PAY UP (Runner's version) - Part 10 of 11
By Saturday evening Mr. & Mrs. Flack had arrived. They were only allowed in the ICU's waiting area, but made it just in time to see their son give a press conference on tv. "Excuse me," said Mr. A., "do you know him?"
"Oh, yes, that's our son Donald, Jr." said a very proud Mrs. Flack.
Mr. A. introduced himself and his son Josh. They have a pleasant visit while Josh excuses himself to go back in with his sister.
"It just won't be the same tomorrow without Jessica there." Said Mrs. Flack.
"I don't follow you, Mrs. Flack"
"Oh, please call me Ruth. I was just saying that tomorrow just won't seem quite the same without Don & Jessica there."
"I didn't realize you knew my daughter."
"Oh, yes." replied Mr. Flack, "Don's been bringing Jessica over for dinner every-other-Sunday for quite a while now."
"It's the most faithful Don's been about Sunday dinners in a long time." added Mrs. Flack with a look of satisfaction.
"Your daughter is a lovely lady and such a dedicated officer." said Mr. Flack, a retired NYPD officer himself.
The conversation quickly turned to their family trees and how Don & Jessica had both followed on that path themselves. But in the back of his mind Mr. A was finally seeing the bigger picture of Flack's relationship with his daughter.
Flack gets off the elevator to the unmistakable sound of his mother's voice. "Mom?" he questions poking his head into the ICU's waiting area.
"Oh, Don, we're so glad you're here." she replies as she greets him with a hug.
"I thought you two weren't coming till tomorrow." Flack says stepping into the room.
"Decided we couldn't wait. We just had to come and see how Jessica was doing." said Mr. Flack as he gives his son the 'ol manly pat on the back.
"I brought you something to eat, dear." offers Mrs. Flack in that concerned motherly tone she had at times like these. Flack takes the still warm Tupperware container she offers him. "I should have brought more." says Mrs. Flack as she gives her son the once-over. "You've lost weight!" she adds, with a look of concern.
"Mom,..."
"You're mother's right, Don. You have." Agrees Mr. Flack.
"I'm fine,... I'm fine." says Flack, holding up a hand almost as in surrender as he slowly backs up. "And right now I'm gonna go in and see Jess." he adds backing his way thru the doorway, Tupperware in hand.
Mrs. Flack shakes her head slowly as she steps up to the window by the door and joins her husband in watching their son go around the nurse's station and into Jessica's room. "He hasn't been eating." She says as she turns back towards her husband. "I mean, look at him." The tone in her voice bordering on being upset.
"I know,Ruth. You're right. But he'll be fine." Mr. Flack puts his arm around his wife. "He'll be okay, as soon as he knows Jessica is going to be okay."
"Well of course she's going to be okay." Mrs. Flack responds very matter-of-fact as she pulls back just a bit. "She just needs a little more time is all." This she adds to try to make Mr. Angell feel better.
Josh returns to the waiting area in time to give Mr. & Mrs. Flack an update on Jessica before they leave, so Mr. Angell heads to his daughter's room to join Flack. Flack hears him enter, but doesn't take his eyes off Jess. Mr. Angell puts his jacket on the loveseat and sees the Tupperware container on the table.
"Smells good, Don. You should eat" Said Mr. A.
"Still 103. I wish the meds would work faster." Flack says, still looking at Jess and not even realizing he was still stroking the back of her hand.
"Lasagna. I'll bet it's lasagna. My mother used to make the best lasagna."
"So I get lasagna while Jess gets an IV. Doesn't seem fair."
"None of this is fair, Don."
Angell begins to stir and both men wait anxiously to see if she'll wake up.
"Your folks sure are nice people." Mr. A says to break the silence and now standing on the opposite side of the bed, looking over Jessica to Flack.
"Looks like Jess & I both lucked out that way."
"Thanks." Replies Mr. A accepting the compliment. "So, I finally learned where my daughter eats every-other-Sunday. Maybe your mother can put a few pounds on her." Both men try to laugh. "So, how long have you two been seeing each other?"
Flack smiles, still without taking his eyes off Jess. "Seven months." She stirs a bit more. "Two weeks." She begins to open her eyes. "Three days. Hey, sleepy head." Flack lowers to make eye contact with her. "How do you feel?" He feels her warm face. "Your dad's here."
