Chapter 13

Hal drove the family to the hospital after quickly dropping Jamie off at a babysitter. They didn't have many details, other than Reese was in critical condition. Malcolm and Dewey solemnly sat in the back seat, listening to their mother cry.

"This is all my fault" Lois wailed repeatedly. "I should have listened to you boys!"

"It's not your fault, honey. I'm just as much responsible for kicking him out as you. We had no way of knowing something like this would happen." Hal tried to console her.

Halfway through the ride, Dewey got teary eyed for the first time when the reality of the situation finally sank in for him. Malcolm wrapped his arms around his little brother in an unusual display of affection. "He's going to be fine. I know he is." He said, not allowing himself break down. He felt that he needed to stay strong for Dewey's sake. With their parents on the verge of hysteria, he was the only one the kid had to turn to for comfort.

They were met by a police officer at the hospital. A nurse escorted Lois and Hal to a private room to speak to a doctor, leaving Malcolm and Dewey in the waiting room despite their protests. "Do you feel up to answering a few questions?" The officer asked, pulling Malcolm aside.

"I guess." Malcolm agreed. "But first, how is he?"

"I'm sorry, son. I don't have any new information on your brother's condition. Your parents will let you know as soon as they finish talking to the doctor." The officer replied.

"Well how was he the last time you saw him? You're the one who found him, right?" Malcolm asked.

"My partner and I found him, but I'm not a doctor so I'm not really at liberty to give out information like that."

"Just tell me how he looked. He's my brother, damnit! I have a right to know!" Malcolm was becoming irritated because the officer kept avoiding answers to his questions.

"Malcolm, your brother…he lost a lot of blood. That's all I can tell you. Thank God a neighbor called 911 and reported hearing a gunshot when they did, or Reese wouldn't have made it this far." The officer said gravely.

Malcolm placed his head in his hands and forced back his tears before he was able to continue. "Who did this?"

"Well, that's what we're trying to find out. I was hoping you could give us some leads to look into. Can you give me the names of some of Reese's friends?"

"I don't really know." Malcolm said. "He's been seeing some girl who's into drugs. Jade. I'm pretty sure he said her name was Jade."

"Yes. We know about Jade. She lived in the house on Cedar where we found him, but we know for a fact that she didn't do it. She and two other teens were arrested yesterday for the attempted armed robbery of a convenience store. They're behind bars. Is there anyone else that Reese was involved with?"

"I don't know who else who he's been hanging out with. I haven't talked to him much lately…wait a minute…what's the address where you found him?" Malcolm asked as if he suddenly realized something important.

"385 Cedar Street." The officer replied.

"Oh my God!" Malcolm jumped to his feet. "It was Reese! I heard him say Cedar. He called and tried to tell me he was in trouble and I hung up on him. I thought it was someone playing a prank…I hung up and left him to die!"

"Calm down, son. Your brother is still alive." The officer assured him.

"Oh. come on! I'm not a child so stop treating me like I don't know what's going on! We both know he's going die. That's why they wouldn't tell us anything on the phone. It's my fault! If I'd bothered to listen instead of hanging up, someone could have got there sooner!" Malcolm yelled emotionally, causing the other people in the waiting room to look up and stare at him.

"None of this is your fault, Malcolm. And no one has said he's going to die so you have no reason to believe that. Right now, I need you to calm down so you can help us catch the person who did this." The officer spoke softly.

"I don't know anything else! Just leave me alone!" he shouted, his eyes brimming with tears. He walked over and sat next to Dewey before letting himself lose it completely.

Dewey placed his arm around Malcolm's shoulder as he cried and tried to calm him. The tables had turned and now he had to be the strong one. "I overheard what happened. This isn't your fault so stop beating yourself up, Malcolm. Even if you didn't hang up, it probably wouldn't have made much difference…Earlier, you said he's going to be okay and I believed you. Now you just have to believe it yourself."

XXXXX

The hours passed slowly as the Wilkerson's waited for an update on Reese. Malcolm and Dewey learned that he was in surgery when their parents returned from talking to the doctor. They were removing the bullet from his side and giving him blood transfusion. The doctors were optimistic that the wound itself was not life threatening, but they seemed concerned about the large amount of blood that he'd lost. They refused to say anything else until after the surgery.

Everyone was still very upset, but they had managed to get control over their emotions for the moment. Malcolm flipped through his twentieth magazine while Dewey slept soundly against his shoulder. Hal and Lois held hands and pretended to concentrate on the TV that was in the waiting room.

"How is he? I got here as fast as I could!" Francis asked anxiously as he ran through the doors of the emergency room. Lois and Hal got up to exchange hugs with their oldest son.

"He's still in surgery. We don't know any more than we told you on the phone." Lois said.

"It's been over five hours since I talked to you. You haven't heard anything yet? Are these damn people even doing anything around here?" Francis shouted furiously.

"They'll let us know something as soon as they can. Getting mad won't make them move any faster, Francis." Hal reasoned.

"I tried to tell you something like this would happen! You shouldn't have kicked him out!" Francis diverted his anger toward his parents without thinking.

"I know! I'm a horrible mother and I'll never forgive myself." Lois started to cry again into Hal's shoulder.

"We don't need you to lay a guilt trip on us right now, Francis." Hal snapped. "We're going through enough hell as it is!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…it just slipped out….Look, you're right. We can't change what happened so let's just forget about it. He's going to get through this. Reese is tough." Francis said, feeling terrible for upsetting them even more.

"Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson?" A young doctor appeared at the waiting room door.

"Yes?" Hal and Lois rushed over to talk to him.

"We're all very sorry to keep you waiting so long for a report, but there were some complications. Reese crashed during surgery…"

XXXXX

A/N: Wow, thanks for all the new reviews! You guys made my day! Now I feel bad about the cliffhanger…ok, not really. ;-) But since you were so nice, I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly. Only a couple more to go, I think. In the meantime, I'll let you ponder Reese's fate a little while longer…