Days of our Haiden

Season 2 Episode 13: Whatever It Takes

"What happened?" Kayla asked with concern when Ciara came in with the paramedics, sobbing hysterically.

"My friend. He shot himself with my mom's gun! He tried to kill himself. I thought he had killed himself, but the paramedics say he's still alive, but barely," Ciara answered.

Kayla went straight to work. She quickly looked him over. "We need to get the patient prepped for emergency surgery—now. There's so time to waste!" she said to her colleagues.

"Is he going to be all right?" Ciara asked, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

Kayla looked solemn. "I don't know, but I promise you I'm going to try as hard as I can to save that boy's life." She then ran off to prep for the emergency surgery.

Ciara went over to the chairs and sat down, still shaken. She knew she had to call her mom, but before she did that, she had to collect herself.

Suddenly, Theo and Joey came running into the hospital. When they saw her, they walked over to her.

"What happened? Why did Jonah shoot himself?" Theo asked.

Ciara looked up at him, a tear streaming down her face. "He said in his suicide note that he wasn't happy. He said we were the best friends he ever had, and that we deserve a better friend than a big, fat loser like him!" She started sobbing again.

Theo sat down beside her and wrapped an arm tightly around her, tears streaming down his own face.

"Is he going to be all right?" Joey asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

Ciara shrugged. "I don't know." She looked around. "Where's Chase? I told you to bring Chase! He kept saying he killed his mom. I don't know what he was talking about, but he was out of it. He needs to talk to Marlena."

"Claire took him to find Marlena. He is still pretty out of it," Joey said.

Ciara sniffled. "I have to call my mom." She took out her cell phone, then headed to a more private and quieter area to call Hope.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Hope opened her eyes when she heard her phone ringing. She had been sleeping with her head on Aiden's chest. His right arm was around her.

Careful not to wake him up, she gently removed his arm from her, then grabbed her phone and climbed out of bed. She answered it. "Ciara, Honey, hold on just a second," she whispered.

She headed out to the balcony and closed the door. She then answered again. "What is it, Sweetie?"

"Mom?" Ciara said with a tear-filled voice. "Jonah tried to kill himself tonight."

Hope felt her heart sink. "What? How? Tried to? Is he okay?"

"He was home alone. He told Chase his parents weren't going to be home for a bit, so Chase let him have a key to our house to wait there. The rest of us headed out for pizza, but Jonah said he wasn't feeling well and went back to our place to wait for us. Then, about ten minutes later, Chase wasn't feeling well either and decided to go back home too. I was worried about Chase, so I told Claire what to order for me, and then I headed back to check on Chase and Jonah. When I got there, I heard a gunshot. I ran in and asked Chase what happened. Chase was downstairs, completely oblivious. He was on the floor rocking back and forth, chanting over and over that he killed his mother—whatever that means. I saw your broken gun box with the missing gun on the coffee table. I went upstairs to find Jonah since I wasn't getting anything out of Chase. That's when I found Jonah in Chase's bedroom. There was a suicide note and blood everywhere! He was lying on his bed. Oh Mom, it was so horrible!"

Hope sat down on one of the chairs on the balcony. She suddenly felt weak. There was so much to take in at once!

She put a hand to her forehead. "Where's Chase now?"

Ciara sniffled. "Claire took him to Marlena. I haven't heard anything since. It's only been about ten minutes or so."

Hope nodded even though she knew Ciara couldn't see her nod. With Marlena was the best place for Chase to be right now. Now it was time to deal with the Jonah situation. "He used my gun to shoot himself?" she asked wearily.

"Yes. He shot himself in the head! I don't know how he's still alive. It's a miracle. Though for how long he stays alive, nobody knows." Ciara began to sob again.

Hope took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Ciara, Baby, I am so sorry you had to see that Sweetie. Look, maybe it's not as bad as it looks. I always keep that gun filled with blanks. He didn't shoot himself with a real bullet."

"But there was so much blood, Mom!" Ciara cried.

Hope sighed. "I know, Baby, but just because it's a blank, doesn't mean it still can't puncture the skin. It is safer than a bullet, yes. But it can still do some damage from that close of range. That being said, he has a much better chance of surviving than he would if he had been shot with a bullet. All we can do now is pray, and hope that the surgeons can save him."

"Mom, why is Chase saying he killed his mom?" Ciara then asked, a little calmer now.

Hope swallowed hard. "I don't want to get into it right now. Look, it's really late. As soon as morning comes, Aiden and I will change our flight to fly back home first thing in the morning. All right?"

