Author's Notes: Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. In the last chapters, the possible germiness of the bathroom never crossed my mind. Sorry about that.

Disclaimer: The show Flashpoint and its characters were created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern and belong to them and its respective networks. I am making no money off this story and it is for entertainment purposes only. However, this particular story is my creation and should not be used without my express written permission.

Growing Up Too Fast

Chapter 21

Knock. Knock.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt." Spike's voice came through the door, sounding tentative and unsure.

Sam frowned as he guided Jules back against his chest when it was obvious she didn't have anything left in her to throw up. He wanted to scream back at his friend the words that automatically came to mind but knew it would be rude to say "then don't." Besides he trusted Spike's judgment; if he was finding it necessary to intrude, there must be a good reason. He sighed. "What is it, Spike?"

"A doctor just came in the waiting room for Jules's family. Figured she'd want to be there."

Jules used Sam's shoulder and the toilet paper holder to hold to as she pushed herself to a standing position. Her legs were shaky but they seemed to support her weight. She didn't move toward the door but seemed to be waiting. Sam realized she was waiting for him to join her. He stood, wrapping his arm around her waist as he led her to the door. He kissed the side of her head. "The doctor coming in doesn't mean bad news, Jules. He could be just giving an update."

She nodded as she reached out to unlock the door with a shaky hand. "Yeah, sure, of course. After all everything else has been going so freaking happily-ever-after perfect."

Spike stepped back as the door opened and the two emerged. He didn't say anything about the two of them being in the bathroom together. He'd seen enough from his self-imposed post outside the waiting room to know Jules was barely holding it together. Now as Jules drew even with him, he reached out and tapped her arm, stopping her. She barely glanced at him.

"Jules, you know I've been in and out of these places with my dad and I got pretty good at reading doctors. He didn't have a doom-and-gloom look about him. I don't think it's bad news."

Sam could have hugged Spike right there and then. Jules did. Spike held her for a split second and Sam released that their friend was hoping to offer as much comfort as he could. As Spike released Jules so they could go to the waiting room, Sam slapped Spike's back in a gesture to say thanks. Spike nodded. Spike had just reinforced what Sam had said but at least Jules seemed more accepting of it coming from someone who'd been in a similar spot.

The waiting room door was opening as they reached it and the three Callaghan brothers stepped out behind a doctor in a white coat. Jules stopped, looking at them in wild panic. Ridge reached out and tweaked her nose. "Doc's taking us to the consultation room. He just wants to fill us in on what he plans to do for Dad."

Sam allowed Ridge to lead her down the hall. He wanted to go with her, to be there to support her if the news was bad. However, this was a family matter and he wasn't family. He knew her brothers, even James who had seemed so negative at first, would take care of her and he'd be there for her when the doctor was through. After the four Callaghans disappeared around the corner, Sam turned to Spike.

"I hated that asshole from the moment I knew what he did to Jules's mom. Now, I want the bastard dead for what he's done and is still doing to her."

"Copy that." Spike agreed. Without him going into any details, Spike was suddenly sure Sam had gotten confirmation of his earlier suspicions. He didn't press for more; he didn't need to know unless Jules herself wanted him to. It was painful enough to see her unravel the way she was without knowing the full story. "I can't believe the guy had the balls to just show up here like he did. He's a real piece of work. Assuming we're still the good guys here and won't actually resort to murder even if he does deserve it, what's our move?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. He's cocky but he's careful. As offensive as we may think his actions have been, he hasn't broken any laws that we can prove. I'll be damned if I let him get near Jules again. She's tough but nobody can withstand that much emotional upheaval intact."

Spike nodded. "I'll go down and talk to hospital security. Borrow one of their computers and get a photo of Dawson. He doesn't have blood relation in the hospital so we should be able to ban him if not from the whole hospital then at least this floor. Then I'll call the boss and fill him in on what's going on; I know Dawson's not really done anything to warrant one, but maybe Sarge can pull some favors and get a restraining order or something. I know someone like Dawson's not going to let a court order stop him but at least it'll give us grounds to arrest his sorry ass if he violates it."

Sam nodded, glad that Spike at least was able to think clearly. "Yeah, sounds great."

Spike knew that Sam's main focus at that moment was watching the hallway where Jules had disappeared. Jules might be the emotional mess but Sam wasn't far behind her as he worried about her. Spike frowned. "She's gonna be okay, Sam. She might be a mess right now but she's Jules. As soon as she knows her father is gonna be alright, she'll bounce back."

Sam frowned. Despite his reassurances to Jules that her father would recover, he couldn't help but fear the worst. "And if he's not okay? If he doesn't survive?"

Spike shrugged, "Then you'll be there for her and there's no one I'd trust to take care of her through this than you. You'll take care of Jules and the rest of us will be there for you both. That's the way it works. Just like you were all there for me. You okay here until she gets back? I can wait about heading down to security."

