Chapter 89

On the way home from the hospital not much words were exchanged between Alex and Ryan. He spent most of his time concentrating on the road ahead, while his wife tried to figure out how he's handling all of this.

"Ryan didn't mess my face up too bad right?" Caleb asked lifting his head from the pillow slightly when Shelby entered his room. She couldn't help but smile and notice that his sense of humor was still intact. "Your face is still adorable." She walked over to him and sat down on the side of the bed.

"Oh and by the way, here's a really old nurse who keeps hitting on me whenever she checks my vitals, so I need to get out of here soon."

Shelby looked at her husband suspiciously. "Are you just making that up so you can find a way home?" She questioned and the smirk on his face made him look like a boy scout, as he nodded his head. It was worth a try anyway and he thought it would work.

He rubbed a hand over her belly when silence fell over them before he started talking. "Have you talked to Ryan?" He looked up at her, sighing heavily Shelby nodded. "He's pinning all this on himself."

"But it's not like he had a choice, that guy held a gun to his head." Caleb got worked up and quickly remembered his ribs isn't what it used to be 24 hours ago as he took short shallow breathes. "I need to talk to that boy." He said softly. "You can talk to your boy in the morning, right now you need to rest." She wiped his hair back and away from his forehead kissing it softly.

"I'm going to bed." Alex yawned and got up off the couch when she started feeling sleepy.

The hopes she had of talking to Ryan disappeared when he was quiet most of the time. The only time he was almost himself was when he bathed Phoebe and she splashed her little hands around in the water. She had her father wrapped around her finger at such a young age, since it was hard not to smile and laugh around the four month old.

She fell asleep almost instantly the moment her head hit the pillow, it was only around midnight when she turned around and Ryan was still not in bed that she started worrying. She peeked into Phoebe's crib checking on the baby before she headed downstairs and saw the kitchen light burning and Ryan sitting at the counter staring of into space.

"Whiskey at midnight, hmm?" She asked walking down the stairs as he swallowed the last golden brown liquid in the glass. "I thought by now you would've established the fact that this doesn't solve problems." She pointed towards the bottle.

"Alex, please. I cannot do this with you right now." He said looking up at her.

"You're gonna have to meet me halfway here, Ryan. I'm trying to be there for you but I can only do so much, since you're barely even talking to me. If you don't want to talk say it. You want me to leave you alone I can do that too. But I'm not going to let you sit here insulting my intelligence by you continuously telling me that you're dealing with it, and you becoming a representation of my father. It is not the kind of marriage I envisioned." She started not knowing how else to start this pending conversation.

"Alex…"

"The ball's in your court Ryan."

He sighed deeply spinning the glass around on the marble top counter before he started talking. "Today, I did the opposite of what the job description states. I turned my back on my partner, my best friend and I ruffed him up. I almost shot him. All because some lunatic held a gun to my head." He said softly seeing her face soften.

"Hey, you cannot blame yourself for this. None of us do, so you need to let it go. Stop being so hard on yourself, Ryan. I think you need to go see Caleb and talk to him about it."

"What if he doesn't wanna see me? I won't blame him."

"Seriously? The two of you have this weird brotherly thing going on. Calling each other son or boy, texting each other more in a day's time than you and I do. So, if my analysis prove to be correct, which I think it is, I think that you should go see your boy." She said softly seeing a small smile appear on his face.

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"Maybe? My dear husband 90% of the time, I'm right. Come on let's get to bed. Your snoring is like a lullaby to Phoebe and I." Alex laughed and waited for him to turn down the kitchen light before they went upstairs.

Ryan turned around and pulled Alex closer to him, snuggling his face in the crook of her neck. "Do you hear that?" Alex asks him and he's confused since he's not hearing anything strange in the house or in their bedroom. "Silence." Alex says softly.

She barely expressed her gratitude for a moment of silence when Phoebe woke up and figured she can hit the rattle against the sides of the crib so it produces a new sound, and was highly pleased with herself. Her own babbling added to the sounds she's making. "Your silence was short lived." Ryan laughed looking at his daughter laying on her back, playing happily.

Ryan walked into the hospital taking his time. He hadn't told Alex about it this morning when she left for work, he just told her he'll be in later. But she probably figured it out already after the discussion they had in the early hours of the morning in the kitchen. He didn't pick up the pace as he walked since he tried to figure out what he's going to say, and when he got in front of Caleb's room he still had no idea how he's going to start this conversation.

He knocked on the door softly before he opened the door seeing him watching TV. Caleb looked up when he noticed someone at the door and sat up a bit. "Good morning sunshine." Caleb greeted his friend. "Come into my humble home." He pointed towards one of the chairs.

"For someone in hospital you're awfully chirpy." Ryan noted walking over to him and sat down. "That's because I'm getting out in about an hour. I can't handle the food the food they give me to eat." He scrunched up his face pointing to the untouched green Jell-O.

"That mouth wash flavored jelly." Ryan laughed having had his fair share of it from the time he spent in the same hospital. "Caleb. I'm sorry for what happened yesterday man." Ryan started and Caleb shook his head wanting to say something but before he could say it Ryan cut him off.

"I'm kind of battling with it, and I keep thinking about what if Liam hadn't shown up when he did…"

"But he did. I don't blame you for any of this Ryan. An outrageous man held a gun to your head, I would've done the same thing if I were in your shoes. Don't sweat it buddy." Caleb said honestly and Ryan nodded his head accepting that Caleb doesn't have hard feelings about all that went down.

"I would've offered you a beer right now, but mouth wash jelly is all I have." He pointed towards the food tray and Ryan gave him a look that made him stop talking. "You wanna get out of here in an hour, better be nice to me or I leave you here." Ryan threatened seeing the blonde smile. Ryan sat down on the couch and the two of them watched the extremely old football game, laughing at the outfits the guys wore as the bet on who will win the game.

A knock on the door made the two men shift their attention the knock coming from the door. A nurse walked in with forms he had to sign and some medication he had to take. Caleb gathered his things and the nurse pointed towards the wheelchair. She saw the confused look in both the men's eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "Hospital transportation." She smiled and Caleb sat down regardless, as Ryan took over and pushed him towards the exit.

"This is the moment I've been waiting for my whole life. Ryan Booth pushing me in a wheelchair." He laughed wondering how they look right now. As the rounded the last corner before the exit and walked the last bit to the car. "Do you know there was a really old nurse who were hitting on me the entire time." Caleb reminisced as he buckled up and they pulled out of the parking lot.

"That one with the high bun and the glasses?" Ryan asked amused looking over at him. "She got you too? And here I thought I was special." Caleb laughed when he found out they were talking about the same person.

"Thank you for this, buddy. I appreciate it." Caleb thanked his friend, fist bumping each other as they pulled up in front of the drive thru window at the burger shop.

Sorry for the delay in posting guys. Something short my uni classes starts tomorrow but I'll try posting a much as I can when I can. Also from the few reviews I got on the time jump thing some of you said it's okay if we go that route. Last chance to give me your thoughts on the idea. Thanks for reading. Lovies-S