Liability (Suncoast Society #33)(73)

“Mr. Singleton?” He reached out to shake hands before pulling up a rolling stool the nurse sat on to work on Mason’s chart.

“Yes.”

“Well, I have…guarded news.”

“Guarded?”

“There is improvement. I’m going to leave notes for neurology for in the morning to do another evaluation. We might be able to move him to the other side of the ICU. Now, I know that’s not a lot of good news, but as long as he continues to improve, we might be looking at bringing him out of sedation in a few days.”

Cole didn’t want to let hope flare in his chest. He wanted to stomp it down and keep it under wraps so he didn’t jinx anything.

He damn sure didn’t want to tell Kim yet and instill false hope in her.

He finally returned to Mason’s a little before four a.m. He’d already decided to call in to work, both due to his exhaustion and because he wanted to talk to the doctor himself that morning.

And if Mason was moved, he wanted to be there for it.

He curled up with Kim and got a little sleep, at least.

The next morning, he sent Kim off to work with a stern order to try to actually work, and that he would be with Mason all day. Tilly arrived at the hospital five minutes after he did, and they were sitting by Mason’s bed when the neurologist did rounds.

Cole was happy to have Tilly there. Between his own exhaustion and feeling completely overwhelmed, he needed Tilly to translate the medical jargon and break it down to salient points he could understand. Yes, he worked in the medical field, but not like this.

“So we’ll move him to the other side this afternoon,” the doctor summarized. “As long as he continues to improve, we’ll do another CT scan and then look at getting him awake.”

Cole’s focus snapped into place. “Awake?”

Tilly slipped her arm around his waist. “Awake.”





Cole waited to update Kim with the latest news until they’d actually moved Mason. In this side of the ICU, while the number of visitors at any given time was limited, the time they could spend there wasn’t.

Cole could practically camp out there if he wanted.

After Tilly and Cole talked with Mason’s new nurse and he was settled into his new space, Tilly went out to update Mason’s parents and the friends who’d stopped by to see him.

Cole collapsed into the recliner that was at Mason’s bedside and stared at his face. The NG tube they’d put in on Tuesday while Cole was at work still…his own stomach rolled a little. He knew it was necessary to make sure they could feed Mase, but…

No, medical play definitely wasn’t a fetish he’d ever have.

Although he knew he’d need to force himself to get used to this. If Mase never woke, up, or if Mase was completely incapacitated, he could have an NG tube for a while. Or, Tilly had warned, possibly a permanent feeding tube inserted into his stomach.

It wasn’t an eventuality Cole wanted to think about just yet. If it happened, he’d deal with it then.

He focused on Mason’s closed eyes. The bruises on his face and elsewhere were starting to fade from blackish purple into a deep blue, the lighter bruises taking on sickly greens and browns.

The million-dollar question, of course, was that no one knew what kind of damage he’d sustained, neurologically speaking. Yes, he wasn’t brain dead. They knew that. But what kinds of rehab he’d need after they got him awake again, that was still in the air. Mason had sustained a traumatic brain injury, and what little Cole had Googled left him not wanting to read any more because he didn’t want to know the worst-case scenario.

Tilly had reluctantly told him, after some prodding on his part, that if the best-case scenario came true, Mason might be discharged from the hospital in a few weeks and go home and be almost fine.

Or…not.

She also cautioned him, as had the doctors, that Mason might face months or years of intensive rehab care.

It was just too soon to tell.

Cole wanted to focus on the positives. He wanted to believe the man he loved—they loved—would come back to them whole and loving them.

If Mason didn’t…they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. He’d meant every word he’d said to Mason’s parents. He would spend the rest of his life caring for Mason, if that’s what it took. He wouldn’t abandon him just because of this.

Even if the worst-case came to be, he’d never see Mason as a liability.

Just like if it was Kim in that bed, he’d never abandon her, either.

He reached out and stroked Mason’s right hand. “Come back to us, buddy. Please. We love you.”





It was ten days after the attack, on a Tuesday evening. Since they’d moved Mason from the surgical ICU to the other side of the unit, Cole had been camped out at Mason’s bedside in the ICU as much as they would let him. He had to work, but spent most nights there, showering at Mason’s since his place was the closest to the hospital. During the days, even though Tilly had gone to LA, she’d assembled a crew of their friends to come in and sit with Mason in rotating shifts so he was never alone even while Cole and Kim had to work.

Even if Mason wasn’t conscious, Cole didn’t want him left alone.

Cole and Kim helped bathe Mason, made sure to do the physical therapy exercises on his legs every time they were there visiting, and learned as much about his care as they could from the nursing staff so they could participate.