Rocks And Hard Places

Rick was half-heartedly organizing breakfast for himself and Brianna when his cell phone rang. He knew from the familiar cheesy ringtone that it was Drew, but Brianna's laugh when she heard the shrill snippet of the Steps number did nothing to quell his concern. "Hey babe, what's going on over there?" he asked urgently.

Drew had finally left Riley in Syd's room with her father and stepmother but found being alone with his grief even more unbearable. He was back in the room where T.C was being treated for smoke inhalation, trying to avoid Jordan's overwhelmingly sympathetic gaze from across the room. "Syd is brain-dead," he said, the words feeling as if they might choke him with the weight of their meaning. "Riley and her Dad are here now…she's so broken. I really tried to help her, but I don't know if it made any difference. That's a really lousy feeling, you know."

"Oh baby," Rick sighed and grimaced when Brianna looked up in concern at his tone. "I'm coming down there, right now," he said decisively. "Do you need anything from home?"

"Just your face," Drew whispered, clinging harder to the phone as the urge to be hugged by his husband threatened to consume him. "I need you and our girl, that's it."

"Coming right up," said Rick solemnly. "Hang in there, honey." He hung up the phone and turned to see Brianna staring at him with worried eyes.

"What was that about, Daddy?"

With a strained grimace, Rick hobbled towards the table and sat down opposite the teenager. "I hope you don't mind one more hospital breakfast," he said, squeezing Brianna's fingers when she frowned at him in confusion. "Do you remember Syd Jennings from after your surgery?"

"Yeah," the teenager nodded. "I remember because she was surprised I thought Dad's description didn't do her justice. What about her?"

"Well you know she served with Dad, and they were friends, right? Recently Syd and Dr. Callahan went to serve as medics at a refugee camp in Syria. There was a missile attack, honey. Dad just called to say Syd is brain-dead; he went to the hospital an hour ago to support her family. Her daughter Riley is your age, you know."

Brianna looked crestfallen but held her emotions together as only a kid with her life experience could have. "Take me with you!" she demanded; "I can help, I know I can."

"Bri, I wasn't planning on leaving you here anyway." The thirteen-year-old smiled sheepishly and leaned into his arms. "You're part of this family now, missy. Thirteen-year-olds don't stay home by themselves when their Dad needs a hug, let's go."

At the hospital, Drew had gravitated back towards Syd's room in spite of himself. He found Riley in the hallway outside her mother's room, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed as if trying to block out the tragic reality of the situation. Beyond the closed door Drew could hear the murmurs of her father and stepmother Lexie talking. "It's heavy in there, huh?" he said sympathetically.

Riley nodded bitterly and slid to the floor, collapsing under the weight of her feelings. "Mom is gone, and Dad still can't respect her, it makes me so mad!"

"It's okay to be angry; Riles…nothing about this is fair. I mean even after your parents weren't together anymore, you knew you always had two places to call home. Half your life is going to change in a huge way now. It's a lot to take in; you have to let yourself feel whatever comes."

"But what I feel sucks," Riley moaned and at the pure misery in her eyes Drew joined her on the floor. Her head tilted against his shoulder, feeling so heavy it was as if her thoughts had a physical weight. "I don't want to cry anymore."

"I know," he said simply and clasped her hand tightly. "Just try not to beat yourself up if you do. How would you like to meet my daughter? Brianna is your age; I called her and Rick down here for moral support. They should be here soon."

Riley stared at him in surprise; "Since when do you have a daughter?"

"She was my patient," he explained. "Bri has cystic fibrosis, and she's been in foster care her whole life. Her last foster mother died in a car wreck last month. I figured she'll understand how you feel right now. Rick and I are very new to the parenthood thing." Drew hesitated before adding; "Your Mom was the one who wrote me a letter of recommendation for the adoption process, actually. Brianna had a double lung transplant recently, and she was a total rock through the whole thing."

"That doesn't surprise me." The minuscule smile on her face relieved Drew. "Definitely sounds like the kind of thing Mom would have done. God, talking about her in the past tense is so messing with my head."

