Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. If it makes you all feel any better, it's pretty long! If that doesn't make you feel any better...then I'll just go find somewhere to hide and hope you all don't come after me. Lol. But here is that next chapter, that you guys have been waiting for! And thanks to all of you guys for your reviews, follows and favourites! They're all really appreciated!
Disclaimer: ):
Lisbon and Jane woke up of their own accord in the morning, after turning off the alarms before going to sleep.
"Feeling any better?" Jane asked, kissing Lisbon's forehead.
Lisbon nodded. She was more rested and not as upset, but she was by no means perky.
"Would you like me to make us all some breakfast? You can stay here if you want."
"No." Lisbon mumbled and shook her head.
"You can come make breakfast with me, then. Chocolate chip pancakes. How does that sound?"
The corners of Lisbon's mouth turned up in the barest hint of a smile that almost reached her eyes. "Melody's favourite."
"Exactly. Start the day off well and hope it gets better from there. We'll give the hospital a call, too. See what's going on and figure out our game plan before we wake Melody up. Sound good?"
Lisbon nodded and they both got out of bed lazily. However, once they stepped out the door, Lisbon stopped. She looked across the hall at the closed door that blocked off Melody's room from view. Jane turned and looked at Lisbon.
"Go sit with her. I'll start breakfast myself."
Lisbon looked at him, surprised.
Jane pulled her into a hug and whispered, "It's clear you need to be with her. It's fine. I'll be right downstairs making breakfast. You go be with her."
Lisbon gave a small nod. "Thank you."
"It's not a problem." Jane kissed her lips sweetly before reluctantly stepping away and heading downstairs.
Lisbon watched him go for a moment before turning her attention back to Melody's room, walking across the hall, opening the door and poking her head in. She saw Melody still sleeping, so she quietly stepped in and closed the door behind her before making her way over to sit on the side of Melody's bed. Lisbon's heart clenched when she noticed the faded tear tracks on Melody's cheeks and how even in sleep, Melody wasn't peaceful. She gently rubbed her thumb over Melody's cheek and tucked some hair behind the young girl's ear. "It's going to be okay." Lisbon whispered. "I promise. We're going to make it through this. We love you." She kissed Melody's forehead and Melody stirred, trying to snuggle closer to Lisbon. "We're going to have a yummy breakfast and then we're going to try and have a good day." Lisbon said, even though Melody wasn't awake to hear her. She gave Melody one more kiss before she got up and left to join Jane in the kitchen.
"Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Bye." Jane pressed the end call button and placed the phone on the table as Lisbon entered the kitchen. He smiled at her as he walked over and gave her a hug. "Some good news. James fought through and isn't in a coma. He's not in the best shape, but at least he's not in a coma."
Lisbon sighed in relief. "Thank god." Lisbon wrapped her arms around Jane and held tightly. "I'm so glad to hear that."
"And to make this morning that much sweeter, come look at the pancakes."
"They smell good." Lisbon smiled.
"Thank you." Jane pulled her over to the stove, where some pancakes were cooking. He grabbed the spatula and flipped them to cook on the other side. "Melody still sleeping soundly?"
"She's sleeping." Lisbon gazed at the cooking pancakes.
"That doesn't sound very positive."
"She had tear tracks on her cheeks and she still looked worried in her sleep. This really impacted her. She's not going to bounce back from this as quickly as she normally would."
"I know that. This isn't a normal scenario. And I know you know that, too. But we can't smother her. That never works. Especially not with her. Maybe we'll get some take-out tonight. Watch a movie and cuddle on the couch with her. Pizza is her new favourite. We'll get some pizza."
"If only pizza could fix it." Lisbon leaned her head on Jane's shoulder.
"I know." Jane kissed her head. "But it's a place to start. We gotta start somewhere."
"I know." Lisbon sighed and they both watched the pancakes cook. When the pancakes were done, Jane and Lisbon both heard little footsteps upstairs.
"She's up." Jane glanced at the kitchen doorway as they heard the footstep descend the stairs.
Lisbon turned around and they saw Melody shuffle into the kitchen.
