Bad Timing
"What the hell are you doing here?" Cassie shook her head, stepping out of the house and closing the door behind her, "My dad could have answered the door." She said with worry.
"Well… that was sort of the idea." Daniel admitted.
"Huh?" Cassie shook her head.
"Well I… I've thought about it, thought about it a lot over the past couple of weeks and… you're right. I have this family out there and I know nothing about anyone. I assume you could tell I… I live on my own. I guess I'm just kinda scared to put myself out there-"
"Oh Gosh…" Cassie groaned a little. She felt like her curiosity had come back to bite her in the ass. Through all the chaos, and through no fault of her own, she'd forgotten all about Daniel and the fact she had left things hanging with him.
"You know… for the one who came looking for me, you don't look thrilled about it." Daniel laughed awkwardly.
"No… no it's not that." Cassie sighed, "Just… right now isn't a very good time." She admitted, "My mom is in hospital."
"Oh… Oh, I'm sorry." Daniel shook his head, "What's wrong with her? Is she ill?"
"No, she was in a bad car accident a few days ago. She's… in a coma so things haven't been great. We've just managed to get my dad home tonight. My sister also had a baby earlier this morning." She added, "It's been crazy."
"It sounds it." Daniel nodded, "Oh… well I'm sorry about your mom. I hope things get better for her." He said as Cassie nodded.
"Did you really come here and… hope to talk to my dad?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah I was… rehearsing everything I was gonna say on my way here." Daniel laughed a little, "But… it's a bad time, obviously. He doesn't need me popping up now." He shook his head as Cassie sighed.
She hated to see him pluck up the courage to come here, only to be turned away, but there was no way she could expose her dad to all of this stuff right now. Not now.
"It's not always gonna be like this. My mom will get better." Cassie made clear, "And that would be a good time to come and… speak to my dad." She nodded.
"Maybe this is a sign. Maybe I shouldn't… maybe it's too far gone." He debated with himself.
"Hey, no… no, it's not." Cassie shook her head, "I can imagine how nervous you were coming here and… that's a huge step forward. I don't know how my dad will react to you. It could be great, it could be awful… he has a big mouth, doesn't really think before he says things but… he has a big heart." Cassie assured him, "Please don't let this put you off. Things will get better and it could be the best thing you'll ever do." She said as Daniel looked across at her, nodding slowly.
"Cassie?" Thea walked out of the house, looking on at the older man standing across from Cassie.
Cassie had told Jude and Thea about wanting to seek out their grandfather, but never did she tell them she had actually met with him multiple times.
"I should go…" Daniel got nervous.
"No, wait." Cassie shook her head, turning back to Thea.
"Who is this?" Thea asked her little sister.
"Thea, this is Daniel." Cassie nodded, "Dad's dad." She said as Thea raised her eyebrows.
"What?" Thea squeaked almost as Cassie nodded.
"This is my oldest sister, Thea." Cassie nodded to Daniel, "Who also has a big mouth." She added to make him aware.
"Cassie, what the hell are you doing?" Thea shook her head, "Are you kidding me with this? Right now?" She asked.
"I'll go. I'm sorry about this, Cassie." Daniel said, "It was nice to meet you." He nodded to Thea who just looked at him, watching him back away and head off down the street.
"Cassie." Thea turned to Cassie with concern, "What are you doing?"
"Look, I've met him a couple times before. In fact it was before even Theo died. He's… he's nice. He's just scared and lonely-"
"Didn't he murder someone?" Thea shook her head.
"Well I don't… I don't know the details around that exactly." Cassie said, "I'm taking him as I see him, and I see a lonely man who has a whole family out there, sons he wants to meet and get to know-"
"It's a little bit late, don't you think?" Thea shook her head, "Do you really think dad and Dean are interested in this? Isn't it been too long?"
"No… No, it's their dad. And they know nothing about him. It's not like he was with them and he left them. He was… he was gone before they even knew him." Cassie said, "And we don't know why."
"Well cause he's clearly insane. He's spent most of his life in prison. Why are you bringing that into our life? Now of all times?" Thea asked.
