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To heather mcdaniels – Thanks for your review! I don't know really what to tell you. I just write and write and write. An idea just comes and then I write it. Hope you like this chapter!

Enjoy!

Less than ten minutes later, Hal found himself approaching the infirmary. After agreeing to his Dad's request to let Anne run whatever tests she wanted to run, he started making his way towards the building, though, not before his Dad again asked if he was okay and assuring him he was and getting pulled into a hug.

Taking a deep breath, Hal entered the building. The main room, which was filled with gurneys and cots, only had three people, all who were lying down as they were still healing from their latest encounter with the Espheni. There was no sign of Anne, Lourdes, or Dr. Kadar though. Hal was torn between going further into the building to find them, or just leaving and coming back later, when the door to one of the side rooms opened and Anne came out, a shocked expression covering her face when she saw him.

"Hal." Anne said, giving him a small smile as the shock fell from her face. She knew Tom was going to try and talk to him about what happened the night before, and try to see if he could convince him to let her check him over for previous injuries and to see if they could find out what exactly Karen did to him. Considering how against it the young man had been, the doctor expected that it would take longer for Tom to get his son to agree, if he did at all.

"So, where do you want me?" Hal asked when Anne didn't say anything besides his name, hoping that his father's girlfriend didn't want to check him over in this room as it was so public.

"Um, in here." Anne answered, heading over to a door on the other side of the main room. Hal followed the doctor, hesitating slightly.

Once they entered the room, Anne shut the door while Hal looked around. There was a metal examination table in the middle of the room, an empty IV pole in the far corner, and a counter along the wall to his left filled with syringes and other medical tools. Seeing those caused a sudden feeling of panic to rise up inside of Hal, but he quickly took another deep breath in an effort to keep himself calm. When he turned back to face Anne, he found that she was already watching him, eyes filled with concern.

"Are you alright?" Anne wondered once she saw that she had Hal's complete attention.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal responded, sounding a bit defensive and annoyed. She wasn't at all surprised though, it was what everyone had been asking since he came to Chinatown. Anne would be getting annoyed too if it was her.

Seeing the slightly fearful and guarded look in his eyes, the defensive way he was standing, the clenching of his jaw, all signs that he was trying to keep control of any emotions he was feeling, Anne felt a piece of her heart break. Without thinking twice, the doctor crossed the space between them and pulled Hal into her arms, holding him tightly. Even though she wasn't as close to Tom's oldest son as she was the other two, she had started to feel a motherly love for him. It was because of that she sensed that he needed a hug more than anything else at that moment.

Hal was so stunned by Anne's embrace that he froze, not moving a muscle. When she didn't let go however, Hal relaxed and wrapped his arms around the doctor in return. While Hal was never close to Anne like his brothers were even though she was dating his Dad and was the mother of his sister, they had gotten closer when they were in Charleston as she was his doctor. This was the first time they actually hugged though. It reminded him of his Mom's hugs. He didn't realize how much he missed them.

Suddenly feeling tears prickle the corners of his eyes, Hal pulled away from Anne and looked down casually so she wouldn't see that his eyes were wet. When he felt that he had regained his composure, Hal looked back up at the doctor, giving her a reassuring smile when he saw the concern still in her eyes.

"So, what all do you need to do?" Hal wondered, wanting to get this all over with.

"Well, first I just want to check your vitals, then run a few blood tests. We'll go from there." Anne replied, gesturing to the table, silently telling him to go sit on it, which he did as she wet over to get her stethoscope and other medical tools.

Once she had what she needed for the moment, Anne started making her way over to Hal, but stopped in her tracks when she heard a small knock on the door. Before Anne or Hal could respond, the door opened and Matt came inside.

"Hey Matt. What are you doing here?" Hal asked, keeping his voice calm since his little brother looked so nervous that it was almost just plain fear.

"I, um, Dad said you were here and I just, wanted to make sure you're okay." Matt answered, coming further into the room, though still having to hold the door open. Hal gave him a smile when he heard that.

"I'm fine Matt, Anne's just running some tests is all." Hal informed the youngest Mason son. Matt smiled a little in response, but then looked a little nervous once again.

"Can I stay? Keep you company?" Matt wondered, his tone both hopeful and unsure as the door closed behind him. Anne had no problem with it, but looked over at Hal as she knew that he might.

