A/N Fastest chapter ever. As it is, the next chapter will skip a couple weeks and be the last chapter, of this at least. There will be a sequel to this of Jack living with Manny and North and some...problems that arise. And then there will be an AU of this. Yeah, an AU of an AU. Auception.
Sorry if this seems weird and OOC, I just got over being sick so I'm exhausted. I'm also having some family issues right now with my parents.
Thanks anyone who answered my question about Perks.
And I know in this chapter medically Jack wouldn't be able to be awake like he is in this, I'm trying to make the story go faster and not have any really boring points. Please don't say I messed up medically or anything. It takes a lot of time to write this stuff.
Ravenhearst: I haven't seen the movie 'cause it's not playing where I live, but I just finished the book last night. Sorry you were sick as well. Being sick on Christmas definitely sucks. We can never get sick when it's a school day, can we? Everyone seems to think I'll kill Jack. Have you all read my oneshot where he dies? 'Cause I'm beginning to think you have and that's why you're all freaking out.
PinkieShy: From what I understand they are from South America; I got the names from the actual book to make it more realistic. The sequel will be a couple months after this, and the other will be a different beginning where Jack was adopted at ten.
Magiccatprincess: Thank you very much.
Baylee1100: I've officially given up on the whole 'Charlie's Aunt being the protagonist' because of what he said at the end about not blaming people and how he still loved his aunt.
Fluddershy: Actually, it's been proven that someone under the influence is unlikely to die in an accident as they can usually move in a way that saves them. You're less likely to get majorly hurt under the influence. That's why the drinkers who cause an accident never die.
Guest: Thank you
OrigamiStar: Hello and welcome to my world of Jack!Angst! Where Jack is always being hurt both mentally and physically! I feel so special by your last sentence. Thank you! Yeah, jack doesn't have a so great mental state, but he hides what he feels fairly well. Movies have always led us astray unfortunately. I acted like Sandy somewhat while being unable to talk. It was funny, especially since my younger sisters still believe in the Guardians.
Soundsoulryan: I once was sick for a full four weeks. Twenty-eight days of vomiting and coughing and a very high fever. And here is a shout-out! Everyone love the shout-outs!
Keyblades of Oblivion: Wow, you do know how plots work. That's pretty much the plot of every book ever. Bad guy always comes back in the sequel. Your explanation makes sense, and is slightly true, but not what I was talking about.
Scotty1609: I like that battle chant.
Codegirl96: I was suppose to read Lord of the Flies for my Response to Literature section in ELA, we were going to read it as a class. But the class took to long reading..wait for it, wait for it...the Hunger Games. The ELA teachers said HG had more themes and life lessons in it then Lord of the Flies. How? How?! I'm glad your dad isn't like Steve except for in name.
Brielle Brixx: Yeah! Cookies! * Wildly lunges at the pile of cookies like Simba on Zazu* And you actually have better grammar and use of English then most of the people in my class. And you know the differences between past, present, and future tense which like no one at my school understands. Thank you for reviewing.
OtterWrites: Thank you. And you will see more of everyone in this chapter. And I have decided to use Charlie as both antagonist and protagonist.
Me: Originally Pitch was just the principal. But now, Pitch is both principal and Pitch since so many people seem to think so.
AbigailPaine: : In most states the death penalty isn't allowed so nope, he won't be getting death but a life sentence.
You know, if I was a real writer I don't think you guys would be able to last a week.
Disclaimer: Own nothing
Four hours. That was how long it took for the doctors to patch Jack up. Four long hours where North, Sandy, Tooth, and Aster just sat on the couch staring into space, lost in their thoughts, while their parents quietly conversed. The adults were all trying to figure out what to do, as they all knew their children wouldn't just leave the hospital until they knew Jack would be okay, and as far as they knew it could be hours more till Jack was done from surgery and woke up.
"So, we just let them stay here and not send them to school?" Haroom asked, looking around at the other adults.
"I suppose so, they won't be able to concentrate anyway if we even send them to school," Mrs. Mansnoozie piped up. The others all nodded in agreement.
"How about we let them see Jack when he's done from surgery and has woken up, then they can go home and get some rest? They can come back later," Manny suggested. He just got a round of silent nods.
It was a knock on the door that had everyone, including the teenagers in the room, jumping from their spots in the room. The door silently opened and Dr. Edwing stepped in, a small smile on his face. Immediately North and the others were jumping up from the couch, their eyes wide as they began to bombard Dr. Edwing with questions.
"Is Jack okay?"
"Can we see him?"
"Will the burn leave a scar?"
"Is he awake?"
