“I can’t just leave him with a stranger—”
“Ma’am, respectfully, you ain’t leaving him. You’re right here. I’m right here. He’s safe in my arms, and you need to close your eyes for more than five minutes.” Dale’s voice was gentle but firm. “Besides, I raised four kids, remember? If this little man needs something, I’ll wake you. But right now, he just needs to feel safe. And so do you.”
Jessica lay down on the hospital bed, and within minutes, she was asleep too. The exhaustion just pulled her under.
Dale sat there holding Emmett, that low motorcycle rumble coming from his chest. The toddler’s small body was completely relaxed, his breathing deep and even. One tiny hand clutched Dale’s leather vest.
Forty-five minutes. An hour.
Nurse Patricia brought Dale’s chemo IV to him. “If you won’t come back to your room, I’ll bring treatment to you. Hospital might fire me, but you’re finishing this treatment.”
She hooked Dale back up right there in the chair. Chemo dripped into his arm while he held a sleeping toddler. The contrast was stark—poison flowing into a dying man while he gave life-saving rest to a child who desperately needed it.
Two hours passed. Dale’s brothers found him. Snake, Repo, and Bull stood in the doorway, staring.
“Brother, you’ve been gone two hours,” Snake said quietly. “You okay?”Continue reading…