Hal did not want Matt in the room, at all. Though he didn't really want to be alone, there was no way he wanted to risk letting his baby brother see the scars the littered his body. He knew that letting Anne fully examine him would mean that she would find the scars, but that didn't mean he wanted anyone to see them. He didn't even want to tell them what the Overlords and Karen did to him, much less see the evidence of it. Now he had told them, they wouldn't be as taken back at the sight of them, but he knew once they did see them, they'd look at him with pity. He could take it from Anne, and probably his Dad, but most definitely not from his baby brother.

Before Hal could come up with a reason to get Matt out of the room without sounding rude or making his youngest brother worried about him, there was another knock on the door. Just like Matt, the person didn't wait from an answer before the door opened, revealing Ben on the other side.

"Mind if I join?" Ben asked, eyes glancing back from Anne to Hal. The oldest Mason son could see that the middle brother did look a little nervous, but not as much as Matt did.

Suddenly feeling a little trapped as he knew it would be harder to get Ben to leave than it would Matt, Hal relented, "Sure, why not."

The beaming smile that Matt gave him made Hal feel better, especially when the adolescent came over and sat on the table beside him. Hal wrapped his left arm around Matt's shoulders. When he looked up at Ben, he saw a small, appreciative grin on the teenager's face. but Ben didn't come over to him like Matt did. Instead, he closed the door and moved a few feet away from it before leaning his back against the wall slightly.

There was something in his eyes though that made Hal feel a little uncomfortable, like his brother was studying him. He didn't say anything about it though. If there was something up with Ben, then Hal would wait until the blonde decided he wanted to talk about it or not.

For the next hour, Hal forced himself to be the perfect patient. He let Anne take several blood samples from his arm, let her check his vitals, though he flinched a little at the coldness of the stethoscope. She then checked his blood pressure and reflects. While the doctor was doing that, Hal's Dad came into the room, though unlike his brothers, he waited for a response before he entered.

"How's it going?" Tom questioned, looking at both Hal and Anne as he came to stand by his oldest son's side near Anne since Matt was still sitting beside Hal on the table.

"It's going alright. He's actually being a good patient." Anne answered as she took the pressure cuff off Hal's arm.

"Good." Tom replied, giving his oldest a small smile as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

Anne placed the pressure cuff on the counter next to the other medical supplies before writing down Hal's blood pressure on the clipboard she had been using to keep track and make notes of everything she had found so far. Reading everything she had written down, Anne realized she hadn't found anything out of the ordinary yet, though she hadn't run the blood tests yet. Everything else was perfectly normal so far.

"Hal, what exactly did Karen do that gave you your abilities? Did she inject something, do some sort of surgery or something like that?" Anne inquired, looking back over at her patient.

The young man suddenly looked very uncomfortable and lowered his eyes, but answered, "She injected something into my spine."

Hearing that, everyone in the room now looked uncomfortable. Tom and Matt had never had something stabbed into their spines, but they knew it had to hurt. Anne hadn't either, but she had to do spinal taps on her patients before the invasion and knew how much it could hurt, especially if not done properly. Ben though, actually grimaced.

The teenager remembered how much it hurt when the Espheni put the harness on his back and the spikes stabbed through his back and into his spine. It was not a pleasant experience. The only good thing was that whatever drug the harness pushed into his system immediately numbed it. Ben doubted that Hal got that perk.

"Well, in that case we should probably do a spinal tap to see if we can figure out what it was." Anne responded a little hesitantly, knowing from the expression on Hal's face that he might object to that. While he had been willing to let her check him over so far, she couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before he stopped. He had put up such resistance to letting her check him over the last few weeks.

"Is it necessary?" Hal wondered, sounding about as thrilled as the doctor expected.

"I think it really would help us figure out what Karen did." Anne replied carefully. She knew Hal was having a hard time coping with everything he had been through, that much was obvious even before he told them what Karen and the Overlords had done to him. The last thing Anne wanted to do was make him feel trapped or trigger anything. If he didn't want to let her continue her tests, she wasn't going to force him.

Hal though, wasn't looking at her. He was looking at his Dad, Ben, and Matt before looking down at the ground. He knew that if he let Anne continue, he would at the very least have to pull his shirt up so that she could put the needle into his spine, which would expose the scars on his back. But if he didn't agree to the test, his Dad and brothers would want to know why, and if the last few weeks proved anything, it was that they wouldn't stop until they got an answer.

