The Bloodlust Chronicles:
Jess is a Mess
By Stormes_Jay
No one was home that day. No one but Jesse and a sick DJ. He had stayed home to watch over here because Dan had been called in to work far an emergency broadcast. If Dan had only knew what would happen, he would have stayed home.
Jesse walked into the kitchen with an empty cup. He had just given DJ some warm milk and tums to calm he stomach down. It had always worked for him when he was sick, and it did for her as well. He began to wash the dish quietly, smiling while thinking about his niece up stairs. The back door opened silently, and a tall man dressed in black entered. Jesse did not hear him as the man got closer and closer, pulling a six inch knife from his pocket. He edged closer and closer. the only thing that caught Jesse's attention was the light reflecting off the blade and onto the wall, but it was already too late. He turned and dropped the glass as the man grabbed his arm and yanked it up. Jesse struggled and broke free, slamming the man in the stomach with his elbow. He ran for the phone but was pulled back by the man. The man spun him around and pulled the knife back.
Jesse felt the knife go in with a swarm of pain. He felt his muscles seize around the knife as it was pulled out and jabbed in again, this time about an inch away. He gasped in pain, trying to scream. Nothing came out but a shrill cry. The man dropped him and pulled out the knife. Jesse clutched his side, now drenched in blood. The man began to dig through drawers and cabernets, taking things that looked to be of some value. Jesse could still move, so he tried to reach for the phone. The man turned and saw Jesse. He grabbed a candle stick off of the table and slammed it across the back of Jesse's head. Jesse fell limp, unable to move. The man continued his search. Jesse's eyes darted around the room, he felt everything go numb once the candle stick struck his head. He looked up as his eye began to close. He mumbled a bit, trying to call DJ, but his voice was too quiet. Everything went fuzzy, then black.
Danny opened the door to the house, looking down at his feet, "I'm home, Jesse! how's DJ?" he looked up. Everything was knocked over or out of place. The curtains had been pulled down in the some what frantic search for valuables. Danny froze and dropped his briefcase, "DJ?!" he ran up the stairs, preparing for the worst. He swung the door open to see a sleeping DJ, perfectly safe. He ran up to her and pulled her up, check all over her body.
"Dad? Dad!" she said as she woke up. he stopped and looked at her, "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing.." He hugged her, "I'm so glad your al--" he stopped — Jesse, "Stay right here. Don't move!" he ran out the door, "Jesse?!" he called, there was no answer, "Jesse! Where are you?! Are you alright?!"
DJ unknowingly walked down the stairs as her father was looking in the bathrooms upstairs. She walked into the living room and stopped once she saw the mess, "... Uncle Jesse?" she called quietly. She looked through the open door to the kitchen, noticing the slight sight of Jesse's hand. She couldn't go in; she was too scared, "Dad!" she called.
Danny looked through the door to DJ's room, then ran down the stairs, "I told you to stay there!" he took her shoulders and turned her to face him, but her eyes were fixed on the hand.
"Daddy..." she pointed to the doorway.
Danny stood up straight, letting his daughter go, "... Jesse..?" he began to walk to the door. The further and further he got, the more and more blood he could see, "Jesse!"
"What's going on!?" DJ asked in a panicked tone.
"Just stay there!" Danny held his hand up to her as he ran into the kitchen.
Jesse was motionless on the floor, his blue dress shirt had been drenched in blood. His hair was loose and clung to his face. with the blood from the back of his head. Danny stood still, trying to find out if he was alive or dead. He looked closely at Jesse's chest. It expanded ever so slightly, then sunk back.
Danny ran to his side and pressed his hand to his brother-in-law's neck, ... He's alive..., he gave a quiet sigh of relief, "DJ, call 911."
"Why? What's going on?" she started to walk forward.
"Just do it! Jesse's hurt!" His shouting surprised her; she had never heard him shout like that. She looked around the living room, picking up the cordless phone off the floor.
Joey sat outside of the kindergarten school room, playing with his fingers. His cell phone rang. He pulled the antenna up and put the phone to his ear, "Yyyello?" he said humorously. He paused to hear what the other side said. The color drained from his face, along with any sign of happiness, changing to worry, "W-what?... I will. Don't worry, we'll be there." he clicked the end button on the phone before standing up and knocking on the door.
"Yes?" the teacher answered, "Come in."
"I'm sorry to intrude, kids." Joey slipped on a cheery face, "But I need to take Michelle home with me." he whispered into the teacher's ear. Her face changed almost as much as his did, "Okay, go ahead." she smiled.
"Two penetration wounds to the lower thorax!" one of the EMT's said in a loud voice, signaling some of the doctors over to help. The other EMT was busy pumping air from an AMBU bag into Jesse's throat through an ET tube.