Melody glanced over at them and attempted a smile that looked more like an awkward grimace.
"Good morning, Melody." Lisbon said gently.
"Morning." Melody mumbled.
"We're having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast." Jane tried to sound cheery. "Who do we know that likes those?"
"I like them." Melody sounded very unenthusiastic.
"How many do you want?" Jane asked.
Melody shrugged, staring at her place mat.
Lisbon and Jane shared a look before Lisbon made her way over to Melody.
Melody eyed her aunt cautiously as she pulled up a chair.
"Sweetie, I know you're upset, but it's going to be okay." Lisbon tucked some hair behind Melody's ear. "We're going to go see him today."
Melody looked up at that news.
"We are." Lisbon smiled and nodded.
"After, can we go to the park?"
"Sure. Of course. After we'll go to the park."
"But we need some bread crumbs. Daddy and me wanted to feed the ducks."
And just as quickly as Lisbon's smile had appeared, it faded. "Melody…I don't know if Daddy is going to be leaving the hospital today."
Melody's face fell. "Why not?"
"I think he might need more rest at the hospital."
"But it…we're just feeding ducks. It's not hard. He can sleep at home. I can even make mac and cheese now. He doesn't need to stay at the hospital."
"I think he might, Melody."
"We won't know anything for sure until we get there." Jane interrupted them, placing a plateful of pancakes in front of Melody. "The sooner we eat, the sooner we can get there and find out. And I didn't make these pancakes for decoration."
-Mentalist-
"Why are we still waiting?" Melody grumbled for the millionth time.
"I don't know." Lisbon sighed.
"Be patient, Melody." Jane said.
"I have been patient for the last billion minutes."
"No, you've been complaining for the last five minutes." Jane corrected.
"Close enough." Melody folded her arms over her chest.
Lisbon chuckled.
"And what are you giggling about over there?" Jane raised a brow.
"I think I just lost my title as 'angry little princess'."
"Don't make fun of me. It was Patrick's idea for me to wear the crown."
"I thought you liked your crown." Jane pouted.
"I do like my crown. I don't like being made fun of."
"Nobody's making fun of you." Lisbon adjusted the colourful plastic on Melody's head. Admittedly, it was getting to be a bit small on her now.
A young nurse walked over to them, probably a trainee because she was so young. "Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon?"
"Why is it always your last name people use?" Jane looked over at Lisbon.
"What's wrong with our last name?" Melody demanded.
"Nothing. That's not-"
"I'm sorry." The trainee blushed. "It said you're James Lisbon's family. I thought it was the same last name and-"
"It's fine." Lisbon shook her head. "What is it?"
The trainee looked down at Melody and then back up at Jane and Lisbon. "I just need a word with you two."
Lisbon and Jane looked at each other and then glanced down at Melody.
"Sure." Jane nodded, getting up.
"We'll be right back." Lisbon told Melody. "You stay right here."
"Why can't I know, too?"
"We'll tell you after."
"Why?"
"Melody, please. I'm sure she's just going to tell us what's been taking them so long and then tell us where James is. Stay here." Then Lisbon stood up and went to join Jane and the trainee nurse.
Slowly, Melody slid off the chair when she saw that there was no attention on her. She walked steadily to the door. If no one was going to tell her where her father was, she'd go find him herself.
"Hey!" Jane called.
Melody flinched and then took off.
"Melody!" Lisbon yelled.
Melody sprinted down the hall as fast as she could. He had to be somewhere close by. The waiting rooms weren't usually far away from her father's room when he'd been here before. Rounding a corner, Melody dove into the nearest room with an open door, shutting it behind her and hoping she could hide out to figure out where she was as well as where she needed to be.
"Who are you?"
Melody jumped and whirled around to see who the voice belonged to. She saw a young girl sitting up in a bed with an IV in her arm. Melody blinked, unsure how to reply.
"Are you a princess?"
"No." Melody shook her head, confused for a moment until she remembered that she was wearing her crown.
"Well, I like your crown. It's pretty."
"Thank you."
"I'm Lillian." The young girl smiled.
