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Taglist reblog because I forgot that taglists are a thing before pressing post.

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A Chip Off The Old Block

Word count: 6636

Summary: Parker Syverson and his friends have planned what is supposed to be an unforgettable weekend in New York City to celebrate their high school graduation and their first steps into adulthood. Unfortunately for Parker, the universe seems to have planned a cruel reminder to be careful what you wish for.

Warnings: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Underage Drinking, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Abuse of Authority, Hospitalization, Probable Medical and Police Inaccuracies, Implied/Referenced Sex, Past Violence, Past Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Wrongful Accusations

A/N: This is a sort of spin-off story to You've Got Me Hooked featuring Sy and Riley's son Parker. For the most part, this is original fiction except for the Sy cameo. I watch way too many police and medical drams so please forgive the major inaccuracies.

You've Got Me Hooked - Masterlist

Masterlist

“I don’t like it,” Sy grumbled as he handed Riley a large frying pan.

“So you’ve said,” she answered, drying the clean pan with a dish towel.

Less than thirty seconds went by before he spoke again. “I don’t fuckin’ like it, Ri.”

“I know. But he’s eighteen and legally an adult. ‘Not liking it’ is not a good enough reason to force him to stay home instead of going on a weekend trip with his friends.”

“Exactly, he’s eighteen.” Sy pulled the stopper out of the bottom of the sink, letting the soapy water drain with a whir as he began putting away the pile of clean dishes. “What the hell is there for an eighteen-year-old to do in New York other than get himself in trouble?” Sy paused, pointing a plastic spatula at Riley. “He’s not goin’ to fuckin’ art museums, I can tell ya that.”

Had their nicely renovated kitchen not had soft closing cabinets, Riley was sure each door would have been slamming as he worked.

“You know why he’s going. They have tickets to a show at Madison Square Garden.”

Sy scoffed, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah, and he’s not gonna do any other stupid shit on his first weekend of freedom.”

Riley bit her lips, holding back a giggle. She was pretty sure he didn’t realize that he was pouting like a toddler and she was not going to make things worse by pointing it out. Even if she found it terribly cute coming from her big beefy husband.

Draping the towel over the handle of the stove, Riley stepped into Sy’s space and clasped her hands around his neck. His arms automatically found their way around her waist, holding her against him as he met her gaze.

“It hurts me too, you know. Seeing our boy all grown up. But he’s going to college in the fall, we gotta let him go sooner or later.”

“I vote later.”

Riley gave Sy a fond smile, raking her fingers through the greying hair at his nape and pulling him down for a soft kiss. Her attempt at distraction was interrupted by a voice calling her name from the top of the stairs.

“Mama! What happened to the laundry I put in the dryer?”

“Legally an adult but he’s still askin’ his mama where to find clean underwear,” Sy muttered under his breath.

Riley pinched Sy’s side, escaping his hold to go retrieve the laundry she’d been folding up in their bedroom.

When Sy had mentioned to Jared—read ranted—that Parker was going off to New York unsupervised, Jared had suggested none too subtly that he and Riley should take the weekend to catch up on some adult fun of their own. He’d originally flipped Jared off and told him they didn’t have any catching up to do but he was beginning to think maybe his best friend knew from experience that staying distracted was the best way to survive the weekend without worrying himself into a heart attack.

Following the flow of the crowds, Parker and Sadie made their way through the stadium corridors. Their friends had been practically vibrating with excitement in the hotel room and had left first with the promise that the couple would be right behind them but one thing had led to another and they arrived only in time for the first act rather than the opening of the doors.

“Parker! Have a beer man.”

When they reached the others, a plastic cup was extended towards Parker but he didn’t take it.

“Na, I’m good. Let’s go inside.”

There were security guards everywhere and though they likely had better things to worry about than verify that the concession workers had checked everyone’s ID, Parker was not inclined to risk getting kicked out for what looked like warm, flat beer.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be a pussy.”

