They all did that quietly.

Tate couldn’t offer his wife that comfort.

He just felt his stomach squeeze, the intensity of the pain forcing sick to surge up his throat.

But he swallowed it back and did what his brother would want him to do.

He sat immobile, Jussy’s head still on his thigh, his fingers shifting through her hair soothingly even though she was still fast asleep.

At least she’d missed that.

At least.

* * * * *

Tate woke with a start, his body’s movement bringing Laurie’s head up from his shoulder.

He stared into the room, not knowing where the fuck he was for a moment before he saw Jim-Billy, head bowed down, baseball cap pulled over his eyes, asleep in a chair in the hospital waiting room across from Tate, Nadine tucked to his side. And down from them, Jonas stretched out on chairs, arm over his head to block out the light, asleep.

He looked right and saw Krys walking in, her movements agitated, Bubba following her, Breanne strapped in swaddling to the big man’s chest.

For a second, Tate stared at Krys, thrown. He knew where he was. He knew why he was there. He hated it like fuck.

But he’d never in his life seen Krys without makeup, her hair straggling down straight, looking just washed, dried, but untouched.

He got over that, turned his head left and saw Twyla standing at the end of the row of seats, eyes aimed out the window, Cindy in a seat, eyes open, on Krys, but she was leaning into her woman.

“Word?” Krys rapped out.

Fuck, he was going to have to tell her.

Fuck.

She’d been gone, home with Bubba and their new baby, when the surgeon came.

Tate started to get up but felt Lauren’s hand curl on his thigh.

He looked to his wife.

“Where’s Jussy?” she asked.

His head shot around to the row of seats behind him.

Ty’s jacket laid there, the bundle of bloody clothes there too.

No Jussy.

He looked to Twyla.

“You see her leave?” he asked sharply.

Twyla’s face shifted, mouth opened, but it was Cindy who answered.

“We both woke up a couple of minutes ago. Didn’t think, Tate, except maybe she had to go to the bathroom or something.”

Jim-Billy was stirring, pushing his ball cap back, Nadine lifting from his side sleepily, Jonas hearing the conversation, pushing up into a hand, and Tate rose from his chair.

He headed to the hall, knowing from the sound of footfalls there was a parade behind him.

He hit the nurse’s station outside the Critical Care Unit.

“Can I help you?” the nurse there asked.

“Jussy—” he bit out, stopped abruptly and started again. “Deke Hightower, a friend of mine, he’s here.”

“I know, sir, he’s still—”

Tate interrupted her. “His woman was sedated when the doctor told us his condition. We’ve been in the waiting room, woke up, she’s not with us. Have you seen her?”

Her expression altered to understanding as she said quietly, “Ms. Lonesome has been informed of his condition and she’s in with him.”

“Dammit,” Tate muttered under his breath.

It was him who should have told her.

It was him Deke would have wanted to tell her.

Fuck.

“Take us to him,” Krys demanded. “Take us all to them.”

The nurse shook her head. “Only one visitor at a time in this unit, sorry.”

Laurie pushed closer to the station. “You need to take us all to him.”

“It’s policy that—”

“He needs his friends around him,” Laurie whispered, a hitch in her voice, and Tate rounded her belly with an arm, pulling her back to him.

“It’s not—” the nurse began.

“Please,” Lauren begged.

The nurse took them all in and Tate was grateful at the same time agonized at what it meant when she slowly nodded her head.

“I’ll need you to be as quiet as you can. I’ll also need you all to wash your hands and put booties on. And I’m sorry, sir, no babies.”

“You all go. I’ll take Breanne,” Cindy said hurriedly, already coming forward, helping Bubba unwrap the swaddling.

The handoff happened. The nurse took them to the sterilization station. They washed their hands and put on booties.

Tate was holding Lauren steady as she put hers on when the nurse murmured, “What’s that?”

But he heard it.

And Tate knew what it was.

He moved swiftly toward the sound, followed by Laurie, Jonas, Krys, Twyla, Jim-Billy, Nadine and Bubba.

He stopped just in the door.

They pressed in behind him.

The nurse got there before him, was deeper in the room, and she opened her mouth to speak.

Tate darted out a hand, curled it on her shoulder and her eyes came to him.

He shook his head and mouthed, “Please.”

She didn’t look like she liked it but she said nothing and turned her eyes to the bed.

Tate did too.

Deke was in it, the bulk of his body, his hair and his eyes the only way Tate knew that it was his brother in that bed. His face was mostly obscured by the apparatus at his mouth, a tube down his throat, more leading to it, more in his arms, the back of the bed slightly elevated. He had no hospital gown, sheet and blanket around his waist, his upper body naked but there wasn’t much you could see since all of it was wrapped in bandages.

Jussy was seated in a chair at his side.