"I'm Melody. Why are you in here by yourself? Are you resting?" Melody made her way over to Lillian's bedside.
"I'm waiting for my Mommy." Lillian said.
Unable to get onto the bed, Melody dragged a visitors chair over and climbed up, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Why isn't she here? And why did they take your hair? Did you donate it?"
"My mommy went to work. She's going to come see me after. My hair fell out."
"Why?"
"Because of my therapy."
Melody gave her a strange look. "Doesn't sound like good therapy."
"Well, my hair can grow back if the cancer goes away. And where are your parents?"
"I don't know." Melody shrugged. "I'm trying to find my Daddy but the hospital kept making me wait so I'm looking for him by myself now."
"You're not going to get in trouble?"
"Yeah, probably. Teresa is going to be mad."
"Who's Teresa?"
"My aunt."
"Oh. Why is your Daddy here?"
"He's sick and he fainted last night. But, I called the ambulance and now he should be okay. Did you faint?"
"No. I have surgery tomorrow and I'm not feeling good today."
"Are you scared? For your surgery?"
Lillian looked away and nodded.
Melody shifted closer to her and placed a hand on Lillian's shoulder, smiling softly. "It's okay. Lots of people have surgery and are okay. And then you can get your hair back."
Lillian smiled. "I want Rapunzel hair. Really long. My Mommy and Daddy got me a wig for my fourth birthday and I felt like Rapunzel all day."
"How old are you now?"
"I'm five in two days. My Daddy is going to come back tomorrow and then the day after we're going to have cake to celebrate."
"Where's your Daddy?"
"He's touring the world with the military. He's really brave."
Melody opened her moth to reply but was cut off by the door opening, making her jump.
"Hey, Lil-Who's this?"
Melody gave the petite blonde woman that just walked in her best 'deer caught in the headlights' impression, unsure how to reply.
The woman looked at her for a moment. "You're not Melody, are you?"
"…Maybe…" Melody said slowly.
"You've got some people looking for you. They're really worried."
"Well, I'm okay."
"Mommy, her Daddy is in the hospital."
"Ssssshhhhh!" Melody turned to Lillian.
"They're going to be here in a moment." Lillian's mother glanced back out the door. "They're heading this way."
"Shut the door." Melody urged. "Teresa's gonna be mad and make us go home."
"I'll be right back." Lillian's mother stepped out and closed the door.
Melody turned to look at Lillian. "I'm in trouble now."
"I don't think they'll make you go home. You need to see your Daddy."
"I hope so. I hope everything goes well and you have fun with your family."
"Thank you. Me, too." Lillian smiled. "My Mommy and Daddy said that next year I can have a princess party!"
Melody smiled and thought for a moment. She took her crown off her head and placed it gently on Lillian's head. "Now you have a princess crown for you princess party."
Lillian's eyes sparkled as she reached up to touch the crown. "Are you sure?"
Melody nodded. "It was too tight on me, anyway."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The room door opened again and Melody gulped, turning to face her aunt and uncle. She waved goodbye to Lillian before sliding off the bed and heading toward the door. She waved goodbye to Lillian's mother and stepped into the hall with Jane and Lisbon.
Lisbon and Jane looked down at Melody as the young girl shuffled her feet and looked away.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Lisbon's hands were on her hips.
"I'm sorry." Melody mumbled.
"What was that?" Lisbon coaxed.
"I'm sorry." Melody repeated a little more clearly.
"For?" Jane pushed.
"Running out of the room to find Daddy."
Lisbon crouched to be at eye level with Melody, gently tilting the girl's chin so that Melody was looking at her. "I know you're upset, but you still need to listen when we tell you something. You could have gotten really lost or hurt. I'm trying to keep you safe."
"I just want to find Daddy and nobody was helping us."
Jane crouched down next to Lisbon. "But that doesn't mean you can just run off by yourself, Melody. We need to stay together. You can't do everything by yourself. Do you understand?"
Melody nodded.
"Good." Jane said.
"We're not going to go home, right?" Melody asked. "We can still see Daddy?"