Turning his head to face his Dad, Hal lightly tapped him to get his attention before whispering, "Get Matt and Ben out of the room."

Tom couldn't stop the concerned and slightly confused expression from coming upon his face when he heard his son's request. Realizing that Hal wasn't saying 'no' to the test Anne wanted to do which is what the father expected, Tom decided to go with what the young man wanted. The last thing anyone wanted was a repeat of last night, and if getting his younger sons out of the room would make Hal more comfortable, then so be it.

"Ben, Matt, they should be getting lunch out by now. Why don't you two go get something to eat? And maybe see if Weaver needs any help. I think he was planning to send out a scouting party or something." Tom suggested, hoping Ben and Matt would take it instead of insisting on staying. If they did, then the father would have to come up with another excuse to get them out of the room. And that would definitely make them even more worried about Hal than they already were.

Matt looked like he was about to protest, clearly wanting to stay with his oldest brother, but Ben spoke before he had a chance to.

"That sounds like a good idea. I am actually a little hungry. Come on Matt." The curly haired boy still looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew when he was beat. So he turned to face Hal, giving him a quick hug before hopping off the table and following Ben out of the room.

Once they were gone, Anne turned her full attention back to Hal, who was staring absently at the door, and she asked, "You ready to keep going?"

"Yeah, sure." Hal mumbled, looking down at the floor. Despite the extremely unenthusiastic tone in the young man's voice making it clear he didn't want to go through any more tests, at all, Anne turned to face to the counter and drawers which held the medical supplies she needed.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to take off your shirt." Anne told Hal, glancing at him and Tom for a second before she started to get what she needed.

Hal visibly tensed even though he expected Anne to tell him that. A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly, but when he looked up, Hal saw that it was just his Dad, who was now looking down at him with worry. The young man gave his father a very small, but reassuring smile before moving his arms to take off his shirt, ignoring the way his Dad was watching him.

Tom couldn't hold back the shocked gasp when he saw the scars on his son's back as Hal pulled his shirt over his head. Once the t-shirt was fully off, the parent craned his head to the side to get a look at Hal's front and saw even more scars on Hal's chest, ribs, and stomach. He now completely understood why his oldest wanted Ben and Matt out of the room and Tom was glad he went along with that request.

Hearing the shocked gasp, Anne turned around to see what was wrong, but Tom was blocking her view. Feeling a little concerned, the doctor walked closer to the table and around her boyfriend, then immediately froze, quickly seeing what had shocked the former history professor. The five scars on Hal's torso easily stood out, white and red against his skin, and since she had been his doctor before they were separated, she knew for a fact he did not have those before. The scars were evidence of what he had been through those months he was held captive by Karen.

"Can we please just get this over with?" Hal's voice broke Anne and Tom out of their horror-filled shock. Neither of them had even realized that they had just been staring at the young man in complete silence for at least a few minutes.

"Yeah, yeah, of course we can. Just lie down on your side and we can get started." Anne instructed as she again headed back to the counter to finish getting the supplies ready, doing it more so to regain her composure as she pretty much had everything together already.

Looking over her should to see that Hal had done what she ordered, she grabbed an anesthetic wipe and approached the table saying, "Okay, I'm just going to make sure your back is clean before we start. Warning you, this is going to be a little cold."

Hal didn't say anything, though he nodded, telling her that he heard her and didn't have any objections. Anne then went around the table so she was facing the young man's back, but froze once again when she saw the other scars on his back.

Looking up at Tom, she saw the pain-filled expression mixed with horror on his face which told her that he had already seen those scars as well. Anne didn't say anything about it though, remembering that Hal was still waiting for her to start and was probably more uncomfortable right now than she and Tom were.

"Alright." Anne muttered, mostly just so Hal knew she was behind him. She quickly started wiping the spot on his back where she was going to put the needle, completely focused on her task. Hal flinched a little, but said it was just because it was indeed cold like she had warned earlier when Tom asked.

When she was done, Anne went back over to the other side of the room and slipped on a pair of sterile gloves and grabbed a syringe. Turning back to face Hal and Tom, she said, "Now, I'm just going to numb up the spot a bit so the spinal tap won't hurt as much."

