24. Bridget

TWENTY-FOUR

Bridget

"Did they fall asleep?"

I look over my shoulder at Meredith, nodding. "Yeah, on the couch."

We both walk a step or two into the living room, and there's Mia passed out on the sofa with Juniper. Hudson brought his family over shortly after I arrived with Mia, and we've been taking turns entertaining the kiddos until now.

"I can't believe you sang them both to sleep." Meredith smiles gently as her loving gaze washes over her son.

"It's not a big deal. I've always loved singing, is all."

And I really wish I could do more.

Without the pressure to keep up my poker face, I've been pacing through the kitchen. Mason hasn't called or messaged in hours, and I'm fully panicking now.

Eventually, my steps lead me back to the kitchen, and I watch Meredith sit down next to Hudson. Mom is sitting at the kitchen table, too, and with both of them there, Hudson's job has become holding their hands.

I can't stand still, though.

We've been waiting for some kind of update for too long, and the horrible dread crawling up my spine is making me sick to my stomach.

I also still haven't let myself fall apart the way I want to. I still have an audience, as it were, and even though they're my family, I can't bring myself to finally let go and have a good cry.

All I want to do, though, is fall to the floor on my knees and scream into the air. The sobs are caged behind my ribs right now, but they're there.

I want to beg the universe not to do this to me. I want to cry until I can't.

Because Mason still isn't home.

I look out the kitchen window set into the back door. The sun has set now, and the fading remnants of pinkish light are fading away with each second, revealing more and more of the night sky.

The hum from the TV turned low in the other room makes my skin itch. The reporters are saying that the fire has been contained, and all threats to the town are gone.

I don't feel like that, however.

I know I should be happy. I want to be happy. But without Mason walking through that door and wrapping his arms around me, the celebration is going to have to wait.

Word has it that most of the firefighters arrived back unharmed, but there's still a tiny contingent they don't know about.

That contingent being Mason and his team.

I just need answers. I need somewhere to direct my panic and concern. Waiting around with nothing to go on is like slow torture.

Worse, memories of being at the hospital waiting to hear about my father's condition swim up from the depths. I remember pacing through the hall, just waiting and waiting and waiting.

This feels too similar, and this can't end the same way. I can't lose another person I care about.

"Bridget, try to sit or something. You're going to work yourself up into a coronary."

My mother's voice cuts through my thoughts, and I hang my head. I know my pacing isn't helping, but I'm not sure I can stop moving.

"I know. I know. It's just?—"

"Hey," Hudson interrupts, "he'll be okay. He's a tough guy. Mason has gotten me out of too many scraps to count."

Meredith shoots him a playful glare.

"This was well before I met you, hun. You know I'm just a boring old man now."

She grins, and seeing my brother with his wife makes me want to sob all the more. They have exactly what I want—what I thought I'd finally gotten.

I spin on my heel, making another circle through the kitchen to the living room. Mia and Juniper are thankfully still sleeping, and my chest pinches just looking at Mason's daughter.

Mia asked several more times about her dad before she fell asleep, and it was getting harder and harder to keep my cool when she did.

"He's at work. He's being brave." That's what I said, and the words tasted like ash in my mouth.

Give him back. Please. Please, give him back.

"Come here, Bridget." I look up at Hudson, who gestures with his head across the table from him. "Sit down."

My brother was giving me that face—pleading silently with his eyes—so I humored him and took a seat.

"Do you remember when we were kids, and we all went down to the creek and tried out that old rope swing?"

I can't stop myself from laughing sharply, shocked he actually remembers that.

"Oh my God. Yes." I shake my head, my hand going to my mouth. "You and I got up and jumped off no problem."

Hudson nods, knowing exactly where this story is going. "Yup. But…"

Scrubbing my hands over my face, I smile through the nostalgia. "Mason broke the rope."

"I mean, it probably would have happened to whoever went third, but yeah. God," he grins, gripping his chin as his stare traces upward, "he fucking flew all right."

