The Greatest Show (Willow Son #5/Brothers of Rock #20) (19 page)

“
I
love you, Brantley. If you need to do that alone, I respect it. I
’
ll be there though to answer any
questions. You need to understand that. I have to be there for him.
”

“
Of
course. I just want to be able to say what I have to say without him looking to
you. So you don
’
t get
dragged into whatever emotions he has.
”

“
What
if he gets pissed?
”
Emma
asked.

“
Good.
He should. If he does, then it
’
s
more work for me. I
’
ll work
for the rest of my life showing him, you, the world just how much you mean to
me. What we decided years ago is done and gone. We can talk about it anytime
you want to, but it
’
s over
now. We made the decision and we can
’
t
come back from it. What we can do is get to the future
…
and my future is in my hands.
”

“
My
boobs?
”
Emma asked.

“
Everything
of yours.
”

Emma leaned forward and spread her
legs. She straddled Brantley and put her head down to his. Everything just felt
so right. In the background, yeah, it was a mess, but for once, Emma didn
’
t care. She could go to bed with
someone she loved and felt safe with.

“
This
is intense,
”
she whispered.
“
I have to say that.
”

“
I
know it is. But it
’
s worth
it. You
’
re worth it. We
’
re worth it.
”

“
Stop
doing it
…
stop saying the
right things.
”

“
I
’
ll say the right things at the
wrong time for the rest of our lives.
”

“
Our
lives,
”
Emma whispered.
“
I like that.
”

“
I
like you,
sexy moves
.
”

Emma opened her mouth and inched
down. She felt her lips pressed against Brantley
’
s.
Her tongue came forward, meeting his aggressive tongue. The first second of
their kiss was pretty clear where they were about to go, again.

“
Are
you sitting on Brantley?
”
a
voice asked.

Emma let out a yell and jumped
back. She then stumbled back and caught herself, almost wiping out on her ass.
She spun around and saw Seth standing in the doorway, drumstick in his hand.

“
Seth,
”
Emma said.

“
Why
were you sitting on him?
”

“
I
had something in my eye,
”
Brantley said.
“
Come here,
kid. Are you okay?
”

Seth stepped forward and Emma knew
the look on his face. Her heart stopped swelling from the overwhelming
sensation of love and went into full panic mode. She touched Seth
’
s forehead and looked at
Brantley.

“
He
’
s on fire,
”
she said.

“
No,
”
Brantley said.

“
We
have to go to the hospital
…”

(18)

The feeling was nothing Brantley
wanted to ever feel. He couldn
’
t
sit. He couldn
’
t sip
coffee. He couldn
’
t do a
damn thing except pace the hallway. Up and down. Back and forth. Looking at the
same goddamn pictures on the walls. One of a few faded hot air balloons.
Another of a little kid sitting on a dock, fishing. They were happy pictures
and this felt like anything but happiness.

Doctors rushed to take care of
Seth.

They were checking for infections
anywhere in his body. His immune system was so beaten down that it didn
’
t take much. That
’
s when Brantley had the image in
his head
…
Seth hugging
Mike. If Mike had that cough and cold and was near Seth, then Seth could have
caught something.

As Brantley kept moving, he
couldn't believe that such an amazing moment had been cut short by this. Being
in the hospital showed Brantley a side he never wanted to see. And that was the
truth that no matter the money he had, it wouldn
’
t
fix Seth completely. A million dollars wouldn
’
t
make the infection go away. Ten million dollars wouldn
’
t fix his immune system. That was the hard truth.
The sad truth.

Brantley spun on his heels and
froze.

Colby, Van, Ryker, and Jett were
walking down the hallway. They looked like a group of outlaws with ripped
jeans, leather, and the wild allure of rockstar.

“
Brother,
”
Colby said.

“
What
are you doing here?
”
Brantley asked.

They all hugged Brantley.

“
Harry
called me,
”
Ryker said.
“
What
’
s going on?
”

“
They
took him for a X-ray of his chest. Maybe pneumonia.
”

“
Poor
guy,
”
Van said.

“
Are
you okay?
”
Jett asked.

“
No,
”
Brantley said.
“
This is the worst. And Emma had
to do this alone
…”

“
Stop
that,
”
Ryker said.
“
I
’
ll
knock your fucking teeth out if you talk like that now. We think positive. For
your son, man.
”

“
Right,
”
Brantley said.

“
Is
that Emma?
”
Van asked.

Brantley turned and Emma was
walking down the hall. She had a hand to her mouth, obviously crying. Brantley
ran and scooped her up, unsure what to do with his pent up emotions.

“
Where
is he?
”

“
They
’
re taking him to his room.
”

“
What
happened?
”

“
We
’
ll find out.
”

“
No,
”
Brantley said.
“
Give me a doctor right now. I
’
ll figure this out.
”

“
Brantley
…
please don
’
t become that.
”

“
What
am I supposed to become?
”
Brantley said.

The emotion caught up to him. He
looked away.

Emma touched his face.
“
Oh, Brantley. He
’
s going to be okay. They
’
ll find the infection and treat
it.
”

“
But
then what? Is this how he has to live?
”

“
Possibly.
”

“
Then
take my blood. All of my blood. Right now.
”

“
Okay,
”
Emma said.
“
That
’
s what they
’
re
prepping him for next. The doctor thinks it
’
s
just something random right now
…”

“
Your
father had a cough.
”

“
Yeah,
he did.
”

“
I
’
m going to call every doctor in
this country and figure this out for him. I can
’
t
buy his illness away, but dammit, I
’
ll
pay for the most expensive doctor to figure this out.
”

“
I
know you would. That
’
s why
I trust you. That
’
s why I
love you. Let
’
s go see our
son.
”

Emma took Brantley
’
s hand.