"Well I didn't know he was gonna show up right now, did I?" Cassie said, "Look we know what it's like to lose a dad and then build a relationship back up with him. Maybe dad and Dean can do that with him. And he's lonely. It seems ridiculous that he lives ten minutes away on his own and we're all here." She said.
"This isn't your decision to make, though. If dad wanted to meet his dad, that would be his call. By doing this, you're not giving him a choice. You're just… bringing him in." Thea said, "Dad only cares about one thing right now and that's mom."
"Yeah and that's why I told Daniel that now wasn't a good time, but… I mean he's come such a long way. At first he didn't want anything to do with this and now he's… he came here with the intention to talk to dad."
"Look, can we just… focus on mom right now?" Thea asked, "This guy can wait-"
"Well yeah, I know." Cassie nodded.
"Ok just… come in and have your dinner. It's getting cold." Thea nodded to her, guiding her back into the house. She didn't even have the energy right now to think about their grandfather making an appearance like that.
The next morning, Punk woke up after sleeping right through the night. His body had finally gave in and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he crashed into a deep sleep. He was grateful for that as he didn't wish to constantly toss and turn, looking at the empty space beside him in bed.
He got up, showered, forced himself some oatmeal and banana whilst sitting with his grandkids, before heading to the hospital with Thea and Cassie.
"Is Jude getting home today?" Cassie asked, walking into the hospital with her sister and dad.
"I think so." Thea said, "This afternoon probably. She called me last night crying." She said.
"Why?" Punk turned to her.
"She just said she's worried that she won't be able to come see mom as much now that the baby is here." Thea explained.
"She doesn't have to worry about that." Punk sighed, "I'll go speak to her today before she leaves." Punk nodded, walking down the corridor, "She's got a baby now. She has to take care of herself and Mirren. Mom will still be here." He nodded with assurance as the girls nodded.
"How'd you sleep?" Cassie asked him.
"I feel like I might have been unconscious." Punk laughed a little, "I just crashed."
"Yeah well you were exhausted." Cassie said, "You gotta take care of yourself too." She reminded him as Punk just nodded, walking down the corridor towards AJ's room.
He opened up the room door, walking in and pausing as Thea and Cassie stood beside him.
"Oh my God." Thea placed her hand over her mouth as Punk paused across the room where finally, he could see his wife's eyes for the first time in days. Open and looking directly at them, and then followed by a small, tired smile. He could have cried. He wanted to cry. He did cry.
"April?" He shook his head, walking over to the bed, "Hey." He laughed in disbelief. He felt like he was in a dream. It almost seemed too good to be true.
"Hi." AJ whispered tiredly as Punk smiled, leaning over and kissing her cheek as she lifted her hand, cupping his face for as long as she could keep her arm up before resting it back down.
"I can't believe you're awake." Punk shook his head, cupping her face and kissing her head, kissing her cheek, kissing anywhere he could as gently as possible. He could see she was still out of it, tired and drowsy, but just to see her making movements, to hear her whisper and see her eyes. It felt like a miracle.
"Hey, mom." Thea smiled with teary eyes. She couldn't describe the relief she felt seeing her mother awake, finally. The few days had felt like years without her.
AJ waved her hand at Thea and Cassie, gesturing them to come over to her. She was drowsy and still coming round gradually, but she knew her family and she sought comfort in them immediately.
"Hey." Cassie smiled, leaning down and hugging her mother as Thea did the same.
"We missed you." Thea said, brushing her hand over her mother's hair, drying her tears as AJ smiled softly whilst Punk continued to watch in disbelief.
"Mister Brooks." Paul, AJ's doctor came into the room as Punk turned around, "Could I speak with you?" He asked as Punk nodded.
"Yeah… yeah." Punk nodded, wiping his eyes and walking off out of the room, "She's awake." He told the doctor, as if he didn't already know.
"She is." Paul smiled, "And she's doing really well." He nodded, "She started coming around through the night. We kept a close eye on her, kept her fully monitored and… slowly but surely she started to make more progress. We've ran some tests and also done another scan to look at brain activity but… there's no sign of any permanent brain damage." He said as Punk took a deep breath and nodded, "Which is a very good sign." He clarified as Punk nodded, "It's perfectly normally for her to be a little confused, agitated and sleepy."