“If not needin’ beer to have fun makes me a pussy then I’ll accept the title any day.”

Parker put his arm around his girlfriend, pulling her closer into his side. He didn’t like being called a small town boy but he sure felt like one at that moment. His father had been taking him to football games since he was a kid but somehow it felt different when the average age of the crowd seemed to have been slashed in half. The show hadn’t even started and people were already stumbling around.

“I’ll take it.”

Snatching the cup, Sadie brought it to her lips and chugged.

“Woah, are ya sure you should be doin’ that?” Parker asked but made no move to physically stop her.

“We don’t have time to sit and chat,” she answered, tossing the empty cup in a nearby trash can. “We need to get out there before the floor is completely full and we’re stuck at the back.”

After pushing their way closer to the front, they spent the rest of the night singing and dancing along with the music. The girls made friends with a group of locals who invited them all to an afterparty at a nearby hotel. Apparently the hotel was owned by one of their father’s and they had access to an entire suite.

Once again, Parker felt out of his depth. Only people in movies had parents who owned entire hotel chains and allowed their kids to throw parties in penthouse suites. Right?

Wrong.

As it turned out, The Suite Life was indeed a reality for some. He’d googled it on the way over. The suite was five-thousand square feet, had eighteen foot windows and a damn gym but only three beds. What was the point of such a big place if it couldn’t host more than six people? Flex how rich you were to as many temporary guests as possible apparently.

The private elevator to the suite opened to reveal that the after party was already in full swing.

“Oh. My. God.”

“This place is amazing! Holy shiet!”

Sadie dragged Parker out into the throng of people, the others following close behind.

“Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. If you’re looking for something stronger, I’d check the gym. That’s usually where the boys like to set up their pharmacy.”

Parker looked around the suite in stunned silence. There was what appeared to be a reading nook on the second floor where a DJ booth had been set up with some lights, giving the whole place the same rave-like vibe as the concert venue had had.

Following the others to the kitchen, Parker kept a tight hold on his girl’s hand. By his side, he noticed Will doing the same. There was a bowl of punch on the counter as well as an open bottle of champagne but he led Sadie to the fridge instead.

Their options were limited to bottles of soda, beer and a few cans of malt beverages. Not trusting that the plastic bottles hadn’t been tampered with, he lifted up a can of beer and a hard lemonade. Sadie chose the hard lemonade, while Will declined both and Laura took the beer. As the girls toasted their weekend away, Parker pulled Will closer.

“We give ‘em an hour then we’re out of here.”

“Agreed.”

Once the girls finished their drinks, they all went to the makeshift dance floor. Sadie wiggled her hips to the beat as she walked ahead of Parker. Tugging on her hand, he spun her around before plastering his chest against her back. With his girl pressed against him and a bright smile on her face, Parker was able to let go and enjoy himself.

Parker’s dancing skills had scored him a lot of points with the girls throughout his high school years. He had no formal training or anything but his mother often danced around the house as she did chores which had led to him copying her almost as soon as he could walk. On more than one occasion, he’d watched as his father joined her, admiring the way it always made his mother light up.

Growing up with parents who weren’t shy about PDA was the bane of his existence as a child. Then when he met Sadie, well, he suddenly understood everything. He understood not wanting to let her go for even a second. He understood wanting to kiss her any time, any place just because. He understood agreeing to absolutely anything that would make her happy.

When Rob and Pete found their way back a little while later, their eyes much redder than when they had wandered off, Parker and Will announced that it was time to call it a night. Getting everyone into the elevator felt a little like herding cats but they eventually made it down to the lobby.

“Let’s go get pizza!” Pete exclaimed, way too loud, already pulling his phone out to find a restaurant.

“Bro,” Parker groaned, “I just wanna get back to our hotel.”

Their reasonably priced hotel—well, as reasonable as you can find in Manhattan—that didn’t have crystal chandeliers, massive penthouse suites or doormen dressed like Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramirez.

