– AARON & JACKSON –

– BORN AGAIN–

"Complications"

This fanfic follows on immediately from The Gift

A topic I know quite a bit about :) Enjoy! Thanks for reading and reviewing guys x

...

All eyes were on Jackson, everyone in the pub was waiting for his answer to Aaron's proposal. Jackson's eyes were wide, he swallowed hard and his heart began to beat quicker than it ever had. "What?" he managed to say albeit a bit hushed due to his shock.

Adam looked on he was nervous for Aaron.

Aaron frowned slightly, still holding the microphone in his hand. He took a breath. "I said will you marry me?" he asked again.

Chas gave Jackson a nudge, shoulder to shoulder. "Jackson, you can answer him you know..." she said with a smirk.

Jackson looked quickly at Chas, then at his mum who nodded eagerly at him. Then he looked back at Aaron and nodded. "Yes...Yes..." each reply louder than the last. "Yes!" Jackson let out a laugh as he stood. "Of course I will" he told Aaron and placed his hands on his face and kissed him passionately.

Everyone immediately began to applaud and cheer. Music began to play throughout the pub again. Both men parted and looked into each other's eyes. "I thought you were going to say no..." Aaron told him.

Jackson smiled. "When have I ever said no to you?"

Aaron pouted and looked thoughtful. "I dunno...can't remember can I? But since the hospital...never" he smirked.

"Well then...No, I mean it Aaron I love you so much I want to be your husband, nothing would make me prouder, you're everything to me."

Aaron nodded and looked down to the box in his hand, he opened it and picked out the plain platinum band and then took Jackson's hand in his and placed the ring on his finger. Jackson became teary and nodded at Aaron.

Aaron leaned in and kissed him again.

"If you lads are finished..." Adam spoke and both of them turned and looked at him.

"Come here you!" Adam said with a grin and pulled Aaron into a hug. "Congratulations mate" he told him then pulled back and hugged Jackson aswell. "So happy for you mate"

Jackson nodded with a smile. "Thanks mate"

"I'll catch you both in a bit, if I don't move it looks like your mums will be pushing me out the way" he said with a chuckle before leaving them too it.

After a few minutes Hazel and Chas had congratulated the boys then left them too it. Aaron and Jackson now stood at the bar, Jackson was shocked but in a good way, he was engaged to the man he'd loved since the first time he saw him in bar west. Yes, it hadn't been easy for them but sometimes bad things led to good things and in this case Jackson believed it truly had. Jackson thought about how things would have been if Aaron had retained his memories and he knew for a fact that Aaron would not have proposed to him on that night or any night after.

"Jackson?" Aaron spoke.

Jackson came out of his thoughts and looked at him with a smile.

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked.

Jackson chuckled. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine just so happy...can't believe its happening"

"Well believe it..." he said and caught Diane's eye. "Two pints please Diane"

Diane nodded. "On the house, congratulations lads"

"Thank you" Jackson replied.

...

A few hours later, the party was dying down but the music was still going, a lot of people had left leaving a few in the pub. "So..." Cameron said. "Hitched eh?"

Jackson nodded. "Yep" he smiled. "Speaking of...where the hell is he? Keeps doing a disappearing act"

Cameron shrugged. "No idea...oh there he is"

Aaron came walking back into the bar, with a frown on his face.

"See you both later" Cameron said and walked away.

"You alright mate?" Jackson asked.

"Hmm" Aaron nodded as he stood at the table.

"You've been in there a few times, what's up?"

"Gotta banging headache, been sick a few times" Aaron shrugged as he explained. "Sorry Jackson, I've ruined tonight"

"No, no you haven't" Jackson reassured him as he stood as he put his arm around him. "Probably too much to drink that's all"

Aaron smiled quickly as he nodded. "Yeah probably, can we go home please?"

Jackson nodded and kissed his forehead. "Sure" he told him and they headed out of the pub.

Jackson waited a few seconds hoping the fresh air would help him a bit. "How do you feel now?"

"Weak" Aaron simply stated.

"Weak?" Jackson asked and Aaron nodded.

"Yeah"

"We're nearly there..." Jackson reassured him.

Aaron shook his head and smirked as he looked at the pavement as he walked back up to Smithy. Everything around him began to spin and blur, it wasn't the alcohol, and he hadn't drank too much anyway. He'd had a niggling pain all day but thought nothing of it. But now the pain was immense he'd never felt this before, this was new to him and he didn't like it. He found himself walking still, but his hands reaching for the pavement. He frowned. "J-Ja...Jack..." Aaron stuttered.

Jackson stopped and turned around, and saw him falling to the floor. He frowned and walked back to him. "What you like eh?"

"No, Jackson, think about it I've hardly drank anything. I don't feel right"

Jackson put his arms around him and moved him up against the stone wall outside the grange. He began to panic but tried not to let it show to Aaron. "How? What's wrong?"

"Head's pounding and everything's spinning..." he gagged and quickly turned away from Jackson and vomited.

