Then he is still as he stares at me with open, lifeless eyes, and I can’t seem to look away. Vega scrambles back to the stairs, calling out orders. I hear many sets of pounding footsteps coming up. Vega checks Mama’s pulse and yells for paramedics in a tone that tells me nothing about how she is. He moves over to me and cuts the ropes that bind me to the pipe. The paramedics rush up and go to Mama first.
“Are they going to be okay?” I whisper so softly that Chief Vega doesn’t hear me, my eyes still on Daddy. Then I tear them away and look up at the chief.
“Chief Vega, are Jordan and my mom going to be okay?” I try to grab his arm but I can’t get a grip. I’m shaking all over.
“Jordan is going to be fine.” We both watch the paramedics lift Mama on a stretcher and carry her out of sight. “I don’t know about your mom, but you gave her the best chance you could.”
I feel the slightest bit of relief at hearing that Jordan will be okay, but I don’t trust myself to really feel it until I see him for myself. Once I start talking, it’s difficult to stop. “I’m so sorry he got hurt. I understand if you don’t want me to ever see him again, as long as I know he’s all right. Maybe we’ll even move away if—when Mama is better. They just both have to be okay.”
Vega looks from Daddy’s lifeless form and back to me, then gently takes my arm and places it around his shoulders. He helps me to my feet and a small smile plays at his mouth as he links my arm through his and steadies me on my way to the stairs. “Did you know that Jordan was trying to crawl back up the stairs when I got here? He only made it about six steps up because he was trying to move silently with what looked to be a broken foot.”
I see the gentleness in his eyes that I always find in Jordan’s.
“You’ve been really good for him. He had shut down after his mom passed—he didn’t want to be a part of anything anymore. You changed that.” Chief Vega’s eyes are damp. “My boy sure does care about you. If we get down these stairs and he finds out I’ve encouraged the idea of you moving to another state, I will never hear the end of it.”
He waits until I glance up at him again. “And what you did up there for your father … was one of the bravest and kindest things I’ve ever seen, Riley.”
“Thank you.” As I murmur the words, the tiniest bit of warmth flows from my hand on his arm and up to my heart.
“I knew anyone who could make Jordan smile again like you have these last few weeks had to be impressive.” He helps me slowly and shakily to the bottom of the stairs and leads me off to one side. “Now I’m certain that even that was an underestimation of you.”
I am not sure how to respond to the things he is saying. This is the monster from all my nightmares. Only now I’ve finally discovered who the true monster was.
“You are so much like Jordan. So if I may, I’d like to give you a bit of the fatherly advice I think your father would’ve given you if he hadn’t been sick…” He waits until I nod before continuing. “You need to stop taking the world on by yourself. No one has shoulders that wide.”
My whole body shudders at the thought of what I lost today. That was absolutely something that the Daddy I loved so much would’ve said. I can actually picture him saying something similar over the table at Polunsky. I lean against Chief Vega as my legs start to wobble.
He helps keep me upright as he continues. “You saved Jordan, hopefully your mother, and yourself today. Try carrying that truth around for a little while. Lean on the weight of what that says about you. Hopefully then the rest will settle into place.”
I don’t dare speak. All I can do is hope that he’s right.
“Oh, and Riley?” he asks as he pivots me gently toward Jordan’s stretcher. “Please, call me Nick.”
The aching all over my body dulls slightly and I think of the conversation I had with Mr. Masters so long ago. I smile to myself at the memory. I turn back to face Jordan’s father. “How about Mr. Vega?”
He gives me a curious look and then shrugs. “Whichever you prefer.”
I find my strength once I meet Jordan’s eyes. He sits as far forward as he can on a nearby stretcher and I notice a paramedic trying to make him lie down. I run to his side and try to wrap my arms around him, but he winces while stopping me short, putting both hands on my shoulders as his eyes scan over me. “Are you really okay?”
“No, but I think I will be.” I stare down at the bandages around his foot as well as the bumps and cuts all over him. A huge bandage covers his head and I see some blood has seeped through onto the thick white gauze. Before I can examine him any further, he pulls me in tight against his chest. “I was so worried about you. I didn’t want my dad to wait for the other officer to take me outside before he went upstairs. I needed him to hurry to get to you—to your mom.”
“Why didn’t you go to the hospital?” I reach my fingers up to touch the corner of his swollen bottom lip where a deeper cut extends down nearly to his chin.