Tale of True Confessions

Part I

The gunshot pierced the ear causing Danny to react quickly. Before he knew it, his arms were wrapped around Lacey in a protective embrace. Lacey and Danny both had their eyes closed tightly due to the sound.

"Are you okay?" Danny said when the echoing of the gunshot stopped reverberating. Danny pushed back Lacey's hair from her face. Lacey nodded as her breath came out in rapid pants.

"No!" Tess screamed as she scurried over to Charlie. His chest was pouring blood as his body jerked involuntarily. "No. Please."

Jo was wrapped in Kyle's arms as they both looked stunned at Tess cradling Charlie in her arms.

"How did he get the gun?" Jo buried her head in her father's chest. "How?"

"I don't know." Kyle rubbed down his daughter's back trying to soothe her. "I guess when Charlie shoved you towards me, he lunged for my gun too."

"Did Charlie just shoot himself?" Lacey whispered. She was still in Danny's arms.

Danny stood helping Lacey up as he did. "I think he did."

Danny's arm went around Lacey's back in a protective manner. The sounds of sirens echoed in the background due to Kyle already calling Eddie for back up. Soon the chaos of the day's events were coming to a full head.

Charlie was loaded in to the back of an ambulance as Kyle and Jo tried to calm Tess. She was distraught as she watched the ambulance pull away.

"He is breathing." Tess looked at Kyle wanting confirmation that everything would be okay. "He is breathing."

Kyle nodded as he walked Tess back towards his vehicle. Jo glanced back at Danny, who stared at her sadly.

"You can go be with her." Lacey swallowed as she started to step from him. She took his arm from around her.

"I'd rather ride with you. Can you take me to the hospital?" Danny looked away from Jo to Lacey. "I think they need a little family time."

"Sure." Lacey felt uneasy knowing that there was something going on between Jo and Danny.

It hurt to the core especially after all she had done and given up for him. However, Lacey knew that Danny wasn't a prize to be won. If he didn't care for her as she did him, it was his free will to do so.

The ride to the hospital was silent as Lacey kept her eyes on the road. Danny kept taking quick glimpses of Lacey but never spoke a word. When Lacey pulled up to the hospital emergency room entrance, she broke the silence.

"Here you are." She smiled weakly. "Tell me what happens with Charlie and Jo's family. Okay?"

Danny held onto the car door as he stooped to look in the window at Lacey. "Aren't you going in?"

"I figure Jo needs you." Lacey could feel the prick of her heart as she said the words.

"Maybe. But I need you, Lace." Danny blinked. "Please. I know it is a lot to ask. Can you stay for a little while?"

Lacey turned the ignition off to her car before stepping out to join Danny. "Are you sure?"

Danny nodded as he breathed out. "Please."

They both walked into the hospital to see a doctor talking to Tess and Kyle. Jo was there as well with her arms folded about her chest. Lacey and Danny approached near enough to hear what was going on but not to be an intrusion on the family moment.

"He is probably going to make it. But he needs surgery to get the bullet out. It is fortunate that he didn't pierce his heart." The doctor shook his head. "But the boy has lost a lot of blood. He will need a blood transfusion. He has AB- blood type. That is very rare. Does anyone in your family share this blood type?"

Tess shook her head no. She blinked as tears kissed her cheeks. "No."

The doctors tried to be reassuring. "I can have some flown from the bigger hospital near us. Our blood drive was down last month. We never expected to have this blood type…."

Tess glanced back and Danny. "Wait. Danny, what is your blood type?"

Danny shrugged unknowing. "I don't know. I guess the doctor can check …"

"Why?" Kyle stared angrily at Tess. "You may as well confess now."

"Danny is Charlie's brother. Charlie is Vikram's and my son." Tess admitted as she plopped in a chair in the waiting area.

"Danny needs permission from his mother to give blood." The doctor informed them.

"Karen is already on her way." Kyle shook his head. "I called her to let her know where her son was."

It wasn't long before Karen arrived and gave permission for Danny to donate blood to Charlie. She confirmed that Danny had the same blood type as Vikram, who had the same as Charlie. The anger of Tess's confession would have to wait due to the dire circumstances happening.

Danny was soon back in the waiting area sipping on an orange juice provided by the hospital staff. Lacey watched as Jo approached him. Lacey walked over to Karen.

"I'm going to head home now that you're here to give him a ride. Tell Danny let me know if he's okay. And how Jo and Charlie are doing." Lacey bit her lip as she addressed Karen.

"Danny would probably like for you to stay." Karen smiled up at Lacey.

"He has Jo." Lacey took in a deep breath. "He'll be fine."

