Chapter Ten

The crowd was growing, and Jason didn't care. He'd lost all control. All of the anger and pain was finally being released in one big explosion.

"You have no idea how lucky you are! Stop whining and take out the trash or clean up your dinner dishes or whatever the hell else your mom is asking you to do. It's not that hard!"

All of his classmates were staring at him in profound shock. None of them were more startled than the boy he'd gone off on. He was staring at Jason with wide eyes and an open mouth. Jason hadn't paused long enough for him to get a single word in to defend himself. Still absolutely fuming, Jason probably wouldn't have stopped at all if one of the teachers hadn't stepped in and grabbed his shoulder.

"Jason! Jason, that's enough!"

He fell silent and stood there panting and red faced. This was not going to end well for him, and he knew it. Before he was told anything he turned and headed off toward the office.

"Jason, where do you think you're going?"

"To the office. I'm sure that's where you're sending me, right?"

His tone was probably going to get him in even more trouble, but at the moment he didn't care.

"Let's go then," his teacher said and followed him down to see the principal.

It was as they were walking toward the office that Jason realized how bad the situation actually was. Not for him. He wasn't worried about what happened to him. It was his mom he was concerned about. He stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. Desperate, pleading eyes turned on his teacher.

"Promise me you won't call my mom. She can't handle it and there's no way she could walk all the way here. Please just have them call my dad. Please," Jason begged.

The thought of what could happen to his mother if she tried to make her way into the school terrified him. She would never make it without having breathing problems even if she did have the energy to walk the whole way. He hadn't wanted to cause any trouble for her or risk her getting sicker because of him. If that happened he would be furious with himself.

O . o . O . o . O

"Your son's in the guidance office. Considering the situation with your wife, I thought he would be better served talking to his counselor instead of me. From what I understand of what happened, Jason's behavior was likely related to his mother's condition."

"I appreciate it," Henry told the principal. "It's been a rough few weeks for all of us."

When they stepped into the main part of the office Henry was able to spot Jason in one of the side offices. His son was slumped down low in his chair. Even though Henry couldn't see his face he could tell Jason was upset just from how ruffled his hair was. His son had a habit of dragging his hands through his hair when he was stressed.

"Jas."

The moment Jason heard his father's voice he shot out of his chair and turned to face him.

"Dad. Thank God. They told me they called you and not mom, but I wasn't sure if I believed it."

"It's alright, buddy. Mom doesn't know. Not yet at least."

Whether or not she would find out at all was still up in the air. It would depend on what Jason said. While Henry hated keeping things from his wife, at the moment he had to consider her well-being. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel guilty about how much her condition was affecting Jason and blame herself for his behavior. It definitely wasn't her fault. Henry wasn't even sure he could blame Jason for his actions. So far his son had been holding it together incredibly well. One little break was hardly unexpected.

"After talking to your guidance counselor, Jason, I think we both agree that your actions can be forgiven considering what is going on at home."

"Thank you, Principal Hinkley," Jason replied quietly.

"Yes, thank you. We really appreciate it. I know Jason didn't mean to lose his cool. We've all been under a lot of strain lately and it's starting to show."

"Understandable. Jason will still need to serve two days of detention. For now, take the rest of the day."

Jason nodded his agreement to that. He could handle two days of detention, and it would be easy enough to hide from his mother.

"Do you need to grab anything, Jas?"

"A few things, yeah."

"Go grab them and we'll get out of here," Henry said as he squeezed Jason's shoulders.

Jason headed off to his locker, and Henry stuck his hands in his pockets. He wasn't sure what he was going to do to help Jason. Somehow he would have to figure it out between now and when they got home.

Jason didn't say a word the whole way out of the school, and his silence continued on the drive home. Henry kept glancing over at him, but Jason wasn't giving him anything. His body language told Henry enough though. They really needed to talk. Instead of going home, Henry pulled into a Shake Shack parking lot. Once he'd parked he turned toward Jason.

"Alright, buddy. Talk to me."

"We can't get a milkshake first?"

"Consider it a reward for telling me what happened."

Yeah, Jason had figured it wouldn't be that easy to stall his dad. He sighed and pushed himself more upright, though he wound up ducking his head and staring at his hands clasped in his lap anyway.