They’d had a late night in their hotel room then had gotten up only a few hours after to take advantage of the continental breakfast before it was too late. He was more than ready to sleep off all the excitement of the evening.

His objection, however, fell on deaf ears. The mere mention of pizza turned his hungry friends into a bunch of squawking seagulls. He had no desire to make yet another pit stop but if he insisted that they all go back now they would only escalate from squawking to pecking and before he knew it they would be sneaking out to satisfy their munchies anyway.

“I’m with Parker on this one, guys,” Sadie admitted, stifling a yawn. That was enough to make up Parker’s mind.

“We’ll meet ya back there,” he announced. Will was more than capable of keeping the guys in line. Besides, once they ate their weight in pizza, they would more than likely just fall asleep on the ride back.

“Suit yourself,” Pete said with a shrug, suggesting a place a short walk away and leading the others outside like a man on a mission.

Parker got to work looking up the best way to get back to their hotel. Turning to Sadie, he opened his mouth to read out their options but closed it again with a frown when he noticed how pale she was.

“Babe, you okay?” he asked, pushing a stray strand of hair from her face.

She closed her eyes, swallowing once before nodding. “I think I just got too hot in there.”

If she was feeling hot the twenty-minute bus ride back was not going to be of any help.

“You wanna just walk?” Parker looked down at his phone again. It would only take five minutes more and they would be walking along the bus route if she happened to feel better along the way.

“Yeah, I think I need the fresh air.”

As soon as the cool breeze hit her overheated skin, Sadie let out a small sigh.

“Better?”

“Much.”

They’d only made it one block before Parker started to get worried again. Sadie was quiet, leaning more and more of her weight on him. It wasn’t until she tripped over her own feet and narrowly avoided face-planting onto the sidewalk that he knew with one-hundred percent certainty that something was amiss.

“Babe, what’s wrong?”

“I—” she wobbled, leaning against the nearby building for support. “I think m’gonna be sick.”

She bent over at the waist, retching a few times but only coughed up a bit of bile. As far as Parker was aware, she’d only had two drinks the entire evening and it had been several hours since their pre-concert meal.

When he pulled her hair away from her face, Sadie’s skin was clammy yet cool to the touch which made Parker think that maybe she was more than just a little overheated. Looking around, he spotted a bodega at the corner.

“Can ya walk?” He needed to get Sadie a bottle of water or a sport’s drink but he was not going to just let her wait on the street.

She lifted her unfocused gaze towards his, trying to take a step only to stumble again. Parker bent down, slipping an arm around her waist and supporting her weight as they slowly made their way forward. They were a few feet from the door when two policemen exited the shop, stopping short as they saw them.

“Miss, are you okay?”

“I dunno what’s goin’ on, she just started feelin’ sick all of the sudden.”

The two cops exchanged a glance and one of them gave a barely there nod before calling for an ambulance on his radio.

“Miss, can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Sadie opened her mouth as if to answer but before she could say anything, her legs gave out from under her.

“Sadie!”

Both cops lunged forward, helping catch her weight and lowering her onto the ground. They called her name but she was out cold. One of the men lowered his head, checking for signs that she was still breathing.

Parker was frozen in place, holding her hand and not knowing what to do when he heard the whoop-whoop of sirens as an ambulance pulled up to the curb.

“She lost consciousness right in front of us. Heart rate and breathing are present but slow.”

The paramedics knelt by her side, checking her vitals as the cops recited what they knew.

“Kid, you with her?”

Parker snapped out of his trance, looking at the paramedic who’d asked him the question.

“Yeah. She’s my girlfriend.”

“What’s her name?” he asked, putting a blood pressure cuff on one arm and heart rate monitor on her other hand.

“Sadie.”

“What did Sadie take?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to him,” one of the cops snapped. “It’s past one in the morning and she’s stumbling down the street. What did she take?”

