Love the reviews and I'm really getting into the exciting part of the story so hopefully the updates will continue to flow. I am working on the next chapter that includes Race Wars and part of the hijacking and will have it posted in a day or so. Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 53

The phone rang loud in the Toretto house. Dom jumped from bed to answer it. He was anxiously waiting for a call from Vince or Leon. "Hello."

Vince cleared his throat and spoke, "Hey brother."

"What the fuck is going on? Jesse told me that Sky's in the hospital."

"No. We're at a hospital, but she's not the one that's hurt. What we have is a fucked up situation. Leon's mom's still in surgery and…"

"Whoa hold up. Leon's mom, where the hell did she come from? Leon ain't seen her since…"

"Yeah I know when the last time they seen each other was and I'd rather not bring that shit up, not after what I saw tonight. When I get home I'll tell you the whole story, but right now I just can't go through it. Besides that's not why I'm calling, I need Jess to drive down here in my car."

"Your car, why not his?"

"Because I'm gonna leave my car for Sky and drive hers back. It's complicated just have Jesse bring my car."

"You need anything else?"

"Nah, later brother."

"Later." Dom hung up the phone and got dressed. He hated not knowing the full story and decided to drive the car himself.

He pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and at once noticed the team's cars as they stuck out like a sore thumb. Hospitals always made Dom feel uneasy. Since his mom spent the last months of her life hooked up to machines fighting cancer he had been unable to set foot in a hospital. That was until Sky got shot. He had gone with Vince and Vince's mom to identify Mrs. Thomas' body and to look in on Sky. It took all he had not to bolt from the place when he saw Sky hooked up just like his mom had been. Dom shook his head and walked through the doors. He made his way to the desk and asked the receptionist to page Vince to the lobby. Vince appeared a few minutes later. "Thought I'd bring you the car, Jesse is busy at the shop getting my car ready for Race Wars."

"Come upstairs with me then and I'll tell you the whole story." Vince directed Dom to the main elevators and they rode up to the intensive care unit. A lobby had been set up for families of patients in the ICU. Vince motioned for Dom to sit down and went through the whole story or at least as much as he knew. Dom sat stunned unable to find the words. Vince clued Dom into the fact that now Leon had responsibility for the care of his brothers until his mom got out of the hospital.

"How the hell are we gonna get in practice time and get the girls more street time before the weekend?" Dom knew that neither Letty nor Sky were ready to race for money and Mia wanted to race some amateurs herself.

"Hell I don't have a clue. I don't even know if Leon and Sky are gonna race this weekend."

"They have to. The job has been set up and there's no turning back. We don't do the job and the kids will be the least of our worries."

"Shit. What more can go wrong?"

"Don't say that. We got enough bad luck going for us."

A nurse came into the room to check the boys' vitals, "Your children are adorable." She said assuming that Leon and Sky were the boys' parents.

Sky went to correct the nurse, but Leon spoke up, "Thanks, they're my brothers actually."

"Really?" The nurse said in disbelief. "The way the little one clings to her you'd think that was his momma."

"He is attached." Leon laughed as he watched Caleb struggle farther up into Sky's arms to get away from the nurse checking over him.

The nurse wrote the boys' information into the charts, "Let me know if you need anything, I'll be on duty until 7am."

Leon turned to Sky, "You gonna be ok with them while I go check on my mom."

"Yeah baby I can handle them. Nicky is sound asleep and Caleb will be soon enough."

"I'll be right back." Leon opened the door and paused to look back, "You know I love you right."

"Yes and I love you too."

The nurse at the desk looked up from her paperwork and smiled at him, "How are your little brothers?"

"Good, a little banged up, but good. How's my mom?"

"Little change from before although she is awake and talking. I think she'll be just fine. It's going to be a while before she can chase after children, but otherwise she should bounce back. She was very lucky. Normally a laceration to the liver as severe as hers would have meant death. A guardian angel must be watching over her. You can go back if you'd like. A couple of your friends are inside with her now."

Leon nodded and walked to his mom's room. Inside he found Vince and Dom telling her all about the team and what he had been up to in the years they had been apart. "Hey."

All three looked up at him standing in the doorway. His mom smiled taking in the sight of the boy she left so long ago that was now a man. "You're a sight for sore eyes." She held her hand out for him. Leon reluctantly took her hand afraid to get close to her in case she ran away again.

Dom stood up and moved towards the door, "We're going to give you guys some time alone."

Vince stood up from his seat, "Look here is the keys to my car. There are two car seats in the back for the boys. There's also a bag of clothes for them both. Can I get you something else before I go?"

"Damn V you did all that," Leon said stunned by his friends generosity.

"You're my brother dawg. I'd do anything for ya."

"How are you getting home?"

Dom spoke up from the door, "We're taking Sky's car home."

Leon took out his car keys, "Here Dom do me a favor and take the Skyline too. Me and Sky'll ride home together."

"No problem." Dom took the keys from Leon and he and Vince left the room.

"You have very nice friends Leon." Lois said as she patted Leon's hand.

"If it wasn't for them I'd be dead you know that. You left me when I needed you most. Sky and I had to hitchhike to LA. She almost died on me." Leon let go of his mom's hand and walked across the room. "I had to take her out of the hospital because they were sending her away. After everything we did to get away she was ripped away from me anyway. Do you understand that? If you had stayed you could've got custody of her and she wouldn't have gone through the shit. She'd of been safe."

"Leon I did what I thought was best."

"You ended up back with the motherfucker." He raised his voice to his mother something he had never done before. "I hate you for that. Do you understand what I'm saying? I love you cause you gave birth to me, but that's it. I hate you for taking off on me."

"Son you have to understand that I never meant to end up back with him. He promised that he quit drinking and that everything would get better."

"This his idea of better?" Leon turned to look out the window, "You're all cut up and my brothers, my brothers are lying in hospital beds."

"There's nothing more I can do but say sorry."

"That's your answer for everything isn't it? I'm taking the boys back to LA with me and when you get better and can take care of yourself we'll set you up with a place to live." Leon walked out of the room fighting back tears. He rushed back to Sky. He needed her now more than ever. She greeted him with open arms and held him close as his tears poured out.