September 4th 2022

Chapter 247
Our Realizations of Heart

Maya and Lucas had a code. If they ever had to call each other, knowing that the other would not only be in the car – which would mean setting any calls they received to speaker – but also riding with the kids, they'd have a way to communicate discreetly. It wasn't just solved by using French, because that would only go so far and also make it so obvious that they were trying to hide something. They had words, outwardly innocuous, that they knew to slip into conversation to communicate something unbeknownst to any little ears listening. That afternoon, as Lucas was making his way back to the ranch with Marianne, Winnie, and the triplets, he got a call from Maya, and she used one of their codes, the one that said, 'pull over and get off speaker.' So, he did, never imagining what she was about to tell him.

It had only occurred to her as she watched the paramedics working on Bobby, all the while keeping an arm around Nellie – for reassurance as much as to keep her from running back to her friend – that Lucas would be coming back soon. He'd be rolling up with five small girls who would see all this chaos. Never mind that traffic was being diverted away from the area and he would have had to take a detour to make it into the ranch, it would be too much for them to see. So, she'd called him to give him the news. She couldn't see him but hearing the weighty silence that followed when she told him that Bobby Davis had been hit by a bus gave her a good idea of what he'd look like.

"Take them to your parents' house, not mine, they're going to want to be… Oh… Someone needs to call his parents, I…"

"I'll do it," Lucas told her at once. "I'll tell them to text you for information. What about Mackenzie? Is she with you?"

"No, I… She's back at the ranch, with Juliet."

"Then she'll be fine. Talk to you soon. I love you."

"I love you, too," Maya breathed before hanging up and putting her phone away, the better to focus on her little sister.

She'd be going to the hospital, too, just to make sure she was okay even as, on the whole, she appeared to have gotten off with only scrapes and bruises. She'd had a great shock. She kept looking at Bobby as they worked on him, got him on a stretcher… He'd been going in and out of consciousness, and when he was conscious, he was just out of it. The only thing he seemed able to say was Nellie's name. The paramedics kept telling him that she was okay, but he kept asking, which only made her want to go to him even more. When they finally let her come forward, she wouldn't be held back. She went to him, looked first before grasping his hand, in case it would hurt him.

"Damn it, slowpoke, why'd you have to go and do that?" she asked, frantic still, crying still, but trying to hold on to something like anger and upset, too, because that was their way. Hearing her voice, Bobby seemed to rally just a bit. Immobilized as he was, he could see her, possibly blurry, but he saw her. "You could have… You might… If you die, I…"

"No, Miss… Wouldn't do that… to you…" he mumbled, and him and all his manners, even in this state, allowed her to breathe. "Nellie… I…"

"We have to get going, go on," one of the paramedics told them, so the conversation was tabled for now, all the way to the hospital. Maya stayed with Nellie all the while, holding her hand. They must have been quite a sight, the broken boy, the shaken girl, and the sister with her belly seven months and some along. It wasn't until they were nearing the hospital that Maya noticed how the paramedic who was in the back of the ambulance with them kept looking at Nellie. She'd figured it was because of what she'd been through today, but then she had to wonder.

After a very brief exchange, her suspicion was proven correct. She'd treated a Hunter girl before, just not this one. She'd been one of those who'd been at the scene when Gracie had been hit… Five years ago already… if it could be believed. Nellie had heard them, Maya knew, but she barely acknowledged the mention, focused instead on Bobby, and all her big sister could do was consider the wider effects of this event on her. That was two of the most important people in her life now who'd been struck by some vehicle or involved in an accident. They might have said four, counting Maya herself and Lucas, too, but that had been far outside of the teen's awareness, and hardly to the same extent. She hadn't been there when Gracie had been hit, she hadn't seen her, in the street, only at the hospital, when she'd been cleaned up, bandaged up, but still she'd felt something. And with Bobby… They only had to see the hollow presence in her eyes to know that she had definitely seen things she would never completely forget. Maya wished she could take these mental scars away from her, but she couldn't, could she?

Already, she'd received a text from Robert Davis, no doubt all of seconds after he had gotten off the phone with Lucas, and as promised, she'd told him what she could, including the confirmation on where they were taking Bobby. They might have made it to the hospital at nearly the exact same time, but Robert and Jeannette had gone and picked up Ethan on the way. He and Gracie had been back at their house by then, barely arrived, as Maya would later hear from her sister when she arrived with the Davises, about to do their homework and then a bit of musical practice.