“Nothing, I swear.” He was fairly sure that two beers over six hours wouldn’t cause whatever was going on and he didn’t want Sadie to get in trouble.

Parker was forced to let go of her hand and step back as the paramedics lifted Sadie onto a gurney.

“We can waste our time running blood tests at the hospital to figure out what she took or you can help her out by telling us now.”

“She didn’t take anything! We— We were walkin’ back to the hotel. She said she wanted fresh air. I think she got dehydrated and overheated.”

As they began rolling Sadie to the ambulance, Parker automatically followed but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Woah, you’re not going anywhere.”

“What? No, I have to go with her!”

“It’s okay,” the paramedic said to the cop. “We’re taking her to Saint-Thomas. Maybe the ride will jog his memory.”

The entire drive was a blur. Sadie didn’t wake up but the paramedic mostly seemed to be monitoring her rather than scrambling to treat her so that had to be a good sign. He asked Parker again about Sadie taking any drugs but when Parker told him that she’d had two drinks at most he seemed to finally believe his answer and put in an IV to give her fluids.

Once at the hospital, he was forced to stay in the waiting room while the doctors took Sadie back. The cops had followed the ambulance and took a moment to speak to the paramedics after they handed Sadie off to the ER team. Two more cops, a man and a woman, joined them shortly after going straight towards the information desk.

“We have a few more questions for you.”

Parker lifted his head from his hands, straightening up in his chair.

“I don’t know anything more than I did before.”

Both men stood in front of him, one with his hands on his belt and the other holding a notepad and a pen.

“Let’s start with your name,” the cop on his right said, ignoring Parker’s statement.

“Parker.”

“Your full name,” the one on his left barked.

“Parker Maddox Syverson.”

“How old are you?”

Parker continued to answer irrelevant questions until the other two cops came his way, along with a nurse. For a second he thought he was going to get news on Sadie’s condition but that hope was soon shattered.

“Sir, I need you to come with me.”

“What happened? Did she wake up?”

“We need to take you back to draw some blood.”

“I don’t understand…” Did they think that drawing his blood was going to help them find out what was wrong with Sadie?

“You don’t have to understand,” the man Parker was now thinking of as ‘bad cop’ said. “Suspicion of internal possession, you don’t have a choice.”

“I don’t know what that means.” Parker looked between the nurse and the wall of police officers.

“It means you smell like a distillery and you’re not twenty-one. You’re looking at charges for minor-in-possession.”

With four cops staring back at him, Parker didn’t argue. He had no idea if any of what they said was true or if he was really obligated to give a blood sample but at least he knew the results would be zero.

‘Good cop’ and ‘bad cop’ followed him into the area where the nurse made him sit. His heart raced as she wrapped a band around his arm and disinfected the skin at the crook of his elbow. There was a pinch as she inserted the needle and within thirty seconds she was taping a cotton ball over the microscopic wound.

“Make sure we get a copy over at the PD when it’s in. His and Miss Wilson’s.”

Realizing that the others were probably back at the hotel by now and wondering where they were, Parker looked around for a pay phone. There were signs all over the waiting room indicating that they weren’t supposed to use their cells so he made his way towards the exit only to be stopped by ‘good cop’ standing by the door.

“Going somewhere?”

“I just need to make a call.”

“It can wait.”

“Look,” Parker snapped, finally losing his patience, “our friends are probably wonderin’ where we are. I just need to let ‘em know where we are and what’s goin’ on.”

“You’ll get to make a phone call once we get to the station,” said a voice from behind him. Parker turned to find ‘bad cop’ glaring at him. Not that he’d really stopped glaring since he first saw Parker. “Preliminary tox was positive for roofies. They’ll do a full panel on her blood.”

“What? No, that can’t be right.”

“Mmh hmm. Save it.”

And just like that, a set of handcuffs was being snapped around his wrists and his rights were being recited. All he could think as he was led to the car was that maybe his dad had been right. There was nothing for him to do in NYC other than get in trouble.

