April 24th, 1982 (Continued)
Cal was only barely aware when lunch came, and went, and he ate what Alyse put in his hand –a thick ham and cheese sandwich- but he couldn't really remember what it tasted like afterwards.
He was still sitting there when Ethan finally opened his eyes, stood slowly, wobbled, steadied himself, and then came to the door. Another doctor met him at the door, and they conversed quietly while Ethan drained a large glass of water.
Cal made Alyse help him get to his feet as Ethan approached. "Well?"
He didn't like Ethan's expression. It was an awful lot like Fullmetal's when he didn't like what he had to say.
Ethan stopped in front of them, and nodded slowly. "He's stabilized. I've healed the damage to his internal organs, and his head. There's no evidence of brain damage, though we'll have to wait for him to wake up to make a full assessment. The wound in his side will take time and energy to heal more than anything else now."
"So, he'll live." Cal needed to hear those words, those very important words.
"He should live," Ethan nodded. "He hasn't developed a fever, and there are no signs of infection. As long as he doesn't develop any further complications, he should wake up."
"Why do you keep saying should, Ethan?" Alyse asked, her voice unusually soft.
"Because there's always uncertainties with the brain," Ethan sighed, resting one hand on the wall. "Until he wakes up, we can't be entirely certain that everything is functioning properly. There are tests we have to do with him conscious. I'm sorry, Alyse. I wish I could just tell you everything will be fine."
"You've done everything you can," Alyse said, reaching out and giving her cousin's free hand a squeeze. "Now eat something before you fall over."
"I'm going to catch a nap in an empty room, but wake me if I'm needed," Ethan met Cal's eyes briefly, then he went down the hall, pausing only briefly at the nurse's station before vanishing into a patient room and closing the door.
"Mr. Fischer, Mrs. Fischer."
Cal turned and looked at yet another doctor he didn't know the name of. This one was the one who had been speaking with Ethan. She looked nice enough; about Alyse's age. "I'm Doctor Elsen, Mr. Fischer. I've been treating Charles. You are both welcome to go into his room now."
"Thank you." Cal said nothing else, but headed straight inside, almost leaving Alyse behind. There were chairs in the room, and he took the one Ethan had just vacated, reaching out with his good arm to grasp Charlie's hand, lying on top of the crisp white sheets. "Hey, kiddo," he said softly, hoping that at some point his son would come awake enough to hear him, "Sorry for landing on you earlier. Bet when you wake up the first thing you'll tell me is I'm still a fat ass."
"Calvin!"
He ignored her, though he found Alyse's slightly scandalized look almost funny.
Under his hand, he thought Charlie felt a little more solid, though he couldn't really have explained why it felt that way. Maybe it was the warmth from his own hand, or maybe Charlie heard him. Either way, he kept talking.
Alyse watched Cal talk to their son for the rest of the afternoon, through dinner, and into the evening. Cal refused to be taken back to his own bed, despite his injuries, until Charlie woke up. So the doctors treated him as they could, finally unhooking his IV –which Cal had been lugging around on a moving stand- and making him take his drugs orally.
Her father brought Gloria in after dinner, and her daughter sat at the end of the bed, dry-eyed and somber. She refused to leave, too. Together they sat, as a family, waiting and hoping.
It was only as something woke Alyse that she realized she had dozed off, her head resting on the bed beside her son's sleeping form.
Only Charlie wasn't sleeping! His eyes, open in slits, looked confused and slightly unsure.
Cal, on the other hand, was beaming through damp eyes. "Hey. How do you feel?" he was asking.
Charlie blinked. "Fuzzy."
"Oh?" Alyse looked at him. That was an odd choice, though with all the painkillers they had in his IV, she supposed she shouldn't be surprised.
"Yeah." Charlie nodded. "Am I drunk?"
At that, Cal burst out with a laugh so loud it made Alyse jump. And a moment later, she couldn't help giggling. Even Gloria laughed.
"No, not quite," Cal squeezed his son's hand. "But the sensation's kind of similar."
"Weird."
"Do you remember anything?" Alyse asked.
Charlie nodded, and his expression sobered. "Yeah. I… some guys grabbed me, and tied me up, and then Dad came, and then there was a lot of shooting, and running, and alchemy… and then I woke up."
"Yeah well, those guys won't be hurting you, ever again," Cal said, his expression turning darker as the laughter faded. But he put a smile back on a moment later. "You're safe, and you'll be all right. You were very brave."
Charlie didn't look like he believed the last part. There were tears in his eyes. "Dad… thanks for coming and saving me."
Cal mimed cuffing Charlie's head, then winced as his other shoulder moved. "Dingbat," he smiled. "You know I'll always come for you."
