Chapter Thirty Nine

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29th of November

Sunflower Building,

Seattle Medical Rehabilitation Centre,

Seattle,

Washington,

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Teddy hated this whole rehab shit. It was boring and exhausting at the same time. He had a good flow of visitors to help pass the time between naps and food. Dad was a regular whenever his physio schedule allowed it, Mom came daily if she could, Phoebe just as often. Gail snuck him in cakes and chocolates whenever she came and once she'd worked with Sophie to sneak their bulldog, Lesley in, which had been good fun. Sophie saw more of her father but always made time to text or call Ted daily which was just as good. Ryan practically lived here now that his playstation was in Teddy's room on loan which worked well for Ted.

Overall, everyone had come to visit him…except Taylor.

He'd seen nothing of the man he'd taken the gut shot for which hurt Teddy; he wasn't looking for praise for saving Taylor's life but he'd have loved to have at least once conversation with the man to explain that he was sorry for getting him messed up in the Esposito hurricane of chaos. Everyone else had come at least once to see Teddy in the last few weeks except Taylor.

With Christmas nearing gradually, Teddy wondered how long he'd be kept in here. He was pretty much bedridden still and what attempts he'd made to walk around his room had had the nurses furious with him. There were talks of him being moved to the Oak-Leaf building to start a proper focus on physiotherapy now that the experts were confident that Teddy was out of the woods infection wise, something which Teddy knew he was lucky to have escaped.

"How are you feeling, Mr Grey?" Nurse Gertrud asked, coming to update Teddy's chart.

"Tired but good," Teddy smiled, trying to be welcoming and friendly. He let out a yawn as the nurse began the usual checks before asking if he needed anything brought to him. When he told her he was fine, she left and Teddy was alone once more with the Playstation and radio.

Sophie would be staying until Christmas, Teddy was certain, but she'd said she would be back in Cambodia with Mitt for New Years, which was seriously bumming Teddy out. It was still hard to believe she was to be married, that she would soon start a family with this man who lived fucking miles away. He'd always imagined that one day, she'd come home to him, bored of Cambodia. And when she did, Ted would ask her out. After all, they were best friends, they'd slept together too; she'd been Teddy's first time.

Maybe if Ted had been less interested in partying and more interested in making himself a better person when he was younger, Sophie would have actually considered him as a potential boyfriend rather than Mitt. Sure there was a sizable age difference but that only seemed weird because Teddy was eighteen going on nineteen. If he were twenty seven, say, the age gap wouldn't have been weird. Not that the age gap bothered him whatsoever. Mom was a lot younger than dad and no one cared. Jason and Gail nearly had a decade between them and that didn't stop them either. What difference did a few years hold?

Ted sighed and leant over for his reading book. He assumed that Jason had mentioned to Gail that he'd trouble reading because one day she'd appeared with books and a small coloured overlay which she, apparently, used to help her with her dyslexia. Ted was shocked to find that the subtle blue tint had actually helped stop the letters on the page in front of him from dancing around like drunken partiers. He still struggled to read but he'd been managing to read a few pages here and there between naps and that gave him a confidence boost for sure.

He was sounding out some of the harder words in one of his mother's romance novels when Jason cleared his throat.

"What's the word?"

Teddy jumped and looked back towards the stranger watching him. He'd forgotten how big Taylor was, blocking the doorway with his impressive frame. His arm was in a sling but otherwise he looked well. In fact, he looked about five years younger with his golden orangey hair shaggy and covering his wrinkled forehead.

"Eh, it's," Teddy looked back at the blue tinted paper, "Fuh-fuhella. Fella," he sounded out, feeling a little on the spot now he'd an audience, "Fella-tee-i-o."

Jason coughed and made a face, "What's the context?"

"I think Alexander's got the horn," Teddy explained, nodding at his mother's second published book, "He's speaking to a stripper."

