Chapter 11
Declan's parents were the first to arrive in the Emergency Department, making a beeline for the nurse's station to try and get an update on their son's condition. The nurse directed them over to where Greg sat waiting while she went to let the doctor know they had arrived.
Greg stood as they approached, nervously greeting Declan's mom and shaking hands with his father. They took in his filthy and bloody clothing and checked to make sure that he was okay before immediately asking him questions about how the accident had occurred. Greg insisted that he was fine, and recounted details of the event that he hadn't mentioned during the phone call.
Several minutes later a doctor came out from behind the curtain and approached Declan's parents. Greg stood off to the side, listening in as the doctor explained the situation. Declan's condition sounded pretty serious, but not life-threatening, which didn't do much to ease Greg's mind.
Blythe arrived soon after the doctor went back into the examination area to continue treating Declan. She quickly went to her son and hugged him as he stood.
"Hi, mom."
Blythe held Greg at arm's length, looking his disheveled body from head to toe to assure herself that her son wasn't injured.
"Honey, you look terrible. Are you okay?"
Greg shifted uncomfortably at the overt attention. "I'm fine," he insisted. The last thing he wanted to do was to have to explain what happened again. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down as his mom, having reassured herself that none of the blood was Greg's, went over to talk with Declan's parents.
By the time Blythe brought her son home it was late and any adrenaline left in Greg's body had leeched away, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted. Blythe sent him off to shower and change while she reheated leftovers for him from the previous night. She worried that Greg would blame himself even as she knew that he would never admit it to her if he did. Secretly she was glad that her husband was currently deployed and would likely never hear about what had happened. John had a way of pushing Greg's buttons that virtually guaranteed a confrontation now that Greg was old enough to push back. She knew from experience that things would escalate quickly and that Greg would end up suffering through one of the myriad of military-style punishments John was known to use on his son from his days as a Drill Instructor.