Lisbon kissed Melody's forehead. "Of course we're still going to see Daddy. But I'm very unhappy that you ran off. Especially after I told you to stay where you were."
"I know." Melody said quietly.
"We still love you, though." Jane reminded her. "One more question, though."
"What?" Melody looked over at him.
"Why'd you give away your crown? I thought it was your favourite."
"It was my favourite. But now it's too small and Lillian really wanted a crown. It's almost her birthday and she doesn't even have her hair. And she wanted her hair back. At least she has a crown now. It made her happy."
Jane smiled. "You don't miss it?"
"I miss it." Melody nodded. "But she wanted it more. She has her crown, I'm not losing my hair."
Lisbon cupped Melody's face with her hands and kissed her nose. "I'm very proud of you for that."
"Come on. Let's go see Daddy now."
"Yeah." Melody smiled brightly and they all made their way down that hall.
-Mentalist-
"Hi, Daddy!" Melody said excitedly as she entered her father's room with Jane and Lisbon. Jane lifted her up so that she could sit on the side of the bed.
"Hi, Melody." James smiled, giving her a hug. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. Are you okay? When can you come home?"
"Slow down. One thing at a time." James smiled.
"Before we go home, we should go feed the ducks. Remember? We were going to feed the ducks with bread crumbs like we did before.
"Yes, I remember. You wanted to see that one with the funny foot. What did you name it again?"
"Squawk. His name is Squawk."
"Right." James nodded. "Squawk. But, how was your night? Were you okay?"
Melody nodded.
"I'm very sorry I scared you, Melody. I never meant to do that."
"I know, Daddy. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes. I'm feeling better. But you know what would be great?"
"What?"
"If you and Teresa could go get us all some cookies. You're very good at picking out the best cookies."
Melody smiled. "You always like the ones I pick."
"I know." James nodded.
"But, what about Patrick? What's he going to do?" Melody wondered.
"Patrick can keep me company while you two go."
Lisbon gave James and odd look and then looked at Jane. Jane was the one staying? Why not her? She was James' older sister!
James looked over at Jane, hoping the other man would go along with it.
Jane could practically hear James pleading with him. He turned to Lisbon. "He's right. You two should go. Don't worry, I'll keep him good company."
Lisbon gave him a sceptical look.
"I promise no shenanigans." Jane said.
Lisbon raised a brow.
"What?"
"There's something you both understand that I'm missing." Lisbon spoke loud enough for only Jane to hear. "I don't like it."
"It's going to be fine." Jane told her just as quietly. "Just go with Melody."
"Only if you tell me everything when I get back. Whatever it is you two talk about when we're gone, I want to know when I get back."
"Teresa-"
"I'm not kidding."
"Okay."
"Seriously, Patrick."
"Okay."
"I really mean-"
Jane interrupted her by pressing his lips to hers. "I promise. Now, go. I'm looking forward to these cookies."
Lisbon rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Melody and James. "Come on, Melody. Let's go find something yummy to eat."
Melody gave her father a hug before sliding off the bed and leading with her aunt.
James and Jane waited for a moment after the door closed before either spoke.
"Do you want to tell me the bad news or the very bad news first?" Jane broke the silence first.
"Wha-"
"I know that look. It's not a good one. And if it were good news, you wouldn't have asked them to leave or me to stay. It must be pretty bad if you'd rather tell me instead of Teresa."
"It's not good news, but it's not…" James shook his head. "Can I just…start with what happened yesterday?"
Jane nodded and took a seat. "Go ahead."
"Okay. I went to the park with Melody because I was feeling really good and I thought I could handle it. I thought I took all my pills, I swear. I didn't realise I hadn't taken whichever one's I'd left. I started to feel woozy after we were getting ready for bed and Melody wanted a glass of water. She was getting a glass of water when I started feeling worse and I went to call the doctor when I just suddenly couldn't support myself and collapsed. I'm very sorry. To you and Teresa, but mostly to Melody because she really shouldn't have had to see that."
"Teresa and I aren't angry at you, you know."
"I know. But I know that there would be a lot of questions about what happened. And I need you both to do me another big favour."
"What's that?"
"I need you both to take Melody."