"Are you sure you don't want to be with your Dad and Lexie right now?" he prompted, and Riley's little smile slipped away.

"It's easier with you," she whispered. "Is that okay? You just…get it."

"Of course it is, honey. As long as they don't mind, you can hang out with me as long as you want."

"You look really tired though," Riley pointed out, looking worried.

"Don't worry about me, kid. I was on duty last night, that's all. Didn't get much sleep before Topher called with news of the missile attack. I got here as fast as I could."

"I'm really glad you did," she said softly, but just as Drew slipped his arm comfortingly around her, Lexie peered out into the hallway.

"Riley honey, I'm sure your Dad would appreciate it if you would join us in here. Please?" The blonde's distressed gaze met Drew's when he reluctantly pulled Riley to her feet. "I'm really trying here, Riles. Give me a chance to help you, okay?"

"Sure you are," said Riley dully, her watery eyes hovering over the hand Lexie had resting subconsciously against her stomach. "My Dad is perfectly happy to replace me and Mom can't tell whether I'm in that room or not. I'm sure as hell not coming in there for you!" With that the thirteen-year-old turned on her heel and ran, leaving Lexie staring desperately at Drew once more.

"I don't know where this is coming from," she said quaveringly. "Until the wedding, we got along so well. Did she tell you anything?"

"At the wedding her mother was alive," said Drew simply and saw the helplessness swirling like a visible force in Lexie's baby-blue eyes. "Don't try and push her into anything right now; it'll just make her keep her distance harder."

Before Lexie could respond to his advice, Sam stepped out into the hallway; "You sure seem to think you know everything about my daughter, doc," he said unpleasantly. "I would appreciate it if you stop making my wife feel inferior. Where the hell is Riley?"

"Sam, it's not a big deal, calm down." Lexie placed a soothing hand against her husband's chest, but just then their attention was diverted by frantic footsteps.

"Dad!" Drew spun around just in time for Brianna to crash into his arms, breathing hard.

"Honey, you're not supposed to be running yet," he scolded her half-heartedly, but how hard he was squeezing his daughter contradicted the reprimand.

"I don't care," Brianna argued; "Daddy said you needed a hug. How was that?"

"Perfect," Drew whispered, the emotions of the long night and tragic dawn threatening to spill over. "I love you, kid."

"Is this your daughter?" asked Lexie, her gaze darting nervously to Sam's tense posture in spite of her friendly voice.

"Yes," said Drew; "Mr. and Mrs. Jones, my daughter Brianna. I'm sure having someone her own age around will help Riley open up. Like I was telling her before, Bri's been through quite a lot herself."

"Double lung transplant," said Brianna proudly. "Breathing is pretty awesome when you have someone who cares. I was a foster kid for the first nine years of my life. I know what it's like to not have parents at all…and then lose a Mom."

"So are you parenting her on your own?" Lexie asked Drew politely, eying Brianna in wonder at the teenager's forwardness.

"Did she say her Daddy sent her over here?" Sam cut in before Drew could speak and the medic saw his daughter's eyes glinting with outrage at the man's tone.

"Cool it," he warned Brianna, squeezing her shoulder with a hand that shook with suppressed anger. "Yes she did, Mr. Jones. My husband is a wonderful man and Brianna means everything to us. Do you have a problem with that?"

"What have you been telling my daughter, doc?" Riley's father snarled. "Have you been filling her head with your sinful lifestyle? It's unnatural, and I won't have it around my little girl!"

"Dad, don't!" Brianna squealed, but it wasn't her hand holding Drew's fist away from Sam's face.

Drew felt all the anger drain from his body when he turned to see Rick grasping his poised fist. "Don't do something you'll regret," said his husband calmly. Rick gestured a little way down the hall where Riley was standing and watching the tense scene unfold. "I found your daughter visiting Dr. Callahan, sir. That's a caring kid you've got there."

"Dad, how could you?" Riley choked, staring at her father in disgust. When he no longer saw red, Drew realized that Lexie had a similar expression of distaste on her face, but it was aimed at Sam. Before she could voice her disappointment at her husband though, Riley curled back into Drew's arms. "Please don't listen to him," she begged. "You helped me to miss my Mom less when her deployment got extended and I really, really need you here right now."

