Chapter 6

Alan held Charlie in the waiting room. He held him for the need to feel a son, for the need to comfort him. For Charlie's own need to be supported. They disengaged and sat back on the plastic seats. Megan was sitting across from them. Her strong eyes fixed Alan with a gaze that gave him strength. He could see why Don valued her so much. Her presence was subtle yet the effect was great. She hadn't spoken , she'd simply guided Charlie into the waiting room , stood back while father and son embraced. Her quiet concern touched them both, gave them the breath they needed to carry on. For Don.

Alan had been with Don from the ambulance to the trauma room. He'd kept his son awake, certainly not alert, but at least awake. As they had moved him from the gurney to the bed he seemed to suddenly become more aware and panicked again. Alan had watched as the nurses and Doctor had tried to calm him, he was trying to roll away from them, moaning for help, begging them to leave him alone. One of the nurses mentioned restraints and with that Alan pushed past her and grabbed Don's left hand in both of his. Don seemed to search the abyss for the source of the touch so Alan again began to stroke Don's forehead and hair. He relaxed and his breathing evened out. The nurse glanced at Alan and the Doctor raised his eyes to her. Restraints weren't necessary when you had bonds like this. They had gone to work on Don. Alan moved around the bed, still with his hand on Don's head. He watched as a nurse removed Don's pants, another cut away his shirt. Alan blinked against the tears as he saw the bruises covering Don's torso, he looked away as the bullet wound was revealed. The Doctor was saying something to the nurse but Alan concentrated on the feel of his son beneath his hand. Concentrated on making Don feel safe.

Suddenly alarms beeped loudly and sirens went off , the Doctor moved Alan to the side, a nurse started to guide him out of the room, he couldn't look away this time. They were readying the paddles , the nurse became insistent and her guidance became a shove as Alan was removed from the room. The last sight of his son was his body arcing up from the bed. Then slamming back down.

Don had been aware of movement, been aware of his father. Or at least the comfort the soothing voice and reassuring hand had given him. But then it had gone, suddenly he was alone and cold. So cold. He'd felt hands on him, one touched his shoulder, another touched his hand and he could bear it no more. He'd tried to get away, get back to Charlie's house, to his family. They wouldn't hurt him like this. Hands , hands all over him, cold gloved hands pushing him down. HURTS! TOO MUCH PAIN. Don wasn't one to beg but right now he was pleading with all his strength , what little he had left. He knew his voice was muffled. Didn't know why. Warm hand, warm hand in his, warm hand in his hair , on his brow. Dad.

Charlie watched his father, he was pacing back and forth. They hadn't heard anything for the past twenty minutes. Alan hadn't wanted to but he'd told them Don had crashed. Charlie could see that his father had told him because he'd needed reassurance. Charlie had been about to offer numbers. Statistics. Instead he'd stood and held his father.

Megan came back with a cup of water for them both. She had needed to walk. Do anything. The sitting was too much. Watching Alan pace, watching Charlie disappear inside, or at least she thought he was, until he'd stood and wrapped his arms around Alan. They were a strong family. Each made whole by the other. Megan thought of her own family. The bond she had with her brother was strong, they'd both had to grow up pretty quickly thanks to an alcoholic father. When he'd finally gotten help he'd realised how much he'd lost. Neither child could look at him for months once he'd returned home from the clinic. They would help him, talk to him, listen to him, but neither would truly look at him, look into him. Not like they would at each other. Megan's older brother had become her father figure at a young age. As long as she had Sean she was whole. Now that Sean had Anne and Billy it didn't seem to lessen his love or time for her. They still saw their father, but only as a token visit once a month. She envied Don, envied Charlie. They may have lost their mother but the relationship that developed between the three was a positive outcome to their pain. Their pain, Megan sighed, please don't let them have to suffer more grief.

The Doctor walked up and placed his hand on Alan's arm to still his pacing. He looked at him and he smiled. The relief Charlie felt in that smile almost brought him to tears , but there'd be time for that later.

"Mr Eppes, Don's still with us. We're going to be taking him up to the OR in about ten to fifteen minutes. He's lost a lot of blood which is what caused his heart to fail. We brought him back easy enough though ."

"You need to operate?" Charlie stood next to his father, leaned in toward him.

"The bullet is still lodged in Don's shoulder. We need to remove it and check for further damage, the wound also needs to be cleaned to try to prevent any infection. We've x-rayed his hand and he has three broken bones and two broken fingers. He has internal bleeding which we hope will rectify itself"

At the look of surprise on the men in front of him the Doctor placed a hand on each Eppes.

"We don't want to cause his body anymore trauma than needs be. Statistically the body will repair any internal damage itself. If it doesn't then we'll see about operating again but his internal injuries don't seem to be too serious. He does have three broken ribs but his lungs are intact and working fine. We're treating him for the shock but he still isn't very aware of his surroundings so I'd like you to come and sit with him until it's time for him to be moved. If that's alright ?"

