... so, on with the drama! I do realise that im taking my time putting you out of your misery, but I am trying to quicken up the pace as much as I can while keeping the story structured as best I can, so thank you all for your patience, although I make no guarantees that all will be revealed in this chapter. Warning: it's quite a long chapter.

Disclaimer: " " and song again is Nickelbacks.

Chapter 10

…if you can hear me now

I'm reaching out

To let you know that you're not alone,

And you can't tell, I'm scared as hell,

Cos I can't get you on the telephone

So just close your eyes,

Well honey here comes a lullaby

Your very own lullaby…

Cain had no choice but to recover quickly from the numbing effect of his stunned horror, as his nephew made a violent lunge towards his co worker and both Cain and Adam had to try desperately hard to restrain an enraged, nearly frothing at the mouth Aaron. Nick quickly backed away in complete fear, his heart almost bursting out of his chest and the sweat already starting to stream. Aaron had lost all sense and reason and was almost close to physically hitting his uncle and best friend in his desperation to break free of their restraints to beat the living daylights out of that bastard in front of him.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Aaron screamed, fighting against the holds of Adam and Cain. Both the farmer and chief mechanic knew Aaron was deadly serious, they had never seen him this infuriated, they were both healthy well-built strong men but they were struggling to keep hold of him, and while they shared his anger and disgust they couldn't let Aaron get sent down for murder.

"Aaron please you have to calm down.." Cain began

"CALM DOWN? MY PARTNER AND MY FIVE YEAR OLD SON COULD BE LYING DEAD IN A FUCKING WRECKAGE SOMEWHERE BECAUSE OF THAT..THAT.." Aaron was unable to find a term low enough to describe the cowering figure in front of him "….THAT PIECE OF SCUM AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?"

Nick forced himself to speak, throat and mouth like sandpaper "Aaron, I honestly didn't know Hotten was shut…. I'm sorry…."

Aaron even in his blind rage was awestruck at how unbelievable this… person… was. A person with half a brain cell could tell him that the distance of the journey was irrelevant as the car was still a deathtrap regardless, let alone a fully trained mechanic. To top it all off he'd let an obviously seriously sick child get into this unsafe vehicle when there were two perfectly stable cars parked a stone's throw away.

"BELIEVE ME I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE MORE THAN FUCKING SORRY IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO MY HUSBAND OR CHILD!"

Adam could feel himself dangerously close to losing his grip on his best mate who was still using every ounce of his strength to break free of them and tear the other mechanic to pieces.

"Mate you have to keep the head! He can wait till later but right now we have to focus on whats most important at the minute which is contacting Jackson or at least finding out where they are!"

Aaron knew Adam was speaking sense and he let the red mist fade slightly. Begrudgingly promising Cain that he wasn't going to harm Nick, yet, he went out to the yard while Adam kept watch over the quivering wreck that was Nick. Cain stood by a short distance away from his nephew while Aaron hurriedly started punching in Jacksons number.

Kalum sat staring at his adoptive father, both terrified and puzzled. Why his daddy had picked such an odd time to have a nap was beyond him. The pain in his chest was getting worse and the breaks between large draws of breath were getting shorter. Kalum felt so scared when his daddy wouldn't answer him and when he drew a small hand across his forehead to get rid of some sticky stuff that was annoying him his hand came away all red. As Jackson had noted gratefully before losing consciousness the cut on his head wasn't deep at all, but it stung a small bit. Kalum didn't really notice or care as he was more concerned as to why Jay wouldn't talk back to him or wake up and drive them out of this strange place with a lot of trees and no roads. More than anything Kalum wanted his chest to feel better, and to just go home with both his new parents who he'd come to love so much.

His breath caught suddenly and he tensed for a second, but it then went back to its original abnormal state. He was getting worse.

Aarons hands were shaking as the dial tone sounded out on the first ring and it went straight to voicemail. He tried a second time but got the same result. He felt an overwhelming sense of fear and dread as he desperately hit the dial button a third time, his heart feeling as though it was about to fail on him completely.

