“From the sounds of it, he’s still inside, Cody. Someone angry went in and let that anger out. The paramedics are here, though, and they’ll help anyone who needs it. Plus, you know what he’s like, Alex won’t leave until he knows everyone’s okay.” I tried to chuckle, but it just came out as a high pitched noise because my throat was so tight.
I heard Tabby speaking in the background. “Let me speak to your mom, little bro, okay? You’ve been so brave today, and you kept me from going insane after Principal Teller pulled us into his office. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”
I had a faint ringing in my ear after he dropped the phone, but then I heard Tabby making shh noises and realized he’d done it so she could hug him. He’d held it together for her, and now she was doing it for him.
I felt powerless. I couldn’t get to my son to help him, and I couldn’t do it for Alex either.
“You’re okay, honey,” she said gently.
“I have to say, I’ve never seen such a young man be so strong for someone,” Principal Teller said, and I realized he was in the room with Tabby and Cody. “It’s better than I’d have been able to do in your shoes, Cody.”
“How can you say that?” he wailed. “I’m crying. Brave guys don’t cry, they don’t break.”
“Excuse my language, but what a crock of crap,” Tabby snapped. “Brave guys cry and break. Have you ever seen soldiers after they’ve been in a battle?
“Hell, I even saw Dave cry after I had Sheena. She was passed to him all covered in nasty shit, and he just burst into tears. I didn’t cry, but he did—although that was mostly because I was praying there wasn’t too much dam—” she cut off.
“But he also cried when we watched Beaches. And didn’t Alex cry a little when you accidentally slammed the car door on his shin when he was getting into it?”
“That was an accident. I thought I was being helpful closing it for him.”
“He still had tears in his eyes, though. That’s my point. It’s good to cry, my dude. If we bottled it all up and didn’t let it out, it’d just eat away at us and affect how much happiness we get out of just living.”
“She’s not wrong,” Principal Teller murmured. “It’s good for your mental and emotional health, Cody, and you’ve just been through something extremely emotional. We won’t judge you for it.”
“Now, let me talk to your mom quickly. I’ll just be outside getting us some water, okay?”
Cody’s voice was small when he replied, and I could picture him curling into himself like he did whenever he was hurt by something his dad did to him.
“Evie, honey, you there?” Tabby whispered into the phone as a door shut on her end. “Dave said in his text that Alex is going to be heading to the hospital. I can’t tell you why because all he told me was that he had some injuries, but he also said to let you know he’s alive.
“Dave was going to text you himself, but I said I’d tell you because reading something like that in a message would be terrifying. At least I can make my voice sound soothing and upbeat.”
“He’s alive,” I repeated to the others. “But he’s going to the hospital.”
I didn’t turn around to see their reactions, I just kept my eyes on the door of the building, hoping I’d recognize him when he was brought out.
“Now, my advice is to go to the hospital and wait for him. He’ll need you with him after this.”
“Cody—”
“Dave’s going to speak to him first about it, so I’m going to take him back to ours until he’s free if that’s okay with you?” When I didn’t say anything back, she said quickly, “I promise I’ll keep him safe, and Dave said he’d give us a heads up when he’s heading to the hospital so he can speak to him there and they can go and see Alex together.”
Like a real big brother would.
“Okay. And, Tabby?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you so much. I saw it happen, and—” I stopped when I heard Cody calling for her.
“Oh, honey, you just go and make sure Alex is okay for us. I’ll see you there in a bit.”
“Give my boy a hug for me.”
“Best request I ever got.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alex
I could see why Cody was so irritable after his surgery. Being an invalid sucked balls.
Two days ago, an asshole dropped a prop from a movie in the station and ended up being shot by the S.W.A.T. team.
Yeah, Terry had bought it online, having been assured it was a real grenade. Come to find out, if he’d turned it over, he’d have seen it was clearly marked with one of the most prominent movie production company's details. Sure, it had shit in it that made it flash and smoke come out, but it was more like a weak flash grenade mixed in with a dust bomb than anything.