To the Highest Bidder Go the Spoils

Chapter 18

Anderson was pleasantly surprised to see Olivia Duquesne sitting in the room with Gavin and Zeke. He had heard from Zeke that she wanted nothing to do with her son, but here she was.

He went over everything with Gavin, explaining why he was still in the hospital. They were going to keep him until Tuesday so Dr. Wright could see him when she returned. He noticed that his color looked better, but he opted to leave the oxygen on him just in case.

Anderson wanted to talk to Zeke alone, but he knew by the look on his face he wouldn't leave Gavin alone with his mother. For the last sixteen months, the woman had refused to see or speak to him. Anderson had heard of the birthday party for his grandmother and how the entire family had shunned him. He knew how much Zeke despised the people who had all but abandoned their child. So he would wait to talk to Zeke about all of this.

Before he left, he did what everyone else had. He stroked Gavin's head gently. The twenty-two year old had wiggled his way into everyone's hearts. Maybe it was his silent strength or his willingness to take on an illness alone. Anderson couldn't pinpoint it, but he also knew he couldn't just leave him coldly. He had grown fond of the kid in the eight or nine weeks he had helped treat him.

Zeke watched Anderson talk personally to the young patient. Gavin's face was open to him as he answered. He was still tired but he looked stronger. He knew Anderson would see it and take it as a good sign.

He looked at the woman sitting in the far corner. When he'd called Olivia early that morning, he had refused to back down from her. He hadn't taken the shitty reasons she spewed over the phone. Gavin was a degenerate for living with him. Gavin had made his decision. Gavin had done this, Gavin had done that. He'd finally just told her to shut up.

"Your son is in the fucking emergency room, and all you can say is he broke your heart?" he'd spat. "What about his? What about what you did to him? Have you ever thought of that?"

He'd let the questions hang between them so they would sink into her thick skull. Then he'd asked the medical questions to which he needed answers and hung up. He had no idea she would fly from New Orleans to come see Gavin.

Obviously Gavin was as shocked as he was. Except he was trying to hide his excitement. He hadn't seen his mother voluntarily like this. The birthday party didn't count. His entire family had been there. This, this was different. She had come to see him. He was tired, but he was itching to know why his mother was there. His foot twitched under the blankets as he tried to control his outburst.

Zeke had no qualms about his. He turned to her and waited until she looked at him. "When I called you, I had no idea you would hop on a plan," he said.

She stiffened at his tone. "You said my son was in the emergency room. Clearly I had no choice but to come."

"All I needed was his medical information."

"You didn't ask her to come?" Gavin asked.

Zeke turned to him. "No. I just called to ask about your blood type and if anyone else had it in your family among other things. I had no idea she would come."

Gavin's excitement died down. His brown eyes shrank a bit as the light slowly dimmed in them. "Oh. Okay."

Olivia scooted forward and put a hand to his foot. "How did it happen?" she asked. "How did you end up here?"

"I fell," Gavin said. "I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back to get some ointment out of the sidetable drawer, I stumbled over the foot of the bed. I hit my head on the edge of the table. It must have knocked me out immediately."

"You shouldn't have needed a transfusion for that."

"He has leukemia, Olivia," Zeke reminded. "One of the side effects of his treatments can be bleeding easily from an open wound. If he fell and hit his head, not only do head wounds bleed faster, but there was a chance he wouldn't be able to stop it. Anderson said he'd been there for an hour or two before I found him."