Arthur was not accustomed to getting middle of the night phone calls so when his cell rang at three in the morning, he scrambled to find it before the voicemail picked up.

“H’llo?” He cleared his throat, trying to sound more awake than he felt. “Hello?”

“Uncle Arthur?”

The moniker caught his attention immediately, causing him to sit up.

“Parker?”

“I think I’m in trouble.”

With an order not to say another word until he got to the station, Arthur hung up and dug through his closet for a suit. He was by no means well versed in criminal defense but he was going to fake it long enough to get all the facts and that included looking the part.

“Honey?” Arthur turned towards his wife while he finished adjusting his belt. “Where are you going?” she asked over her shoulder.

“I need to go help my nephew,” he informed her, taking the jacket off the hanger and slipping it on.

Rolling over, she readjusted her pillow. “Parker?”

“Yeah,” he placed a kiss on her cheek. “Go back to sleep. I’ll call when I know something.”

Arthur had kept in touch with his sister over the years but they hadn’t spent much time together. He’d only seen Parker once every two years or so but he’d made a promise when Parker was born and he was not going to turn his back on him the one and only time he’d asked for help.

Once in his car, he called the police station back and informed them that he was on his way. With a nearly hour-long drive ahead of him, Arthur didn’t want them getting impatient and going back in to see if Parker had changed his mind about waiting for a lawyer before answering any questions.

He found his nephew in an interview room, elbows resting on the table and his head in his hands. The sound of the door opening didn’t elicit any reaction and, for a moment, Arthur wondered if he’d fallen asleep.

“Parker?”

His head jerked up, obvious relief flashing across his face. He had dark circles under his eyes which were red-rimmed and brimming with tears.

“They won’t tell me if she’s okay.”

It was very telling of Parker’s character that his first question was about Sadie and not about the fact that he was currently sitting in an interrogation room. Unfortunately, Arthur didn’t have any information about her condition other than the few pieces of information that were relevant to the current investigation.

Arthur sat in the chair by Parker’s side. “I’d say that, in this case, no news is good news.”

He didn’t need to know that, if her condition had deteriorated, the accusations would be much worse.

“What have you told them?”

Once Arthur was brought up to speed, the detective joined them in the interview room.

“Didn’t take you long to get a lawyer,” he said, dropping a file on the table. “Surprising considering you’re from out of state.”

“Can we focus on clearing my client of these absurd accusations?”

He was not going to let the detective get Parker riled up. Being scared and tired was already a bad combo for an interrogation, he was not planning to add angry and frustrated into the mix.

“How do you know Sadie Wilson?”

“She’s his girlfriend,” Arthur answered.

“So you knew her before tonight?”

“Yes, he did.”

The detective shot an annoyed glance at Arthur, opening the file and sliding a plastic evidence bag across the table.

“Why did you have her ID and debit card in your pocket?”

Parker whispered the answer to Arthur who relayed it to the detective. “They went to a concert at Madison Square Garden. Sadie didn’t want to carry a bag or wallet around so she asked my client to keep them.”

“She couldn’t carry two little cards on her own?”

“Her dress didn’t have pockets,” Parker said, thankfully keeping his words to the minimum.

“Seems to me like the sort of thing you would do when you’re trying to hide a victim’s identity. Or take away their means of getting away.”

Or, if they used a little bit of common sense instead of trying to provoke a reaction, they would notice that the driver’s license clearly indicated that she was from Georgia and that it would be highly unlikely for Parker to just stumble on a potential victim who also happens to be from his home state.

The detective asked another series of questions about the evening, starting from when they arrived at the arena. Eventually, Arthur was able to have him stop questioning Parker and Sadie’s relationship by telling him to look through Parker’s phone. His partner, who must have been watching from outside, brought the phone in to have Parker unlock it.

After scrolling through Parker’s Instagram, which included a few short videos from the concert that, thankfully, did not feature any alcohol being consumed, they moved on to the latter part of the evening.

