Nice Buns (Cheap Thrills 7)

Shooting her a smile, he shrugged a shoulder. “More hands means we can make sure he has what he needs to be comfortable, and it also lets him know he’s not alone.” Then, as she nodded her head, he glanced briefly at me. “It also means you have what you need and know you’re not alone.”

Evie dropped her head to stare at her hands, not saying a word.

Realizing she didn’t know what to say and was likely feeling emotional again, I started a discussion with my son about the first thing that came to me.

“Remember when you were little and ended up in the ER after you did the splits?”

Glaring at me, he ground out, “I didn’t do them voluntarily. There were no dry towels in the bathroom, so I had to run to the cupboard in the hall soaking wet. It wasn’t my fault my feet slipped on the wooden floor.”

Leaning into her side, I whispered to Evie, “One leg went behind him, the other skidded in front of him until his junk touched the floor. I heard him screaming his head off, ran upstairs, and he was lying on the ground in agony—legs still apart because he was scared to move.”

“Swear to Christ, I thought I’d ripped my sac open,” DB muttered, then blushed when Evie’s head snapped in his direction. “Sorry, but that’s what it was like.”

Turning back to me, she asked, “What did the ER say?”

Starting to laugh again, I avoided meeting my son’s eyes as I told her. “Well, he had a hot female doctor, and when she examined the area, he suddenly decided he was feeling okay. I didn’t realize there was a problem, so I insisted he got examined properly. After some prodding”—I was starting to struggle to get the words out—“of the area—”

Irritated with my laughter, DB snapped, “She was hot, and I was twelve. It was a natural reaction.”

Evie gasped, putting it all together.

Gulping in some air, I wheezed, “The funniest thing was, six months later, he broke his finger and had the same doctor when I took him in.”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Why don’t I tell Evie how big the male doctor’s fingers are when he does your annual old man health checks. How is your prostate anyway?”

Evie blinked, then she threw her head back and burst out laughing.

Thirty minutes later, when the phone rang just as the nurse came in to tell us that Cody was out of surgery and in recovery, any humor and smiles disappeared completely.

Eying me and DB, the nurse gestured with her hand at the door. “All three of you can go and see him now. He’s just waking up and is slightly out of it, but I’m sure he’ll be glad to see y’all.”

As we followed behind Evie, DB leaned into my side. “Funny, if I woke up with two police officers standing over me when I was his age, I’d have shit my pants.”

“That’s ‘cause you were a shithead.”

Sighing happily, he patted me hard on the back. “You’re welcome for that.”

Chapter Eight

Evie

We’d just gotten to Cody’s bed when the doctor appeared and pointed toward the door again.

“We’ll just be out there so you’ll hear him if he needs anything. I just want to run through it all with you.”

Knowing he was safe with Alex and Dave, I exited out the door I’d just come through, feeling agitated at not being next to Cody when he woke up fully.

Seeing this, the doctor smile sympathetically. “I know it’s hard, but the second you hear him talking, you can go back through. All I want to do right now is take you through the surgery.”

My hands pressed together like I was praying without even meaning to. “Did you have to— Does he have—” I was struggling to find the words or even get them out.

The consequences emotionally and mentally of losing one of his balls were unknown right now, and I hated that.

“Cody still has both testicles, Miss Edwards.” The doctor smiled kindly at me as I started crying.

“When we went in, we saw the issue immediately. There’s a small appendix on testicles called the hydatid of Morgagni. In the medical world, we’re fairly certain that it’s what’s left of the Müllerian duct.”

Seeing my confusion, he looked sheepish.

“I’m not explaining it well, but it’s fascinating if you look it up. Anyway, it serves no purpose, but quite a few males have them. In Cody’s case, his twisted, so we had a torsion on the testicle, not of the testicle.

“We’ve removed it and did a little bit of exploratory surgery to ensure he didn’t have anything else going on inside the scrotum, before closing him back up.”

“When can I take him home?”

“I want to keep him in overnight just to keep an eye on his temperature, but he’ll be allowed home tomorrow.”