Kalum's breath dangerously almost caught again as he jumped at hearing Jays mobile start to ring. He looked from Jackson to it worriedly as it rang out. He did the same for the second time, not sure of whether he was allowed to answer it or not.

..The third time however he knew he'd have to get it because his daddy definitely wasn't waking up to answer it. In spite of his painful chest the five year old using solely his arms undid his belt and pulled himself from his seat across to Jacksons, ignoring the pain as the handbrake poked his tummy stretching out a short arm to grab Jays phone.

Aaron had his eyes shut and he felt as if he was coming apart thread by thread. This was third time lucky, if Jay didn't answer this time… Aaron wasn't sure what he'd do. "Please answer baby, please answer…" Aaron pleaded, close to tears. First ring… second ring… third ring… Aaron died a little with every tone.

Then

"Hello?"

Aaron could've wept for joy. It wasn't the voice he was expecting but he was just as overjoyed to hear it anyway.

"Kalum! Oh my God my baby are you ok? Where are you? Wheres daddy?"

Then remembering what Cain had said about Kalum not breathing properly he quickly assured his son to take his time, though Aaron was eager to find out where they were and get them as far away from that damn vehicle as possible. After listening for a few seconds more Cain saw his nephews face turn even paler and Cain hurriedly pulled out his own mobile, having 999 already punched in "The car fell off the road and hit a tree? Are you and daddy alright?"

"I cutted…. My head and its…. stingy! And my….. chests really… sore dad!" gasped Kalum between heavy breaths. Aaron could feel his tears getting dangerously close as he listened to his brave little boy fight to get the words out. " You're gonna be fine sweetheart I promise!"

Then "Emmm…I think daddys… sleeping."

Cain rushed out to catch his nephew as Aaron lost his grip on his mobile and dropped heavily to his knees. He was shaking madly as he brought his hands up to his face and every single fibre of him felt like screaming and screaming and screaming though nothing was escaping his mouth only what sounded like strangled choked out coughs, his breathing almost now mimicking Kalums. He couldn't speak or even cry in his wave of grief. In that single moment he felt his whole world was torn asunder.

Cain had already dialled the emergency services and was now trying to support his nephew who had fallen to pieces right in front of him. Picking up the unharmed phone as Aaron was in no fit state to talk he said as cheerful as he could manage "Hi Kay its uncle Cain here, dad just dropped the phone, silly git isn't he?"

Deciding he had to be certain, even though it might hurt Aaron even more if possible, he continued "Now listen up Kay cos this is very important.. look at daddys chest.. is it going up and down?"

There was an awful pause for a few seconds, Cain dreading the answer.

"Yeah it's… moving… up and…down." Cain gripped Aaron tightly, triumphantly. Aaron never felt so much relieved and grateful "Thank God, thank God, thank God.." he sobbed.

Cain had noticed the breaths getting closer together, and told Kalum he would stay on the phone with him but he didn't have to say anything else unless he was asked. The young child was happy enough with this and for the next while all Cain could hear over the phone was the gasps of Kalums breath.

The two men waited in dire hope and desperation as the emergency services did their work, Aaron every so often just talking softly to Kalum on the phone, comforting him without wanting Kalum to answer as it would make him worse.

But hope was dwindling as an hour passed, and still the police could find nothing.

Nobody thought of the old road that few travelled by anymore, just a kilometre away from their search at the main road.

Aaron was almost driven insane with worry and panic. Kalums breath was getting worse, catching horrifically every 5 minutes now, and the extent of Jays injuries were yet unknown, which if possible felt worse.

Suddenly Kalums voice crackled over the phone "Are they... here…yet?"

Aarons heart nearly broke "Not yet baby, they still… they still need to find out where you are. Just be a brave boy for me and they'll be coming soon okay?"

"Ok."

Kalum sat miserably in his seat, throat now completely dry from his breathing and chest feeling as if it were on fire. He looked longingly at the still unconscious Jackson. He was praying for his daddy to wake up and take him in his arms for a cuddle, just so he wasn't alone. He wished the police people would hurry up and find them so they could try and wake him.