"All right. I'm sorry you have to end your trip early." Ciara sniffled.

"It's not your fault, Baby. Just try not to worry. Call or text me if you get any updates on Jonah's condition," Hope said softly. "I'll call you once I know what flight we'll be taking."

"All right," Ciara agreed.

They hung up their phones.

Aiden opened the door to the balcony then, and placed a hand over her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Hope had tears in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Their friend Jonah shot himself with my gun."

"What? That's horrible! Is he… Is he dead?" Aiden asked with concern.

Hope shook her head. "Not yet anyway. Thankfully it was only loaded with blanks. Still… Those can be just as deadly when shot from close range."

"Ciara needs us. We need to get back," Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "Unfortunately, she's not the only one who needs us."

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked.

Hope sighed. "Chase was there when the gun went off. He remembers everything now. He remembers killing his mother."

Aiden's face went pale, and he sat sank down into the chair next to Hope's. He buried his face in his hands. "What are we going to do?"

Hope got up and hugged him from behind. "All we can do is be there for him. He is with Marlena now, so he is in good hands." She then held out her hand to him. "Come on. Let's get a few more hours of sleep so that we can be alert enough to deal with everything tomorrow morning. I want to get the earliest flight back that we can get."

Aiden nodded. He then took her hand and let her help him up.

They went to bed, both worried about Chase and Jonah.

~*This love came back to me*~

"Would you like me to stay with you?" Claire asked Chase.

Chase shook his head, and didn't say anything.

"I'll be in the waiting room if you need me," Claire said to him. She thanked Marlena, then left.

"Chase, Honey, do you mind telling me what you mean by you killed your mom?" Marlena asked softly.

"I remember…" Chase said sadly. "I remember it all now. I was four. Mom and Dad had both told me not to play with the gun. Mom put it up so I couldn't get to it. I got it anyway."

"Take your time," Marlena said gently as Chase paused, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I found it and was playing with it. I didn't know what it was, and I wanted to find out. My mom saw me playing with it and yelled at me to give it back to her. I ignored her and kept playing with it. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang and looked up. She was lying on the floor in a pull of blood. There was so much blood. I cried, and my dad came home from work and cleaned me up. I don't remember anything else other than my mom was gone, and I never saw her again. I killed her." Chase burst into tears and covered his face with his hands. "My gosh, I killed my own mother!" He looked up at Marlena, tears streaming down his face. "Who does that?"

"Chase, listen to me. You were only four years old. It was an accident! You just thought you were playing with a toy. You cannot blame yourself!" Marlena said to him softly yet firmly.

Chase looked up at her and sniffled. "But I was the one who kept playing with the gun even though she told me not to. I was the one who pulled the trigger. I was the one who killed her. It is all my fault!" He burst into tears again.

Marlena had tears in her eyes as well. She walked around her desk, and over to Chase. She then wrapped him tightly in her arms. "Come here. Go ahead and cry. Let it all out. It's good not to hold it all in."

Chase then collapsed into her arms, and did just that.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Hours later, Ciara and her friends, who had gone to pray for Jonah in the chapel, had just gotten back to the waiting room when Kayla finally came out into the waiting area.

"Is he going to make it, Mom?" Joey asked with tears in his eyes.

Kayla walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "I have good news!" She looked at his friends. "The surgery was a success! We were able to clear out the obstruction from his head. Luckily, it was just a blank. If it were a bullet, I have no doubt in my mind your friend would be dead right now. However, it still did some damage. He had a cerebral hemorrhage and we had to work hard to get the swelling down and stop the bleeding. We were finally able to do both, though barely. I'm telling you though, it's a miracle. Had that blank hit two centimeters to the left, there would have been no saving him—blank or not!"

"Thank you for saving my friend, Mom," Joey said, hugging his mother tightly and not caring if he looked like a child.

Kayla squeezed him tight. "Don't thank me, thank God. Your friend's lucky to be alive. It looks like he'll make a recovery, but it's still too early to tell if the blanks caused any serious damage. We'll all just have to wait, and let time tell."

"Thank you so much!" Ciara said.

"Thank God he's going to be all right!" Theo said with a smile.

"Has anyone called his parents yet?" Kayla asked.

Ciara shook her head. "We don't know his parent's number. We always just called him on his cell."

"I'll have someone look it up. They need to know what is going on with their son. You guys go home and get some sleep. Jonah's going to be out of it for a few hours at least. His body needs this time to sleep and recover," Kayla told them. She then walked off to get ahold of Jonah's parents.