Danny brought DJ in cautiously, "You wait here until Joey comes, okay?" He sat her down in one of the WR chairs, "Stay. Here." he order as he followed the other doctors.
He tried to understand what they were saying, but it was impossible. Did they create this code language for the sole purpose of not allowing the family to understand what was going on? He held Jesse's hand tightly as they approached the trauma room. Just as they were about to enter, one of the nurses stopped Danny, "I'm sorry sir, you can't com in here."
He waited for almost half an hour before he heard "Clear!" The word made his heart sink. He pushed the door open.
"What's going on?!" Danny cried out once he saw all of the blood all over Jesse's chest.
"Sir, sir, you can't be in here. We're doing all we can." A nurse came over and held Danny's shoulders, "Please, come with me. I'll stay with you and explain things."
Danny nodded nervously and followed.
"Your brother is in critical condition. The stab wounds punctured one of his lungs, and the other seems to have sliced the top of his stomach. We have to take him into surgery to stitch up the holes and repair the damage. It's risky, but it's the only way we can save him." The nurse explained slowly in a calm voice.
"... Alright. His... His head was bleeding, it that going to be okay?"
"It will need stitches, but nothing we would have to shave hair for. It did cause a concussion, however, but that should be fine."
"Okay... Please, do everything you can."
He went back to DJ, now accompanied by Michelle, Joey, and Stephanie. Joey got out of his chair, "How is he?"
"..." Danny sat down, "I don't know yet..." he stayed still for a moment, he children grouping around him and hugging him, "I... I just want you guys to know..." he took a deep breath in, holding back tears, "That if God decides Uncle Jesse is going to go stay with your mom.." He took a deep breath again, "That... he loves all of you very... very much, and that he'll always... always be..." he couldn't hold back anymore. He began to cry, holding his hand over his eyes, with the other one wrapped around Stephanie.
"It's okay, Daddy." DJ cried a bit, hugging Danny tightly, "Uncle Jesse will be okay. I know he will..." Joey sat down, crying as well.
When the sun went down, Wendy came by to pick the girls up. Danny greeted her with a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Daddy, I don't want to go." DJ gave a worried look, "I want to know how Uncle Jesse is!"
"It's okay, D." he kissed her forehead, "I promise I'll call if anything happens."
"... Okay..." she turned and left reluctantly, looking over her shoulder every so often.
Danny sat down and looked at the clock; 4:55. They had come in at 3:57; already an hour had passed.
"Dan, how are you feeling?" Joey asked, taking a seat next to him.
"... I don't know... I feel scared, worried, angry and devastated all at the same time..."
Joey put his arm over Danny's shoulder, "He's going to be okay. I know he is."
"I know your right, but I can't help but think of what will happen if something goes wrong. I mean... what will happen if he dies? I can't handle it... Every time the thought even remotely crosses my mind I start crying... I already lost Pam, but I don't think I can lose Jesse too... My God... please... don't take him..." Danny sank, sobbing.
Joey quickly pulled Danny into a close hug, holding his head against his chest. Danny clung to Joeys shirt. He was crying so hard that it began to hurt.
Time passed. It seemed like a minute took a whole day to pass. Danny often got out of he seat and paced the floor. It took until 11:15 for him to hear anything about Jesse other than, "He's still in surgery, Mr. Tanner. He's still critical, Mr. Tanner."
He was sleeping against Joey's shoulder. Joey was holding his shoulder to keep him braced up. The surgeon approached the two, "Are you two the Family of Jesse Katsopolis?"
Joey fixed his hair a bit, "Um, yes, we are. Is Jesse okay?"
"He's in the Intensive Care Unit, I can take you there. there are also free beds for family in the rooms across the hall. Are you planning to stay the night?"
"Yeah. I think so." he said before tapping Danny's shoulder softly. Danny moans and repositioned himself. Joey paused before picking Danny up in his arms, "I'll take him to the free beds and be ready in a sec."
Danny opened his eyes before wincing at the light. He sat up in the bed, the blanket that once rested on his shoulder falling down to his hip. He looked around the room.
"You're awake?" a nurse asked after opening the door, "You can see your brother now."
-
Joey held Jesse's hand against his head, closing his eye wearily. Danny opened the door and walked in hastily. Jesse had been cleaned up substantially, though he still had many bruises. His breathing needed to be assisted with a tube down his throat, similar to the one he had in when he was taken to the ER.
Joey looked over his shoulder, "Oh, your up." he stood up, losing his balance a bit, but then standing straight.