Sam shook his head. "No, your idea is solid and we shouldn't wait. I'll be fine."

Spike nodded and walked off to the elevators. Sam leaned against the wall wearily. He knew he could go inside the waiting room and sink into one of the chairs until Jules returned but couldn't bring himself to leave the corridor. He wanted to be where he could get to her in a heartbeat if needed.

As he waited his mind went back to the information Jules poured out to him in the bathroom. He wondered just what Dawson had whispered to her in that last exchange. Whatever it was had had a profound effect on her and only served to prove what a complete bastard the man truly was. Suddenly his mind drifted back to the threat/warning Dawson had given him that day when Sam had shown up at Kennington House to confront the man about Jules's tire.

My niece isn't as innocent as she wants people to think. Everything I did twenty years ago was for her, to protect her. If she doesn't want to be grateful for all I did for her, for the way I saved her, then maybe I should let the truth come out.

Now it was Sam's stomach doing flip flops. He hadn't believed Dawson's insinuation that Jules had played a part in her mother's death then and he still didn't. But had the bastard carried out this threat to start sharing his demented twisted version of what had happened?

"Excuse me." A male voice broke through Sam's thoughts. Sam blinked and looked at the newcomer standing in the open doorway of the waiting room looking inward. How had someone approached without Sam realizing it? "I was told the Callaghan family was in the waiting room. I don't see them. You know who I could ask?"

The resemblance to the rest of the family was unmistakable. This had to be the fourth brother who Sam hadn't seen earlier. This was either Ridge or Mark and Sam's brain was now working better, he realized this was more than likely Mark who now lived in California. The bag at the man's feet seemed to indicate a long trip. "The doctor's giving them an update. Mark right? I'm Sam Braddock; I …" he faltered over how to finish the statement. To say he worked with Jules was accurate and had proven to be the way she finished the introduction in the past. Yet it pained him to limit his relationship that way, especially since they didn't have to for work anymore.

The man nodded wearily. "I've heard about you. The boyfriend Jules doesn't want her big brothers ganging up on and interrogating. She's got a right to worry. You treat her right and make her happy, none of us will have a problem with you. You hurt her and I don't care if you're a cop or not, there won't be enough left of you when the four of us finish with you to even worry about hiding the body."

Sam smiled. It was nice to know where he stood although he could imagine that kind of introduction was the exact reason why Jules was reluctant to introduce a boyfriend into the family. If they were that protective as adults, how had it been when Jules had just begun to date? "If I ever hurt Jules, I'd want you the four of you to tear me from limb to limb."

With that understanding out of the way, Mark rubbed his face wearily and looked down the corridor in the direction of the ICU unit. "How's my dad?"

"Touch and go from the way it sounds. But the doc might have better news. How was your flight? I think I remember Jules telling me you live in California now."

Mark nodded. "Yeah, my wife's family is from there so when we got married, we decided to move there. As for the flight, the first flight I wanted to take that would have been nonstop was overbooked and I couldn't even get emergency standby. I panicked and instead of settling for the next available flight that would have had me here by lunch I opted for taking the first available flight AirCanada had for any destination that I could get a connecting flight to Toronto. Weather was bad in Chicago so all flights out of O'Hare were delayed almost an hour. I was starting to think I could get here quicker if I walked."

"Mark!" The Callaghan siblings came around the corner and Jules cried out jubilantly at the sight of her brother. She closed the distance between them in no time and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug tightly and easily looked over her head at the brothers who all wore similar grim expressions. He raised an eyebrow in question. James sighed.

"Let's go back in the waiting room and we'll fill you in. You looked wiped."

Sam wasn't sure what he should do but as Jules passed him, still holding tightly to her brother, she reached out and squeezed his hand. "I need you in here with me." Sam nodded his assent and was about to follow her inside when James stopped him.

"Sam, I'm sorry for snapping earlier. It's obvious how much you care about my sister and equally obvious how much she trusts you. So I'm going to trust you as well. We were all close to Johnny; he was more like a brother than an uncle. His betrayal hurt us all beyond the obvious devastation of losing our mother but it was especially hard for Peter and Jules who were closer to Johnny than the rest of us. I'm the oldest and I'm not going to let that waste of living matter hurt my family any more. When he was here earlier Jules said something about him calling our dad. She insinuated he was responsible for Dad's attack. You followed her out of here when she chased him down. We tried but you buddy wouldn't let us so you've got more information than the rest of us. Be honest with me, did Johnny contribute to Dad's attack?"

Sam sighed. He wouldn't betray Jules's trust but he wouldn't lie to her brother either. "I think so. I've dealt with his type too many times in my line of work. He gets power by manipulating others to do or think what he wants. From what I gathered, he called your father and told him lies about what really happened the night he killed your mother. I don't know what those lies were, he told Jules and I couldn't hear. She was too upset to really tell me much and I wasn't going to push her; she's got too much on her plate."