“Did Sadie have anything to drink at the party?”

“She had a can of something from the fridge when they first arrived. My client did not see her have any other food or drinks.”

“See, that’s where things don’t make sense.” The detective leaned forward on the table with a smug expression that clearly indicated he thought he had the upper hand. “Roofies start acting fast. By your own admission, you were with her all night. You’re saying you didn’t see her get drugged minutes before you left the party together. Makes me think that’s because you’re the one who drugged her.”

“Was there a question somewhere in there? Because all I’m hearing is a bunch of speculation and twisting of facts to fit whatever narrative you’re convinced has happened.”

“You drugged her didn’t you?” the other detective pressed.

“No, I—”

“Parker, don’t answer that.”

“Either it was you,” he continued, ignoring Arthur’s protests, “or you saw who did it which makes you complicit. Tell us the truth.”

“I went to the bathroom!” Parker snapped, slamming his fist down on the table before he could stop himself. “It was just before we left but she was with four of our friends.” He looked at each of the detectives then at his uncle. “I thought she would be safe. I was worried as soon as we saw how big the party was but I didn’t want the girls to be disappointed so I figured we’d give it an hour then go back to the hotel. I held her hand the whole time, I never took my eyes off her, the drink she had was from a sealed can.” He swallowed the lump in his throat, his voice coming out in a whisper. “I did everything I could think of.”

It killed Arthur that he couldn’t so much as put his hand on Parker’s shoulder as a small comfort. By the looks on the detectives’ faces, he didn’t think they would appreciate such a gesture.

“This is an unfortunate incident but my client is not to blame for it. Considering the lack of evidence, there’s no reason to detain him any further and keep him from going to his girlfriend’s bedside.”

“We are not going to release him. There’s still the matter of minor-in-possession.”

“My client didn’t consume any alcohol.”

“We’ll see when we get the results back won’t we.”

“Or you could have him take a breathalyzer which would give you the same result in seconds instead of hours and release him right now.”

It took another hour before they reluctantly released Parker without any charges. With a blood alcohol count of zero and no drugs or alcohol found on or around him, there was not a single shred of evidence for them to cling to. They hadn’t actually placed him under arrest, only detained him, so it was simply a question of returning his belongings before walking out as a free man.

“I’m sure you want to get back to the hospital but I think you need a shower first.”

There was no argument there. He stank of stale beer and sweat and he was pretty sure his wavy hair looked crazy from running his hands through it all night.

While they drove, Parker charged his phone and returned the numerous missed calls from Will. To his surprise, he’d actually stayed up waiting for them to get back and answered on the first ring. He was relieved to know that the others were all okay and had gotten back safely. Until then, he hadn’t actually considered that maybe one of them had been drugged too.

After the fastest shower in history, Arthur helped pack up their luggage. They didn’t know what they were going to find once they got to the hospital and it was best if they didn’t have to rush back to vacate the room in time for checkout.

“Do you know which hospital she was taken to?” Arthur asked when they got back in the car.

“Saint-Thomas.”

Arthur nodded, putting the car in drive and pulling onto the road. Of course, this was New York so they stopped only a few seconds later. Beside him, Parker was nervously tapping his fingers on the door. The longer they stayed still, the louder tapping became.

“Saint-Thomas is where you were born,” Arthur remarked, breaking the relative silence but didn’t get so much as a glance in return.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You didn’t know that?”

“I mean,” Parker shrugged, “I knew I was born in New York but I didn’t know which hospital.”

That made sense. People rarely talked about which hospital they were born in. Especially when that hospital was out of state. It wasn’t exactly a thrilling topic of conversation but it was the first thing that had come to mind.

“Your dad looked about ready to gut me that day.”

That made his nephew’s hand freeze.

“Wait, you were there?”

