Chapter 6The Place You Call Home

Nathan, Lucas, Dan, Jes, Brooke and Haley all sat in the waiting room at the local hospital. They had been there for around a half hour and still no doctor had seen Jes. Jes sat in-between Nathan and Lucas with her head on Nathan's shoulder. She wasn't asleep but she wasn't saying anything either. "This is crazy," Dan said throwing up his hands. "Can't they see she is hurt, I am going to go find someone right now." As Dan stood to leave a doctor came into the waiting room and said "I'm looking for Jesalyn Whitney." Jes raised her head off Nathan's shoulder. "That's me." The doctor smiled, "Alright Ms. Whitney we are going to take good care of you. I will need to ask you a few questions about how you got injured. Are you prepared to answer them?" Everyone looked at Jes, who nodded yes. "Very well, I will make sure that an officer is here to meet you when you come back from X-Ray." With that the doctor had Jes sit in a wheel chair and led her off to the X-Ray room. The remaining five sat quietly for a few moments, almost as if no one dare say anything. Dan finally cleared his throat, "You boys can go home now if you want." Nathan and Lucas gave him the patented Scott death glare. "I'm going to stay until I know she is alright." Nathan said. He then added "Hales, you can go home and get some sleep if you want." Haley looked at her husband and immediately felt guilty for her jealousy over Jes. She could see how much Nathan needed her right now, how confused he was. "Nope, if you stay I stay, besides it's not like I would be able to sleep anyway." Brooke and Lucas gave each other a look of acknowledgment. "We're staying," Brooke said with a note of defiance in her voice. "Kids there isn't anything more you can do tonight, you might as well get some sleep, I'm not sure if they will even let her out of the hospital tonight." Dan said encouraging them to leave. Nathan spoke, anger growing in his voice "And what if they do let her out, where is going to go then? She can't go back home." "Nathan, do you honestly think I would let her go back home? If she gets released tonight then she will stay at my house." "No dad, she won't. I said I was going to make sure she was alright. Any child that lives in that house isn't alright. If she gets released tonight she will come home with me and Haley."

About an hour later Jes was sitting in a hospital room surrounded by doctors and police officers. "Ms. Whitney," the first doctor said "Is there anyone waiting for you that you want us to get?" Jes, smiled in spite of herself, "My brothers and my dad." The doctor nodded and went off to find the others.

Another ten minutes had passed before Nathan, Lucas, and Dan entered her room. "Are you her immediate family, because only immediate family is allowed in here," the nurse who was hooking up her IV said. "They are," Jes assured the nurse. The original doctor who had taken her to X-Ray came back in. "I'm glad to see that your family was located Ms. Whitney. Now I need to talk to you about the extent of your injuries. You have suffered a dislocated jaw, which we are prepared to set back into place in a few minutes. Hence, all the medication you are now receiving. You are a very lucky girl Ms. Whitney because there is no fracture, which means no surgery. The police told me that you gave them your statement. They are very concerned about the situation you are in. We are going to keep you tonight, but is there anyone you can stay with when we release you tomorrow? Also, I would like to know if you have heard from your mother at all, because the police would like to get a statement from her too." Jes shook her head "I haven't heard from my mother, and her phone is turned off. She usually gets dr..." Jes let her voice trail off. The doctor was oblivious to it all. "She usually does what, honey?" Jes took a deep breath "She usually gets drunk after something like this has happened. So my best guess would be that she is at a bar somewhere." The doctor just continued nodding his head "Now, do you have someone to stay with?" Nathan spoke, before Dan got the chance, "She can stay with me." The doctor jotted down the notes and left the room. The three Scott's followed suit because Jes was going to have her jaw set back into place.

"What was that Nathan?" Dan exclaimed.
"Nothing, dad I was just protecting her."
"From her father?" Dan asked an incredulous look on his face. When Dan showed so much surprise Lucas couldn't help himself, he began to laugh. Nathan didn't see the humor in the situation and continued his fight with Dan.
"Yes from you. I think she deserves to know what kind of a person you actually are, from the people who have lived through it. If she wants to come live with you after she hears about everything you've done, then that's her mistake to make. But I am going to make sure she knows the truth."

The Next Morning

"Good morning Ms. Whitney, how are you feeling today?" the doctor asked.
"I'm pretty sore." The doctor waved his hand dismissively. "That is to be expected, you went through quite the ordeal. Now I need you to sign right here and you are free to go. Your brother should be here any moment to pick you up." Nathan, Haley, Lucas and Brooke walked through the door just at the exact moment the doctor had finished talking. "Well, it looks like everything is all set now. You have a good day Ms. Whitney and get some rest." Jes looked at the group who had come to her rescue and thought to herself I am going to find a way to repay them for everything. "Come on, little sister, lets go home," Nathan said helping her to her feet. As she walked down the hall Haley linked arms with her on the right side and Brooke linked arms on the left. The two boys walked behind, both wondering what they had got themselves into. When they reached the car, the three girls slid into the backseat while the boys got in up front. As Nathan started up the car, Brooke and Haley each squeezed a hand and said "Everything's going to be alright now, you're with us."