"Whoa whoa, calm down," The doctor help up a hand, lightly chuckling. The teenagers snapped their mouths shut, staring expectantly at him. Looking up Edwing eyed Manny. "Do you want me to tell everyone or just you? From what I hear you're Jack's guardian now, so you get to choose."
Manny didn't even hesitate, "Everyone. North would probably kill me if I didn't let him know what was going on with Jack."
"Okay then," Edwing shrugged nonchalantly. "Jack is going to be alright. The surgery was a success; his ribs have been put back into place, his lung was patched up, and the grafting is working wonders. The burn might leave a light scarring but nothing more, the grafting will have prevented a lot of it. You can see him in pairs of two, no more. Hospital policy. And no, he is to awake yet. Did I miss anyway questions?"
Manny stepped forward, "I have one. Were there any complications with the surgery that you didn't add in?"
Edwing had the decency to look a little ashamed, "You're really good at discerning peoples body language. I was going to tell you this when we were alone, but oh well. At one point Jack's heart went erratic and we had to shock it back into a normal heart rate pattern. He also woke up at one point, panicking. But it wasn't a big problem. We just think he was confused when he woke up."
"You put him back under anesthesia, right?"
"Of course we did," Edwing said, sounding slightly offended. "You're fairly knowledgeable, how do you know this stuff?"
"I used to be a profiler so I learned to always ask questions. I'm sorry if I offended you, I just want to make sure Jack is going to be okay," Manny apologized.
Edwing just nodded before speaking to everyone in the room, "Okay, follow me and I"ll lead you to where we already set him up and you guys can visit in pairs."
Everyone was silent as they followed Edwing out of the room. They just wanted to know that Jack was okay.
~Line Break~
"Okay, here we are. I'll just leave you guys here. But please, follow the rules," As Edwing spoke he slowly inched away from the adults and teenagers, wishing to give them privacy, but before he left he said one more thing. "And if he wakes up press the Nurse Call button. Kay? Okay, i'll just leave then."
"He was...weird," Mrs. Smith muttered to her husband. Mr. Smith nodded in agreement. Dr. Edwing definitely was a weird doctor, but also a nice one.
"Who should go first?" Tooth asked, looking around at everyone. She wanted to go into the room and see Jack, but she knew everyone at this point did. Why did hospital have to have a rule of only going in pairs? It was stupid and useless.
The teenagers looked at each other, trying to figure out who should go. All night they'd wanted to see Jack for themselves, but now that they were in front of the door to his room and able to see him, none of them wanted to go in. None of them wanted to see the full extent of Jack's injuries, of what his foster dad did to him.
Aster was worried that if he went in he would end up throwing something or breaking something in anger at this Steve person. At which point he probably wouldn't be allowed back in. He didn't want to risk that. Sandy and Tooth just didn't want to see how hurt Jack was. They didn't want to see a hurt and broken boy instead of a laughing and smiling one. North, North didn't think he'd be able to last more then a minute in the room. He'd seen what had happened to Jack and he just couldn't see it again. He wanted to be there for Jack, but it scared him to think about everything that had happened.
When their children had been silent a little to long the parents decided to take control of the situation. "How about you all go with one of your parents?" Manny suggested, lightly smiling at the children. Looking over to their parents North and the others nodded in agreement.
"I'll go first, I guess," Aster spoke up, trying to push his anger down. "Dad, will you come?" Mr. Smith nodded and kissed his wife on the cheek before following Aster into the hospital room.
"Okay, well, why don't we sit down?" Rashmi suggested, motioning towards the chairs set with their backs against the wall. Silently everyone filled into a seat; the friends trying to steal themselves for going in to see Jack. It was going to be a long day.
~Line Break~
As soon as Aster walked into the room and saw Jack he started seeing red again. His hands balled into fists as he lowly growled. If he ever got his hands on Steve he would kill that monster! Jack was lying on the hospital bed, his face as pale as a ghost, which just made the dark bags under his eyes stand out all the more. Their were bruises all over Jack's face, and Aster could slightly see bandages covering his chest. His arms were lying on top of the blankets revealing his left arm that was covered in bandages and his right arm which had many needles poking into the skin. He was surrounded with many different machines; heart rate monitor, blood transfusion, and many more devices that Aster couldn't name.
Aster looked up when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. His eyes locked with his father's as r. Smith slightly nodded towards the bed, trying to encourage his son. "Go on; it's okay." Aster nodded and took a deep breath before walking to the bed. He awkwardly stood next to Jack, fidgeting with his jacket.