Both of the Masons' nodded, but didn't say anything as she came to stand behind Hal and pushed the needle into his back. Her patient didn't flinch at all, though he did instinctively tense up. Tom kept his hand on his son's shoulder to comfort him, keeping quiet because he couldn't think of anything to say that would make the situation any better. Soon though, Anne pulled the needle out and walked away once again.

"Okay, that's going to take a few minutes to take effect, then we'll get started." The doctor updated them. The three waited in silence for about five minutes before Anne came back over with her supplies.

"Alright, we should be good to start." Anne stated as she came to stand behind Hal, then continued, "So, how this works, is I put a small needle into your back, then I put a larger one in to draw the spinal fluid. Once I have enough, I'll pull them out."

"But since you numbed that spot, he won't feel it, right?" Tom asked, looking over at Anne with a worried expression. Hal also turned his gaze over to the doctor, waiting for an answer.

"Unfortunately, the freezing isn't that strong. You are definitely going to feel it." Anne replied, looking down at Hal with a regretful expression when she said the last part. Hal didn't look that surprised though. Tom on the other hand, looked extremely upset and concerned, which didn't surprise Anne one bit. Neither of them said anything though as she got ready.

Anne tried her hardest to be gentle as she felt for a good spot to put the needles in. It didn't stop her patient to again instinctively tense up though. Seeing his son do that, Tom immediately reached over and grabbed Hal's hand. Knowing they were as ready as they were going to be, Anne warned, "Okay, here we go."

The doctor wasn't kidding at all when she said he would feel the needles. A sharp pain spread along Hal's spine and through his body when Anne stabbed the needles into his backbone. It was no where near as bad as when the aliens did it, but that didn't mean it felt good by any means. In response to the pain, he gripped his Dad's hand tightly, though he didn't make any noise. Having gotten used to pain much worse had definitely risen his level of pain tolerance.

Lifting his gaze up to his Dad's face, he saw the extremely worried expression that the older man was wearing and Hal gave him a small smile, trying to assure him that he was okay. Anne, being behind him, was unable to see his face and didn't get the message, so she quickly gave him an apology.

"It's okay." Hal responded in a tightly controlled voice, doing his best to make sure his Dad and Anne were unaware of how much it still did hurt, as well as keeping them unaware that this whole situation was giving him vivid flashbacks of the Espheni pumping who knows what into his spine. Hal closed his eyes in response to them, no longer wanting to see the worried look he was getting from his Dad. He didn't open them until he felt Anne remove the needles and placed a band aid over the spot.

When he finally did open his eyes again, Hal saw that his Dad was still watching him closely. Again, he gave the parent a small smile, then loosened his tight grip on the older man's hand as the pain in his back started to go down. This time, his Dad smiled back, and put his free hand on Hal's shoulder. He waited another minute or two after hearing Anne's light footsteps walking away before he finally pushed himself up into a sitting position, letting his Dad help him even though it wasn't needed.

"You okay?" Tom asked with a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal answered reassuringly.

"You sure?" Anne questioned from her spot by the counter, then added, "I've seen grown men scream during spinal taps. You don't have to be Mr. Tough Guy."

"Trust me Anne, I'm fine. When Karen and the Overlords stabbed needles into my spine, they didn't freeze the spot or anything. I'm good." Hal revealed.

Tom and Anne both froze when they heard that, completely shocked by what they had just been told. While the two were horrified by what Hal had been through, he gave barely any details of what the aliens and Karen did to him. With every detail he now revealed, the horror grew and grew, especially in Tom. He couldn't believe everything his son had happen to him, and the fact his eldest survived proved that he was far stronger then Tom ever imagined, as well as stronger than he should've ever needed to be.

"So, are we done here?" Hal wondered, purposely ignoring the expressions on the adults' faces.

"Almost," Anne replied, replacing the shock with her calm and professional manner then added, "I'd like to run some x-rays, just to make sure your injuries are all healed. I've noticed you've been favouring your left shoulder a bit."

Hal instinctively looked down at his shoulder, seeing the scar left by the fish-head's knife. He couldn't deny how after a long day or too much physical activity, his shoulder would ache, a lot, and he knew some people had noticed. While Hal was hoping that after having needles stuck into his spine, he would be free to go, but maybe having the doctor check his shoulder would be good.