Neither of his parents had ever mentioned that piece of information. Although, Parker didn’t exactly ask follow up questions when his birth story was brought up. All he knew was that his mother narrowly avoided a C-section and would likely have had one if he hadn’t been so early. Still, he knew his mother didn’t speak to his grandparents and he only had a handful of memories of Arthur which made this discovery all the more unexpected.

“Total fluke,” Arthur said honestly. “I was there for work and was on my way out when I heard a baby start to cry. You can imagine my surprise when I looked up to find my sister holding a not-so-tiny baby in her arms. I hadn’t seen her in years at that point so Sy had no idea who I was. He just came back to the room, saw Riley in tears and instantly went into protective mode.”

“Yeah, he does that.”

“By the sounds of it, so do you.” Arthur looked over at Parker, wanting him to see the sincerity in his eyes. “Sometimes, you do everything right and bad things still happen. You did everything you possibly could to keep her safe short of dragging her into the bathroom with you. She’ll come out of this with a nasty hangover, maybe a bit of trauma or anxiety but your actions tonight kept it from getting worse.”

“I didn’t do shit. The timing of us leaving right after she got roofied was just a coincidence.”

“Maybe, but you were completely sober. Your focus was on taking care of her and making sure she had a good time. I don’t want to think how things could have turned out if you’d been too drunk to notice something was wrong.”

They were silent for the rest of the ride as Parker stared out the window. When they finally made it to the hospital, Parker was afraid they wouldn’t let him see Sadie because he wasn’t technically family. As it turned out, it was the officers standing guard that he had to worry about. Even after confirming he’d been released without charges, they hadn’t wanted to let him see Sadie without an officer present but the head nurse told them that they were to remain in the waiting room until they were called.

It seemed that Sadie had woken up asking for Parker and refused to comply with the officers or nurses until she knew where he was. When she learned he’d been taken into custody, she made it clear that she would only speak to her doctors privately and would not agree to any tests that were requested by the police.

Apparently the officers had tried to convince the hospital staff to do a rape kit while she was still unconscious and they had told them in no uncertain terms that there was no urgency to do so without obtaining prior consent. After that the nurses had been extra vigilant and were more than happy to run interference whenever they tried to speak to her alone.

As soon as the head nurse led him behind the curtain surrounding her bed, Sadie sat up, opening her arms for a hug which he gladly provided.

“I’m so sorry!”

“What? No! I should be the one apologizin’ to you.”

“You got arrested because of me,” she sobbed into his neck. “I told ‘em. I told the doctors that ya didn’t do anything. It was my fault. When we were gettin’ ready to leave, someone offered us another drink but Will said no for all of us. One of the guys made a joke about him bein’ the fun police and snuck me a shot while he wasn’t lookin’. I didn’t even think.”

After a lot of apologizing from both sides, the doctor came back and did another check of Sadie’s vitals. Luckily, other than some fluids and a safe place to rest, Sadie hadn’t needed any medical treatments and was ready to be released. The doctor said that she had been dehydrated which had likely made her initial reaction to the roofies more severe but that vomiting so soon after ingestion had prevented her from fully absorbing the drug.

The officers did try one last time to ask Sadie a few questions but Arthur simply handed over a business card and told them that if they chose to further continue their investigation, any communications should go through him.

Parker had feared that they would try to charge Sadie with the same minor-in-possession charges as they had for him but Arthur seemed to think they wouldn’t due to the ‘good samaritan’ laws. Apparently, if you called 9-1-1 to seek help for yourself or someone else in the event of an overdose, that law protected you from being charged with possession. Even for minors who consumed alcohol. One exception to the law as intentional harm which would have applied to Parker if he had really been the one to drug Sadie.

The rest of the day was spent with Arthur and his family. After a round of hugs from their friends, Sadie said she wasn’t feeling up for their planned day of sightseeing so they agreed to instead meet at the airport before their flight home.

His aunt had insisted on making the couple a big spread for brunch which they eagerly accepted. Though they’d both been hungry, Sadie had seemed a little concerned about getting anything from the hotel’s continental breakfast before they drove out to the suburbs.