"Listen, you had better wake up and be okay. Everyone's worried about you, especially Tooth. We've stayed all night waiting to make sure that you're okay. So you had better wake up and not pull one of your stupid pranks. You always seem to be causing trouble, so you better not cause trouble this time," Aster quickly ran out of things to say. It wasn't the same without Jack's comebacks to whatever he was saying. So instead Aster just reached out and took Jack's left hand in his, rubbing his thumb over Jack's knuckles. He stayed like that for a couple minutes before his dad said it was time to let the next person come in. Aster just numbly nodded and followed his father out of the room.
~Line Break~
Tooth and Rashmi was next. Tooth took one look at Jack and broke down in tears. She couldn't believe that this had happened to someone as nice and caring as Jack. She could still remember seeing Jack playing with those elementary children. How could someone so hurt and broken be so happy at the same time? Why did things like this have to happen? Once Rashmi had calmed her down slightly she walked over to Jack and sat down on the edge of the bed, taking Jack's hand in her own.
"Please be okay Jack. We need you, you can't just leave. I'm sorry none of us realized what was happening, but once you wake up it'll be better. I promise. North's dad, Manny, has custody of you know. Temporarily but if I know North's dad you'll be getting adopted very soon. Please come back. Wake up. You matter to us; we're your family and you're ours. Just, please, wake up Jack. Wake up and be okay," Tooth whimpered, tears silently falling down her cheeks. Quietly, Tooth leaned over and kissed Jack's forehead before getting up and walking to her mother.
Once she had walked out she immediately ran to Aster, clinging to him and crying. Aster just held her as Sandy went into the room with his mom.
~Line Break~
Being unable to talk Sandy had learned how to be very creative and make interesting things very quickly. While waiting to hear about Jack he had created some things for the younger boy to make him feel loved. He had also brought some stuff that he was going to give Jack for his birthday in two weeks, but he had decided that Jack needed some love now. Walking over Sandy put his first creation on the small table next to Jack. It was a golden sculpture of a dolphin. Jack had once told Sandy that he loved dolphins, ever since he was young and had seen one on a family trip to the California coast.
Walking closer to Jack Sandy sat on the bed in the same way Tooth had before him. He tried to ignore all the injuries and instead give Jack the presents. He had two other presents, both of which he slipped into Jack's hand. The first was a snowflake, since Jack seemed to love winter and snow. It had everyone's name on it with Jack's in the middle to show that he was surrounded by friends.
The next was just a little piece of paper that Sandy had written a little note on. Sandy had a feeling Jack would like the little note. Then, for the next couple minutes Sandy just sat next to Jack, stroking the boy's hair out of his face and holding his hand. Finally after a couple minutes he reluctantly got up; but before exiting he turned around and signed 'You're loved no matter what'. He knew Jack wouldn't ever see it, but he believed that Jack would be able to feel that he was loved and cared about.
~Line Break~
Even after Sandy came out it took North a few minutes before coming into the room with Manny. As soon as he saw Jack he wanted to throw up again. Just because he had already seen Jack's injuries didn't make it any easier. Manny lightly pushed North forward and North finally walked up to Jack. For a minute he just stared at all the injuries and the machines that Jack was connected to, then the dolphin Sandy had given Jack. He just wanted to delay anything and everything at that point.
"North," Manny put a hand on North' shoulder, looking the teenager in the eye before nodding towards Jack. North knew what Manny meant; he'd learned by now how to know what Manny wanted just by his head motions or eyes.
North nervously bit his lip before turning to Jack, "I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I wish I could have stopped this from ever happening to you. I'm so sorry Jack. I should have realized what was going on, but I didn't, no one did. I hope you get better, 'cause you've got to. You don't have to do things alone anymore, you're surrounded by friends now. And you'll be my little brother soon; Manny already filed for adoption; no one else knows yet. Wouldn't that be great Jack?" North started to ramble on, not really caring what he was saying just wanting to talk to Jack. Manny just stood next to North, looking at the young boy on the bed. Manny wasn't usually violent, but he really wanted to punch the lights out of Steve.
"Ughh," a light mumble came from the prone figure on the bed. Both North and Manny turned to look at Jack, their eyes wide.
"He's waking up," North said happily, a smile on his face.
"I don't think that's a good thing. He shouldn't be waking up, not this early," Manny slowly walked over to where the Call button was in case Jack actually did wake up.
Another moan came from Jack before his bright blue eyes fluttered open. But his eyes were dim, looking more like the gray of thunderclouds then the bright blue of the sky that they usually were. Jack looked from North to Manny then all around the room before landing back on North. He seemed completely confused as to where he was and what North was doing there. Manny finally pushed the button.
"N-North, but I-I thought, I t-thought you had a-abandoned me? W-What are you d-doing here?" Jack choked out, his voice hoarse, although that was only half of the reason he stammered.
"Abandoned?" North's eyes were wide and filled with confusion and shock. "Jack, I'm not going to leave you. I'm going to stay with you no matter what."