"Of course"

Charlie moved to walk with his father but the Doctor laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Please wait here, I can only allow one person into the room for now. You'll be able to see Don on the way to the OR."

Alan hugged Charlie and followed the doctor toward the trauma room. Charlie was unsure what to do, he felt hands guiding him back to the chair , Megan kept her arm around him and they both sat, waited. In silence.

Don had become aware of voices, so many voices. All talking over him. He felt like he was below them. On the floor maybe? He tried to ask but something was preventing the sound. He moved his arm toward his face and the pain came back for an encore. His eyes shot open and he looked straight up into the kind eyes of a nurse. She had gray hair and the warmest smile he'd seen. She reminded him of his own mother. She held the oxygen mask firmly over his face and rubbed her thumb back and forth.

Don tried to look around , there were two more people looking him over. His clothes had been removed? When had that happened? He frowned as he realised they'd probably cut his favourite jeans. He felt cold but resisted the urge to shiver. Movement caused pain. He wasn't about to move for a long, long while.

Why was he laying down? His mind still hadn't allowed him to remember the days events. It held back on that titbit knowing that now wasn't the best moment to relay that information to it's owner. He reached over with his broken hand, trying to find his father. His hand felt heavy and cumbersome but still he searched.

Alan walked into the room and immediately placed his hands around Don's forearm and guided his right hand back to the bed. He cupped Don's face and gently turned his head . Their eyes locked and Alan saw Don smile beneath the oxygen mask.

"Shhhh my boy, it's ok. You're going to be fine. These people are doing a great job looking after you. Do you hear me Donnie?"

"Mmm hmm"

Don blinked up at his father and tried to raise his hand again. He wanted to touch him, make sure he was real. So much in the past day had been a blur. He needed to know this was no allusion. Alan again, carefully lowered Don's hand down , this time keeping his own over his forearm, preventing any further movement. A Nurse lent over Don and checked the bandage on his shoulder. Alan was taken aback by how much she looked like Margaret. She walked around the bed and brought a chair over to him, he gratefully sat and returned her kind smile.

"Dad?"

The voice was muffled but Alan heard him none the less.

"Donnie?"

"Hurts"

"I know my boy, I know"

Alan looked to the nurse who was adjusting one of the IV's , smiled at him and again he was struck by the warmth .

"I can't give you anymore pain meds Don. You need to focus on your father. You'll be able to sleep soon I promise. Just talk to your father."

Don nodded weakly and turned his gaze back to Alan.

"Home?"

"Soon Donnie, you'll be home soon I promise. I'll take care of you, Charlie and I will take care of you"

A tear escaped from Don's eyes and matched the path Alan's own tears where making. He looked so pale, so pale and weak. Alan wanted nothing more than to hold his boy in his arms, gently rock him back to sleep. Take his pain away and make him whole again. He stood and placed a kiss on Don's forehead. Don closed his eyes and savoured the touch. If he could he would have hugged his father. Instead he could do no more than allow another tear to fall.

Alan stroked his hand through Don's hair. He noticed a stain of dried blood on his cheek and tried to rub it away. The kind nurse tapped his shoulder and he gratefully accepted the antiseptic wipe she offered.

"I'm Sandy by the way."

"Alan"

"Your son is in good hands Alan. He's a strong healthy man and that goes a long way. Plus he has you and from I can see that's going to get him through this."

"That's kind of you to say Sandy"

"I've been told Don here is an FBI Agent"

Alan wiped more blood away from Don's cheek, carefully lifting the oxygen mask slightly to clear away the last of the stain. He used his thumb to remove the third tear that threatened to fall and Don gave him a tired smile from behind the mask.

"He's a very good FBI Agent, you know he saved a little girl yesterday"

"Really? Well you must be very proud"

"I am , so , so very proud"

"Mmm 'sy"

"What's that Donnie?"

Sandy lifted the mask so that Don could repeat his words.

"Proud and bossy"

Alan gave a tired laugh and held Don's face again.

"Yes , proud, bossy, and more than willing to kick your butt if you get cheeky again. Don't think that just because you're here in this hospital that I won't"

Don smiled again and allowed his eyes to close for a few seconds. He felt Sandy's hand on his chest gently shaking him.

"Not yet Don, keep awake for a couple more minutes"

The Doctor came into the room with a female Doctor Alan hadn't seen before followed by a gurney and another nurse.

"Mr Eppes , this is Cynthia McLeary, she'll be operating on Don"

"Hi Mr Eppes. From your son's x-rays this shouldn't be too complicated a procedure but it still may take awhile so you'll be shown to a family room once we're upstairs. "

"Ok, thank you"

The two Doctors stood on the other side of Don and began discussing him as though neither he nor Alan were there. Alan concentrated on distracting Don, who was looking at the two with a confused expression. His breathing had quickened again so Alan continued to talk to him, calm him.

"Charlie's outside Donnie, he'll be with us on the way upstairs, then you'll see us all again when you come back"

Don nodded . It was all becoming such a blur. Too many voices talking. But he heard his father. Knew he was safe.

