my lips. “I never thought of it like that, but you’re right. It’s time for him to decide.”

“I hate to be the bad news person. But that kid is going with you.” Julia folds her arms. “So you better be damn good at convincing him.” She glares at us, and we walk past the two brown doors. Looking into the first room, we see him sitting on the bed with his feet dangling off the side.

“Hey,” I greet, walking into the room, and he looks up at me.