When they did arrive, Gracie hurried to find her twin just as a nurse was finishing up with her. She had one bandage at her shoulder, another beneath her elbow, and one at her leg, along with bruises blooming beyond, along her side, but it was possible she was still too shaken up to feel much if any of it. Both the twins had mixed feelings for the hospital. If they were here to see someone have a baby, great. That was upstairs, that was good. But down in the ER, it was a lot of bad memories for each of them, and they embraced – carefully – without a word. Maya could imagine what it would be like when their parents arrived. Three daughters in the ER now. Three accidents.

"I need to see him, I… I need to know he's going to be okay…" Nellie spoke, looking to her older sister for backup. "Please."

"You should really lie down and rest until Mom and Dad get here," Maya told her, and Nellie tried to protest, but Gracie stepped in.

"She's right, Nell, please." At this, from her twin, she seemed stuck.

"I'll go and try to get an update, okay?" Maya offered. Nellie hesitated still, but finally she agreed, allowing Gracie to help her lie down. She would stay with her; she'd be alright.

It was to wonder how much of what she was feeling right now, the sturdiness, was born out of denial. In her mind, Bobby was okay, Bobby could only be okay, and that was the attitude she needed to put out in the world, for her little sister's sake, for Ethan, for the whole Davis family, as though she herself wouldn't be deeply affected if Bobby didn't pull through. He would. He had to. Oh, he had to… This could not be how his story ended. Her mind went to Lambert Day at a time like this, and how could it not? But this was not the same. It was never going to be… it couldn't…

Her hands would not leave her belly. She could feel Aubrey moving inside there, like some small part of her tiny unborn girl felt an echo of her mother's distress. It's alright, Lucky girl, you just keep on swimming. It's not your time yet.

To see the three of them, Robert, Jeannette, and Ethan, it brought back more memories of that day when Gracie had her accident, of seeing Shawn, Katy, and Nellie… Ever since the two sets of twins had become friends, they'd all been so tightly interconnected, first because of Nellie and Bobby's riding, and that great big tussle, and then with Gracie and Ethan becoming a couple… Of all the things for them to find echoed between them, Maya could not have wished this on anyone.

When she did find them, they were just hurrying Bobby off to surgery. It was the first time the Davises actually saw her since they'd arrived, as of course they'd gone straight to find their son. Between the occasional dinners, parties, and family gatherings, and now parent teacher nights over the past two school years, they all knew each other very well, but Maya didn't know that she had ever connected to the couple on a parental level nearly as much as she did that day. The very thought of anything like this happening to any of her girls…

"Is he… How…" Maya tried to find the right words to ask and couldn't find them. Thankfully, they were unnecessary.

"They don't know yet," Robert spoke solemnly. It was easy to see where Bobby got his mannerisms from. He was so like his namesake, and yet today he couldn't help but be shaky underneath it all. His wife looked restless, like she needed so desperately to be with their boy right then but knew she couldn't, and for that she needed to do… something, anything.

"How's Nellie? Where is she?" Jeannette asked, stepping forward to clasp the younger woman's hands. "Are you alright? Let's go see her, that way you can sit down a while," she nodded, already directing Maya where she had pointed, leaving her no choice but to follow. Ethan had the whole look of someone going on autopilot. Had he felt something when his brother was struck? Looking at him, Maya could just assume that he did, that he still felt like his whole world had flipped on its axis, and he was unable to find solid ground.

When they found Nellie, Jeannette Davis immediately set herself to fussing over her, making sure she was comfortable, getting a look at her injuries. Gracie, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, hopped off and went at once to Ethan, her hand locking with his for support. He looked just a bit more anchored now for having her there, and his eyes swam with appreciation. All Nellie wanted, when the family arrived, was to know what was going on with Bobby. They explained as best they could what they had been told and what was happening right now, but at the same time seemed to skirt just a bit around the details, for Nellie's benefit but maybe also for their own as they did what they could to cope.

What it came down to… was that Bobby was not out of the woods. He was deep in the woods, and time would tell if he would ever find his way out or remain lost. They wished they didn't have to put that idea in anyone's heads, but they would have done no one any favors by keeping them in the dark about reality. Bobby might not recover. The damage had been extensive. But the doctor had promised that they would do everything they could to get him better, and right now, all they could do was wait… and wait… and hope.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners