Fortunate Son by Jay Crownover

Bowe

I PLAYED THE final note of my last song when I caught sight of the Archers suddenly moving toward the door. Ry left shortly after my set started, but even with the distance between us, I could tell he wasn’t happy about whatever was pulling him away. He pointed at his phone and gave a helpless shrug before disappearing. I thought he’d be back before the end of my performance, but he’d yet to show. And now, his parents were hurriedly making their way through the crowd, and Remy was practically pushing people out of the way as she rushed to reach them. She had her phone to her ear and was gesturing wildly with her free hand. Rule, Ry’s dad, caught her in a hug with an arm tossed around her shoulders as all three of them slipped out. They caused a bit of a scene, so I knew immediately something was up. There was no way they’d all come to support me but leave without congratulating me. I knew I’d just played the best I ever had, and that I’d set the tone for my career from here on out. It was a big deal, but apparently not as big as whatever had happened while I was on stage. There was no way they would purposely pull all the attention in the room away from me unless there was a situation that made it impossible for them to keep their cool.

I was understandably worried and couldn’t really enjoy the shouts and cheers that followed after I finished the last song, so I hurried my way through an awkward thank you. I declined to play a short encore, even though I originally planned one more song if asked. I assured the overwhelmingly supportive crowd that another act was coming and they would show everyone a great time. My refusal to stay on stage garnered a few displeased boos and a couple yelled insults, but I barely heard anything as I dropped my guitar in its case, not even bothering to close it before hurrying off the stage toward my parents.

Suzy tried to stop me to congratulate me, as well as a few other people gathered near the stage. I waved them all off, saying I had a personal situation I needed to deal with. I was probably more abrupt and rude than the situation called for, but now that I was close enough to directly look at my parents’ faces, I jumped from being worried to downright terrified.

My mom was pale and looked like she might be on the verge of tears. My dad was tense and kept looking down at his phone as if he was waiting for an update of some kind. He had his hand on my mom’s lower back, and was rubbing the spot in soothing circles. I recognized that gesture all too well. All the years when my parents struggled to have another baby, and after all the disappointments and letdowns, that was how my dad comforted my mom. That was how he let her know he was there no matter what.

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach, and a whole new type of anxiety started to claw its way up my throat.

“What’s going on?” I shifted my gaze between the two of them. “Why did everyone else have to leave in such a rush?”

My mom reached out and caught my hand. “Let’s go outside and talk for a minute.”

My dad nodded in agreement. I followed them out of the bar, the silence between them deafening. I could almost hear the individual raindrops landing on the ground as the night sky spit tiny bits of moisture down on us. It must’ve been raining pretty good while I was on stage. The ground was wet, and the roads looked really slick.

As soon as we reached a spot near the paid parking lot, my mom stopped and pulled me around to face her. She reached a hand up to my face, patting my cheek as she took a steadying breath before telling me, “There’s been an accident.”

I blinked and tried to do some mental gymnastics to put the missing pieces together. “Was it Daire? Is she all right?” She was pretty much the only person I knew Ry would run to rescue, regardless of his other obligations. He almost always put his little sister first.

My mom nodded stiffly and cleared her throat as my dad paced back and forth next to us, eyes still glued to his phone.

“Yes. Daire was involved, but, honey, so was Ry.” She put a hand to her chest, and I watched as she took a deep breath and worked to put words together. “There was a pileup on the interstate because of the rain. Daire was stuck on the side of the road, and Ry went to help her. They got caught in the middle of the accident. Ry’s mom got called into the hospital because there were too many injured for the attending staff to handle. A moment later, Daire got in touch with Remy to let her know Ry was in serious condition, and they were rushing him to the ER. Daire’s pretty banged up, but nothing too serious happened to her. Ry…” My mom trailed off and looked at my dad for help.

“He’s in critical condition from what Shaw’s colleagues told her. I’m waiting on an update from Rule. They should be at the hospital by now, but I’m sure Shaw had to go right to work.” My dad’s voice was rough, and I could tell he was deeply shaken. “Remy took Rule and Shaw in her car. Rule left me the keys to his truck so we can rush to the hospital. If you need a minute to process all of this, that’s perfectly fine.”

“Is his mom going to save him?” My voice cracked, and I realized I was shaking so badly that my mom had to hold me up. My body felt numb everywhere except the center of my chest. Right where my heart was located felt like it was on fire.

“I think most doctors opt out of working on their family members so they can remain objective in a crisis. But I’m sure Shaw will make certain he has the absolute best people working on him. No one wants to lose one of their own. Everyone in that hospital will take care of Ry like he’s their kid. Okay?”

I nodded, but I was having a hard time getting my body to respond to the orders from my brain. I let my mom guide me to a massive, towering silver truck. It looked a lot like the one Ry drove, only newer and bigger. My mom had to fasten my seatbelt for me because I couldn’t make my fingers work. She gave me a quick hug and muttered, “It’ll be all right, baby. That boy has always been lucky. He’s got someone higher up than us looking out for him.”

I closed my eyes and lifted my hands to hold the burning spot in the center of my chest. “I’m so glad you and Dad are here. I mean it.”

I couldn’t imagine having to face whatever was waiting for me at the hospital without them being there to hold me together. It felt like the world was being ripped apart at the seams, and my heart was tearing to pieces right along with it.

My mom tugged on the ends of my hair before moving to sit up front next to my dad. My dad looked at me over his shoulder as he backed up the big truck. “Even if you hadn’t decided to give baby Archer another chance, your mom and I would be on our way up here to support Rule and Shaw. Whenever any one of us from back in the day feels like we’re about to fall, there are a whole lot of hands ready to catch us.”

It was true. I remembered when I was little, and my mom was in and out of the hospital after miscarriages, and when she finally had the twins, our house was full of people. Shaw, my Aunt Royal, Salem, Saint, and Remy’s mom Cora stayed with us for a while. They didn’t let my mom lift a finger and helped while she figured out how to navigate being a mom to twins. It was finally starting to sink in why my parents were so adamant that all of us kids find our own bonds with each other. They wanted to make sure we had the same kind of support they did when tragedy struck.

It was a tense, silent ride to the hospital. My dad’s phone beeped a few times, and he handed it to my mom so she could read the messages coming through.

She quietly informed us that Daire had a broken wrist and a mild concussion, but otherwise, she was awake and doing fine. Ry, on the other hand… was in surgery with a laundry list of injuries that, to a layman, sounded insurmountable and unsurvivable as my mom read them from the text message.

He had a fractured collarbone.

He had a dislocated elbow and torn ligaments in both his knees.

He had a broken ankle and a separated shoulder.

He had broken ribs and a punctured lung.

He had a lacerated spleen and tear in his liver.

And they were waiting on a neurologist to evaluate him because upon the initial examination, it seemed like he might have a closed head injury.

If he pulled through, he was looking at a long period of recovery. And there wasn’t a chance in hell he was ever going to play football again. In the blink of an eye, the life he’d always known and everything he’d worked for was gone.

It was devastating to think about. If I wasn’t so scared he might die, I’d be overcome by how much he was on the brink of losing. At the moment, as long as he kept his life, everything else felt insignificant.

By the time we got to the hospital, the cavalry had already arrived.

Daire was sandwiched between her gigantic uncle and tiny aunt. Her arm was wrapped up in a sling, and she was covered head to toe in road rash and bruises. She looked like a broken doll. Remy was sitting on the other side of her mother, clutching the small woman’s hand like a lifeline. Regardless of what was going on between the two of them, this was the kind of situation where you needed your mom, and Cora was the type of woman who was good at making crazy situations seem like they were controllable. Zowen was nowhere to be seen, but I would bet good money he was on his way from wherever he’d been when he got the news his cousin was in critical condition.