Angell is awake long enough to take in some water, find out what day it is (something she's been having trouble keeping track of), be told about Trace-X, get an update on her test results from the nurse, and learn about the bust that went down (always the cop, even when sick).
Seeing her awake, even for a while, made both Flack & Mr. Angell feel better about her prognosis and recovery. With Angell back asleep the men start talking about her care after she leaves the hospital.
"You know, Don," begins Mr. A, "she's going to need a lot of time and care for a while."
"Yeah." Agrees Flack as he nods his head.
"I just assumed she'd be coming home, where I could take care of her. (long pause) But, I sure could use some help." Mr. A slowly smiles a little.
"How's that?" Flack asks, now looking up at him.
"Got plenty of rooms. Heck, I've got so many empty rooms, even your folks could come visit her real easy." Now Flack smiles. "Wouldn't wanna break that every-other-Sunday thing you two've got going on with them."
"They'd like that. They really think a lot of Jess."
Flack is glad Mr. A knows how much he cares for his daughter. He'll gladly take a bed in the guest room as long as he's under the same roof as Jess.
As Mr. Angell starts to leave he shoves the Tupperware container in Flacks hand. "Here. Eat this." he says with stern look on his face yet just a hint of a smile, then walks out the door.
Flack pulls a chair up next to Angell's bed and takes out the plastic fork his mother so wisely put in. He puts it down, then picks up her hand instead. Running his fingers between hers and following the veigns on the back of her slender hand, all while staring off in a daze. He always liked her small delicate hands and the intricate tattoo work around her wrist, which he begins to trace with his other hand.
It was the beginning of her shift and Nurse Zoe walked into Angell's room quietly as she always did. She knew she'd find Detective Flack there but always hoping he'd be sleeping, just because he needed it.
Flack looked up from his dazed state to greet Zoe with a tired smile as he continued caressing Jess' wrist with his thumb.
"That's a pretty tattoo." She said as she taking the stethescope from around her neck. "Is that a charm bracelet?"
"Yeah." he says, watching her add notes to Jess' chart on the computer. "It matches the one her grandmother wore."
"Oh, that's sweet." replies Zoe.
"Jess loved it so much that she had it tattooed on."
It got quiet there in Angell's care unit for a bit, as both Flack & Zoe each had busy minds at the moment.
Flack was thinking about the details he'd just left out... like how her mother had interited the bracelet after Jess' grandmother died, then added 5 charms of her own, one for each of her children, but Jess would never get to wear it because her father had insisted it be burried with his wife. Jess had agreed at the time because it was so hard to see her father grieve like that and she knew it would be even harder on him to see her wear it. Having it tattooed on was not only her way of wearing that bracelet, but remembering and honoring her mother.
This was just one of the many stories Mr. Angell had told him about Jess there in the hospital.
Zoe was thinking about her grandfather, an NYPD officer that had been killed in the line of duty many years ago and died right there in the hospital she now worked in.
As Zoe put her stethescope back around her neck and headed for the door she said, "Get some sleep, Detective Flack."
"Will do, Zoe." Flack he went right back to stroking Jess' fingers and soon slipped into that familiar state of daze. His mind like a pendolum at that moment, pleased at getting to see Jess' beautiful brown eyes open earlier, yet a little disappointed in himself. He loved Jess. He knew it and hoped she knew it. He often called her 'sweetheart' when they were alone and they both knew they were very special to the other, but he had never actually come right out and said those three words to her. He regretted it now, not only because she could have died never hearing it from his own lips, but because she deserved to hear it. He would have to rectify his shortcoming as soon as Jess left the hospital and the time was right. She would never have to wonder again if he loved her. He was going to make sure of that.
Releasing her had for a bit, he leaned back in his chair and began to contemplate their future. Surely they had a future together. He couldn't imagine his life without her in it, then he found himself wondered if they would ever get married. Some day. He hoped so.
"Hmm?", he wondered to himself as he leaned forward in his chair again and picking her hand back up... some day I'm going to have to figure out what size ring she wears?
Flack was soon back in that familiar state of daze, but this time, with just a hint of a smile on his face.