Jackson was in Hotton again that morning, sitting in the same coffee shop from last week with Mason. They had arranged to meet up for another drink. The builder just found talking to Mason really easy. He knew he had his mum, Paddy and his friends to talk to but none of them had been through what he was through, Mason had. The football coach listened to him intently and understood just how frustrated he was finding things. He had just finished talking to the council, managing to draw up a plan for building permission for the house he planned to build with Aaron, when he met up with Mason. He had texted him the night before arranging to meet with him that morning, when things seemed to be getting on top of him again.
". . . I don't know, He's just driving me insane." Jackson sighed. "He's more on edge lately and that's when he's not sleeping!"
"Is he sleeping a lot then?" Mason questioned as he sat opposite the builder.
"Yeah, quite a bit but when he's awake he's like a zombie." Jackson told him. "I can't even get a decent conversation out of him."
"Must be tough on you." Mason said. "Having to cope with him, keep on top of the chores and take care of your kids whilst trying to start the build on your home. I can't imagine how hard you're finding it. I was living in our flat with Amelia and my ex when she was going through it and there was no other children to look out for."
"Yeah well it's happened before. I'm sure I can cope like before." Jackson sighed. "It's just nice to talk to someone about it all-."
The builder was cut off by his mobile ringing on the coffee table between them, an unknown number flashing on the screen. "-Sorry, it's most probably the estate agents or something." Jackson said to Mason before he answered the call.
All colour drained from the older man's face as he listened intently to what the person on the other said to him.
"Jackson?" Mason said as Jackson ended the call, his face a picture of pure terror. "What's wrong?"
"It's Aaron."
Jackson made it to Hotton General in record time. He burst into the family room to find Chastity already waiting inside, a bundle of nerves as she paced the floor space.
"How is he?" Jackson questioned as soon as he stepped foot inside the room.
Chas spun round to face him, tears streaming down her face. "He's not good! I saw him when they were bringing him in." She told him.
She'd gotten the call fifteen minutes ago while she was at work. She was out the back, sorting through the empty boxes of crisp packets when her mobile went off in her back pocket of her tight jeans. As soon as she was told that her son was on his way to hospital due to a car accident she was shooting out of the pub and barking at Cain to take her to the hospital as fast as he could. They had both arrived at the hospital just as they were racing Aaron through the corridors. She had to be held back by her older brother to stop her from running up to him and getting in the way of the flustered Doctors and Nurses. He was a mess. Even from where she stood restrained she could see the blood and numerous amounts of equipment attached to him as he was strapped to the stretcher. Doctors and Paramedics reeled off medical jargon as they raced him down to ER.
Jackson crossed the room and pulled the dark haired woman into his arms. "He's gonna be okay. This Aaron, he's a tough guy."
"I hope so." Chas sobbed. "He was a mess!"
They both turned towards the door when Cain walked in, looking no better than the both them, worry was etched all over his face as he scrubbed a hand across. "Any news sis?" Cain asked as he perched on the edge of a chair.
"No, nothing." She answered as Jackson let her go to sit next to her brother.
"I shouldn't have told him to go collect them parts . . ." Cain thought out loud as his leg jumped up and down quickly.
"You wouldn't have known." Jackson told him.
"But I should have!" Cain snapped. "He was barely with it this morning. I should have known that he was in no fit state to drive!"
"You wouldn't have known." Chas weakly tried to argue.
"Has anyone let Paddy know?" Jackson asked, suddenly realising that Aaron's, close enough, dad wasn't there.
"Yeah, I was outside calling him. He said he'll be here as soon as he could. He's gonna ask Rhona to take care of the kids." Cain told him.
"Oh god, I forgot about them." Jackson groaned. Freddie Erin's dad was in hospital for the second time in under two months.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Rhona we will explain everything to Freddie so he understands and doesn't get upset." Chas told him.
"I know it's just Aaron's in here again and . . ." Jackson sighed sitting down opposite them on the edge of the coffee table. "I just hope it's nothing serious."
Half an hour later and the doctor who had been treating Aaron since his admission was spotted outside talking to a group of medical staff, still dressed in scrubs and a cap. Not knowing whether he was the right doctor or not, Jackson sprinted out of the family room and ran up to them. He needed to know what was happening they had been waiting ages.
"Excuse me? Could you tell me anything about Aaron Livesy?" Jackson demanded.
"I'm sorry, you are?" The doctor asked looking at the builder who had interrupted what he was telling the nurses.
"I'm Jackson Walsh, his partner. I need to know whether he's okay or not!" Jackson rushed at him, as Chas and Cain gathered behind him.
"He's out of surgery for now." The doctor told him looking very grave.
"What does that mean? Is he okay or not?" Jackson snapped, he knew he was being rude but he was at the end of his patients.
"We'll let you know when we have him settled in a room." The doctor told him being extremely vague.
"How long as that going to be?" Cain asked behind Chas.
"As I said, I'll send a nurse along to let you know as soon as we have him assessed and settled into a room." The doctor told them again before turning back to his medical staff and addressing them with a series of complicated instructions.
When a nurse finally did arrive to let them know that they were allowed to see Aaron, they had been waiting for another hour and Paddy had arrived in that time. The nurse showed them through to ICU and told them only two at a time to see him. Cain and Paddy both stood back, telling Chas and Jackson to go in first. They were a little hesitant at first. The nurse had warned them not to be alarmed by the state he was in and the machines that looked ever so intimidating. They both took tentative seats either side of the young mechanic as he lay still in the hospital bed with sound of whooshing and beeping from the many machines. The sight of the younger man laying still in bed, looking so vulnerable caught their breaths. He looked so pale. Numerous cuts adorned his face, along with bruising and a large bandage to the right side of his head.