Ry’s dad was pacing back and forth with his head down and his eyes focused on the floor. He looked absolutely haunted and completely rattled. Fortunately, there was a big man in a dark hoodie keeping pace with him and muttering reassurances. I hadn’t seen Nash Donovan since I’d been in town, but he was often wherever Rule was. The two were business partners and lifelong best friends. They were more like brothers than anything, and I knew Nash had been the one to pull Rule out of the fire the last time he lost someone he loved to an accident. My dad often talked about those dark days when he wanted to remind my sisters and me to make good choices because nothing was ever certain. It had to be brutal on Ry’s dad and his uncle that the night that stole their brother’s life was so eerily similar to this one.

Nash’s wife was also in the medical field. I couldn’t remember exactly what she did, but I was pretty sure she worked in private practice and not a massive hospital like this one. I didn’t see her and Nash as often as some of my parents’ other friends because they traveled together a lot, and they were one of the few couples in my orbit who didn’t have kids. They were often gone when we visited in the summer, but I had shared plenty of holidays with them. The pretty redhead was nowhere to be seen at the moment, but I doubted she was very far away. She was more than likely the one relaying all the medical information to the anxious family since Ry’s mom wasn’t available to do it.

There were also people gathered I didn’t know as well, like Hyde’s mom and dad, and Aston’s parents, as well as Ry’s ex-girlfriend. I still planned to have a conversation with her about what had happened between me and Ry, but as soon as our eyes met and I saw the same fear and anxiety that I was feeling reflected back at me, I knew more was said with that look than words would ever convey. She dipped her delicate chin in a nod of acknowledgement, and I saw her lower lip tremble. I nodded back and felt my heart clench painfully. She might not love him anymore, or may not have loved him how he wanted in the first place, but Ry was an immeasurably important part of her life. She would be devastated the same way I was if anything tragic happened to him. There was no animosity or anger toward me in her eyes at all. Just sympathy and sorrow.

Everyone was really somber and quiet, like we were all holding our breath at the same time.

My parents surrounded me on either side, almost as if they were trying to physically buffer me from any type of bad news that might come. Eventually, Daire caught sight of me and immediately burst into tears. Her uncle did his best to comfort her, but she was clearly devastated. I couldn’t stand there and watch her sob so hard her entire body shook, so I told my parents to give me a minute and made my way over to her. She tried to fold herself in half to escape meeting my gaze as I crouched down in front of her. She was inconsolable, and up close, her injuries looked far worse than I initially thought. She had butterfly stitches holding one of her eyebrows together, and there were places on her exposed skin where the road rash looked like someone had peeled the top layer of flesh off. Both her eyes were on the verge of being black and blue, her bottom lip was split open. They may have been superficial injuries, but as severe as they were, it made me worry even more about the state Ry was in.

I gulped down the suffocating swell of concern and put a hand on Daire’s shoulder. It was the only place she didn’t have visible damage. “Hey, I’m glad you’re okay.”

Ry’s Uncle Rome reached out and put a comforting hand on the top of my head. He gave it a little pat of encouragement. I could tell he was worried about the state Daire was in. If she got any more worked up, she was going to hyperventilate and need a sedative.

“It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry. I never should’ve called Ry to save me. You must hate me.” She choked on another sob. “And my parents…” Her watery eyes went to her father, who was almost as much of a wreck as she was. “They’re never going to forgive me.”

“I don’t hate you. I’m worried about you. You need to pull yourself together and be strong for your brother. He’s going to need everyone to take care of him for once.” I couldn’t smile right now, so all I could do to reassure her was pat her arm when my hand slipped down. “Your brother is always going to save you, no matter what. He might question all the things he’s meant to be in this life, but there’s never been any doubt that he’s a hero.” That was a skin he was never going to shed, no matter how his life changed. “I don’t know what happened out there tonight, but I do know your brother wouldn’t want you to tear yourself up this way after he gave his all to save you.”