Suddenly Kalums eyes fell on a piece of equipment that he remembered Fireman Sam describe as being used to show people where you were. Once again he exhaustedly but determinedly dragged himself with his arms over the annoying gearstick and handbreak, halfway over Jays legs and reaching his fist up…

Aaron felt his ear explode as a sudden unexpected noise filled it. Recovering from the shock of it he began "Kalum, what.."

BEEEEP!BEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP!

Aarons jaw dropped as he not for the first time marvelled over what a genius he had for a son. He got Cain to alert the police and encouraged Kalum to keep hitting the horn, which he did, whacking his small fist on it over and over again.

For a few minutes they could hear nothing only the noise of the Ford Fiestas horn over Aarons phone, the atmosphere could've been cut with a knife.

Then they all jumped as suddenly a voice crackled over Cains phone

"We got them."

Upon hearing of their location Aaron arrived there like a bullet. His jaw went slack as he saw the skid marks cover the road surface and the steep slope where the car had plummeted. Shaking thoughts from his head Aaron looked around desperately for his family amongst the police cars and emergency vehicles.

"DAD!"

Aaron whipped his head around to his elation to see sitting inside one of the emergency vehicles receiving oxygen was a shaken but very much alive Kalum.

Aaron couldn't get to it fast enough. Scooping the child up he held him tightly, not wanting to ever let go of him again, tears flowing freely now as Aaron buried his face in his sons hair. Kalum clung to him also, happy now that he could breathe normally again and the pain in his chest was going away and that he finally got the hug he'd been longing for for what felt like ages now.

Leaning back slightly so he could study his sons face Aaron let out a low whistle as he saw the cut on his forehead, now held with temporary paper stitches. "Does that still sting sweetheart?"

"Nope, not really."

"That's a brave little boy you've got there, Mr Walsh." The nurse in the vehicle smiled "When they found them he interrogated them as to whether they were really the police or not, even with the bad asthma."

Aaron smiled proudly "That he is." Then he stopped, looking confused "Asthma?"

"Oh yes, forgive me, you wouldn't have heard yet. What caused Kalum to go into his pulmonary event was that he suffered an asthmatic attack. We were able to diagnose and begin to treat it within seconds of retrieving him from the car."

"We didn't know.."

"Oh you wouldn't have because according to medical reports this is the first that hes shown any signs of asthma. It can lie dormant for a good while but can be triggered eventually, by a pollutant or dust or some kinds of fabric chemicals for example."

Realisation dawned on Aaron "The blanket." He said slowly "We bought him a new blanket last week, I didn't even notice what chemicals were in it."

"That could well be the cause Mr Walsh, would you mind bringing it in for tests?" Aaron nodded making a mental note to text Adam or Cain and get them to bring it up.

She smiled "I wouldn't worry about it Mr Walsh, he'd just need to use an inhaler for a while, asthma is incredibly common for a child his age and can be grown out of in time. Besides-" she turned to look fondly at the 5 year old, who was feeling very smug at being the centre of such attention "- young braveheart here was more concerned as to whether that cut on his head was going to scar or not."

Aaron grinned "Do you want a scar like Harry potter?"

"No, like the ones daddys got!"

Aaron started to chuckle but stopped abruptly. "What about Jackson?" he asked the nurse, his panic rising again.

Her smile fell slightly "I must be honest with you Mr Walsh, your partner was in a bad way. The fire brigade had to cut him out of his side of the car as the collision with a tree caused the dashboard to crush and trap his right leg. From what we can gather so far its not life threatening or highly serious, but the shock of the pain and the sudden loss of blood caused him to fall into deep unconsciousness."

"A coma?" Aaron whispered hoarsely, fear building up inside him.

"Not exactly that far gone medically, Mr Walsh... not just yet."

… TBC

Ok I know you are all impatient to find out whats going to happen and im sorry for the long time im taking but I promise by the end of the next chapter you will know Jacksons fate. Thank you all for your patience, I hope this chapter was to your satisfaction.

PS to shawnyola : FINE but I get first dibs :)

Pps In the one in 15 billion chances you are reading this Mr Silcock , I wish to assure you that it is all a bit of harmless fun.. well, maybe.