“Grady,” Graham said his name softly. “Can you hear me?”
Grady groaned and tried to speak. He reached for the solid tube coming out of his mouth, but Graham stopped him. “Let me get the nurse.” He pressed the call button, and immediately, a nurse came in. She smiled at Grady, turned the switch off, and started talking.
“I’m going to remove your breathing tube, but you have to wear oxygen for a little bit. Nod if you understand.”
Grady nodded.
The nurse instructed Grady to breathe out as she removed the tube and encouraged him to cough. Graham gagged while watching the procedure. “I’ll page Dr. Field and have him come check on Grady.”
As soon as the nurse left, Grady reached for Graham and beckoned him to come close. He tried to ask “What happened?” but could barely say either word. Graham sensed his request and sat back down in the chair. He contemplated waiting for their parents, but he had something to say to his brother.
“You messed up, Grady. The gig is over. The drinking, the drugs—it’s all done. You’re going to rehab if Rennie can keep you out of jail.”
“Jail?” Grady’s voice was scratchy and barely above a whisper.
Graham leaned forward. “You’re going to be arrested. Honestly, it’s the only thing that can save your life right now.”
THIRTEEN
The drive from Seattle to Port Angeles would take three hours. With traffic, Rennie looked at a four- or possibly five-hour drive. In the early hours of the morning, long before the sun rose, she got in her car and headed west. Her client Grady Chamberlain would be arrested in his hospital room and arraigned the next day. He faced multiples charges, all of which Rennie hoped she’d be able to plea down to misdemeanors as long as her client went to rehab. Their encounter today would be the first time she’d interacted with Grady since his outburst over the summer, and she wasn’t sure how their meeting would go. Graham had done his best to prepare her for his brother’s defiant attitude and the woe-is-me mentality Grady had. She had also spent considerable hours with Jefferson, going over the game plan. If this case went to trial, he would sit second chair with Rennie, in case she needed him. One thing was for sure—Grady’s case reminded her why she had never gone down the criminal route; she was torn between what she felt was an obligation to the Chamberlains and taking someone who could harm another off the streets. Her ethics told her Grady deserved jail for breaking the law, even though it was unlikely he’d ever see the inside of a cell. Meanwhile, her heart told her Grady needed help and a second chance, and she could help him obtain one.
Rennie pulled into the parking lot of the two-story hospital and parked next to Graham’s car. She looked over, surprised to find him in his car. Rennie exited her vehicle and went over to Graham’s. He was asleep and looked peaceful. Her fingers itched to touch his face, to follow the fine lines in his forehead, and to feel his scruff against her skin. She held back, though. Rennie was committed to another man, and the relationship she and Graham had years ago had washed out to sea.
She tapped lightly on the window. Graham startled. He looked around until he saw her, and a slow smile crept over him. He pressed the button on the door handle and dropped the window that was separating them.
“Good morning,” she said. “How long have you been in the parking lot?”
Graham ran his hand over his face and groaned. “All night. I slept out here while my parents stayed with Grady. What time is it?”
“A little after nine,” Rennie replied. “Want to go to the diner down the street and get breakfast? We have a little over an hour before everything is scheduled to go down.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You make today sound like a mob hit.” He motioned for her to get into his car. She walked around the front and was surprised to find the door already ajar for her. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Graham asked as he started his car and pulled out of the parking spot.
“For opening the door. For trusting me with your brother. For being my friend.”
Graham remained silent for the one-minute drive. He found a parking spot close to the door, and after he turned off his car, he was out in a flash. By the time he reached the passenger side, Rennie was out and standing there. His face fell; she saw the dejection instantly. Rennie would pay more attention when with Graham. When she was with Theo, the little things like opening and holding doors or letting her walk in front of him never really happened. There were times when Rennie wondered if it was because of the way their relationship started—in between the sheets—and that he never had to woo her or vice versa. Graham had always been a gentleman from the day she met him as a teenager, and it would seem he never lost that part of him.