“
Wait,
”
he said.
“
Let me go see him.
”

“
Now?
You want to tell him now?
”

“
I
have to see him alone, Emma. Please. The guys are over there
…”

“
Oh
wow,
”
Emma said.
“
The whole band came.
”

“
We
’
re family. It
’
s what we do. Seth is going to
have the coolest uncles in the world.
”

“
That
sort of scares me.
”

“
Me
too,
”
Brantley said.
“
He
’
s
got my genes and those guys to egg him on. We
’
re
screwed.
”

“
Yes
we are,
”
Emma said.
“
Now go talk to your son.
”

**

Brantley watched as the doctors
hooked Seth up for the blood transfusion. It pissed him off when someone
touched his kid and it hurt him. It took a lot of restraint to keep from going
crazy. The good news was that the doctor said there was no sign of pneumonia.
Seth
’
s white cell count was
very low though, which was a concern. They were going to give him the blood
transfusion and keep monitoring him. The other piece of good news was that
Brantley was definitely Seth
’
s
father. No chance in hell he wasn
’
t.
Everything was a match and there was never a need to question a thing. Again,
another situation where Brantley wanted to be happy but didn
’
t know how. Not with his son in
a hospital bed next to him, in pain and scared.

Once everything was calm in the
room, Brantley approached the bed.

“
Hey,
kid,
”
he said.

“
Hey,
”
Seth said.

“
I
’
m really sorry you don
’
t feel good.
”

“
Me
too.
”

“
You
know, there
’
s a thing about
ninja drummers you should know.
”

“
What?
”

“
We
never leave without our weapons.
”

Seth
’
s
eyes opened wide.

“
I
keep a drumstick with me at all times. Can I trust you with it?
”

“
Yes.
”

For some dumb reason Brantley
thought to grab a drumstick in all the panic as they ran through the house. He
stuck it in his sock, like he used to do when he was younger. That
’
s how he kept a pair of
drumsticks on him.

Brantley lifted his pant leg and
grabbed the stick. He handed it to Brantley and squeezed the kid
’
s hand.

“
There,
”
he said.
“
You
’
ll be fine now. That
’
s
good blood you
’
re getting.
”

Seth nodded.
“
Thanks.
”

“
Hey,
can we talk for a second?
”

“
Sure.
”

Brantley grabbed a chair and sat
next to the bed.
“
I have to
tell you something, Seth. It
’
s
kind of hard for me to talk about.
”

“
Is
it about bad guys?
”

“
What
if I told you I was sort of a bad guy?
”

“
What
do you mean?
”

“
Seth,
you have a great Mommy. I actually love your Mommy a lot.
”

“
Is
that why you two kissed? And then she sat on your lap?
”

Brantley laughed.
“
Yeah, that
’
s why. But listen, you know that
people have parents, right? You know, like a mom and a dad.
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Do
you know anything about your dad?
”

“
No.
I have my mom and my pop.
”

“
Your
pop is cool guy. I worked with him last night.
”

“
Is
that what happened to your face?
”
Seth asked.
“
Did a bad guy
try to rob you?
”

Brantley touched his face.
“
Yeah, something like that. I
defended everyone.
”

“
Then
you
’
re not a bad guy.
”

“
Ah,
Seth. I didn
’
t just come
around
…
I
’
m the one, Seth. I
’
m your dad. Me and your Mommy
had you.
”

The room was quiet as Seth stared.
He then turned his head for a second.

“
Seth?
”

“
Where
did you go?
”

“
Go?
”

“
Mommy
said once that you had to go.
”

“
Okay.
Right. That
’
s what makes me
a bad guy, Seth. I shouldn
’
t
have gone anywhere. But I did. I did some music stuff and that was wrong. I
should have been there for your mother. For your pop. For you. I was working. I
was playing music. I always missed you, Seth. So much.
”

“
Then
why didn
’
t you come back
sooner?
”

Brantley felt his chest tighten.
“
I wish I had a good answer. I thought
you would be happier. That was a bad thing to do, Seth. That was a bad decision
by me. I
’
m hurt because of
it. But I
’
m here now. I
’
m going to take care of you
forever. I
’
m going to love
your mother forever.
”

“
Are
you going to kiss her a lot?
”

“
Probably.
”

“
Don
’
t let me see it. It
’
s gross.
”

Brantley laughed again. He touched
the corners of his eyes. He stood and leaned forward.
“
Seth, if you have any questions, you can always
talk to me. If you want to be mad at me, you could be. But I need you to know something
…
can you remember this one
thing, no matter what?
”

“
Sure,
”
Seth said.

“
Okay
…
this is our secret
…”

**

Emma slowly opened the door to the
hospital room and heard Brantley talking.

“…
I don
’
t want your Mommy
’
s feelings to get hurt. Do you
know what that means?
”

“
Like
sad?
”

“
Exactly.
See, she
’
s the greatest
person ever. Right?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
I
need you to never forget that. I don
’
t
want to share all of this with your mother, Seth. I want to be just part of it.
I want to be in your life. I want to help you when you don
’
t feel good. I want you to come
see my concerts and maybe play some drums yourself. Okay? And I love you, Seth.
You
’
re my son. You
’
re going to grow up and have an
amazing life. With two parents who love you. But somewhere inside your heart, I
need you to never forget what your Mommy did for you when I wasn
’
t here. Can you do that?
”

Emma felt the tears stream down her
cheeks. She couldn
’
t help
herself as she walked forward, into view.

“
Mommy,
”
Seth said.

Brantley turned and Emma slid her
arms around him.

“
Thank
you,
”
she whispered.

Brantley kissed the top of her
head.
“
No, thank you. Thank
you for letting me have this moment.
”