Chapter 36

Hope and Peter wandered back from the vending machine, watching as Liam sat, surrounded by his many friends and Cody's worried parents. It was now close to midnight and although Liam had been given a clean bill of health, there was still no definitive word on Cody's condition.

'Do you think we should call Mom and Dad?' Hope asked her godfather for the third time.

Peter glanced over at Liam, then back at Hope. 'I don't know, honey. It's late... and there's nothing they can do about it tonight.'

'Yeah but... you know how Dad is...' Hope answered.

'What time is their flight scheduled to get in?' Peter asked, trying to come to the right decision for everyone involved.

'A little after one thirty' she answered.

'Look, I doubt they'd be able to get an earlier flight at this point... If we call them now, it'll just cause them to have a sleepless night. I think we should leave it up to Liam, see if he needs to talk to them tonight' Peter said as they got into earshot of the group.

Liam spoke up, having heard the last little bit of conversation between his sister and his uncle.

'No. I'm fine' he said without a doubt. 'I don't want to bother Mom and Dad tonight. Dad's got enough on his plate. It's late and... well, when they get here tomorrow, we can fill them in on what happened... that's good enough' he said.

One of the nurses from the triage desk appeared and walked over to where Mike and Mindy Miller sat, on the edge of their seats.

'Mr. and Mrs. Miller, can you please come with me? The doctor would like to speak to you about your son' she said as she pointed them down the hall.

Liam stood and watched as they followed her, anxious to hear the news regarding the young man he cared so much about.

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Sara lay on her back in room 1207 of the Westin Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. She could hear Neal snoring beside her, finally at peace after a roller coaster ride of emotions. She glanced over, seeing a small smile on his face; after their little romp in the sheets, she'd felt him totally relax and finally let go of all the stress and worry he'd been harboring since they'd gotten up that morning.

Now, she was the one who was wide awake and her mind wandered ahead to their meeting with Miranda Cross the next day, the second of three home visits on their way to becoming foster parents to Caitlin Somersby.

Their lives were already full as it was and they were about to get a whole lot busier. Caitlin, although seemingly willing to make the necessary efforts in order to fit in, was nonetheless a troubled teen and Sara had no doubt that the road ahead would have its share of potholes. The teen reminded her a lot of Neal – she was creative, smart and impulsive; even at the ripe old age of 55, Neal had still not managed to reign in all his recklessness, although he'd learned some valuable lessons along the way. Sara hoped that in the short time they would have with Caitlin, they would be able to have a positive influence on the young girl's life.

She heard a loud snort as Neal flipped over towards his left, gunning for her, his arm flying wildly, finally coming to rest on her stomach as he grabbed for her in his sleep.

'Sara...' he moaned as she chuckled; at least he was dreaming of her.

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By the time Liam, Hope and Peter made it back home, it was 2:30 on Friday morning. Peter had insisted on staying over – he was much too tired to tackle the ride back to Brooklyn anyway. Now that there had been some news on Cody Miller's condition, Liam was feeling a little more settled although all of them were now thinking ahead to the inevitable fallout from this most unfortunate incident: Cody's long recuperation and the consequences for the three students who had carried out this heinous and cowardly act.

Before leaving the hospital, Liam had had five minutes with Cody who had been conscious but under heavy sedation following his diagnosis of a broken rib, extensive abdominal bruising and contusions to his face and head. While his parents looked on, he'd managed to give Liam a small hazy smile despite the fact he was slipping in and out of consciousness. Liam had uttered a mumbled and emotional 'I'm sorry'; he felt he'd somehow let Cody down by not being able to successfully fight off the two big guys who'd held him back while his boyfriend was being so savagely beaten.

He lay in bed for hours before finally dropping off near dawn, wondering how he and Cody were going to handle things with the school's administration and the police. His uncle Peter had been behaving as if it was a foregone conclusion that the thugs should be identified and brought to justice but Liam wasn't sure just how to handle the situation. If he identified the perpetrators, it might be to his and Cody's detriment whereas keeping mum threw a shroud of shame on their relationship, something he couldn't abide.

Liam couldn't believe how naive he'd been to think that his new relationship with Cody could be lived out in the open without repercussions; Cody had tried to warn him but Liam had refused to believe that a casual display of their closeness might irk some narrow-minded individuals and lead them to carry out such violent acts.

Liam found solace in sleep and he let his tired, achy body float away with happy thoughts of a world where judgement and hate were a thing of the past.

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Neal glanced at his watch and set it ahead one hour to reflect the time change; they would be landing at JFK in another twenty minutes. After checking in with the hospital earlier, they'd been reassured that Linda Bennett had had a good night's sleep and was resting comfortably while she waited for further testing. Now that everything had been said between him and his mother, Neal was realizing that all he wanted was for his mom to find peace of mind as she approached the end of her painfully difficult life.