The previous night’s events were an experience that neither of them was going to forget about any time soon.

When Parker made it home after dropping Sadie off, his father was outside working on his mama’s car. If he knew anything about the man, his choice to do car maintenance at ten pm was deliberate. He either wanted to know the second Parker got home or he was hoping to have a word just the two of them.

They’d had to call Sadie’s parents before leaving the hospital since she was on their insurance but Parker had been hoping to avoid telling his parents anything until he was home to explain in person. It seemed someone had ruined that plan and given them a heads up. His money was on his uncle Arthur.

Knowing there was no point in trying to put off his suffering, Parker got out of the car and walked straight towards his father.

“Hi Pop.”

Sy didn’t move from where he was bent over the motor. “Hey kid. Hand me that wrench will ya?”

Having worked on cars since he was old enough to see over the hood on a step stool, he didn’t need to ask which tool his father was referring to. As he handed over the wrench, Parker tried to read his expression but the ex-military captain’s face was decidedly blank.

“Are ya mad?”

“What do ya think I’ve got to be mad about?”

There was no way that was a serious question. Surely this had to be the lead up to some sort of ‘I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed’ speech.

“Doin’ the exact opposite of everything ya wanted me to do?” His answer came out with more snark than he’d intended but his father seemed to give him a pass on the attitude and remained annoyingly cool.

“And what exactly would that be?”

“I dunno, gettin’ arrested, havin’ to call Uncle Arthur to bail me out, Sadie endin’ up in the hospital… You didn’t even want me to go in the first place.”

His father gave a slow nod, glancing over at Parker with a raised eyebrow. “Did any of that happen ‘cause you were doin’ something wrong?”

“I—”

He’d been about to say yes and list exactly which of his father’s life lessons he’d broken but he couldn’t actually think of one. It wasn’t like he was prohibited from going to parties, his parents just didn’t want him drinking under age which he hadn’t done. And he hadn’t done anything to merit getting arrested, that had just sort of happened as a consequence of Sadie being drugged.

“I guess not,” he mumbled, his gaze falling to the ground.

Sy closed the hood with a slam, grabbing a rag to clean off his hands.

“Before me and your mama started datin’, back when we were just livin’ together, she had a close call with some guy lookin’ to take advantage.”

Parker looked up, worry evident in his eyes. “What do you mean by close call?”

This was the first Parker had ever heard about his mother being in harm’s way. They’d never told him about Riley’s old job or the events that transpired right before she and Sy got together. Though he still didn’t need to know the details, Sy felt that sharing at least some of it would help break through the black cloud that currently hung over his son.

“The guy knocked her around but she got away before he could do anything else.”

Sy’s jaw clenched as he remembered finding Riley in her car, half naked with a fresh bruise forming on her cheek. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly. It was a good thing he’d never bumped into that fucker on the street.

“I can’t tell ya how many times I wondered what might have happened if I’d done something differently. Wondered if it was somehow my fault that she took the job that put her in that guy’s sights or that I should have been there to protect her.”

Sy shot Parker a look that was clearly meant to say ‘sound familiar’.

“That guilt you’re feelin’, it ain’t yours to carry. You didn’t do this to her.”

Parker swallowed the lump in his throat, willing himself not to break down in front of the man who’d raised him even when he took a step forward and held him by his nape the way he used to when he was a child.

“This wasn’t your fault, son. I know it. Your mama knows it. Sadie’s parents know it. I just hope you start believin’ it sooner rather than later ‘cause if all ya see every time ya look at her is what could have happened, neither of you are ever gonna be able to heal from it.”

Releasing a shaky sigh, Parker nodded in acceptance. His father pulled him into a tight hug before leading him inside where he received an even more bone-crushing embrace from his mother. He wasn’t going to complain. After the weekend he’d had, it was comforting to know he had the best family in the world.

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