"Okay." Hal agreed, again surprising both Anne and Tom. But neither questioned it as they were both just grateful that Hal was letting them try to help. Without another word, Anne led them to the x-ray room to run the last tests she wanted.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

About an hour and a half later, Hal finally exited the infirmary, putting on his jacket as he did so. After Anne finally finished running the x-rays, she was all done with the tests, for now at least. So Hal got up to leave, with instructions to come back tomorrow as she would have all the results by then. The young man agreed, then quickly left, feeling extremely crowded and as though his privacy had been invaded.

"Hal?" The eldest Mason son turned his head to the right to see who called his name. When he saw it was Maggie and that she was walking over to him, he smiled.

"Hey Maggie. What's up?" Hal asked as she reached his side.

"Just looking for you. Haven't seen you since you left this morning. Is everything okay?" Maggie questioned, her brown eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I was just in the infirmary with Anne and my Dad so could run the tests she had been wanting to. There were a lot." Hal answered with an assuring tone. He didn't want Maggie to worry about him anymore than she clearly already was. It didn't work though. The minute the word 'infirmary' came out of his mouth, Maggie's eyes widened.

"Is everything okay? Did she find anything?" Maggie questioned, watching him closely for any sign of either something wrong of a sign that he was lying to make her feel better.

"Everything's fine. I just have to go back tomorrow because she will have the test results by then." Hal replied, still smiling. Though she still looked concerned, she visibly relaxed a little, somewhat put at ease by Hal's explanation.

"Have you eaten? Lunch is over but we could probably scrounge up something for you?" Maggie said after a minute of silence, still watching the young man closely. Hal though, shook his head.

"No thanks, I'm fine." Hal quickly responded. While he hadn't eaten all day, nor did he eat much yesterday, the thought of food made him feel sick to his stomach. All he really wanted was to go to his room and get some more sleep.

"You sure? You didn't eat much yesterday." Maggie recalled, growing concerned once again.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I think I'm just gonna go lie down for a bit. I'll see you later." Hal didn't give her a chance to respond before he turned and walked away in the direction of the building where his room was.

Maggie watched him leave until he was completely out of sight. Every instinct in her body told her to run after him, but she forced herself to remain in her spot. He had been through a lot yesterday, and probably been through a lot today as well. It was completely understandable that he wanted to be alone right now, but there was a part of her that feared he was going to run like he planned to last night.

As far as she could tell, everything seemed to have gone okay between Hal and his Dad, though she didn't know for sure, nor did she fully know what happened in the infirmary. She did know that despite smile however, Hal did look a little shaken.

Taking a deep breath, Maggie turned around and headed back to the armoury for more ammo, which is where she was going before she had bumped into Hal. Though she was still worried, she was fairly certain Hal wouldn't run, not in the middle of the day at least. Besides, her shift on guard duty was almost over. She'd check on him then.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

At the end of the day, Tom walked into one of the private rooms in the infirmary, the one that Anne and Kadar were using as an office. Though Kadar wasn't in the room, Anne was, and that was exactly who the former history teacher was looking for.

"Hey, how's it going?" Anne greeted when she looked up from the paperwork in her hands.

"It's going." Tom replied, coming over to her.

"How's Hal?" Anne then asked once Tom reached her side.

"Okay I think. According to Maggie, he wasn't feeling good so he went back to bed. I'm going to check on him myself soon, I just wanted to let him be for a while." Tom answered, pausing for a moment before he continued, "I don't think it's the flu or a cold that's making him sick."

"Probably not." The doctor agreed with the assumption. Seeing the dejected look on his face though, she put her hand on his shoulder and said, "I know you're probably tired of hearing this, but give him time."

"I know." Tom responded, nodding his head. Deciding it was time to change the subject and remembering why he had come looking for Anne in the first place, he looked over at her and asked, "Have you got the test results yet?"

"Most of them. Kadar is still working on the blood tests and spinal tap, but the others I have here." Anne replied, putting the papers in her hand down on the table in the middle of the room, then grabbed a different, small, stack of papers before turning to face Tom.

"Hal's blood pressure is a little higher then it should be, but that usually happens when a person is under stress and considering the circumstances, it's not that surprising. He's also a little under weight considering his size and age, but again, due to the circumstances, it's to be expected. He's actually doing well compared to how he was when he first arrived." Anne informed him, looking at the results and notes on the first two papers.

Tom nodded, silently letting his girlfriend know that he heard her. He was glad that his son was doing well despite, everything, remembering how terrible and thin he looked when he rejoined his family in the group. But Tom knew that there was something that Anne had found that she hadn't told him yet due to the worried look on her face.