"Yeah. How late were you up?" Dan asked as he sat down next to Jesse.
"All night. I didn't want to leave him." Joey rubbed his eyes, "He's been out all night. He hasn't even twitched."
Danny held Jesse's hand, "I shouldn't have left the house... I should've been the one-"
"Don't say that." Joey turned to face Danny, "That is a load of bullshit, and you know it. You had no idea this was going to happen. There was nothing you could do."
Danny looked at Jesse, his eyes filled with tears, "I'm sorry."
Joey walked over and held Danny's shoulder, "It's alright. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I felt the same way when I was in your seat... Should we call Wendy?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll do it. You go sleep..." Danny looked at Jesse closely, he eyes were fixed on the young man's closed eyes.
Joey nodded and walked out, leaving Danny and Jesse alone. Two hours passed before Wendy arrived with the girls. She opened the door, "Danny?"
Danny broke from his trance and looked over to her, "Oh, hey, Wendy. Where are the girls?"
"Joey's watching over them. How are you doing?" She walked over and put her hand on his shoulder.
"As fine as I can be." he looked back to Jesse. The heart monitor made monotonous beeps that seemed to calm Danny down. "He's so young... He's only 26... He can't..." Danny tried to think of something to say, but he was too tired. His mind was so cloudy, and he felt sick to his stomach with worry.
"It's okay. He'll be alright." she kissed his cheek, "I have to go now, have to start cleaning that house up."
"Bye." he barely acknowledged his sister leaving.
Danny spent five minutes just looking at Jesse, thinking of all the time they had spent together. Two whole years; it seemed like a life time from where he was. At first, Jesse was an immature kid, but over the years he became a true support. Danny suddenly felt guilt; he never really remembered being there for Jesse nearly as much vice versa. He kissed Jesse's hand, holding it against his hand.
Danny was asleep, laying his head on the pillow by Jesse's head. DJ slowly opened the door, "... D-Daddy?" she said in a whimpering tone.
Danny sat up quickly with the sound of his daughter's voice, "Donna?" he looked back at her. He was crying at the sight of Jesse.
"He's... He's hurt so bad..." she cried, "It's... my fault!"
"Honey!" he quickly came to her and hugged her, "It's not your fault! Never!"
"B-but I got sick, and if I wasn't, then maybe Uncle Jesse wouldn't have had to stay home with me! Then he wouldn't have gotten hurt!"
"Donna, it will never be anyone of our faults, we never saw this coming. There's no reason for you to be guilty." he hugged her again.
"Okay..." he cried into his shoulder, "Please, please don't let him die..."
"It's okay." he braced her head against his shoulder.
Joey walked into the room, "... Danny? ... Danny!" Danny looked back to him, "Look!" he pointed to Jesse.
Danny stood up straight and looked at Jesse, "What?" he walked up to his side. Danny's heart skipped when he saw why Joey was pointing. Jesse's eyes were open halfway. He looked over to Danny, weakly reaching over and tugging on his shirt.
Danny grabbed his hand, "Get a nurse quick!" he sat down and squeezed Jesse's hand, "you're awake!" he smiled.
DJ ran up on the other side of Jesse grabbing his other hand, "Uncle Jesse!" she laughed and cried at the same time. Jesse looked over to her his eyes closing a bit before he forced them open again.
A nurse ran in with Joey and squeezed gently past Danny, "Mr. Katsopolis, are you awake?" she smiled at his blink and listened to his breathing, "He's fighting the ventilator. I suggest you get your daughter out of the room before I do this. It could be graphic."
"Alright. Joey, take DJ outside." Joey nodded and took DJ, closing the door behind him.
"Okay, on the count of three, I'm going to need you the cough, okay?" The nurse asked, then nodded when Jesse blinked to her, "Alright, One.. Two.. Three, cough." Danny held Jesse's hand tightly as the tube was pulled out. The tube slipped out with a crackle. Jesse coughed violently, wincing at the pain it caused in his lung, "It's alright, don't talk for a little bit. I'll be back in five minutes." She patted Danny's shoulder as she walked out. Joey walked in, all the girls following him.
"Uncle Jesse!" Stephanie smiled and ran over, hugging Jesse gently. DJ hugged Jesse from the other side.
Jesse left out a weak laugh, "My little girls!" he said softly. Joey put Michelle in Danny's arms just as DJ and Stephanie released their hugs. Danny leaned down with Michelle. Michelle touched Jesse's cheek with curiosity. Jesse smiled wearily and closed his eyes.
Danny smiled widely, "Oh, Jesse!" he smiled and kissed Jesse's forehead. He was alive. That was the greatest thing other than becoming a father that he could think of.
Thank God.