"Fellatio," Jason laughed, "'t-i-o' can make a 'shhhh' noise. Like 'Nation' or 'Solution'. The Stripper's offering to suck him off."

"Well I'm glad I never asked the nurse what that word said," Ted joked, blushing as he placed the book and the blue overlay down, "Do you read mom's books?"

"Of course," Jason nodded, "Gail, Roz, Kate and Mia all tend to get to read the first copies and offer input. What women want, sort of scenario. I read over Gail's shoulder. Your mom's a talented woman, Ted. That's actually a really good book."

"I've almost done the first chapter," Teddy admitted, "Gail said this is the second book?"

"Yeah, your mom seems to write a universe of characters who all interact. The first book was about a business man and an art student. That one's about the FBI agent who saved their lives in the first one. Reynolds actually helped her with terminology," Jason explained.

"No kidding," Ted whistled, shaking his head as he looked at his mom's hard efforts. She'd left the publishing malarkey to be with her family but boredom had set in and she'd taken to writing. Ted knew she was popular and had a good following, publishing under the simple name A.R.S.

"How are you getting on anyway? You look pretty good," Teddy complimented, watching as Jason hovered by the sofa before taking a seat.

"I'm going home today," Jason explained, "I'm being discharged a few days ahead of your dad."

"I heard that dad would get home for Christmas; I never realised everyone was that ahead of me," Teddy joked, trying to mask his disappointment about being alone in this institution over the festive period.

"Well your dad's coming on leaps and bounds, and that damn keyboard of his has done wonders for his mood," Jason commented, "He's got four weekly physio sessions so he's not really being discharged, they just want to give him a bit more independence. So you'll not be alone."

"And what about you?" Ted asked, "How are you healing up?"

"As long as I do my exercises I should be absolutely fine," Jason nodded, "Which is great because I'm desperate to get home to my own bed; this ones here are too short for men my stature."

"Liar," Teddy teased, "You just want home to Gail."

"…she's got a nurse's outfit already for me, so yeah that's an added bonus of being released," Jason smirked, looking at his slippers, "I'm sorry I never came to see you earlier. I just…I didn't know how to handle this at all. I mean, you took a bullet for me, Ted. I can't get my head around that. It's supposed to be me who takes the bullet for you."

"It's fine," Teddy promised, "You'd taken enough of a beating for me."

"It's not fine Ted," Jason admitted, still not looking up from his slippers whatsoever, "I have nightmares about it. In fact, I'm having to speak to Flynn daily and he's given me medication to help me."

"What, you mean like crazy pills?" Ted said, then winced at his choice of words. He was still learning how to be more sensitive and for the most part he felt he had done well not to be a dick so slipping up now was irritating, "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"No, you're fine," Jason shrugged, "And yeah, crazy pills. I've been given something called Citalopram to help with my mood and the panic attacks. My arm's recovering well but my head's a mess."

Shit.

Teddy felt his stomach churn as he watched his father's bodyguard, the man who'd been dragged into this whole mess, open up about his poor mental health, the result of Teddy's childishness.

"I'm so sorry," Teddy pressed, "I'm so sorry you got sucked into this mess, Taylor. I'm not that person anymore though. I promise, I'm trying to be better. I want to be better."

"Hey, calm down," Jason scoffed, "I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just explaining why I've not come to see you sooner. It's just been too hard for me; between Gail's operation and you taking a bullet for me…I've had a lot of mental mountains to climb. I'll get over it with therapy I'm sure and I'll be back to bullying the staff at GEH but, well, it'll be tough."

"I thought you were avoiding me because you hated me," Ted admitted, "That and I thought maybe it was because of Sophie and Mitt."

"That's been part of the pressure too," Jason said softly, "Look, Ted, I know you like Sophie. I know he likes you. But Mitt asked me for my blessing and I had to give it to him; he makes her happy, he's got a job, they live together. I couldn't say 'no' because of you. It's not fair."