"B-But, you w-weren't there w-when I-I woke u-up," Jack stammered.
Realization dawned on Manny, "You woke up when the doctors were performing surgery. You were to confused to realize where you were. North wasn't allowed in there, otherwise he would have been at your side the whole time."
Jack looked over at Manny, for the first time completely taking him in. His eyes widened and he let out a sound that seemed to be a cross between a shriek and sob. "You, you're the one who, who. You, you saved me. When I was drowning. But? Wha?" Jack stared at Manny in shock, breathing deeper then he had since the surgery.
"Yes, I was the one who saved you. We can talk more about this later child," Manny had only just finished his sentence when nurses and Dr. Edwing rushed in, pushing them out the door and into the hallway.
"What's going on?!" Aster shouted, looking pointedly at North.
"Jack woke up," North smiled, then frowned, turning towards Manny. "You know him?"
"I saved his life once. When he fell into the lake. I was the one who took him to the hospital," Realization dawned on the teens faces as they remembered the story Jack had told him. The person he'd seen before passing out. It was Manny.
"You, you saved him?" North asked, still slightly in shock.
Manny sighed, "Yes North. It was four years ago. We can talk more about this later with Jack once the doctors let us back into the room. We can also talk about the whole adoption process."
"Adoption?!" everyone shouted at the same time. And that was not an exaggeration.
Manny sighed for the second in time in as many minutes, he really hated explanations.
~Line Break~
Fours more hours. That was how long it took. As soon as the doctors were done checking over Jack had had fallen back to sleep, waking up after three hours. The boy was physically and emotionally exhausted and the doctors said they didn't think he could stay up for very long. That was okay with North, he just wanted to talk to Jack. It was only him and Manny as everyone else had gone home to get some sleep. They said they would be back later on.
North quietly pushed the door open, sticking his head into the room and looking around before walking in. He wanted to make sure Jack was awake before coming in. If he was still asleep then North didn't want to wake him. "Hey Jack."
"Hi North," Jack whispered, his throat sore making it hard for him to talk. "So, you guys going to tell me everything now?"
Manny nodded, "We're going to tell you everything. Where do you want us to start."
"Maybe about this adoption thing I heard about. No seriously, what's going on?" Jack asked, instinctively looking towards North for an answer.
North smiled and walked over to Jack, brushing some hair out of his face. He stopped when Jack flinched and pulled away from him, his eyes clenched tightly closed for a second before he relaxed. North decided to try and ignore what had just happened, for now at least, "Manny was given temporary custody of you, but he filed to adopt you for good. That way you won't have to go to an orphanage and you can stay here, with us."
"Okayyy," Jack drawled before looking at Manny. "And how are you guys related? You call him Manny, not dad or father or anything like that. So who is he?"
North laughed, resisting the urge to ruffle Jack's hair, "He's my adoptive father. Has been since I was fourteen. I just never got used to calling him dad so I call him Manny." Jack just nodded in agreement.
Manny slowly walked over to North and Jack, noticing how Jack immediately looked at him warily, like a caged animal ready to attack or run at a moments notice, "Dr. Edwing, the doctor who took care of you, said that in a week and a half you should be able to come home with us. By then your ribs will be mostly healed and the chance of infection with the new skin will be pretty much nonexistent." Manny decided not to tell Jack that Steve was in jail. While most would think that that information would help Jack, Manny knew it would just scare the boy. Steve's threats had left the boy insecure and scared.
Jack nodded and faked a yawn, ""I'm tired, mind if I go to sleep?"
"Go ahead Jack," North said, helping Jack lay back down in bed.
"Oh, um, I think Sandy left this with me," Jack held out a piece of note paper. "Tell him hanks for me, please." A second later Jack was fast asleep.
North shared a look with Manny before reading the letter. It said:
Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.
And you're our family know Jack,
you're not going to be left alone or abandoned anymore.
You're safe now, and part of our family.
We all care about you and want you to get better.
Just remember that no matter what we will be
here for you, Jack.
We love you.
North slightly smiled, Sandy always knew just what to "say".
A/N Sorry if this chapter sucks. 1 chapter after this then sequel. And I just realized there's only just over a week till school starts again and I really don't want to go. Not because I don't like school but because my fav teacher won't be there. She was a long term sub, suppose to stay for like five or six months, and has been there for three. According to the principal of the school she's 'to nice'. Since when did being nice become a bad thing? I'm this teachers student and TA(assistant) and for Christmas she actually got me a present and stuff. My friend and I were actually crying when she said she wouldn't becoming back, and then the whole class gave the teacher a group hug. School will suck without this teacher.
Sorry, I'm drabbling now.