A/N~Well it has been a bit... I am sorry for the delay. I would love to blame the holidays and the chaos of the season but honestly Covid kicked my ass more than I realized. I am still struggling so if you could bear with me I'd appreciate it. I hope there is still an audience for this as I still very much love this story. Anyway let me know in the comments what you all think.
Trent didn't feel the pull of the muscles in his back as he jogged down the hallway to where Jason was standing with Mandy in his arms. The distinctive shake of her shoulders caused fear to course through his entire being. Jason looked up and their eyes met as Trent slowed his pace.
"What happened?" He asked it in a rushed tone.
"I'm not sure. We were sitting with him and all the monitors started going crazy." Jason's hand drew circles on Mandy's back as he spoke to Trent. "The nurses and doctor ran in and they kicked us out."
Trent moved to the sliding glass door and opened it without permission. He stood in the back of the room and watched the doctor order phentolamine. His mind raced as he tried to remember if the drug was to raise or lower blood pressure, he glanced to the monitors above the bed, noting the high blood pressure, before stepping closer but still on the periphery.
"Bravo 5. You need to calm down. If you can hear me please calm down." Trent kept talking as the doctor glanced up at him. "It's Trent, it's 4 and I need you to settle down."
"Keep talking. Might be the meds we're pushing, might be your voice. Just keep talking." The doctor didn't look up as he spoke.
So Trent kept talking. He told Brock they were home and safe. Not in Va Beach but damn close. He told him that everyone else was going to be just fine and that the insurrection had been dealt with. He talked about anything that popped into his mind and kept his voice as steady as he could. Finally he told him as tears ran down his face how sorry he was that he had no idea how much pain Brock had been in. How if he'd known he would have followed him into the night to wherever he was going. He felt his chest tighten as he spoke to his struggling brother about a baby he had just found out was coming and how that baby would need their Uncle Brock to get them through life. He begged and pleaded and said anything he could think of including a choked out 'please don't leave me.'
"He's stablized." The doctor stepped closer as Trent sobbed. "Let's sit."
"I'm sorry." He wiped at his face and desperately tried to compose himself.
"You don't have to apologize. You did exactly what I told you to do." He sat in the chair next to Trent. "Believe it or not I think this incident might be the best news you all have recieved. He responded to your voice, is it Trent or do you prefer 4?"
Relief washed over him and caused the tears to return. "Trent works." He glanced into the hallway. "If they see me crying... I'm the damn medic."
"Pull yourself together and I'll update them." The doctor stood.
"Thank you." Trent wasn't sure he had ever been more grateful in his life but then Serena's face filtered through his mind and he realized he had.
"You can keep talking to him if you want." The doctor smiled. "But if you need a break that's okay too." He stepped from the room.
Trent sat completely still for an instant before leaning forward and taking Brock's hand into his own. "You scared the fuck outta me."
Jason and Mandy stepped back into the room as Trent sat holding Brock's hand. Jason stood behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder squeezing gently. "Hey."
Trent looked up with red ringed eyes. "Hey." He let his eyes drift back to Brock. "You understand what's happening?"
"The doctor said his vitals responded to your voice." Jason continued to squeeze and release Trent's shoulder gently.
Trent nodded slowly. "My back hurts." He glanced up at Jason and Mandy who was silently staring. "Mandy you can talk to him."
"Yeah." She didn't look at either of them as she whispered the word.
Trent looked up at Jason. "Mandy do you want a few minutes alone?" She answered him with a nod and he stood with his left hand on his lower back.
"You good?" Jason asked the question as soon as they had left the room.
Trent shook his head slightly. "I need my wife. Probably as much as she needs me. Clay apologized for shoving me. She heard too much right before I came here."
Jason nodded at him. "I actually meant the way you're half hunched over and holding your back."
"Oh." Trent half smiled. "Inflammation, bruising, and strained muscles. I had it checked out." He pulled the medication from his pocket and handed it to Jason who raised an eyebrow. "It's an anti-inflammatory. They wanted to give me something for the pain too, I declined."
"I'm glad you went." Jason handed the pill bottle back to him.
"Naima." Trent smiled.
"Yeah. Go home. We've got him." Jason glanced back into the room.
"Call if anything changes. Don't care what time." Trent looked directly at him.
Jason stepped back to the sliding glass door while nodding. He looked inside and watched as Mandy slowly took Brock's hand into her own. He could see her mouth moving and decided to wait to enter.
Inside the room Mandy held his hand tightly. "Brock, oh Brock. I'm so sorry. I sorry for everything." She felt tears running down her face. "And if you wake up. If you are still you I promise I will spend the rest of my life making amends."
Jason silently stepped into the room unsure of himself in a way he rarely felt. He exhaled loudly to let her know he was present before stepping closer. "He's gonna be okay, Mandy."
"Yeah.." She looked up at him with tear streaked cheeks. "But will I?"
"You will." Jason smiled lightly. "What choice is there?"
"I'm not sure anymore." She looked away.
Trent stood in the hallway watching the two interact for a moment while rubbing circles into his lower back with his thumb before turning to leave. He exhaled slowly and took a few steps before turning back. He stood still in the hallway wondering if he had ever felt more like he belonged in two places before he finally allowed himself to leave the hospital.
He drove too fast on the way home. Accelerated into the turns. Looked both ways at the red lights instead of waiting for the green signal. He gripped the wheel with white knuckles. The radio too loud. The windows down too far for a cold December night. He knew he was taking chances he shouldn't but he did it anyway. Until he finally pulled into the lot outside his complex and threw the truck into park before it was fully stopped.
By the time he made it back to his apartment his back was throbbing with every beat of his heart. He slid the key into the lock turning it while exhaling. The opening door revealed the dim lights of his living room.
Serena was curled in the recliner sleeping with a throw blanket gently wrapped around her shoulders. Clay was laying back sideways asleep on the couch with his wounded leg stretched across Sonny's lap. Sonny was staring at Trent.
"They lowered his sedation. He is breathing over the vent. They may be able to extubate him tomorrow as they lower the settings and allow him to do more of the work of breathing." Trent sat on the edge of the recliner reaching in his pocket he pulled out the pill bottle and dry swallowed one.
"So he's better? You don't seem happy about this?" Sonny shifted carefully and without moving Clay.
"He heart rate skyrocketed. He responded to meds and my voice but... but there is no guarantee he will still be Brock." Trent glanced at Serena as she made a small noise in her sleep. "Neither will feel good in the morning if we let them sleep like this."
"But there's no guarantee he won't." Sonny watched him shift uncomfortably in the dim light. "Ya ever feel like this shit is all too much?" He said it in a whisper his hand on Clay's leg.
"Honestly? No I don't." Trent looked at him with sad but determined eyes. "And neither do you. It's just hard trying to piece them back together. You know if they could go back and live a different life Brock would still have picked up the leash and Clay the rifle. None of us would choose differently."
"Why you always gotta be right?" Sonny yawned. "Should probably get these two to bed."