Jackson swallowed down the urge to throw up what he last ate as he stroked a hand along Aaron's forearm, careful not to disturb anything. He was so cold.
"Do you think he can here us?" Chas asked quietly as she wiped at her eyes.
"I. . . I don't know." Jackson said clearing his throat. They were still waiting for the doctor stop by and fill them in on what exactly was going on with the young mechanic. All they had to go by was what they were told by the hospital on the phone and what they were seeing now. All sorts of worst case scenarios were being thought up in their heads.
"Aaron, love . . ." Chas cautiously began to whisper to the younger man. "It's me, your mum and Jackson."
Nothing.
"We need you to pull through this okay?" Chas warned him still keeping her voice just above a whisper. "Freddie and Dizzy are waiting for you at home and Jackson needs you okay-."
There was a knock at the door, before in strolled the doctor who they had questioned earlier on and a police officer. The doctor was out of his scrubs and dressed in black trousers and blue shirt, his dark tie tucked in between the buttons of his shirt to keep from getting in his way. He balanced a clip board in his hands as he walked further into the room coming to a stop just at the bottom of Aaron's bed.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Evans." He announced to them all. "I'm sorry about not being able to give you much to go on earlier, but this young man had us all in a fluster." He told them, panicking both Jackson and Chas. "But don't worry! We have made sure he's stable."
"What's- What happened?" Chas said shaking her head to think clearly.
"Ms Dingle I'm PC Cage, your son was brought in this morning, due to a car crash. It is believed that witnesses saw his car veer off the edge of the road at the last minute the car made a quick abrupt turn to avoid going into road railings where it then clipped the curb before it began to roll several times. After four complete rolls, the car came to a stop where witnesses ran to the scene." The police officer addressed Chas, where he stood still at the door. "They managed to call for an ambulance and keep Mr Livesy conscious until the paramedics arrived on scene."
"Oh god." Chas cried, bringing a hand up to her mouth in shock.
"Your son suffered a major laceration to the head which we believed occurred when he could have banged his head on the driver's side window. The blow to the head caused a fracture in his skull which caused internal bleeding." Doctor Evan's explained to them. "We had to perform emergency surgery to cease the internal bleeding and give him several blood transfusions due to the loss of blood on scene and en-route to hospital."
"But he's going to be okay, right?" Jackson spoke up for the first time since they had entered.
"Time will tell." Doctor Evan's honestly answered him. "Head injuries can be very unpredictable. We'll try our best to make sure he remains in a stable condition and on his way to recovery but it's really up to him now."
"Thank you." Chas said to the doctor and police officer.
"You're welcome." Doctor Evan's assured her. "For now we'll continue to observe him and make sure he's comfortable. Any more questions just let me know." He told them. "Officer Cage is here to ask a few questions to help pin point the cause of the accident."
"How are we supposed to help with that?" Chas demanded. "We weren't even there."
"Just need to know what frame of mind Aaron was in this morning and such like." PC cage explained to her. They had gone over Aaron's records, scene his recent history, referrals and medication he was on.
"What do you mean what frame of mind he was in?" Chas exclaimed obviously distressed.
"You don't think he did this on purpose did you?" Jackson demanded looking utterly horrified with the conclusion.
"We're just trying to put together as much as we can." PC cage told them. "Now could I ask you a few questions?"
"Fine! But my Aaron would never do this on purpose! Never." She told them firmly. "He would never do this to his little boy and girl."
"Now Ms Dingle did you see Aaron at all this morning . . . ?" PC cage addressed.
The questioning from the police officer continued for another forty five minutes. He wanted to know how Aaron seemed not only the morning, but the previous night and throughout the past weeks. He even went as far back as the suicide attempt when he was eighteen. Questioning everything he could possibly think off. He asked them about Aaron's medication he was now prescribed and how it effected him. He wanted to know if Aaron ever seemed not himself, anything that would alert them to something out of the blue happening. They asked how he was around Freddie and Erin, how he was after each child's birth. They answered every single question honestly, disputing on a few between each other. Jackson answered truthfully and bare honest while Chas decided to sugar coat some of her answers, thinking it would protect her son.
"Thank you for you co-operation." PC Cage told them as he stood to leave the room, hat tucked under his arm. "I'll most probably be in contact again in the next few days."
"That's fine." Jackson said, while Chas went straight back to making Aaron her number one priority,.
"We should probably let Paddy and Cain in to see him." Jackson suggested to Chas when the police officer left. "We could go get a coffee, be real quick." He tried to persuade.
He managed to tear the dark haired woman away from her son's bedside long enough to allow Cain and Paddy to get a look in, and for them to grab a coffee. He explained to them what the doctor had told them before they left for the nearest coffee machine. They all hoped that the mechanic would pull through. Not for them but for the kids. Cain was racked with guilt and nothing that either of them said seemed to ease the guilt that he had put upon himself. The accident was nobody's fault, that's why it was an accident. They couldn't waste time on pointing the finger and blaming numerous of other things that could of led to Aaron getting in the car and crashing it. They could have of done something to prevent it but they hadn't because they didn't know it was going to happen. They didn't know that they were going to spend there Wednesday in the hospital fretting over Aaron.
A/N – Thank you for such great feedback! It's a little shorter than usual, I've gotten a mind block! I need to think of a few more ideas.