Free Hooked by Cat Johnson Page B

helpless. A man who could rope and wrestle a steer to the ground, taken down by what? Some sort of microscopic blood clot or whatever an aneurism was? How was that possible? How was that fair?
    “Luke…we have to—” She stared at the machines beeping away. Proof his father still lived and breathed.
    “Why? Why do we have to?”
    “Because he’s gone.”
    “He’s not gone. Maybe he’ll—”
    “No. He won’t. There’s no brain activity.”
    “But maybe—”
    “No, Luke. There’s no hope. Please don’t make this harder than it already is. You know your father and you know what he’d want. Hell, if he wasn’t so healthy and stubborn and convinced he’d live to be a hundred, he probably would have thought to get one of those do-not-resuscitate orders when we had our wills drawn up right after you were born. But you know this…” She swept her hand at the room full of equipment. “This wouldn’t be what he’d want. This isn’t living.”
    Luke knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. Hell, he’d barely been able to let his old horse go a few years back when the vet had said it was time to put him down. This was the man who’d raised him. How the hell could you simply unplug the machines and let him die? His thoughts must have shown on his face.
    “It’s not him, son. It’s just his body. We’d be keeping him here for us, not for him.”
    Tears he didn’t let fall blurred Luke’s vision as he nodded. “When?”
    “They’ve arranged for the organ donations, so as soon as you’ve said your good-byes. I’ve had all day. I’ve already made my peace with it. Take your time, son.”
    Time wouldn’t change anything. He shook his head, not knowing if he could do as she asked. He knew he needed to be strong for her, but right now he was like a little boy again clinging to his mother.
    She took his hand, her grip stronger than it should be given the situation, and led Luke to the bed. He forced his gaze up from the floor, trying to ignore the machine breathing for his father because he couldn’t do it for himself. He knew his mother was right. There was no dignity in living like this. If he had been aware of any of it, his father would have hated it.
    With one loud sniffle, Luke released his mother’s hand and took his father’s in his. It remained limp in his grasp. One more indication the strongest man he’d ever known was gone.
    “Hey, Dad. It’s Luke. I’m here. Um, sorry I took so long, but I did real good this competition. I placed third. Made some good money.” Luke figured his father, being a practical man, would appreciate knowing that. Now what? How in the world did you say goodbye forever? He couldn’t. All he could say was, “I love you.”
    He squeezed his father’s hand one last time and then took a step back and looked for his mother. She gave him a weak, watery smile and nodded.
    A nurse and a doctor Luke hadn’t noticed enter the room stepped forward, toward the equipment, and Luke’s world changed forever.
     
    Luke woke up in his own bed in the room he’d had since birth. Some things had changed over the years. The cowboy wallpaper from his youth had long ago been painted over. The wall was covered instead with pictures of him in competition and buckles he’d won framed in shadowboxes. Some things, like the old maple dresser handed down from his grandparents’ time, remained the same. It showed the deep patina that comes with age.
    But now that his father was gone, everything seemed different.
    Chris had driven him and his mother home from the hospital late last night. It had felt wrong to leave his father there, though Luke supposed he wouldn’t be alone for long. It wouldn’t be long before the funeral home came to get him. Chris’s father, Jack Collins, had called the family who owned the only funeral parlor in town and asked them to handle the arrangements. Chris had dated their daughter for a while.
    Small town indeed.
    That was a blessing