"We did take her. She was with us all night."
"No." James shook his head. "I mean…" He took a deep breath. "I need you to let her move in with you guys."
Jane looked at him, shocked.
"This isn't an easy thing to ask, Patrick. I know you have to talk to Teresa and everything-"
"Then why am I the one you're talking to? This seems like something you should talk to her about."
"I want to, but I'm not sure I can. I don't know if she'd really listen to me. She wants me to get better so badly, I do too, but I still have to think about Melody. I can't let her see that happen again. To her, I'm always going to be the little brother that needs her guidance, but you're her husband. Maybe she'll listen more to you. I can't move to the care centre when I've got Melody living with me. I never wanted to ask this, but if it's what's best for Melody, I need to. I can still see her. She can visit and everything. Sometimes I'll be able to go out even. But I know that you and Teresa can take better care of her than I can." James voice broke and his eyes were moist. "I'm not going to do to her what my father did to us. Melody is not going to watch me slowly deteriorate into a useless parent that she needs to take care of. I promised myself that for her. If seeing her less means that I'll have more quality time with her, then that's what needs to happen."
Jane swallowed hard. "I understand. I'll talk to Teresa."
"Thank you."
Jane handed James some tissues and they waited for Lisbon and Melody to return.
"We're back." Melody walked in, holding a brown paper bag with Lisbon right behind her.
"What goodies did you bring us?" James clapped.
Jane lifted Melody up onto the bed.
"Excuse us a moment, would you?" Jane asked, getting up. "I just need to talk to Teresa for a moment outside." He glanced over at Lisbon who was still standing near the door. She really had been serious.
"But, what about your cookies?" Melody pouted.
"We'll have them when we come back." Jane kissed her head before heading out into the hall with Lisbon.
"Well?" Lisbon crossed her arms once they had closed the door and stood a few feet away.
"You should calm down."
"Calm?" Lisbon hissed. "My baby brother nearly died last night and you want me to be calm?"
"I'm going to tell you what we talked about, okay? I am. But I don't want you so worked up before I even tell you. It's not going to be easy to hear." But as soon as the last few words left his mouth, he knew they were a mistake.
Lisbon's face went pale, eyes big and upset. She didn't want to cry, but she knew she was probably going to and that only frustrated her further.
Jane took a step closer to her and hugged her tightly, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I didn't mean to say it like that." He felt Lisbon's silent tears soak his shirt.
"This isn't going to get any easier, is it?" She whispered, wrapping her arms around him and holding tightly as he rubber her back.
"Only time will tell." Jane kissed her head.
"Basically you mean no."
"No. I don't mean that. I mean we have a lot to talk about. James wants Melody to stay with us."
Lisbon lifted her head and wiped at her cheeks. "What?"
"It's what's best for Melody. James doesn't want that to happen again."
"No." Lisbon shook her head. "Where is he going? He's not…he's not that bad…he-"
"Teresa." Jane interrupted. "He's not leaving us. He's not planning on dying. But, he believes it will be better for Melody if she stays with us. He needs to move into the care centre and Melody can't go with him. We can bring her to visit and everything."
Lisbon shook her head. "I don't want this to happen. I don't want to separate them."
"But this is what needs to be done. For Melody's sake."
"How do you seem so okay with this?"
"I know he's right. I want him to get better. And I want us all to be happy, but we still need to do what's best for Melody. Seeing her dad pass out like that once was horrifying enough. I'm not going to let her go through that again. And I know you don't want that either."
Lisbon shook her head.
"Besides, when James gets better, Melody can move back with him. She lives with us almost half the time anyway, right?"
A small smile tugged at the corners of Lisbon's lips. "Right."
Jane leaned forward and kissed her lips. "Everything is going to be okay."
Lisbon nodded and Jane wiped at the remaining tears.
"Let's go back in before Melody starts to worry about where we are." Jane gestured for Lisbon to go first and she did.
Author's Note: And that's the end for now! Please leave a review! I'm debating if I want the next chapter to be what happens after they leave the hospital or not. I don't know. I'll have to see what happens. Thanks for reading!