Andy can hear the voices when he pulls into the driveway, sighing as he gets out of the car, making his way inside. Emily and Ricky were in the throws of a blowout, shouting at each other across the living room as everyone else stood in the kitchen, watching quietly.
"How long have they been…"
"They were like this when we got back," Kathy tells Andy. Andy sighs and goes into the living room, grabbing a thick art book off the shelf. He lifts it up over his head and drops it on the ground, back side down. The book creates a loud, clapping thunk as it hits the ground.
"Now will you two shut the hell up!" Andy yells, as the sound causes a pause in the arguing. Emily crosses her arms over her chest as she throws a hate filled glare in her brother's direction. Ricky throws his hands up as she does, letting them clap down by his side.
"You wanna tell me what the hell is so important for you two to be yelling at each other like this? I had to leave your mother and your brothers at the hospital, to come down here and sort this out. So one of you better start talking."
"Apparently my mother raised a piece of shit for a son," Emily bites out.
"Oh come off it Emily. Jesus Christ I said I was sorry okay?"
"Sorry doesn't fucking cut it anymore. You chose Dad over Mom and now she's in the hospital, Rusty's in the hospital, Oliver - our three week old baby brother - is in the fucking hospital. A hospital you haven't been to. And where's Dad? Dad's fucking dead," Emily rages, "Dad's dead because he tried to kill Rusty, and Oliver, and Mom. You haven't seen Mom in months, but you fucking came to see Dad for Thanksgiving?"
"Oh like you're a saint, you hadn't talked to Dad in six months."
"I hadn't talked to Dad in six months because I was tired of getting pulled into his shit. He couldn't pull Mom in anymore, so what does he do? He starts trying to pull me in."
"He needed help, Emily!" Emily surges forward, leaning up into her brother's face, her brown eyes flaming.
"He stopped deserving help when he walked out on us!" Emily yells at Ricky her voice finally starting to break with hoarseness, "She's the one who raised us and you turned your back on her!"
Andy grabs Emily by the waist pulling her back before nudging her towards the kitchen.
"Go out back, take a deep breath," Andy orders her before turning on Ricky, "I've stayed out of this for longer than I probably should have. But your sister's right, you've hurt your mom. And it's obvious you've hurt Emily too. So you've got some things to think about, and I don't know that they are things you should think about here. Stay in town, go home, I don't care, but if you have any ounce of emotion left for your mother, you will go to the hospital and see her the second you leave this house."
Ricky swallows as he looks Andy in the eye before turning and walking to the guest room to grab his bag. Andy sighs and picks up the book he'd dropped, putting it back on the shelf before going out back to check on Emily. She was curled up on the porch swing, swaying back and forth.
"How you doing kid?" Andy asks, taking a seat next to her. Emily sniffles and looks over at him before shuffling closer and nestling into his side. He easily wraps his arm around her and presses a kiss to her head gently.
"I thought after Mom and Dad got divorced finally…he would stop ruining our lives," Emily whispers, "But things kept falling apart. I wish she had just left him the first time."
"Your mother has the tendency to want to see the good in people. It's why she never said anything about Ricky. It's why she gave your dad more chances than he was probably worth. Probably what kept her from throttling me when she worked in FID," Andy laughs, smiling when he gets a small chuckle out of Emily.
"What if there's no good anymore?"
"I don't know," Andy answers, resting his head against Emily's.
"Thanks…for being here, Andy."
"No problem," Andy says, squeezing her. They sit quietly, swinging back and forth for a while before Emily unfolds herself from his side and stands up.
"You should get back to Mom."
"You guys going to be okay?"
"I'll try to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the evening," Emily smiles bashfully. Andy laughs as he stands, reaching out and squeezing her shoulders. He walks her back inside before telling Kathy and John he was going back to the hospital.
"Call me if you guys need anything."
"Thank you, Andy," Kathy says, leaning up to kiss his cheek. Andy makes his way back to the hospital and up to the floor where Sharon and Rusty were staying. He pokes his head into Sharon's room and sees Ricky sitting next to her bed holding onto Oliver as he talks quietly to his mother, holding her hand. Andy watches them for a few minutes, smiling as Oliver lets out a yell while he holds onto his brother's finger, trying to stuff it in his mouth. He pushes away from the doorway, continuing his way down the hall to Rusty's room. He shuts the door quietly behind himself and takes a seat next to the bed, smiling when Rusty grunts before opening his eyes.
"Hey kid."
"Hey," Rusty rasps as he shifts into more of a sitting position, "Mom? Oliver?"
"Both of them are fine," Andy assures him as he takes the boy's hand, "They're just down the hall."
"Water?" Rusty asks. Andy sits up a bit and grabs a cup of water from the bedside table, putting a straw in it before holding it up for him to take a couple sips. He sets it back down on the tray table before Rusty rubs his face, groaning as he presses a little too hard on a couple of bruises, "What happened?"
"What do you remember?"
"Just Jack showing up at the party...he had a gun," Rusty tells Andy, "He forced me to his car and took Oliver from me. I'm so sorry. If something happened to him..."
"Nothing happened to him. He's fine. Your mom's snuggling the hell out of him," Andy says, squeezing Rusty's hand, "I'm worried about you right now. Jack worked you over pretty good, you had a little bit of internal bleeding, some stitches...but you should make a full recovery."
"What about Jack?" Rusty asks as he reaches out to grab his cup with a wince, taking another drink. Andy helps him set the cup back down and sighs as he leans back in his chair.
"Your mom shot him. He didn't make it."
"Oh...wow..." Rusty says, settling back against his pillows with a sigh, "Ricky and Emily?"
"Ah...it's gonna be rough," Andy admits, thinking about what he had pulled apart at home, "It's gonna be rough."
"Merry freaking Christmas to us," Rusty grumbles as he sinks further into the bed, yawning and closing his eyes. Andy rubs his arm and squeezes.
"Get some rest, Rusty," Andy says quietly, sitting with him until he falls asleep again before getting up. He leaves Rusty's room and heads back down to Sharon's room, meeting Ricky as he steps out, "Hey."
"Hey," Ricky replies as he shrugs his coat on, "I'm going to go get a room downtown...I told Mom I'd come back in the morning."
"That'll be good," Andy nods. Ricky stuffs his hands in his pockets, very similar to the way his mother did. He swallows and sighs, looking Andy in the eye.
"Look, I'm sorry you had to leave Mom and Oliver to come deal with me and Emily...You would have thought all of this stuff would have stopped after they got divorced."
"Your sister shared the same sentiment," Andy tells him with a small smile, "Thank you for coming. I appreciate it and I know your mom does."
"No problem, have a good night," Ricky nods before heading down the hallway towards the elevator bank. Andy slips into Sharon's room and smiles at her as she throws a tired smile in his direction. He takes her hand and sits down on the edge of the bed.
"Arm numb yet?"
"A little bit, I don't want to let him go though," Sharon murmurs, looking down at the baby as he sleeps. Andy reaches over and lifts Oliver away from Sharon, shushing him as he whines. He snuggles him close and pats his back, pressing a kiss to his head. Sharon sighs and reaches over to rest her hand on Andy's leg as her eyes drowsily droop shut, "I never should have let any of them out of my stomach. Can't protect them out here."
"You protect them just fine," Andy tells her, covering her hand and squeezing softly, "You saved our boys."
"I didn't save the other one," Sharon murmurs as she starts to drift off, "You did though...you saved my boy, you brought him back to me. I love you so much, Andy."
"I love you too, Shar," Andy whispers as he kisses her hand, "I love you too..."
[TBC]