"You've so got me, kid," Drew promised, glaring at Sam over Riley's head; "I've dealt with much worse than this, believe me."

"I'm so sorry," Riley told him, and Drew shook his head as the anger turned into overwhelming sadness. "You know my Mom really cared about you."

"You don't have to make apologies for your father, Riley," Lexie cut in before Drew could speak. "I am definitely ashamed of the ignorance he's shown here today. I'm sorry about him, gentlemen."

"He's the one who should be sorry," Brianna snapped, scowling at Sam whose face was turning redder by the minute. "How dare you insult my family? Without my two awesome Dads, I would still be in foster care, so not cool!"

"Seriously," Riley agreed, wiping her eyes and standing next to Brianna so that two angry teenage girls and an ashamed wife surrounded her father.

"Our girl is a badass," said Rick in awe, grinning proudly at the back of Brianna's head, not bothering to call her off this time. The smile faded when Drew sagged wearily against his shoulder. "You okay?"

Drew shook his head; "I can't decide whether to cry or punch something or if I'm too tired for either option."

"Let's go sit down," Rick suggested and gestured to Brianna that they'd meet her back in T.C's room. "That's definitely the easier way for this one-legged wonder to give a proper hug anyway."

"Shut up, you're a total rock," Drew protested, sinking onto the bench against the window in T.C's room with a sigh.

"You boys take it in turns being rocks and stubborn idiots," T.C chipped in, and Drew and Rick stared at him in disbelief. The oxygen mask was gone, but they hadn't realized that he was awake.

"Looks like your lungs are back to normal, huh?" said Drew wearily. "That's the only reason Jordan would ever have walked out of this room. You have no right to be calling anyone a stubborn idiot, T."

"Touché," T.C admitted; "At least your marriage went off without a hitch. I'm an expert in screwing up, as you well know. I really am sorry the chopper didn't get here in time to save Syd."

"That's hardly your fault," Rick pointed out, only half committed to easing T.C's guilt trip because the reminder was too much for Drew. "Shrapnel is a total bitch, to put it mildly." T.C looked away with a disbelieving grimace, and Rick's arms tightened around Drew, whose silent tears were finally soaking his shirt. "Shh, it's okay, let it out."

"Punching something definitely would have been the less humiliating option," said Drew faintly. "I love you. For the record, being a fantastic rock doesn't require two legs."

"Does it require a teenager or two?" said T.C, gesturing at the doorway. "I spy my rock and two pretty girls."

"You mean I'm not a pretty girl?" Jordan laughed, leading Riley and Brianna into the room. "Mr. and Mrs. Jones went for coffee; it sounded like they were arguing so the girls decided they'd rather hang out here."

"You are the rock, babe," said T.C seriously; "way more important than pretty girls."

"Girls are pretty great too," said Drew; "and coming from me that's always a compliment." Riley perched awkwardly at the foot of T.C's bed while Brianna clambered onto Drew's lap. Squeezing his daughter affectionately, he watched the bushy-haired teen sadly; "Listen, Riles, I know it's been crazy with that whole showdown with your Dad, and everything…but the promise still stands, okay?"

"Twenty-four," Brianna piped up, smiling at the other girl.

"Seven," Riley finished in a small voice. "Thanks. Mom used to talk about us having play-dates at some point; I hope next time I'm in Texas we can do something."

"For sure," said Brianna cheerfully; "it's not like these two can exactly give me a sibling easily," she laughed, pointing at Drew and Rick's amazed expressions. "I've always wanted a sister."

"I hope Dad and Lexie's new baby doesn't pick up on his views," said Riley dismally, but when Brianna moved to sit beside her, she smiled. Even in a tragic twist of fate, she had found a whole new circle of friends who knew what really mattered in life, a reason to love and be loved, twenty-four seven no matter what.

A / N I had some stuff that didn't fit into the flow of this story before, but when I saw how popular it was I decided to share, enjoy part 2! xx