James's expression was grim. "The world would be so much better off if someone just put us all out of his misery and killed the sonofabitch. He shows his face around here again and I might just be the one to do it, consequences be damned."

Sam understood the sentiment and felt the same way. He explained the steps that Spike was currently taking to make sure that didn't happen. The two men entered the waiting room and Sam made a beeline to sit next to Jules on the couch. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close so that she was tucked in to the safety of his side. On the other side of her, Mark was sitting on the edge of the couch, his knee bouncing with probably a mixture of exhaustion and worry.

"What's the latest?"

James pulled another chair into the semi-circle they'd formed around the couch and sighed. "Blood tests confirm that Dad had a pretty major attack. They won't know the extent until they do the heart catheterization. Right now he runs a good chance of having another attack if they try the procedure but if they don't do the cath, they won't know if there's blockage they need to fix to prevent further damage."

"Damn." Mark muttered. "So if we're damned if we do and damned if we don't, which direction do we go in?"

"The doctor has scheduled the catheterization for first thing in the morning." James paused for a moment and Sam was pretty sure the doctor had added in a caveat of "if he survives the night" that Jams couldn't bring himself to voice. "If they find something they'll call us in and discuss options while they still have Dad under sedation."

Peter continued. "The doctor also recommended that we all go home after the eight o'clock visitation time and get a good night's sleep. Dad's getting constant care and there's nothing we can do sitting around here. If there's any change the nurse will call us and we can get back here. I don't like it, but I think he has a point. Tomorrow is going to be a long day no matter what they find. We'll be able to better handle it if we're rested."

All at once the families who'd been inconspicuously sitting around the different areas of the waiting room got to their feet and started toward the door almost as if they were being compelled to do so. Peter glanced at the clock above the door. "It's almost five; visiting time in the unit. I guess the clock rules everyone's actions in this place."

Jules automatically glanced down at her bare wrist, frowning as she remembered that her watch was probably still in the glove box of her jeep. Sam squeezed her shoulder. "I'll get it for you later if you want."

"Thanks." She murmured softly. Then she looked at James and Peter who had been there for the most visiting times since her father had been admitted. "How does this work? I can't imagine they'll let the whole herd of us see him at once."

Peter shook his head. "Only two at a time but they don't care how you share the thirty minutes. James and I have gotten to spend the most time with him so the three of you should get the bulk of the time with this visit."

Remembering her father's reaction the last time she saw him, Jules wasn't sure she wanted to go back at all. That wasn't completely true, she wanted to see him; needed to reassure her overworked brain that he really was okay. But at the same time, she didn't want to make things worse if he woke up and saw her there. If Johnny had told the truth about what he'd told Jack on the phone, then Jules couldn't see how her father would ever want to see her again, let alone be in the same room with her.

"Jules?"

She jumped, even though Sam's gentle use of her name had been low and soothing. She looked around to see that her brothers were moving toward the door while she was still sitting there. She buried her head in Sam's chest for just a moment. "I don't think I can do this. What if he wakes up while I'm there and it just causes him to take a turn for the worse? You didn't hear those monitors going off like I did."

Sam glanced over at her brothers who were watching her in concern. He nodded to indicate it was okay for them to go on and he'd bring Jules in a moment. The brothers seemed reluctant but Peter finally urged them on suggesting that Mark and Ridge take the first turn. Once Sam was alone in the room with her, he twisted so that he could look her in the eye.

"Jules, you can do this. I know you're scared about what Johnny told your father but I can't believe your dad would believe anything he had to say. I know I haven't spent that much time around your father but what time I did is enough to convince me he thinks the world of you and he's not going to just accept the word of a convicted murderer as truth just because Johnny said it was so. And I really believe if you weren't so worried about your dad, you'd come to that same conclusion yourself."

Jules's eyes were dry but the toil of the day was weighing heavy in them. Her bottom lip looked swollen and bruised and Sam was pretty sure it was because she'd been chewing the hell out of it. "You don't know how convincing Johnny can be. I wouldn't be surprised if he could pass a polygraph while spewing nothing but lies. Even if it seems too incredible to believe, he's so sure of it that you can't help but trust him."

Sam frowned. "You're right, I don't know how convincing Johnny is but I do know you. You need to see your dad during this visiting time and every visiting time after that. You'll regret it later if you don't take every opportunity you get to see him. Your regret will eat at you even after he's fully recovered and this is all a distant memory.

Jules appreciated the way he anticipated her father's full recovery even as they didn't know for sure if they could hope for it. She hiccupped softly. "Will you come back there with me? After my brothers finish their visits?"

Sam nodded and pulled her up with him as he stood. "Yeah, if that's what you want, I'll do it."

