Note: Narrative written from Ezra's point of view may contain deliberate misspellings to indicate how he understands something.
In the seven months since the accident that had taken nearly all of Ezra's memories and left him with the intellect of a seven-year-old, he'd grown to rely on consistency in his schedule and the support of Chris. Every day, unless he was out and actively working on a case, Chris would be home between 6:15 and 6:30. When something came up with a case that kept him at the office or out in the field causing him to be late, he'd always make the time to call, talk with Ezra, and explain why he was going to be late. It was now 7:15 and neither of those things had happened. To say that Ezra was scared and worried would be putting it mildly.
He'd gotten the sense that something wasn't right earlier in the afternoon when Miss Nettie had taken a phone call. He wasn't sure who it was, but she'd been tense and had looked at him funny afterward. He'd asked her who was on the phone, but she'd smiled, told him not to worry, and suggested he go back to working on his spelling words. He'd reluctantly agreed but hadn't been able to concentrate since then.
When 6:30 came and Chris was neither home nor had called, he asked her if he could call Mr. Chris, but she firmly told him it wasn't necessary and again redirected his attention back to improving his reading and writing skills.
A little while ago, Mr. Buck and Just JD had come over. They'd both said hi to him but then gone into the kitchen with Miss Nettie and had been in there since.
Ezra slanted a look over toward the kitchen. If he stayed by the doorway, he knew he'd be out of sight the others and able to hear what they were saying. He was tempted to do so, but then remembered how Mr. Chris had told him that it was rude and wasn't nice to easedrop. He never wanted to disappoint Mr. Chris, so he stayed where he was on the couch reading...or trying to read a book.
A few minutes later Miss Nettie, Mr. Buck, and Just JD came out of the kitchen. Miss Nettie and Just JD sat on either side of him, and Mr. Buck sat on the coffee table in front of him. It was what Mr. Chris would do when they had to talk about something serious and it only worried Ezra more. He closed the book, but left it on his lap, then picked up Floppy from next to him and wrapped his arms around the stuffed bunny holding him close. "Where's Mr. Chris," he asked bluntly in an anxiety-filled voice. "How come he's not home and why didn't he call?"
Buck pulled in a deep breath and let it out. "I want you to listen real careful, Pard," he began. "You know how sometimes we have to arrest people who are doing bad things?" He waited until Ezra had nodded. Although he didn't fully grasp what the ATF was, he knew it was a kind of police officer. "Well, sometimes those people doing bad things don't want to go with us and they kind of fight back."
"With guns?" Ezra asked in a tremulous whisper.
"Sometimes," JD answered.
Ezra squeezed Floppy hard and looked between the other three. "Did Mr. Chris get shot? Is he with my Daddy now?" His voice rose in fear as he asked.
"Oh, no, sweetheart," Miss Nettie assured him as she put an arm around his shoulders. "Mr. Chris isn't with your daddy."
"Then where is he? I want Mr. Chris." Ezra's voice hitched and tears started to roll down his face.
Buck pulled in another deep breath. This was turning out to be even harder than he'd imagined. "You're right, Ezra. Chris did get shot." He saw the building fear in Ezra ready to overwhelm and held up a hand to stop the torrent of words he was sure was coming. He also hoped he could stave off more tears. "He was shot here," he said pointing to his own sternum. "But he had on his vest. You know what that is, don't you?"
"Uh huh. Mr. Chris showed me," Ezra said with a sniffle. "He said it stops the bullets from going inside him."
"That's right," JD reassured, taking up the narrative. "It does stop the bullets from going inside but they still hit you awful hard. Chris has a real bad bruise on his chest from where the bullet hit him and when he was shot, it made him fall down some stairs and he bumped his head, so he had to go to the hospital."
"He's got this thing called a concussion," Buck said picking up the explanation from JD. "It means he's got a really bad headache."
"Like when I get headaches?" Ezra asked. "Can't he take medicine like I do?"
"Well, yeah. The doctor gave him medicine to make it feel better, but he's got to stay in the hospital just for tonight."
"But why? I don't want him to," Ezra wailed as tears started to stream down his face.
Buck looked helplessly at Nettie unsure what to say now. He'd never had to deal with an upset Ezra since Chris had always been there. He felt a little out of his depth now.
"We know you, don't," Nettie said as she gave Ezra a little squeeze. "I don't think Chris wants to stay there either, but it's the best thing for him. You want him to get better, right?"
Ezra sniffed and nodded slightly. He started to twist Floppy's ear around his finger, a sure sign he was upset. "But what happens to me if Mr. Chris can't come home? Who's gonna take care of me."
"Well, that's all figured out," JD said cheerfully. "We talked it over with Chris and you're gonna come and stay with me and Buck tonight. We'll have a sleepover and eat pizza and all sorts of junk food. And we can stay up late and watch movies. I bet we can watch all the Indiana Jones ones. Those are your favorites, right? Or maybe Star Wars. Have you seen that yet?"
"Like the stuff we saw when we went to Disney?" Ezra asked curiously as he wiped his eyes. It was easy to see he was still scared an anxious about this turn of events, but JD had managed to pique his curiosity.
"It's the movies they based the stuff in Disney on. I bet ol'Buck'll even make some popcorn for us."
"Who you calling old?" Buck playfully growled. "Keep that up and you'll both be making your own popcorn." He rested his hands on Ezra's knees and gave a little squeeze. "So, how about it? That sound like fun?"
"I guess," Ezra said with a little shrug. "Is Mr. Chris going to come home tomorrow?"
"That's what the doctor said," Buck reassured. "You'll stay with me and JD tonight and then you and Chris'll be home tomorrow."
Ezra pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He reached up to wipe the last of the tears from his face. "Ok," he agreed although everyone knew he wasn't happy.
"How about we got to your room and pack your pajamas, some clothes for tomorrow, and some of your books," Nettie suggested with a smile. "I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun tonight." She waited until Ezra nodded then got up with him and guided him to his room.
Once the two were out of earshot, Buck let out a low whistle. "That was not fun."
JD looked in the direction Ezra and Nettie had gone. "You think he'll be ok tonight?"
Buck shook his head and held up his hands to show he didn't know. "Who's to say. I don't think either of us should plan on getting much sleep tonight, that's for sure. We just need to keep him distracted until Chris gets out of the hospital. It's just going to be one night. How hard can it be?"