Sara sat by his side, glancing out at the fluffy white clouds drifting by as they slowly began their descent into New York City and the return to their everyday life. She reached out to gently touch his hand and his eyes met hers in silent understanding; despite the drama, it had been a fruitful journey. He was finally free from the persistent resentment he wasn't aware had been nagging at him all those years. She'd been right to encourage him to face his past and he was thankful that she'd been there to help him wind down after his difficult meeting with his mom.

He thought ahead to the next few days on the home front: Liam's birthday dinner, the addition of Caitlin to their family, the return to work at his beloved gallery and school and he smiled a satisfied smile.

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Linda Bennett lay in her hospital bed, looking out at the bright sunny day. As difficult as the previous day had been, she'd finally gotten to lay eyes on her beloved son after so many years apart. She'd been successful in her resolve to sit in silence as he'd shared his painful childhood memories, recollections that had spilled out tainted with anger and resentment. Neal's denunciations had left her heartbroken; she was embarrassed to admit that she didn't remember much from that time in her life and hearing the events from the perspective of an innocent little boy had been devastating.

As much as she'd wanted to reach out and comfort him, she'd managed to hold herself back. It was obvious he hadn't welcomed any soothing gestures on her part and, regretably, she'd accepted that; it was her penance for not having been there all those years ago, when it counted. She didn't get to just hug him and behave as if all could be forgiven; it never would. But with any luck, Neal would finally be able to let go of those feelings of resentment and find the peace of mind which had eluded him thus far; if that was the eventual outcome of their painful exchange, her heartache would be well worth it.

She watched with interest as a nurse stood in the doorway to her room with an enormous bouquet of flowers and she glanced kindly over to the patient in the bed next to her; lucky woman had someone who was thinking of her.

'Mrs. Bennett' said the nurse. 'These came for you.'

'Me?' Linda said, perplexed; who on earth would be sending her flowers? Who even knew she was in the hospital?

'Someone out there wants to wish you well, I guess' the woman added cheerfully as she placed the gorgeous spring bouquet on the small table and carefully removed the card which was tucked in amongst the bright pink lilies.

Linda Bennett took the small envelope in her shaking hands as the mystery deepened. She carefully pulled out the small card and gasped as she read.

'Thinking of you, Mom. Neal and Sara'

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Hope paced nervously as she waited for her parents to appear in the airport terminal's arrival lounge. Peter had stayed behind with Liam and her job was to collect her mom and dad and give them a heads up about the events from the previous night. She knew her dad had been on a mission with his own mom and she hoped all had gone well on that front; one family crisis at a time was more than enough.

She thought back to Liam's horrified face from the night before as one of life's hardest lessons hit him squarely in the face. She'd seen some disturbing things while away in Pittsburgh - although any reprehensible acts of racism or sexual discrimination were swiftly condemned by the vast majority. It only took a couple of fanatics to cause chaos and Liam was so young to have to face such unbridled acts of hate. She shivered as she wondered how she would feel if Cam had been so senselessly brutalized just for being heterosexual; sadly, the world was still home to hate and judgement.

She was aware of a flurry of activity as the flight in from St. Louis was announced and she braced herself for her parents' appearance; they would wonder why she was there considering they had previously agreed that they would take a cab home. She noticed them through the thickening crowd and made her way over to greet them.

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'Liam, you can't let acts of violence go unpunished' Peter said as he sat across from the young man at the Caffreys' kitchen table.

'Uncle Peter, you don't understand what things are like in high school' Liam answered, his face anguished. 'If we turn these guys in, it'll just get worse and we'll never see the end of it.'

Peter sighed in response; he'd always been a 'by-the-book' guy. You did the crime, you did the time. He had no patience for injustice; as a matter of fact, that's the reason he'd dedicated almost forty years of his life to the FBI, to catch bad guys and make them pay for their crimes.

He took a deep breath before responding. 'Liam, can you really live with yourself if you just let them walk away?' Peter asked, leaning in to make his point.

Liam stared down at the table, unable to meet his uncle's eyes. He'd been taught that there were consequences to his actions – hell, his dad had been living proof of that – and Liam always tried to do the right thing. But life in high school held unspoken rules and if you ratted someone out, you lived with the consequences of being on someone's blacklist – along with any particular pack that person belonged to. He knew most of the guys on the football team and the majority of them were cool – as a matter of fact, Henry Jameson, the team's quarterback, had recently joined the Gay Straight Alliance; his older brother was gay and he wanted to support the LGBT community at school in any way he could. But the three jerks who had carried out the attack were known for their intolerance; they were jocks of the worst kind, arrogant and contemptuous. He knew that if he didn't speak up, he could never live with himself.

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'Hope!' Sara called out as she spotted their daughter in the crowd. 'What are you doing here? We told you we'd take a cab home.'

Neal was more interested in giving her a warm hug, pleasantly surprised to find her there waiting for them. He immediately sensed the tautness in her body and he pulled away.

'What is it? What's happened?' he asked.

TBC