"I overheard one of the guys in my grade complaining in the hallway between classes. He just kept… whining about how he had to do all this stupid, little stuff to help his mom."

"Stuff like what Mom used to ask you to do, and you would rail against doing every time?" Henry asked.

He had to fight not to smile at the irony. Despite that Henry understood where this was going, and it already hurt.

"Yeah. That type of stuff. He doesn't… he doesn't get how good he has it." Jason paused and tried to fight back tears, but lost. He could barely get his next words out around the lump in his throat. "I want that back, Dad."

Henry reached over and hugged his son as best he could across the front seats.

"I know, buddy," he whispered into Jason's ear. "I do too."

He would do anything if they could all go back to that time. Both he and Elizabeth would be happy to go back to nagging Jason to clean his room and take out the trash if it meant her lungs were healthy. Unfortunately there was no way to go back.

"We can only do the best we can with what we have right now."

"I know," Jason said as he wiped his eyes. "And it sucks."

"No denying that." He gave Jason's knee a pat. "Come on. Let's get some shakes."

"Can I get a large?"

"You're pushing it a little, don't you think?"

"Hey, I had to try. The whole "talk and I'll get you a shake" thing is a pretty cheap trick after all."

Henry gave his son's shoulder a shove and headed for the drive thru. They got their shakes and camped out in the parking lot. It did them both good to spend some time out of the house and away from the reminders of how their lives had changed. They hadn't gotten any father and son time since Elizabeth had been poisoned either. It was nice to spend time together and not focus on Elizabeth's health. Hopefully the time would do Jason some good. It was certainly doing that for Henry. Will had been reminding him to make sure he took time for himself ever since Elizabeth had come home from the hospital. Henry had to admit that Will had been right. It hadn't been that long, and he was already feeling better even though the outing had initially started with Jason being in trouble at school.

There had been a smile on Jason's face for most of the outing too, and Henry had even heard a laugh or two. As they started getting closer to home though Jason's smile began to fade. When Henry pulled in and parked Jason was back to staring at his hands. He eventually looked up, a nervous flicker in his eyes.

"Are you going to tell Mom?"

"I think we can skip telling Mom about this."

"Thanks."

They climbed out of the car and headed inside. As they came through the kitchen Elizabeth stood up from the couch to greet them. Their time getting shakes had pushed their arrival time back to when Jason would realistically be getting home from school, so Elizabeth didn't suspect anything. At least not until Jason grabbed her up in a tight hug. He clung to her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Jas? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

His voice sounded scratchy despite his assurance that everything was fine. While Elizabeth rubbed Jason's back, she looked over at Henry in question. Henry smiled and shook his head, which told Elizabeth nothing.

"You sure, baby?"

"Yeah," he promised before giving her a tight squeeze and letting go. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied, but Jason was already up the steps before she'd even finished the second word.

She glanced at Henry for more answers. Henry ran his hands up and down her arms to soothe her, and she rested her head against his chest.

"He's fine, babe. Rough day at school is all."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

He kissed her temple and took a step back to evaluate her. It didn't look like she was doing too badly, but he didn't like her coloring.

"Have you eaten, babe? You look really pale."

"A little bit."

He knew her too well for her to get away with that fib.

"Meaning no, you haven't really eaten anything."

She sighed, which quickly turned into a short coughing fit. As it faded she leaned against him again.

"I'm so achy today. Everything hurts, even eating."

"Did you take something for it? Even Advil or Tylenol would probably make your joints feel better."

"No. I'm on enough medications as it is."

"Elizabeth… You've lost enough weight as it is too. You need to be in a state where you can eat."

He didn't know what to do with her, and it was a terrible feeling. He hated how thin she was getting. It didn't matter that it was a common symptom of pulmonary fibrosis.

"Guess I should have brought you a milkshake."

At the mention of missing milkshakes Elizabeth swatted his chest.

"You got shakes and didn't get me one? Oh, Henry, that's cruel."

"Ahh, clearly I wasn't thinking straight. Sorry, babe. I'll make it up to you."

"You better," she groused.