Chapter Nine #5
Keith put his arm around Charlotte when tears dribbled down her cheeks. “Say another bad thing to her and you will be sorry, Lincoln,” he sneered. Charlotte snuggled closer to him.
Jackson’s eyes narrowed on the man. “Threaten my brother-in-law again and I can guarantee you will be.”
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot about G.I. Joe.” Keith laughed, but it sounded shaky and forced. “I’m so scared.”
“If you were smart, you would be. You don’t get to bully this family anymore.” Jackson kept his voice hard but controlled. “This is about Henry, not you. So, if you want to stay, sit there and keep your mouth shut.”
“Whatever.” Keith rolled his eyes but lapsed into silence.
Charlotte, however, did not. “Are you ready to end this nonsense, Ray?”
“What nonsense?” Ray sighed.
“You know what I’m talking about. When are you coming home?”
“This isn’t the time or place. Charlotte,” Ray hissed out. “My son is in the hospital, and I haven’t been able to see him all day. All I’ve gotten are vague updates. Henry is what I’m focused on.”
For a while, no one spoke. All heads snapped toward the door when it opened a few minutes later.
“Andrews?” Jackson jumped to his feet which caused the dark-haired woman in scrubs to walk over to him.
“Mr. Andrews came through everything with flying colors. We’re sending him down to the third floor to recover.
He’s still pretty sedated, so I wouldn’t expect him to be awake for another few hours.
The nurses will let you know when he’s ready for visitors.
” She looked at the five of them. “Just to let you know, there is limited visitation. We can only allow two of you to go back.”
“Thank you, we’ll head down,” Jackson told her.
Fuck! Jackson wanted to scream as he walked over to push the elevator button.
He was overcome with relief that Henry was going to be okay.
But the knowledge that he was going to have to wait for who knew how long to see the man kept the tightness in his chest.
In the third floor waiting room, Charlotte and Keith found a spot in the corner because Keith needed a wall to rest his head against. Jackson, Ray, and Lincoln sat close to the double doors.
Ray, who was sitting in the middle, grabbed both of their hands and squeezed.
His entire body was visibly relaxed. “He’s going to be okay. I was so scared.”
“We all were, Pop,” Lincoln agreed.
“I finally feel like I can breathe.” Jackson felt the knots in his neck loosen.
“Are you going to go home until visiting hours start?” Lincoln asked him.
Jackson shook his head. “I’m not leaving until I get to see him.”
Lincoln nodded, taking out his phone and pulling up a game.
Ray sat quietly, rhythmically tapping his foot as they waited.
Jackson sent a text message to Henry’s friends, telling them the good news then was left alone with his thoughts.
Now that he knew Henry was alright, his focus was on whether or not he would take him back.
Damn, Jackson really hoped he could convince him to.
He had no idea what he’d do if he didn’t.
Somehow, he’d been lost in his thoughts for two and a half hours. His intense focus was broken by Charlotte banging on the double doors leading to the nurses’ station.
“What are you doing?” Ray asked her.
“They said two hours,” she justified. “It’s been longer than that.”
“The nurse said someone would come get us when Henry wakes up,” Jackson corrected.
“If they said two hours, that means they can safely wake him up after two hours,” she said.
“You want them to wake Henry up?” Ray asked, sounding like he couldn’t believe his ears.
“Yes. This is taking too long.” She sounded slightly exasperated. “Keith isn’t feeling well, and I need to get him home. They can just wake Henry so that I can see him and go.”
“I can’t believe you.” Damn, Ray’s body was tense, and his words came out through clenched teeth. “How dare you try to make this about Keith. Our youngest child has a skull fracture, and you want to leave because Keith is tired. What the hell is wrong with you, Charlotte?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? I just don’t think it should take this long.”
Jackson couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
How could any parent be so callous? He worried about what would happen when she did get to go back to see Henry.
“I’m sure they will call us soon. We just need to be patient and allow Henry to recover in his own time.
” Jackson made eye contact with Charlotte.
“And when you do get to see him, remember that this is about him, not Keith. In fact, don’t even mention Keith. ”
“Who are you to tell me what to say?” She shook her head. “Of course Henry will want to know that his brother came to support him.”
“I’m with Jackson,” Lincoln chimed in. “He’ll wake up when he wakes up. And no talking about anyone but him.”
“Mama,” Keith groaned, coming to stand next to her.
“I’m working on it, darling.” She patted his arm. “It doesn’t matter what you say anyway. I’m Henry’s health care proxy, so I’m the one they will be listening to.”
“Actually, you’re not,” Lincoln interjected. “You never have been.”
“What are you talking about?” Jackson could hear the annoyance seeping into her voice.
“None of us trusted you to care enough to make medical decisions for us.” Lincoln scoffed, staring straight into her eyes. “I’m Henry’s proxy. You should go ahead and take Keith home, because you aren’t seeing Henry tonight.”
“I’m your mom. You can’t do this.”
“I most definitely can,” Lincoln told her.
Tears filled Charlotte’s eyes. “How can you treat your mother like this?”
“Andrews?” An older man with blond hair called from the open double doors.
“Finally.” Charlotte turned toward him.
“You are not going.” Lincoln stopped her then looked at Ray. “Go on back, Dad. I’ll take care of this.” Ray nodded, following the doctor so that he could see his son. Jackson stood at Lincoln’s side. “Go home. You can see him later, if you even want to.”
“Come on, Mom. You don’t have to take this.” Charlotte allowed Keith to lead her away.
Lincoln dropped down into the chair, so Jackson sat next to him. “You okay, man?” he asked him. “Standing up for yourself isn’t easy.”
“Yeah, it’s not.” Lincoln blew out a breath. “But it’s going to be better in the long run. Henry gave me the strength to do it, and I’m pretty sure that you’re the reason for that.” He looked over at him. “You’re good for him, but this is your one pass, Jackson. Don’t fuck it up.”
“I swear I won’t.” Nothing could ever make him hurt Henry like this again.
“Well, welcome to the family,” Lincoln told him as his father returned. The man looked completely relieved and wore a smile. “I guess Henry really is going to be okay.”
“He’s alert and talking. Everything turned out just as I prayed.”
“You ready, Dad?” Ray nodded then Lincoln turned to Jackson. “Tell him that I love him.”
“You’re letting me go back?” Jackson asked in surprise.