"I know," Teddy sighed, "and it's okay. Sophie deserves a man and I've got a long way to go, a lot of people to prove wrong. I am trying, I promise, to be better."

Jason nodded and finally looked up at Ted, "Thank you for saving my life."

"Thank you for saving mine," Teddy nodded and sat up with difficulty, swinging his stiff legs over the side of his bed so that he was facing Jason completely, "In more ways than one, this experience has saved my life. I see now what's important. Stephen-" he felt his voice wobble and was certain Jason's dark blue eyes grew wet, "Stephen's death shouldn't have been my undoing. I should have let you all in sooner. But I didn't and I was a nightmare. I abuse mom and dad, I abused you and Gail, my sister, the staff…I went to every therapist under the sun and took the absolute piss when I really should have taken those sessions seriously. I see my mistakes, I see the bridges my behaviour's burnt, and I'm trying. I don't expect anyone to forgive me but I want to try."

Jason nodded and held Ted's gaze for a few moments before speaking, "I believe you. And I think you'll manage."

"Thanks," Teddy replied, looking over at the door when Gail appeared with a basket of goodies for Ted, "Hey, Gail."

"Hey Ted," Gail called, then looked at her husband.

Her hair was staring to grow back out, though it was miles neater than Jason's. She kept it brushed and styled, occasionally she wore a head band so she looked 'less like a boiled egg', though Teddy assured her she looked beautiful with or without her long hair. Today she was dressed warm in a long parka, jeans and boots. It was weird how much Ted missed seeing actual clothes, so used to white uniforms and scrubs. No denim for miles, it felt.

"Are you ready to go, Mr Taylor?" Gail asked.

"You bet, ma'am," Jason smiled, standing up.

"Good. We need to pick up your prescriptions and then we're all set," Gail told him before turning back to Ted, "I brought you some flapjacks and Mountain Dew. Don't tell the nurses," she winked.

"Thanks, Gail," Teddy laughed, turning to watch as Jason struggled to pull on his own coat, draping it over his broken arm, "I'll see you both soon, yeah?"

"Absolutely," Gail assured him, "How are you liking that book?" she asked, pointing at the novel.

"It's good so far," Teddy promised, "I've been getting stuck on a few words here and there but it's been pretty fun so far."

"He's at the scene were Alexander gets deep-throated round the back of the stripclub," Jason interjected, Gail hitting his good arm.

"Hey! Nicer language please, Mister. We've got a house full of ladies back home. You can't say stuff like that," Gail scoffed.

"Sorry, Dear. You'll need to tell me off later," Jason challenged and Teddy felt like an awkward third wheel instantly.

"Don't start or I'll break your other arm," Gail threatened, the pair exchanging a look that Teddy had seen his parents give each other nearly every day of his life, "Are you ready to go? I've got Mac'n'Cheese waiting for you with a new bottle of ketchup, Heartbreak Ridge in the DVD player, ready to go and your pyjamas on the radiator."

"God I love you. I'm going to nip to the bathroom first," Jason nodded, "Do you mind going to the pharmacist and I'll meet you there?"

"Since it's you," Gail sighed playfully and then looked back at Ted, "We'll see you soon, Ted."

"Bye, Gail," Teddy called, watching her go and smiling softly, "You're a lucky guy, Jason."

"That I am. Which is why you can have these," Jason declared, pulling a rolled up magazine from the depths of his own heavy parka, "The blonde on page seven; gorgeous."

Teddy couldn't help it; he burst out laughing as he took the porn magazine from Jason's hand, "Thanks."

"Just in case you wanted to jack it to your mom's romance novel. I'm not sure about you but that's kinda weird, don't you think?" Jason pointed out, making Teddy laugh all the more, "Take care of yourself kid. I'll get back up when I can; but I wont be driving any time soon."

"Thanks Jason, for saving my life."

"No, Teddy. Thank you for saving my life."