"We need to see how Chase is doing. We can't just leave him here," Ciara said.

The others nodded, and headed to Marlena's office.

"Should we knock?" Claire asked. "Maybe we shouldn't interrupt them."

Before anyone could answer her, Marlena opened the door and smiled. "Hey, you guys. Chase is going to be staying over at my place for the night. Ciara, you can too if you'd like. I know going back to where your friend… I just think you'd be better suited at my place."

"Chase can stay with me," Joey offered.

"And Ciara can stay with me," Claire chimed in.

"I want to stay with Marlena. I just need… I need someone I can talk to right now who can help me." It was the first full sentence Ciara had heard Chase say since the incident.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Ciara asked.

Chase shook his head. "I need some time to clear my head. You can stay with Claire."

Ciara nodded. "All right."

"How's Jonah? Is he…dead?" Chase asked.

"No. Kayla did surgery on him. It was just a blank. He's going to be okay," Claire said.

"Good! I don't need another death on my hands," Chase said dully.

"How could what happened to Jonah possibly be your fault?" Ciara asked him.

Chase blinked at her blankly. "I told him where Mom keeps her gun. I just thought he was curious. I should have known he was going to use it."

"You didn't know," Claire said, placing a hand over his shoulder. "Don't even worry about it."

The others nodded their agreement.

"You guys go home and get some rest. I'm so glad your friend's going to be okay! Thank the Lord for miracles, right?" Marlena asked with a smile.

They all nodded.

They then exchanged goodbyes with Marlena and each other, and headed back to their respective places.

~*This love came back to me.*~

Hope and Aiden arrived back in Salem at nine the next morning. Ciara had texted Hope and told her that Jonah was going to be okay, and that Chase was with Marlena.

Aiden had called Chase, who wanted answers. They had agreed to meet at Marlena's office at ten.

"The officers on duty were kind enough to have the mess cleaned up for us so that we don't have to clean it ourselves," Hope said as they examined Chase's room. "They had to get rid of the bed spread and pillow cases, but they were able to get all the blood off the walls and the floors. It's a good thing we have all hardwood now."

Aiden nodded. "That poor kid, being so unhappy with his life that he felt the need to try to kill himself. He always seemed so happy when I saw him."

Hope nodded. "Me too! My heart just breaks for him. Thank God the shooting didn't take. I'm telling you, from now on that gun remains unloaded."

Aiden gently rubbed her back. "Don't blame yourself. You couldn't possibly had even thought about Jonah using it to try to kill himself."

Hope nodded. "I know. I still feel a little guilty though. My gosh, his parents must be absolutely beside themselves! I can only imagine the pain of getting the phone call that Ciara, Shawn, or Chase had tried to kill themselves. It was horrible enough when I lost Zack. That was an accident. To think of one of my children so down and depressed and unhappy with life that they'd try to take their own life…" Hope teared up. "I'd feel like I failed as a parent!"

Aiden wrapped his arm around her from behind and kissed her right temple. "But it wasn't one of your children, and you haven't failed as a parent. You're the best mother I know, and I couldn't ask for a better second mother to Chase!"

Hope smiled weakly at him and rested the back of her head against his chest. "We tried so hard to stop him from remembering, and it was all for nothing! I bet you the gun shot was what finally triggered the memory."

Aiden kissed the top of her head. He sighed. "Well, at least once we get him through this, we can just relax, and not have to worry about him finding out anymore. He'll already know, and he will heal from it."

"True." Hope turned around to face Aiden. She took his hands in hers. "My heart just aches for him too! He finds out that he is responsible for killing the mother that he loved with all his heart. Then, on top of that, he finds out that his best friend tried to commit suicide. "How is he going to be able to handle all this?"

Aiden gently squeezed her hands. "You know what they say, 'God never gives us anything we can't handle.' We just have to accept that this happened for a reason, and accept that God will get him through this."

Hope nodded. "We'll get him through this too," she said with new determination.

Aiden nodded. "Yes, we'll get him through this too." He sighed, and gently pushed some hair away from Hope's face. "I'm so lucky to have such an amazing, beautiful, loving woman to help me get my son through this."

Hope took his face between her hands. "To help our son get through this," she corrected.

Aiden nodded. "Yes. Our son," he agreed, his eyes lowered with a deep love for her.

They kissed tenderly on the lips, then headed out of the house hand-in-hand to go have their family meeting with Chase and Marlena in Marlena's office knowing that they could get through anything, as long as they got through it together.