First Responder On Call. Melinda Di Lorenzo

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      Remo smiled as Xavier put the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle in place, then let loose with a triumphant fist pump.

      “Did you see that, Remo?” the kid asked excitedly. “There were fifty pieces, and I got them all.”

      “I did see it,” he agreed. “And I’m pretty impressed. Should we put this one away and start another? Or do you want to go back to coloring?”

      “Another puzzle.” But the kid no sooner started to pull apart the pieces than he stopped again and lifted a hesitant look in Remo’s direction. “Do we have time?”

      “You mean how long until we see your mom?”

      The kid didn’t answer immediately. He just flicked his thumb over the bumps of the completed puzzle. Remo waited. For the last thirty or so minutes, the little boy had been painstakingly pressing the bits together. Though he had to be tired and scared, he’d managed to elevate keeping a stiff upper lip to a whole new level. He’d chatted about cartoons and YouTube and his friend Kevin from school. The one thing he hadn’t brought up was his mom, and Remo was sure it was on purpose.

      Even though the door to the subject had been opened now, Xavier’s next sentence came out in a small voice. “She says patience is a virtual reality.”

      Remo fought a chuckle. “A virtue?”

      Xavier nodded without looking up. “Yeah.”

      “And she’s right, buddy,” Remo told him. “But I know you’re worried, and it’s okay to talk about it.”

      The little guy sighed a deep, far too adult sigh before lifting his face and asking, “They’re going to fix her, right?”

      “That’s their job.”

      “Does that mean yes?”

      For the first time in his life, Remo wished he was better at making grand promises he couldn’t personally guarantee. Reassurance was one thing, but sugar-coating wasn’t his forte. Even when it came to children, he believed it was better to be honest. Kind but forthcoming. Something he’d always appreciated as a kid himself, but not received often enough.

      Everything will be fine was the last thing someone had said to him before his seven-year-old world imploded, and he wouldn’t lay that on someone else.

      So instead he said, “It means they’ll do everything they can to make sure she’s fine, buddy. They have science and medicine on their side, and from everything I could see myself, she looked good.”

      Xavier’s face screwed up like he was thinking about the lacking-of-promise answer, but when he spoke, it was to ask a seemingly random question. “Why are they saying your name?”

      Remo frowned. “What?”

      The kid aimed a thumb toward the hall. “Over the speaker thing. Like the one they have at kindergarten.”

      Remo cocked an ear. Sure enough, a second later, a crackling page came to life.

      “Remo DeLuca, if you’re in the hospital, please report to room 414. That’s Remo DeLuca to 414. Thank you.”

      Xavier’s face lit up with hope. “Do you think room 414 is my mom?”

      Remo ruffled the kid’s hair. “I sure do. And that’s good news, because 414 is the perfect room.”

      “It is?”

      “You bet. Should we put away the puzzle and go?”

      Xavier quickly swept the pieces into the box, then jumped up, visibly excited and truly childlike for the first time since Remo had met him. Smiling, he let the kid grab his hand and tug him into the hall. Room 414 truly was good news. It was in recovery, but not intensive care. If the medical staff had found any issues with Celia Poller’s well-being, they would’ve moved her to one of the wards that offered a better chance for one-on-one care. Knowing that lightened Remo’s own steps as he led the kid to the nearest staff-only elevator. He was gladder than would be expected of a stranger, and he was eager to speak to Celia.

      What would the woman have to say about her situation? He couldn’t help but wonder just how much she’d be willing to disclose. Maybe nothing. Maybe she’d see him as no more than the stranger he was. Or maybe—hopefully—he’d get lucky, and she’d choose him as a confidant. If she and her son were on the run, then there would be few people who understood it better than Remo did. The peculiar need to continue to help her and her son only strengthened as he acknowledged that his past had to be one of the main reasons behind it.

       But there’s a difference between admitting it to myself and saying it aloud to a stranger.

      He cast a glance down at the kid. The sandy-brown curls were pressed to the outside of Remo’s thigh, and the easy trust made his chest compress. What kind of man would he be if he didn’t make that trust worthwhile? Not the kind of man he wanted to be, that much was for sure.

      The elevator dinged then, and he started to move forward before realizing that he’d acquired a human ankle weight—the kid was standing up, but was also sound asleep. With a chuckle, he reached down and scooped the boy up. As Remo cradled him to his chest and stepped out of the elevator, Xavier barely did more than sigh. Even when someone tapped Remo’s shoulder and made him do a startled spin, the little guy didn’t stir.

      “Hey, DeLuca,” greeted the nurse attached to the hand that had made him jump. “I didn’t mean to scare y—whoa! Is that Celia Poller’s kid?”

      Remo looked down, then smiled and feigned surprise. “Well, I’ll be damned, Jane. Where did he come from?”

      The nurse rolled her eyes. “Pipe down, DeLuca. I’m just surprised to see that the patient’s claim about you having her kid was true. I wasn’t aware that you had any friends.”

      “I have you, don’t I?”

      “I’m friends with your mother. You’re just the leech along for the ride.”

      Remo’s smile became a grin. “Your bedside manner must be impeccable.”

      Jane’s eyes crinkled, but she put her hands sternly on her hips. “No complaints yet.”

      “Today or...”

      “I did say pipe down, didn’t I?”

      “Not sure. I’ve been told my listening skills aren’t great.” He paused, then turned serious. “How is she?”

      Jane studied him curiously. “She really is a friend?”

      Remo forced a casual-sounding evasion because it seemed odd to admit that not only was she not a friend, but that he didn’t know her at all. “Not on duty, so she can’t be a patient.”

      “Right. Well. Your friend is doing just fine. Worried about her kid and a little groggy and understandably confused, but aside from that, she’s all right. CT scan came back normal, so...” She shrugged. “You know the drill. And I won’t tell anyone if you wanna sneak СКАЧАТЬ