"Jo is not you, Lacey." Karen blinked as she glanced over at her son talking to Jo. "Surely, you know that by now."

Lacey felt herself getting a little upset and saddened. "Unfortunately, I know that too well, ."

With those words, Lacey left. Danny glanced up to see Lacey leave. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at his mother. She shrugged as she breathed out. Tess and she were once again back to a confused friendship. She had asked Jack not to come to the hospital. She would prefer he spend time with Whitney while she came to get Danny. Now, she wished she had his support.

Jo watched as Danny's eyes lingered on Lacey as she left. She watched his body tense up as his hands entwined.

Jo said softly. "We never did get to have our talk."

Danny turned to stare at Jo. "Now may not be the best time."

"With our lives, Danny, when is the best time?" Jo blinked as she pouted out her lips.

"Rico is right. You have a cute pout." Danny tried to be flirty. He tried to be the boy who made sense for Jo. But in his heart, it didn't feel his sudden emotions towards her were as he had felt only hours ago.

"Nice try, Desai." Jo exhaled deeply as she fiddled with a loose thread on her jeans. "I saw this movie once where the girl said to the guy that relationships that start out with dramatic events die out quickly. You know when the drama starts to settle, they realize it was just confused and heightened emotions."

Danny slightly chuckled. "Maybe before." Danny smirked trying hard not to hurt Jo. "I was confused."

"But now things cleared up. Right?" Jo didn't even feel sad about the possibility having Danny as a boyfriend was fading.

Things had cleared up for her too. She needed a break from all the drama and teen angst. She had craved normalcy only days earlier. Jo had even asked Danny to give her space from their friendship.

Danny nodded. "I have to confess. It hurt thinking you were done being my friend. I knew you wanted more from me. More that I couldn't give you only days earlier. But with Lacey telling me it was over again, I thought I may could have those type feelings for you. It hurts too much when…" Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "..Never mind. I shouldn't say it like that."

"Than I'll say it for you. It hurts too much every time Lacey pushes you away or hides you from others. But it when you see her, you still want to be in her life romantically." Jo stretched out her arms making her back pop slightly. "You can't force us, Danny. Because that is not real. No matter how long we've known each other. No matter how strong a bond is between us or what we've been through that no one else can understand, it is still a feeling of friendship from you."

"So you do understand. I don't want to lose your friendship, Jo." Danny admitted. "But I don't want to lose everything I have with Lacey either."

"Do you love her?" Jo sucked in her lips then popped them back out.

Danny nodded yes similar to how he had confirmed feelings for Lacey only a few weeks ago. "I'm sorry, Jo."

"Don't be sorry, Danny." Jo added quickly. "Besides we share a brother now."

"True." Danny chuckled nervously. "That's weird."

"Danny, I dated him." Jo reminded him. "I will need years of therapy as it is. You not wanting to be my boyfriend is the least of my worries now. But thanks for being honest. I just want a break from it all."

"From me?" Danny's voice didn't crack with hidden tears. The reality was that he wanted a break too. He wanted to concentrate on rebuilding his relationship with Lacey and not worry about Jo's needs or hurt feelings.

Jo nodded slightly. "Not forever. Give me a week or two. Then all three of us will meet up at the fort. We haven't been there a while."

"That sounds like a plan." Danny inhaled then sharply exhaled.

Danny excused himself to go talk to his mother. Jo made her way over to her family. Two and a half hours later, the doctor returned to tell of Charlie's prognosis.

"He is in stable condition." The doctor was happy to inform them. "He'll be here for a couple weeks. He won't be waking up for a couple of days. I put him in a drug induced coma to help keep him in stable condition."

The doctor left the family to talk about Charlie.

"What happens to him now?" Tess glanced at Kyle.

"Eddie will have to take over since I'm too close to the situation." He rubbed his neck as he stared from his wife to his daughter. "Charlie obviously needs mental help but he will be charged with kidnapping."

"I'll pay for his lawyer, Mrs. Masterson. I'll get the best." Danny felt his mother place her hand in the crook of his arm. "Like Mr. Masterson said. Charlie needs help. I can't imagine his life with Tara was that great. She could be difficult to say the least. But maybe with the help we get him, Charlie can start building his life back. He was a great friend once. I hope to make him a brother now."

Tess nodded. "Thanks."

Jo left with her family. Everyone could feel the tension of all the made confessions of the day.

However, Danny knew he had one last confession to make. What he didn't expect was Lacey had her own confession to tell Danny.

NOTE: I made this a two part story instead of a one shot like my other revamped endings. The travesty that was the finale had a lot of bad story to rewrite. LOL. Drop me a line. I hope to get another update by today or tomorrow then go back to Blind date.