"His x-rays on the other hand, are a little more concerning." Anne told him.

"What is it?" Tom questioned, feeling more worried by Anne's reluctance to tell him what she found.

"All of his ribs appear to have been broken at some point, same with two of his fingers on his left hand and three on his right. He left shoulder also appears to have been dislocated at some point, probably around the same time he had been stabbed there. I would say that particular injury happened about two months before he came back to the 2nd Mass, but it hasn't properly healed. That's why he's still struggling with that shoulder." Anne replied, a bit reluctantly as she knew that this bit of information was going to hurt the 2nd Mass leader.

Tom closed his eyes as he tried to process everything that Anne told him. It was one thing to hear from your son what he all went through, how he was tortured. It was another to see the scars that had come from the injuries that he had suffered, and it was another to hear about the other injuries that had already healed and weren't visible. Hearing and/or seeing any one of these things would be painful, but hearing and seeing it all at once was heartbreaking to the father. He couldn't believe how much his son had suffered.

"Is there anything that can be done for his shoulder?" Tom inquired, hoping they could still help Hal heal from the injury he was still suffering from.

"We can get him to do some physiotherapy and I'll get a sling for him to wear for a few weeks. It should help, but since its already been a few months, it's probably going to affect him for quite a while, maybe even his whole life." Anne responded. Before Tom could say anything to that, she added, "It's his lungs I'm more worried about."

"What? Why?" Tom asked, his worry level rising.

"From what I can tell, it looks as though they had been damaged in some way and have healed. Normally, I would check again with an MRI, or ultrasound to get a better look, as well as to check on his other organs to see if they had been damaged too, but we don't have any of those." Anne informed him.

"But, Hal's okay now though, right?" Tom questioned as the doctor did say that his son's lungs had healed.

"Besides his shoulder, yes, I would say so. I am still waiting for the results of the blood tests and the spinal tap though." Anne replied. Tom nodded, but didn't say anything as he struggled to process all the information his girlfriend had just given him.

"Tom, you okay?" The doctor asked the former history teacher, getting a little worried at his lack of response and the worried and hurt expression on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to check on Hal." Tom said, not meeting her eyes at all. Without another word, the father strode out of the room, oblivious to the concerned and sympathy-filled look on Anne's face. She didn't try to stop him though, completely understanding his need to see his son.

Once he was gone, Anne put the papers in her hand back down on the table and left to go find Kadar to see if he had found anything with the blood tests and spinal tap.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Tom stood outside Hal's bedroom door for a good five minutes before he knocked quietly, not wanting to wake his son if he was sleeping. When there was no response, Tom slowly opened the door and slipped inside. He quickly spotted his oldest son on the bed, lying on his side with his back to him.

For a moment, Tom wondered what he should do. He had been hoping that Hal would be awake so he could make sure the young man was okay, though he knew the odds were that his son would just give him a smile, say that he was okay and change the subject. And while Tom still wanted to ask anyways, he also knew that Hal hadn't been sleeping well, at all, and he should probably just leave him be.

Seeing that Hal's blanket was down over his legs, Tom walked over to the bed, reached down and gently pulled the covers up, not wanting to have a repeat of what happened a few weeks ago when they were on that mission to destroy that alien factory. The one when Hal used his powers for the first time in front of them. Luckily though, his son did not stir at all.

Finally deciding to just let the young man be, Tom whispered, "I love you," then turned to walk towards the door.

Before he could take a single step however, Tom heard the quiet voice of his son say, "Love you too."

Tom turned back around to face Hal, but his oldest hadn't moved a muscle. Now that he knew that his son was actually awake, he again wondered if he should try to talk to him, but again decided to leave him be. Hal had already been through a lot today and yesterday, he probably needed some time to simply collect himself. The father could talk to him later.

The 2nd Mass leader did though bend down to give his son's shoulder a comforting squeezing and said, "Good night."

"Night." Hal replied back, still not moving at all. Tom let out a small, somewhat sad, sigh before again moving to leave the room. A part of him wished that Hal would say something, would ask him to stay, would want to talk, but his son didn't. And that fact alone had Tom fearing that despite that Hal had finally opened up, honestly, about what happened those months he was gone, he was starting to push away the parent once again.