Twenty minutes later, after Mark and Ridge had spent ten minutes and then James and Peter had spent their time, Sam led Jules down the hall to the cubicles. She paused at the door to the room that held her father and found her legs suddenly felt like dead weights. All four brothers had warned that Jack Callaghan had slept all through the visit but that at least he looked stable. Sam nudged her forward toward the chair that still set next to the bed. She eased down into the seat holding tightly to Sam's hand as if it were a lifeline.

She didn't speak this time though so many thoughts were bursting in her mind wanting to come out. Instead she reached out with the hand that wasn't gripping Sam's and rested it over her father's hand, being mindful of the IV and other monitors. All too soon a nurse was at the door telling them that visiting time was over. Sam wanted to send her a glare that suggested what the nurse could do with her visiting times. He knew they had to have rules but also couldn't see the harm of letting family members stay if they weren't causing harm. Sometimes, wasn't the love of a family member just as potent a medicine as any the pharmacy dispensed?

Jules nodded and was about to stand when her father's hand twisted beneath her hand so that it was now palm side up. Slowly his fingers curved so that he was now grasping her hand in his own. It held nowhere near the strength she had on her death grip on Sam but Jules stared at those curled fingers as if a miracle had happened. She gave the hand that now held hers an affectionate squeeze and stood. She leaned over the bed and gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you Daddy. I'll be back as soon as they'll let me. Just please get better."

Silent, fresh tears slipped down Jules's cheeks as the fingers curled around her hand tightened ever so slightly as if her father was squeezing her hand. Her eyes were glued to the entwined hands and her mouth opened slightly.

Behind them, the nurse cleared her throat, once again trying to get their attention that visiting time was over. This time Sam did cut a glare in her direction. It was one he usually reserved for suspects he didn't have to try to connect to and respect. The one he'd stared down the General with the first time he'd suggested that Sam was wasting his time with the SRU. It was usually as effective as any weapon he could brandish.

Usually. "I'm sorry, sir. Ordinarily I'd allow a little slack on the rules but x-ray is waiting. You'll be able to come back at 8."

With a frown, Sam nodded. He leaned over and kissed Jules just below her temple. "Come on Jules. We gotta go now."

Jules slipped her fingers out of her father's weak grasp and allowed Sam to lead her out of the ICU. Nobody was standing in the corridor as they handed off their passes to the volunteer at the information window. Jules blew out her breath. Sam frowned at her.

"You okay?"

She nodded. "I think I'm going to go to the ladies room before going back in the waiting room."

Sam raised an eyebrow, remembering her last visit to the restroom. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just need a minute. You know, wash my face and get myself together. I love that you've been here for me but I need a few minutes alone to decompress a moment. Is that okay?"

Sam leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Take the time you need. I'll let your brothers now everything is fine."

Jules started to walk off but Sam reached out and caught her hand before she was too far away. He smiled at her. "I love you and everything really is going to be okay."

She smiled back at him loving him more in that moment than she'd ever thought possible. "I love you too. Thanks for being here. I really don't think I could cope with all this without you."

He winked at her, glad to see just a spark of the woman he loved shining through this fragile shell of a woman standing before him. "You could, but I wouldn't want you to have to try."

He watched until she disappeared into the same restroom from earlier and the door closed behind her. With a sigh, he pushed open the door to the waiting room and stepped inside. Immediately five pairs of eyes were looking back at him. Spike stood to greet him. "You okay, man?"

Sam nodded as he sank into a seat near the family. "Yeah, Jules is fine; she had to visit the ladies. Spike, is security cooperating?"

Spike nodded. "They are distributing his picture to all their guards. Johnny Dawson won't even make it into the parking lot without being stopped. Sarge is going to see what he can do about the other. Meanwhile, I volunteered to go pick up burgers for everyone. I know how cafeteria food can be and everyone's probably starving. You and Jules want your usual?"

Sam nodded although he had a feeling the only way Jules would eat anything at all was by force. He reached in his back pocket for his wallet but Spike waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Peter and James already took care of it. I'll be back."

Leaving Sam alone with the four brothers, Spike left the waiting room. As he waited for the elevator to open, he glanced over at the ladies' restroom and wondered if he should check on Jules. He decided against it, knowing if they hovered too much, Jules would continue to doubt herself. The elevator door opened and he stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor.

Just as the doors closed on that cart, a second cart opened next to it. A single figure stepped out of the elevator just as the door to the ladies' restroom opened and Jules emerged. The two figures stared at each other for two minutes before the newcomer spoke.

"Hello, Jules."

Jules's shoulders slumped, "Why do I get the feeling this isn't an accidental meeting?"

The other person shrugged. "Because I didn't seem surprised to see you and you're good at what you do? Sgt. Parker called me and suggested you might need someone to talk to."

"Awesome. Can this day get any worse?"