She finally looked at me, and the fear and regret in her eyes hit me like a punch in the gut. She was even more of a mess on the inside than she was on the outside.

“What if he can’t walk? What if he doesn’t ever wake up? What about football? What if…” She trailed off on another sob as she lifted her hands to her tangled, dirty hair and pulled while whispering, “What if he doesn’t make it?”

Before I could tell her not to think that way, her aunt wrapped a tattooed arm around her shoulders and jerked her into a tight, sideways hug. “Stop. Don’t say that. Don’t think it. Don’t imagine anything other than Ry opening his eyes. We have enough trouble in this family; we don’t ever borrow more.”

I looked up as someone grabbed my arm and hoisted me to my feet. Ry’s dad stood next to me, looking down at his daughter with eyes that were so cold, I was shocked he wasn’t giving people frostbite. I stepped out of the way so he could pull Daire out of her seat by her good arm. I thought he was going to hug her and tell her everything would be all right the same way Cora did, but he didn’t.

Instead, he plopped down in the vacant seat next to his older brother and pulled Daire down, so she was sitting in his lap like a little kid. He put a hand on the side of her head and stroked her dirty hair as she rested her cheek on his shoulder.

“You know your brother, kiddo. He’s not going anywhere or giving up without a fight. He’s too stubborn and too determined to take the easy way. He’s going to be fine. Didn’t your mom promise you she wouldn’t let anything happen to him? You have to trust her, okay?”

He looked up at me when he said the last part, and I got the feeling he was speaking to me more than to Daire. I nodded in understanding and moved back toward my parents as the Archer brothers leaned close to one another to form a united front. I felt horrible that this was the second time they were going through something like this and that Daire was being eaten alive by guilt. It was easier to focus on everyone else’s pain so I didn’t have to focus on my own. I knew if I gave them enough room, my emotions were going to run wild, and I would be in an even worse state than Daire. I was doing my best to hold it together, because right now, the focus didn’t need to be on me. Which was definitely not how I’d planned to end my big night.

My dad wrapped me up in a tight bear hug as soon as I was within touching distance. My mom grabbed me from the back and hugged us both, so I was completely engulfed in their love and protection. Finally, I felt a tear fall free as I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to control my breathing.

“I really, really like him.” I was well on my way to being in love with him—and not the sweet, fluffy, innocent kind I’d felt when we first found each other. This was the real deal. The kind of love that settled in your bones and set root deep in your heart. It didn’t have claws and teeth like Remy’s love, but it was still big and scary. “I don’t know what I would do without him.”

If it wasn’t for Ry Archer, I would be living someone else’s dream and pretending I’d gotten everything I wanted when I was actually empty inside.

“You’re going to do exactly what you were already doing because nothing is going to change. The boy you get back might be a bit different from the one you originally had, but that was gonna happen as you two continued to grow and learn from one another anyway.” My dad kissed the top of my head and held me even tighter. “It’s harder to hold on than it is to let go, Bowe. And if I know anything about the Archers, it’s that once they get their hands on something that means the world to them, they refuse to let go of it. I believe Ry’s been holding onto you for a long time, baby. You gotta believe he’s not going to lose his grip now.” My mom’s words wiggled through the weight of the sorrow that was threatening to smother me.

“And just like Rule told Daire, Shaw promised not to let anything happen to him. She’ll move mountains to make sure her boy comes out on the other side of this. You can believe in her if you don’t have the faith or the strength to believe in miracles right now.”

It was impossible not to have hope with both of them holding me and telling me exactly what I needed to hear. I didn’t need to hold anything together because my parents were doing the work for me. I finally let myself cry and allowed the heartache I’d kept at bay to swell. That flame in the center of my chest continued to burn, and I knew my heart was more than bruised this time.

It wasn’t broken. At least not yet. It was definitely cracked and on the brink of shattering. And if Ry didn’t come out of this nightmare, there wasn’t going to be enough glue on this planet to put the pieces back together.