Chapter Eight: Blanket Of Fear
A/N: Okay, quite a few people reviewed saying that Spinner might be the one to come see his daughter, but as I have said in Chapter Three, Spinner died. Look into it if you don't remember. So, it's obviously not going to be Spinner, sorry!
"He's breathing!" the paramedic said. They had been giving Jonathan mouth to mouth resuscitation for five minutes, and finally got him breathing again. Manny watched as a few people put a neck brace on her son and lift him onto a stretcher.
"Can I ride with him?" she asked a man close by.
"There's no room in the back with all the equipment," he said, shaking his head.
"You can ride in the front," the driver told her.
"Emma, can you take Lucas and Bella in my car? And call Paige!" Manny yelled out the window as they drove off, sirens blaring.
"No. You cannot be back here. You're not seeing her!" Paige yelled at her unexpected visitor.
"You can't keep her from me; she's my daughter too!" the person yelled right back at her. Paige tried to shut the door, but he stuck his hand out and stopped it from closing. "Let's talk about this like two adults Paige." He pushed past her and sat right down on the couch in the living room.
"I don't want to talk to you. I'm going to get my husband," she said, starting towards the back of the house. Then man grabbed her arm and held her back.
"You wouldn't want to go do that now, would you? I'm guessing that you never told him about me," he said, pulling her down to sit on the couch next to him.
"What do you want from me?" Paige asked him. She was trying her best not to cry.
"You know what I want. I want my daughter." Before Paige could say anything else, the phone rang.
"Hello?" Paige answered it, glaring at the man sitting next to her. Her eyes widened as Emma told her something had happened. "I'll be right there!" she said to her and hung up the phone. "I have to go now. Get out of my house."
"Fine, but I'll be back. You can count on that," he said, silently slipping out of the door. Paige ran out into the backyard. She called Jake over to her.
"I have to go to the hospital. Jonathan's been hurt. Don't tell Lily, I want her to have some fun and not have to think about it. If things get bad, I'll have her come down," she told him.
"Okay, I'll stay here with the girls. Call me if you need anything." He kissed her quickly and she ran back into the house. She grabbed her car keys and jumped into the car, driving as fast as she could.
"We've got an eight-year-old male, diving accident. He's got a neck injury!" the paramedic called as he wheeled Jonathan's stretcher into the emergency room. Jimmy came over to intercept the latest patient.
"Jonathan?" Jimmy yells frantically.
"Daddy, it hurts!" Jonathan wailed. Tears were streaming down his face. Manny ran in, right behind them.
"Mommy's here honey," Manny said. Jonathan had regained his consciousness in the ambulance, and all Manny heard the entire time was how much pain he was in. "Please, help him!" she yelled to a doctor nearby. Jimmy put his arms around her and hugged her quickly.
"Let's go, I got this," he said, running down the hall with the stretcher. Manny followed him. Before they got to a trauma room, Jimmy's friend Jared came up.
"Jimmy, I'll take him," he said.
"No, he's my son!" Jimmy yelled.
"That's exactly why I have to take this. Your emotions might get the best of you. I got this. Go wait with your wife," Jared told him. Jimmy let his hands drop to his sides and stood with Manny, watching his son being wheeled into the room. The doors shut behind them, and Jimmy and Manny watched through the glass.
"Hey buddy," Jared said to Jonathan. "My name is Dr. Walker. What's your name?" he asked him.
"Jon," the boy told him. He was in extreme pain.
"Okay Jon, I'm going to take really good care of you. Can you tell me what hurts?" he asked calmly.
"My neck. And my back," Jonathan cried.
"Can you wiggle your toes for me?" Dr. Walker asked him. After a minute or so, he asked again.
"I did!" Jonathan cried.
"Okay, wiggle them one more time." Jonathan wiggled his toes, but they weren't moving.
"We need to get him into surgery right away," Jared informed the nurse and doctor in the room with him. "Page the O.R. and tell them we're bringing a patient up." Then he turned to Jonathan. "Okay Jon, this nice doctor is going to give you a shot, and I want you to count backwards from 100."
Jonathan did as he was told, and a few seconds later was out. Jared took hold of the stretcher and wheeled it out of the room, heading for the elevator. Jimmy tried to follow him, but Jared shook his head.
"Go wait in your office Jimmy. I'll let you know as soon as he's out of surgery," he said as the elevator doors closed behind them. Jimmy led Manny into his office and closed the door. He turned to his wife and pulled her into a loving embrace.
