“What?” She thought back. “That was weeks ago. Is he okay?”
Sun knew Chris De los Santos, but Quincy had been friends with him. He covered his eyes and his breath hitched in his chest.
“Quincy, no.”
“Cruz carried him more than two miles to their truck and took him to a hospital in Taos, but it was too late. He died before they got there.”
“No.”
Quincy broke. A sob escaped and his shoulders shook. He had to turn away. “They said it took them four hours to get Cruz to let go of him.”
“No.” The floodgates opened. “No wonder he wouldn’t let Auri go,” she said, covering her face with her hands. How much more could that kid take?
“He has no one,” Quincy said.
“No, he has a grandfather, right? In Riley’s Switch? He works construction with him in the summers.”
Quincy shook his head. “That’s who I’ve been talking to. When I couldn’t get a hold of Chris, I called Philip, but Philip isn’t his biological grandfather. He was Chris’s foster dad.” His voice cracked and Sun rubbed his back. “He helped with the cremation and asked Cruz to live with him, but Cruz said he wanted to stay with some friends until school let out. He told him he was staying with Chris’s best friend.”
“Who is that?”
“Me, apparently,” he said right before he broke completely. He walked out, struggling to breathe.
Sun turned to Levi. He looked as astonished and heartbroken and crushed as Sun felt. She didn’t know how close he and Chris had been, but they’d been friends. She knew that much, because Levi was friends with all the cool people in town, and Chris De los Santos was one of the coolest.
He stood as though his body would no longer allow him to sit. She took one look at him, at the devastation etched into his face, and wanted nothing more than to console him. To make all of this go away. Instead, he strode past her as though worried he would break completely.
A nurse came in before she could go after him. Though he was Auri’s critical-care nurse, Sun had asked him to find out what he could about Mrs. Fairborn. “They admitted Mrs. Fairborn for observation,” he said, checking Auri’s IV and taking some readings.
“Are you going to be right here for the next little bit?” she asked him.
“Absolutely. I won’t leave this station if you need to grab something to eat.”
“Actually, is there some place I could take a shower?”
“Sure thing, Sheriff.”
Fifteen minutes later, Sun set her emergency bag on the closed toilet seat and combed through it until she found her toothbrush. The nurse found her a shower she could use down the hall from ICU, God bless him. The fragile threads holding her together were starting to fray. The seams ripping apart. The worn edges starting to show.
She brushed her teeth, then stepped into a shower so hot it would blister her skin. Why didn’t Cruz say anything? How could the father of a minor in her town die and she not know about it? Shouldn’t someone have let her know?
Cruz must have felt so alone. In turmoil and agony. And he had no one. The image of him refusing to let Auri go after having to let go of his father forever almost broke her. It stung her eyes and burned her throat.
The totality of the last several days hit her at once. She sank to the floor, as the scalding water rushed over her, and pressed both hands to her mouth to silence the sobs racking her body. And then she cried. Until her eyes swelled. Until her muscles ached. Until her stomach heaved. She cried until someone knocked on the door, the sound so soft she almost didn’t hear it.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” she said a microsecond before she realized it could be someone with news of Auri.
She grabbed the towel they’d loaned her, wrapped it loosely around her body, then went to the door. Levi stood on the other side.
“Auri?”
He shook his head. “She’s still asleep. You’ve been in here a while. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Of course,” she said between hiccups. She averted her face, suddenly self-conscious. She was a sheriff. She needed to start acting like one. “I’m almost done if you want the shower. You can use my emergency kit, though I don’t have any clothes that will fit you.”
He pushed his way in and closed the door behind them. “I’ll wait in here.”
“Oh. Okay. I’m almost finished.” She stepped back into the shower and closed the curtain, realizing she hadn’t even shampooed her hair yet. She held her breath while she lathered and rinsed to keep another sob from escaping, only allowing small gasps of air to enter her burning lungs.
He opened the curtain and, without hesitation, pulled her into his arms soaking wet. She didn’t feel too bad about having a total meltdown in his arms. He cried, too. He held her tight enough for her to melt into him. And so she did.
24
Sunday’s service will discuss which page of the
Bible explains how to turn water into wine.
Come early. Full house expected.
—SIGN AT DEL SOL CHURCH ON THE ROCKS
While Levi took his turn in the shower, Sun found a change of clothes for him thanks to a sympathetic admin and her magic key to a sparkling land called the gift shop. She worried he wouldn’t want to wear what she got him, but he didn’t really have a choice since his clothes were now soaking wet.
She always kept two different outfits in the back of her cruiser, business and super casual—a.k.a., comfy sweats and a tee—which was all they had in Levi’s size as well: a pair of sweats and a T-shirt with a UNM Lobos emblem.
And thanks to Auri’s ICU nurse, she also found him a clean pair of boxers and socks. She snuck them in while he showered, thought about peeking, then went back to ICU.
When she woke up in the wee hours of dawn two hours later, she found Levi’s powerful frame slouched in the chair next to Auri’s bed, his wide shoulders and long legs filling up half the room as the nurse worked around him.
The nurse smiled at her. “She’s doing great, Sheriff,” he said even though her uniform was in her duffel bag. “They’re going to move her out of ICU in a bit.”
Relief washed over her like cool water. “How about Cruz De los Santos?”
“He’s two doors down if you want to see him. Though getting past his guardian angel might be difficult.” He grinned at Levi. “Kind of like this one.”
“Thank you.”
“Any time. My shift ends in a few. It was really nice to meet you.”
“You, too. Thank you so much for taking care of my kids.”
He rewarded her with a bashful smile.
Sun stood and held Auri’s hand for a while. Brushed her hair from her forehead. Marveled at the surreal creature she’d been given. Her face, though still pale, had a little more color. A soft blush blossomed over her lips and cheeks.
Sun glanced over at Levi. The man of her dreams was down for the count, his breathing soft and deep, his startlingly handsome face serene in slumber, so Sun peppered Auri’s forehead with kisses then went to check on Cruz.
Sure enough, a guardian angel the size of an eighteen-wheeler sat between the door and Cruz’s bed. His long legs were stretched out before him and one arm lay draped over Cruz’s mattress. Still in his uniform, Quincy snored softly.