Thwarted - 53. Chapter Fifty-Three

“You there?” Trey sounded tired.

“Sorry, sorry.” Mark breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m here. I just couldn’t believe it when I heard your voice. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” Trey chuckled, but there was no humor in it.

“I bet. Hopefully they have you on some good pain killers.” Mark wanted to ask how badly he was hurt, but would save that for when he talked to Gary or Diane. Obviously they’d made it there, since Trey was using Gary’s phone.

“Yeah.” Trey was quiet for a moment and then continued, his voice so low Mark had to strain to hear him. “When I saw Mom and Dad, I looked for you.”

Mark winced, even though Trey couldn’t see him. He’d thought he was doing the right thing by staying behind, but he could hear the disappointment in Trey’s voice. The last thing he’d wanted to do was cause Trey any more pain.

“I’m sorry.” Mark glanced briefly towards where Brent had been, but he was gone. Mark appreciated the privacy. “I’d have been there, but I was afraid they wouldn’t let me in and I didn’t want you to be alone.” Just the fact he felt the need to justify his actions to him he’d made the wrong choice.

“That’s what Mom and Dad said.” Trey’s voice had grown even quieter. “I still wish you were here.”

“Me too.” More than he could say. He should have taken the risk.

“I’m tired.” Trey yawned. “I just needed to hear your voice.”

“I can’t even say how much I needed to hear yours, too.” Mark dreaded hanging up. “I’ve been so worried. I love you.”

“I know.” Trey grew quiet. “Dad wants to talk to you.”

Mark didn’t even have time to say anything else before Gary was on the phone.

“Mark?”

“Yeah.” Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath then opened them again. “How bad is it?”

Gary was quiet for a moment. “Sorry, Trey’s falling asleep, so I wanted to step away so I didn’t wake him back up. He’s going to be okay, but he’s hurting pretty bad.”

“The head injury? How bad?”

“The swelling in his brain has gone down, and they don’t believe there was any severe damage. The worst right now is his legs.”

“What’s wrong with his legs?” He knew there was shrapnel damage, but not how bad it was. Whatever it was, they’d deal with it together, he just needed to know.

“There’s some really deep lacerations from the shrapnel. It tore through muscles and tendons. They’ll be doing surgery first thing in the morning to repair the damage as much as possible, but then it will just take time for him to heal.”

“Damn it, Gary. I should be there.” Mark felt like crying. Trey needed him and he wasn’t there. What did that say about him? “I’ll see if I can get a flight out Friday morning. I can meet Brent at the airport with Matthew and be there by Friday afternoon at the latest.” He’d be broke afterward, but he didn’t care. He’d screwed up and he was going to fix it. “Maybe I should see if Brent can find someone else to take Matthew. Then I could maybe get there tomorrow.”

“No, don’t do that.” Gary’s sigh could be heard over the phone. “You know Trey would never forgive himself if you did that and your sister got hold of Matthew. Trust me, Trey will understand, he’s just hurting right now. Think about it, if Trey wasn’t hurt right now, what would he want you to do?”

“Then I’ll get a flight for Friday and be there that afternoon.”

“That won’t work. We won’t be here. Neither will Trey.”

“They’re transferring him to somewhere else? Tell me where and I’ll get there.” He didn’t care where he had to go, he’d make it there.

“There’s other things we need you to do, because we can’t.” He could hear Gary talking but guessed he was talking to someone else and had covered the phone because his voice was muffled. “Sorry, Diane was asking me something.”

“Other things can wait.” Did Gary not want him there with Trey?

“No, they can’t. Not if you want Trey to come home.” Gary paused. “I need you to make sure the cabin is ready for Trey. You’re going to need to go and rent a wheelchair and a walker, because he’s not going to be able to use crutches too much. You also need to figure out if you’re going to have to make some sort of ramp. The step down from the cabin porch isn’t very high, so you should be able to maneuver a wheel chair okay there, but make sure. We need all of that done by Friday morning.”

“Why Friday morning?” Mark was confused. Trey acted like he wanted him there, but Gary seemed to want him to stay put. He understood needing to get things situated for Trey, but he could do all of that and still get a flight out Friday morning. It would be tough, but doable.

“Because, unless something changes, you need to also figure out how to leave the car for us at the airport and be at the base Friday evening to pick up Trey.”

“What?” He had to have heard wrong. There was no way they could be releasing Trey so soon. Not if his legs were as bad as Gary was making it sound. “That soon?”

“Yeah, we were surprised too. From what the doctor said, once the surgery is done, there’s nothing more they can do until Trey starts healing. There’s a few things he’ll have to do before he can be released, but they’re planning to release him and put him on a military flight sometime Friday. Actually, the more I think about it, Diane and I will just rent a car. It will be hard for Trey to get in a truck, so you’ll need our car to pick him up.”

Mark felt like everything was happening so fast. He’d never thought Gary would have so much information when he called. They’d only gotten there within the last couple hours.

“Mark? You still there?”

“Yeah, sorry. I just can’t believe it.” That was an understatement. “Between the head injury and the shrapnel damage, I thought he’d be there for at least a week.”

“So did we, but when we got here, they already had his treatment planned out, and I guess it’s not uncommon for them to be released that soon for this kind of injury. It would possibly be different if there was damage elsewhere, but with the majority of damage being to his legs and the head injury resolving itself, he’ll be released within a day or so, as long as he has someone at home to take care of him.” Gary’s voice became muffled for a moment, then he was back. “Diane needs me, so I need to go, but I’ll call you back when we know anything more, or I’ll have Trey call you when he’s awake again.”

Mark barely got his goodbye out before the call ended. He walked over and settled back on the couch as he thought about what Gary had said. Trey was coming home, but Mark had a lot to do before he got there. He was still sitting there when Brent came back, Matthew perched on his hip.

“How’s he doing?”

“Huh?” Mark blinked and looked over as Brent sat next to him.

“How’s Trey?” Brent settled Matthew on his knee and bounced him. “You know, if you need to go, I’ll find someone else to keep Matthew for me while I deal with Jackie.”

“No, that’s okay, I can keep him. I thought about it, but it wouldn’t do any good.” Mark smiled and felt tears sting his eyes. “Trey’s coming home.”

“When?”

“Friday, unless something changes.” Mark glanced around the cabin. “There’s so much to do before I pick him up.

Brent stood and placed Matthew in the playpen and turned to face him.

“Where do we start?”