CHAPTER 14: Back At The Hotel

It was already dark by the time we got back to the hotel. As soon as we got off the bus, all of us kids headed to the Everetts' room, and Jamie knocked on the door. It opened, and there was Diann. "Hi, kids," she said. "Come on in. Jason will be glad to see you." (Call me crazy, but when Diann answered the door, part of me expected Jamie to say "hi-hi", like he did when he was four.)

When we went in, the first thing we saw was Jason sitting cross-legged on the bed with his back to us, resting his chin on his fists, and looking out the window. "Hi, Jason," Scott said.

Jason jumped a bit, then very quickly started wiping his face with his hands. I could tell he'd been crying. "Is he okay?" I whispered to Diann.

"Aye," she answered. "He's just been through a lot, that's all."

Jason turned to face us. "Hi, you guys," he said. "How'd it go?"

"Oh, it was great, Jason!" Jamie answered excitedly. "That audience was really into it, too! They loved us!"

"That's great," Jason grinned. "I really enjoyed it, too."

"You mean...?" I asked.

Jason looked up at his mother. "We saw the competition on TV this afternoon," Diann explained.

"I heard what you said, too, Karen," Jason added. "That really meant the world to me."

I went up to Jason, knelt beside him on the bed, and cradled his chin in my hand, just like he'd done for me on the day of Andrew's bike accident. "And I meant every word," I said solemnly, resting my head against his temple. "We really do love you."

That did it. Jason started crying again, which set Natalie off, too. (No, she doesn't snort anymore. Come on, people!) She sat on his knee, wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's all right, honey," she whispered, wiping away his tears. I reached over and hugged her to me by holding onto her shirt. Before too long, we were all hugging each other, and some of us were wiping away tears, mostly because we were so glad that Jason was all right.

"Oh, on a more upnote," Bebe interrupted, "Jason's appendectomy went very well. The cab brought him back here about ten minutes after you all left this morning. In fact, that's what Daddy was telling me before you left. He wanted me to stay here to meet them. And uh—he's probably going to kill me for telling you this, but when he woke up from surgery, he started singing 'Good Morning, Starshine'."

Well, needless to say we practically gave ourselves hernias from laughing so hard. Jason got a bit of a laugh, too. "I really did do that, didn't I?" he asked sheepishly. Bebe nodded.

"Hey, don't feel too bad, Jason," Nick said, pulling himself together. "Mal told me that when I woke up after my appendectomy, I started quoting the 'Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges' bit from Blazing Saddles."

"And when Kristy had hers out, she thought she was at a BSC meeting," David Michael remembered. (By the way, Kristy once told him that if he ever told anyone, she'd personally beat the living crap out of him, but considering that he only told us, I think she should spare him of that treatment.)

"Well, anyway," Jason said, quieting us down, "I just wanted to tell you that you all did a good job, and I'm proud of each and every one of you."

"All right, kids," Diann said. "I appreciate you coming to visit, but Jason needs his rest, so I think it's time to say good night, yes?"

One at a time, we all gave Jason a hug (most of us), a kiss (the girls, Johnny, Jamie, and Andrew), or a Kristy arm-punch (most of the boys) before leaving the room. I, of course, kissed the scar on his face.

Today was such a wonderful day.