Meredith furrows her brow, and when I look at Mom, she's doing the same. Meredith leans forward, resting her chin in her hand as she plants her elbow on the wood.

"And what exactly do you mean by flew?"

Chuckling lightly, I'm at a loss for words for a moment, images of the past swimming up through my head like an old movie reel.

"Well, Mason grabbed the rope and pulled it back like we had. But when he ran forward with it to jump on and soar over the creek a few times, he only got to the top of his arch. Right over the water, the rope snapped, and he launched past the overlook and into the creek."

"I swear he had some real hang time before he hit the water in the most epic of belly flops."

We all laugh, and the feeling of recalling such a silly teenage moment takes the edge off. I know exactly what Hudson is doing by bringing all this up, and as much as that fact isn't lost on any of us, we all just let it work.

Reminiscing feels better than panicking.

Ring, ring, ring.

Hudson stops, looking down at his pocket. His phone is ringing. His phone is ringing!

"Answer it!" I call out, and Hudson quickly lets go of Mom's hand to fish the thing out.

"Who is it?" Mom asks.

"I don't know. Unknown number." Hudson swipes across the green button. "Hello?"

His brows raise, and my heart is in my throat. Oh God. What's happening?

"Hang on just a moment, please."

Pulling the phone away from his ear, Hudson switches the call to speaker so that we can all listen. I nod quickly at him when my brother looks up at me, his brows pinched together.

"Okay, could you repeat that?"

"Sure. This is Kathy, I'm a nurse at St. Rose Hospital. We have a Mason Hayes here, and you are listed as his emergency contact."

"Yes, I'm Hudson Monroe. Is he all right?"

The seconds between the question and the answer are eons, my entire body frozen in stasis as I hang on the edge. Please, please, please .

"He'll be fine. A tree branch fell on him, and he was admitted with some minor burns and a concussion."

I nearly pass out from the relief, falling back into my chair. For whatever reason, that's when the tears begin to flow, and I'm too strung out to stop them.

"He's going to need a ride back home and someone to keep an eye on him. He's requested that it be you, and he's also requesting that you bring a Bridget and Mia with you."

My heart rate skitters all over the place again at the mention of my name. He wants to see me and Mia, and I have no problem going over there right now.

Hudson looks up at me, and I nod vigorously, mouthing, "Yeah. Let's go."

"Okay, if you could let him know that we're on our way?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Monroe. I'll let him know."

Hudson nods, too, standing up from the chair as he says goodbye to the nurse. As he does, I turn to my mom, taking her hands for a moment.

"Are you okay to be here with Meredith and Juniper?" I look to Meredith as well. "Is it all right if we?—"

Meredith smiles. "Of course. Go on."

"Yes, honey. It's fine. Go see Mason. Meredith and I will be here with Juniper."

Smiling, which feels like a damn miracle right now, I give my mom a kiss on the cheek and then hug Meredith.

As Hudson gets ready to go, saying his piece to his wife, I go into the living room to fetch Mia. I feel bad for waking her up, but I know that she'll be glad to see Mason.

And if he's hurt, Mason will be downright thrilled to see Mia and know that she's okay.

I can't seem to find anything I need to get going, though. My head is all jumbled, and it takes help from Hudson to find my keys and a blanket to wrap Mia in so that she can still doze.

Gently, I scoop Mia into my arms. She stirs a bit, but I hush her, rubbing across her back and just whispering that we're going to see Daddy.

She smiles sleepily and then falls right back to sleep as I buckle her into her little seat in my car. Hudson does me a solid and agrees to drive, and then we're off to the hospital.

I don't love the fact that he's there, but I am so damn glad that he's not worse off. A concussion and burns I can deal with.

Something worse? Yeah, I don't want to think about it, and I don't have to.

"Okay, let's go see Mason. Our buddy sure knows how to get himself in trouble, huh?"

I smile, but I have to swallow hard. I'm not sure how Hudson would react if he knew that Mason and I were pursuing things.

But that is so future Bridget's problem.

"Yes, he does."