"He's in good hands," he assured her.
"What if he…" Manny couldn't finish her question.
"He's going to be fine," Jimmy said, trying to convince himself as well. The two of them sat down on the couch in Jimmy's office and held hands, silently praying for their son. A knock on the door made Manny jump. She got up to open it and found Chris staring back at her.
"Manny! Is he okay?" Chris asked her. Manny had just realized that he was holding Bella's car seat in his hand. He placed it on the ground and threw his arms around her. Manny hugged him back.
"He's in surgery," she cried into his chest. "I'm so scared Chris," she said, sobbing.
"Shh. Everything's gonna be alright," Chris said, stroking her hair with his left hand. Jimmy stood up and grabbed Isabella's car seat, then gently pulled Manny away from Chris and back to the couch. Manny wiped her tears a little and rested her hand on Jimmy's leg. Chris took a seat in a chair against the wall.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Jimmy asked him harshly. Manny sniffled and grabbed a tissue from the box on the shelf behind her.
"I thought Emma was bringing Bella," she said.
"She called me up and told me what happened. Then she asked me to bring Bella because she didn't feel too good. When I got to your house, she was lying on the couch asleep, with the baby in her swing. Lucas was sitting in a chair watching TV. I didn't want to wake her up, so I just left a note and took Bella," he explained.
"Thanks, but you can go now," Jimmy said, glaring at him.
"Just because you don't want me here, doesn't mean that I'm going to leave. You seem to forget that Jonathan is my son. I am his father; not you," Chris said, throwing him an equally unpleasant look.
"You haven't even been there for him!" Jimmy yelled, starting to get really angry.
"Will you two just stop fighting?" Manny suddenly yelled. Both men fell silent and looked at her. "Jonathan is in surgery, probably fighting for his life, and you two are here fighting with a bunch of two-year-olds. If you don't stop, I'm going to leave!"
"I'm really sorry Manny," Chris said, getting up. He sat down on her other side. Jimmy threw him a look, but kept quiet. Chris put an arm around her and hugged her. Jimmy took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. Manny looked at the clock; they had been sitting in there for over an hour. Another knock on the door caused all three people to jump this time.
"Maybe it's the doctor," Chris said, rushing to the door. He opened it. It wasn't the doctor; it was Paige.
"Manny, I'm so sorry about what's happening!" she said, and ran over to hug her friend. "I wish I had gotten here sooner, but I stopped at your house to check on the kids and Emma," she said.
"Was she okay?" Manny asked. Paige sat in Chris' spot on the couch, and he returned to the chair he had been in earlier.
"When I got to your house, Lucas was eating a snack, and told me that Emma was in the bathroom. I knocked on the door and let myself in. She was sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around the toilet bowl. I guess she was having really bad morning sickness," Paige explained. "But then I led her back to the couch and she was really weak. I also noticed a different bruise on her other leg. I'm really worried about her." Manny stared at Paige. "I'm so dumb. Here I am, talking about Emma, when you need me more."
"No, it's okay, really. I'm worried about her too. I think I need to go talk with JT sometime soon," Manny said. She laid her head on Paige's shoulder and began to cry.
"Don't worry hun, Jonny's gonna be okay, I just know it. He's a fighter, just like you," she said.
"I hope you're right," Manny said, sighing. A third and final knock on the door made Manny start crying more. "That has to be the doctor," she said. Chris got up and opened it, and sure enough, it was Dr. Walker.
"What happened?" Jimmy and Manny said at the same time. They saw Jared's face fall and Manny started crying again.
"Is he dead?" she whispered between sobs.
"No, he's not dead," Jared assured her. "I have good news and bad news for you," Jared said.
"We want to hear the good news first," Jimmy blurted out.
"Jon's surgery went pretty well. He broke his neck, but we were able to put the bones back together. He will have to wear a neck brace for a month."
"And what's the bad news?" Manny asked, frightened. Paige held onto one of her hands, while Jimmy grasped onto the other. Jared took a deep breath and answered her.
"Jonathan is paralyzed from the waist down."
A/N: Okay, I'm not sure if doctors would be able to put bones back together in someone's neck. I do know that people don't automatically die if they break their neck. It depends on the way it is broken. In Jonathan's case, it wasn't severe enough to kill him.
I don't know if I've done this yet:
Disclaimer: I do now own Degrassi or any of its characters. I do own Lily, Lucas, Jonathan, Sera (who died), Avery, Maia, Jake, Chris,and Emma's baby when he/she is born.