Jackson looked on sympathetically then he heard a door open, he stood up enough to see who it was. He rolled his eyes. This is all I need he thought.

"What with all the commotion? I've got guests inside. Do you know what time it is?" Val asked bemused.

Before Jackson replied another spell of vomit came from Aaron. He sighed. "Val I-..."

"And you can make sure he cleans that up right now, if my guests see that..." she pointed at Jackson

Jackson sighed. "Will you listen to me...?" he raised his voice.

Val was taken a back and went quiet.

"I need you to call me an ambulance" he told her.

"An ambulance?"

"Yes! Please. Now!" he urged.

Val turned and hurried back inside.

Jackson knelt back down in front of him and he frowned. Aaron's eyes were closed. He shook him. "Aaron!"

Aaron didn't react.

...

Gennie stood in the living room after not being home long. "I think I drink too much" she told Katie who just replied with a laugh. Gennie walked to the window and looked out. "Pub looks quieter now, then she frowned. "Somethings going on up there"

"How do you mean?"

"An ambulance"

"What where?" Katie asked as she walked to the window, once she saw it she walked out the house and up to see what was going on.

"Jackson?" Katie called.

Jackson looked at her, he was crying. "Uh...I-it's Aaron; can you let Chas know for me please?"

Katie shook her head. "Yeah sure..." she told him and ran back inside to grab her phone.

"Who was it?" Gennie asked.

"It's Aaron, Jackson looked beside himself, he asked me to let Chas know" she explained as the call dialled.

In the ambulance Jackson was sat with his head in his hands. He listened to the paramedics but he didn't know what any of it meant. "What's wrong with him?" he asked.

"We might know but we can't be sure until we get him to the hospital"

"Well what is it?"

"All I can say is from what you've explained and from what I've examined so far, it may be that Aaron has some kind of build up on the brain. Now" he continued before Jackson could speak. "I can't say for certain; we are moving as fast as we can and if it is a build up then he's in capable hands"

Jackson sighed and looked at Aaron unconscious on the stretcher.

...

Jackson was left waiting in a corridor; all they had told him was that Aaron had to be taken straight to surgery. Jackson was worried, his eyes sore and red from crying. He just looked down at his engagement ring and it brought on the tears once again. What was wrong with him? Why him? Why them for that matter? Jackson shook his head; he had no idea.

It seemed like forever until someone came in the form of family. Chas rushed in with Paddy asking all sorts of questions.

"Chas, give the lad a minute I'm sure he'll answer you" Paddy told her and Chas nodded and waited.

"He said he'd been sick a few times in the pub and that he'd had a bad head. We started heading to Smithy when he was reaching for the pavement, he said everything was spinning...and he was sick outside the grange, Val came out had a go but I told her to call an ambulance; when I looked back at him he was unconscious. The ambulance came and the paramedic said from what I told him and what he examined he might have some sort of build up on the brain"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chas snapped.

Jackson shrugged. "I wish I knew Chas"

"How long's he been in surgery?" Paddy asked.

Jackson let out a breath. "Since we got here, about half an hour"

"I'm going to find a doctor" Chas told them and marched off.

Jackson sighed. What good was that going to do?

...

An hour later after Chas had failed to get any news on her son a doctor walked across to them. "Aaron Livesy's mum?" she asked.

Chas nodded.

"Can I have a word?"

Chas nodded again. "Yeah it's alright they're close family, please tell me what's happening?"

"You're son has developed a condition called hydrocephalus"

"And what's that?" she asked.

"A normal term for it would be water on the brain, it's fluid that the brain produces that helps cushion itself and the spinal cord, and somehow the flow of this liquid to the spinal cord has been blocked, in turn putting pressure on the brain; this can happen for no reason whatsoever but we have seen your son's records and we are investigating to determine whether it's linked to his previous accident"

"O-o-okay, how do you treat it?" Chas asked.

"At the moment the only option we see fit to do is to insert a shunt inside your sons head, it will re-route the fluid to his stomach where it can be absorbed properly without any blockage, there are risks however that there could be infections"

Chas nodded. "That comes with everything though right?" she asked.

The doctor nodded. "We've caught this early, if left untreated your son could have died in a few weeks, and the symptoms would have worsened"

Chas nodded. "I-I'm grateful doctor, when can we see him?"

"In an hour or so, surgery is just finishing up then he'll be transferred to aftercare, I'll come for you when we're ready"

"Thank you" Chas replied and the doctor walked away.

Chas leaned forward with her elbows resting on her legs. She sighed, she was scared, tired and sobering up slowly. "Merry flippin' Christmas" she mumbled to herself.

Jackson simply sat turning the ring on his finger. He wouldn't take his eyes off it but he knew Aaron was going to be okay. It soothed him. He'd have him back again then he swore he wasn't letting him out of his sight anymore, Aaron wouldn't like that but a man could try.

TBC...

TBC...