Jason was sitting alone at his kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee after a rather exhausting night with Sonny and Clay. Overall, Clay was improving and the nightmares were occurring a lot less thanks to a breakthrough with Dr. Conners two weeks ago. Unfortunately, when the nightmares did occur, they were intense.
Last night just so happened to be the first nightmare in five days. It also happened to be one of the worst. Sonny, who had practically moved in, woke Jason up around 3:00 am needing help. They spent the next few hours trying to calm Clay down and get him back to sleep. Finally, around 6:30, they succeeded.
Sonny passed out on his makeshift bed that he set up next to Clay, not too long after Clay did, leaving Jason awake all alone. He returned to his bed, attempting to fall back asleep, but his mind refused to shut off. Eventually, he gave up and made his way to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.
He sat there in silence, lost in his thoughts for quite some time. As he was pouring his second cup of coffee, he heard someone unlocking his front door. He looked over at the clock, surprised to see it was 10:30 and then wondered who would possibly be showing up this early without shooting him the usual 'Ok to stop by?' text.
Thankfully, he didn't have to wonder long when he spotted Emma dropping her bags and making her way into the kitchen to greet him. "Hey daddy." She smiled as she hugged him.
"Emma, what are you doing here? I thought you were getting in till Saturday?" Jason replied, pleasantly surprised.
"Uhhh dad? It is Saturday. Winter break has officially started."
"Oh right, Sorry. Must have just lost track of my days." Jason answered.
"You ok? You look exhausted." Emma asked.
"Yeah, just had a rough night with Clay and Sonny last night." Jason replied.
Emma stayed silent for a second. "I thought you said he was doing better?"
"He is. A lot better, but he still has his moments and last night just so happened to be one of them." Jason rubbed his face.
"How bad was it?" Emma asked.
"It was a rough one." Jason paused. "He gets trapped over there from time to time and doesn't believe us when we tell him we're really here. It takes some time for us to convince we're real and then to get him to relax."
"Doesn't believe you're really here?" Emma questioned.
"Yeah. He told Dr. Conners that when things would get really bad over there, that he would have these dreams or hallucinations or something, where he would see us. He said they seemed so real sometimes that he really believed that we were there to save him. When he gets stuck in these nightmares and we wake him up, he's convinced that he still there and we're not real."
"Wow. That's pretty rough. Isn't there anything we can do to help with that?"
"All we can really do is just give him time and hope that he keeps opening up during his therapy sessions." Jason sighed, wishing there was more they could do to help.
"If only getting him to open up wasn't like pulling teeth." Sonny rolled his eyes as he entered the kitchen. "Gotta give Doc Conners credit though. That man can make a carboard box talk."
"Hey Uncle Sonny!" Emma smiled, opening her arms up for a hug.
"Hey kiddo! How's college life treating you? Any guys I need to scare away?" Sonny half joked.
Emma blushed. There were a ton of boys at her school. One she has even gone on a few dates with. She just wasn't quite ready to mention that though. She wanted to have that conversation with just her dad first, so she dodged the question. "College is great. Even better than I could have imagined."
Thankfully she was saved by her dad when he changed the subject. "Clay still asleep?"
Sonny shook his head. "He woke up a few minutes after I did, said he just wanted to lay there for a bit so I decided to give him a few minutes alone."
"He seem ok?" Jason asked.
"I guess. I mean he looked pretty tired still. Wouldn't be surprised if he fell back asleep." Sonny said.
"We'll give him a few more minutes then I'll go check on him. Did you eat yet Emma? I can make breakfast." Jason added.
"Actually, I was kinda hoping we could go out to breakfast. I've been dying for pancakes from mom's favorite diner."
"I don't know Em. I mean, I'd love to, but I don't know if it's such a great idea right now. We all had a pretty rough night and I can't leave Uncle Sonny with Uncle Clay right now."
"Well I was kinda thinking they could come to." Emma shrugged.
"Emma. I don't know if Uncle Clay is ready for that. He's only been out of the house for doctors' appointments." Jason told her.
"Don't know if Uncle Clay is ready for what?" Clay asked as he made his way towards the kitchen table.
Emma froze and immediately felt tears forming in her eyes. There he was. He really was a live after all this time. Her first instinct was to tackle him with a hug and never let go, but she wasn't sure what his physical status was at the moment so she figured that wouldn't be the best idea. Instead, she waited for him to approach her. Once he did, she asked "Can I hug you?"
"I'd be hurt if you didn't." Clay smiled as he opened his arms to hug Emma.
Once Emma was wrapped up in the hug, she never wanted to let go and felt the tears finally start to fall.
Jason got a little teary-eyed as well. He knew Emma and Clay were close. He was more like a big brother than an Uncle to her. He guessed it had to do with Clay being young enough to understand Emma more than the rest of Bravo. She went to Clay for things she couldn't or wouldn't go to the others about. Most of the times it involved boys or parties or some other type of high school drama. No matter what it was, Clay always handled it like a champ. A lot better than Jason or anyone else on Bravo would have. When Jason told Emma Clay was gone, it was the second hardest thing he's ever had to do. Emma was so devastated she even tried to put off school for a semester, which Jason quickly put his foot down to.
Seeing his daughter crying in Clay's arms oddly made him smile. He looked over at Sonny and noticed a smile on his face as well.
When Clay finally broke free from the hug, Emma looked up at him. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too Em. I missed you too. Now, what is 'Uncle Clay not up for?'" Clay asked.
"I was hoping we could all go out to breakfast."
Clay looked over to Jason and Sonny, trying to read their faces, then back over to Emma. "I'd love to Em." He then looked back over to see their reactions. Both of which looked surprise.
"Are you sure Clay? I mean, the only time you've left the house was to go to the doctors." Sonny asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I've been going stir crazy in this house. Just assumed asking to go out anywhere wouldn't been shot down." Clay admitted.
"Alright. We'll do it." Jason hesitantly smiled as Emma squealed in excitement. "But you need to make me a promise." He turned to Clay. "If at any point it becomes too much, you need to let me know immediately."
Clay immediately agreed and then they each went their separate ways to quickly get ready before all four of them headed out the door.