"Ok… ok." Punk nodded, he was just desperate to go back in and see AJ.
"We'll be keeping a close eye on her still but… this is very good news." Paul nodded.
"Thank you." Punk nodded sincerely.
"You can go back in. If you have any questions or worries just come see me. You'll find me around here somewhere." He said as Punk nodded, watching him walk away.
Punk wasted no time and headed back into the room, still in awe that his wife was awake and appeared to be doing extremely well.
"Phil." AJ whispered, waving her hand at Punk for him to come over.
"What is it, baby?" Punk asked, walking over to her bedside.
"Are you ok?" She asked tiredly as Punk looked at her. Of course that was the first thing she asked him.
"Yes… yes, I'm ok." Punk laughed a little, sitting down by her bed an taking her hand as she nodded, "We're all ok." He assured her.
"Did you… did you go to that class without me?" She asked, poking his knee unhappily as the girls chuckled.
"Of course I didn't." Punk promised, "I don't do things without you." He said as she smiled tiredly, closing her eyes over for a few seconds. Even in her weak state, she was still her usual self, and he had never been more relieved.
"I'll go tell Jude." Thea whispered, nodding to her dad and escaping the room as AJ opened up her eyes again.
"I crashed the car." She told Punk as he nodded.
"I know." Punk nodded, "I know, but you're gonna be ok." He said, kissing her hand.
For a few days, he'd gotten a glimpse of what it was like to live without her, to fear of losing her in his life, and it was horrifying. Every single part of it. He never needed this to make him realise how much he loved his wife, because he always knew how much he loved her, but it was just a reminder of everything she did for their family, and the impact she had on all their lives.
"Are you ok?" AJ asked him again as he smiled.
"I'm ok, baby." Punk assured her.
"Cassie." AJ looked over at Cassie.
"Yeah?" Cassie smiled.
"Are you ok?" AJ asked.
"I'm ok, mom." Cassie assured her as AJ nodded, closing her eyes back over as Punk looked over to Cassie with a smile.
There was no doubt she was going to be in a delicate condition for some time, but she had gotten over the biggest hurdle, and they were all there to help her and support her back to good health again after this terrifying scare.
Sometime later, Thea came back into the room, this time with Jude and Sean who were on the way out of the hospital with their new arrival. Jude couldn't believe the news her sister had for her, and was overwhelmed by the fact her mother had woken up. It made her cry and it made her smile so much.
AJ lifted her head a little from the pillow when she saw Jude coming into the room, and immediately she noticed her bump had gone down, and then she noticed Sean holding a baby carrier in his hand.
"Mom." Jude cried with relief, making her way over to her mother's bed, carefully leaning over and giving her a much needed hug. Becoming a mom had been so difficult without her mom being around. Just seeing her awake made her feel like everything would be ok.
"Hi, baby." AJ whispered softly as Jude smiled.
"Someone got impatient, April." Sean nodded, sitting the baby carrier on one of the chairs, taking Mirren out as Punk smiled, "She was born yesterday." He said, walking over to the bedside where Jude was standing to let AJ see her new granddaughter.
"What's her name?" AJ smiled.
"Mirren… April." Jude nodded as AJ smiled. Her head felt fuzzy and everything felt a little distant but like always, she had her family surrounding her, and she was getting to meet her granddaughter.
"She really couldn't wait?" AJ asked quietly as they laughed a little, "Can I hold her?" She asked Jude who nodded.
"Of course." Jude smiled, drying her tears whilst Punk helped AJ sit up a little better whilst Sean passed Mirren over to her, standing close by just for precaution.
"She's beautiful." AJ whispered, looking down at her granddaughter whilst Thea stood over with Cassie, leaning into her.
"We think so too." Sean smiled, keeping his hands slightly holding Mirren as he could see AJ's arms weren't all that strong enough to hold her.
Jude turned into her father, hugging into him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. They were all in awe of their mother's strength, and so relieved to see her awake and stable.
