Chapter Nine

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Next day Miss Parker and Debbie went to the hospital to visit Broots. When they entered his room, Sydney was already there.

"How's he doing?" Miss Parker asked in a low voice. She walked up to Sydney and Debbie walked up to her fathers' side, taking his hand in hers.

Miss Parker looked at Sydney, and he gave her a short nod before they left the room. Debbie needed to be alone with her father.

"I…" Miss Parker started, hesitating a bit. Maybe she shouldn't tell him, but she knew Sydney was worried. "I met Jarod last night," she whispered. "He's alright."

Sydney smiled, chuckling slightly. "He was at your house?"

Miss Parker nodded.

"I'm glad," Sydney said, causing Miss Parker to give him a confused look, but soon she realized what the man was saying. He knew Jarod had been angry, and that he came to her meant they had worked it out. And the fact that The Centre hadn't heard about his visit, meant Miss Parker had no intension of bringing him in. Miss Parker sighed, great! But she couldn't help but smile a little. Did it really matter if Sydney knew? She could trust him…

All of the sudden Miss Parker heard Debbie call for her; she gave Sydney a quick look, before hurrying back to the kid.

"What?" she asked.

"Look Miss Parker, daddy is beginning to wake up!"

Miss Parker looked at Broots, and it actually looked like Debbie was right. He had begun moving a little and his eyelids quivered slightly.

A nurse came running into the room.

"What is it? Is he waking up?" Miss Parker asked. The nurse didn't answer.

"Tell me!" Miss Parker demanded. The nurse seemed nervous. "It's too early to tell, or yeah, I mean he's coming around, but it's too soon to tell if he'll slip back into the coma… we just have to wait and see, Miss," she babbled nervously.

Miss Parker glared at her, but didn't say anything. Moron! Instead she walked up to Debbie, putting her hand on the kid's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Just hold on Deb, it's gonna be alright again," she whispered.

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Visit time was over at the hospital, and Miss Parker and Debbie had been forced to go home. The nurse had promised she's call if there was some further change in Broot's condition.

Debbie was watching TV and Miss Parker kept her company, without really watching the scene on the screen. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Jarod's visit last night. She couldn't believe she had told him all these things, but somehow she felt much happier now than she's done in a long time.

"Do you mind if I'll join you?"

A male voice brought Miss Parker out of her thoughts and she quickly turned her head to see who the intruder was. Debbie did the same and a smile appeared on her lips.

"Hi Jarod!" she said, sounding a lot happier that she'd done last night.

"I heard your father is beginning to wake up," Jarod smiled at the kid.

Debbie nodded. "Yeah, we hope so anyway," she said.

"I'm sure he will," Jarod said. He sat down next to Miss Parker and looked at her. "Missed me?" he teased.

"I uh…" Miss Parker didn't know what to say. "What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to avoid the question.

"If I don't remember this wrong, you asked me to be a part of your future, and it's a little hard to do that if I'm not with you," Jarod smirked.

"I didn't say that… exactly…"

"No, but you meant it… exactly."

Miss Parker sighed.

Jarod hesitated a while before finally moving closer to Miss Parker. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. He felt her body tense. "I won't bite," he said. "Hey, Parker, it's alright… I won't hurt you, you know that don't you?" he said a bit softer as he realized his joke wasn't appreciated.

Miss Parker knew that, so why was she so tense?

"Just relax," Jarod whispered.

Miss Parker tried to do as he said, and after a while she felt her body relaxing, a little timidly she leaned her head against his shoulder. She couldn't help but smile a little as she felt Jarod's hand gently running up and down her arm. This was so nice, god, she had wanted to be able to sit like this for so long, and now it was finally happening!

They sat like this, silently watching the movie. But Miss Parker was sure Debbie was the only one who knew what it was about. Miss Parker had other things in mind than a movie right now, and she was sure Jarod had too.

All of the sudden a shrill signal from the phone broke the stillness. Miss Parker groaned, unwillingly moving away from Jarod to answer.

"It better be important, or someone is going to pay," she muttered annoyed as she picked up the phone.

"What?" her voice sounded a little too harsh, but she didn't care.

"Uh, Miss Parker?" a shy voice asked.

"Yes! What is it?" Miss Parker snapped.

"I'm calling from the hospital; it's about Mr. Broots…"


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TBC.