Sandy had disconnected the various equipment around Don and placed it between his legs on the sheet, then carefully he was lifted to the gurney. Alan had moved around the bed and held onto Don's left hand. He felt him weakly cling onto his fingers, just as he had done when he was a baby. Alan breathed deep as they entered the corridor, he could see Don was attempting to make out his surroundings . Where was he going now? Every time he got settled someone moved him. At least his father was here. His one remaining constant. Well , second to the pain that was. Why they couldn't just knock him out he didn't know. He became aware of another voice. Another hand, this one on his shoulder, squeezing gently. So familiar. He tried to look over to see but the world was rushing by too fast. Then everything stopped. They weren't moving. Finally, he thought. Fed up of being jostled, every time they moved him the pain lurking in the distance made a rush forward. Not all the way, something held back the main attack, but enough got through his defences.

Charlie kept his hand on Don's shoulder. He looked over at his father and saw how scared Alan was. Megan had gone to call David and said she'd follow them soon. Charlie knew she was giving the family their time. She was something. Don was lucky. Heck, Larry was lucky.

They moved inside the elevator, Don, Charlie, Alan ,the nurse and a Doctor. Two on one side two on the other. Don safely protected in the middle. Charlie bent forward and tried to catch his big brothers eye.

Don was aware of different movement this time, not forward, but up. He'd given up trying to figure out what the hell was going on, it was all so confusing. Every few minutes his mind would clear and he'd know where he was, who was with him. But then the focus would slip and everything became a little off centre. Seemed to happen in slow motion. He felt hands on his face again and with all his last remaining energy he focused upward.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah, it's me bro. You're ok"

"I know buddy, be good. Look after Dad till I get back"

"I think we'll be looking after you first Don"

"I'm ok, I'll be ok Charlie"

"I know Don. You have no choice" Charlie swallowed back his tears. "You have no choice because you have to be fine. I won't allow any other outcome."

"The numbers say so?"

"Yeah bro, the numbers say so"

"ss Gd Charl"

Charlie squeezed Don's shoulder again and stepped out of the lift. They walked down a long corridor . The entourage stopped in front of two large dark doors and the Doctor turned to the standing Eppes men.

"We'll have him back to you as soon as we can"

"Thank you"

Alan lent forward and kissed Don's forehead again. Charlie followed suit and stood by his father as they watched Don being taken away from them, through the doors and beyond. The two stood in the corridor for a few minutes. Arm around each other.

"This way to the waiting room"

Sandy had followed in a second lift, this family had touched a chord with her and she needed to make sure they were ok. They reminded her so much of her own sons. A little younger than these two but so similar. Her boys had gone off to college , James first, then a year later Thomas had followed to the same school. Her husband had died twelve years previously. Taken by lung cancer at an unfair age. Alan reminded her of Peter. He had the same kind eyes. So expressive. So full of pain at this moment. She guided them to the sofa and offered them coffee. Both refused.

"There's a canteen not far from here, easy directions to follow. Make sure you get something to eat. This operation will take a few hours so you'll need to use the time to gain your strength. That's an order"

Both men looked up at her a little shocked, Alan's smile was the first to appear. Charlie, once he checked his fathers reaction, smiled also.

"Well you take no prisoner's do you Sandy"

"No sir I don't, make sure you eat, I'll be up later to check on you"

"Thank you for all your help today. It means so much to us"

"No problem. I'll see you later"

Alan and Charlie sat in silence in the room. For a small room it seemed so large with only the two of them there. Two sofa's and four chairs scattered between. Magazines which held no interest and a TV by the ceiling in the far left corner. Neither man felt like watching but the noise of a baseball match seemed so familiar. Charlie turned to his father, his eyes full of tears.

"Don would have liked to have seen this game"

"Yes, yes he would have"

Charlie lost himself in Alan's arms. Both cried until they felt their soul's ache. The stresses of the last day too much to carry, they found strength in each others arms. A strength they would need for Don.

Don watched as people busied themselves around him. He was lying on a very uncomfortable bed in the middle of a very white, sterile room. He felt so cold and alone. Where was his father? He needed to feel those safe hands keeping him anchored. Someone was talking to him , telling him to count backwards. Why? Charlie would have loved that, he'd have gladly counted back in any number formations they could challenge him. He used to love running into a room when he was little , saying he could count backwards, forwards and upside down in any way they wanted. Each would take a turn, Don always trying to give the most complicated challenge. His little brother always stood proudly and accepted the challenge, his reward being a piggy back ride or a spin on Don's shoulders. Until the time he spun his little brother into the coffee table and spent the evening being reprimanded by his mother while Charlie nursed a very black eye.

He felt a warm sensation creeping up his arm , a tingling in his lips. Slowly his body was becoming numb. Gratefully he allowed himself to fall into the darkness, finally able to close his eyes and give in to sleep. A short while later the dreams began. Only they weren't dreams, they were memories. Reminding him of why he was in this place. Why he was away from his family.

TBC