April 27th, 1982
Over the next couple of days, both Cal and Charlie improved, much to Alyse's relief, as well as the rest of the family. Both were finally declared well enough to go home, though Charlie was to rest for the next week, and Cal was informed –mostly by Kane- that he had better not show up to work before he could use both arms well enough to carry stacks of paperwork.
Cal was not at all inclined to argue. He was just relieved to be home. Gloria had to go to school –which she argued about for the first time in her life- but Alyse brought all of her work home, so that she could take care of both of them.
So it was that Cal found himself in the unique position of being ensconced on the couch, with his son and a pile of pillows, and snacks within easy reach, watching cartoons in the middle of the day.
It was one of the odder things Cal had ever seen. Something about a pet lizard and a cat, only the cat was always trying to eat the lizard, and the lizard was always getting the better of the cat in ways that involved improbably and painful consequences for the cat.
"Do cats even eat lizards?" Cal asked Charlie during a commercial.
Charlie gave him a funny look. "Does it matter?"
"Well, no, I guess not." Cal shrugged and sipped his cup of coffee. "But it's still kind of weird."
Charlie chuckled and bit into a thick chewy chocolate chip cookie Gloria had made a batch of the night before. "What did you watch when you were a kid?"
"We didn't have television," Cal replied. "We just had radio."
"Oh, wow."
When they got to the end credits, Charlie spoke up again. "Hey, Dad?"
"What?"
"I was wondering something."
Cal turned to look at his son instead of the television. "What is it?"
Charlie looked uncertain. "I was wondering if… if you'd teach me how to fight. I swear I won't use it at school or anything!" he added as if that had suddenly occurred to him. "I mean… I just want to be able to protect myself. If I'd been able to pull away and run even than none of this would have happened."
It was possibly the most mature request his son had ever made. And Cal couldn't blame him. He had heard Charlie whimpering in his sleep. He knew why. His son would have nightmares for a while, maybe years. He would have plenty to tell his counselor when he was able to go to his next session.
"I'd be glad to," Cal replied. "In fact, I think you'll be a natural at it."
"Really?" Charlie looked surprised.
"Sure. You've got the build for it, and you're active, and you don't panic easily."
"I don't?" Charlie snorted. "I was terrified!"
"I saw you," Cal pointed out seriously. "Being scared isn't the same as panicking. You were paying attention, and you did exactly what I told you to do."
"You told me to run."
"And if you had panicked, you'd have frozen. You didn't do that. You've got good instincts, Charlie." At least for survival. Cal wasn't ready to say that about his son's common sense.
"Wow." His son looked more than a little surprised by this revelation, and the praise. "So, you think I'd be good?"
"With practice and discipline."
At that, Charlie chuckled. "I knew there had to be a catch."
The first thing Gloria did when she got home from school was descend upon them both, and Cal happily put up with the spat of 'mothering' his daughter insisted upon, making sure their drinks were full, they still had plenty of snacks, and making sure that they were in at least as good of health as they had been when she left that morning.
Finally, Cal had enough. "We're fine, sweetie," he chuckled. "Now why don't you sit down and join us instead?"
Gloria opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Yeah, sure." She settled down in between them, and reached for the popcorn. "So, what are we watching?"
"Camp Disaster," Charlie informed her.
"Oh! I remember this one." Gloria grinned. "It's hysterical."
Cal knew his daughter had been about to say no, and he knew why. She no doubt had plenty of homework, an article or two for her school paper, and who all knew what else. Instead, she was having fun watching a movie with them. This, they definitely needed to have more family time like this.
"Well look at all of you," Alyse smiled when she came downstairs to check on them again a little bit later. "Why didn't someone tell me we were having a party?"
"Sorry, Mom. We didn't want to interrupt you," Gloria said, though she sounded slightly surprised.
"There's room over here for another pretty girl," Cal grinned, holding his healing shoulder out so his arm opened up on the side opposite Gloria.
Alyse smiled, then sat down and snuggled up next to him. "You know, I was going to make a hero's dinner. I can't do that if we sit here all evening."
"And what is in this hero's dinner?" Cal asked curiously.
"Well I have this really nice cut of steak in the refrigerator."
"I love steak!" Charlie piped up eagerly.
There was a chorus of chuckles.
"I'll let you up at the end of the movie," Cal promised, pulling Alyse close against him. "For now, let's just enjoy ourselves, okay?"
Alyse smiled and kissed him gently. "Sounds perfect."
Author's Note 12/3/2013: And finis! A little wrap up to a dramatic family event, and Cal successfully has the least traumatic midlife crisis so far! Points to him. ;) New story next week, moving on to more dynamic drama! *Cues up the Jaws theme*