Oliver

Felicity handed him a cup of coffee and pressed a cup into Sharon's trembling hands. Sitting beside Sharon, his woman pulled out her tablet and swiped.

The longer he sat in the waiting room the more he'd decided waiting to see if Adrian survived sucked and not just a little.

A lot.

The minutes dragged and the longer they sat, the more Sharon unraveled.

Sharon stood, sat down the undrunk coffee on the end table, and paced the room, clutching Adrian's cell phone to her chest. Felicity had returned the phone to her, long with the bad news that her son had sent a text looking for liquor, pills and pot right before he crashed and she'd hugged it to her ever since. "I wish they'd hurry the hell up. Tell me something. This waiting's making me crazy."

Felicity ignored the statement, but cut her eyes at him.

"Thanks for all you've done but you two don't have to stay. I'm not family and really I've got this, had years of practice going it alone. You two can go."

Clearly, she normally didn't have moral support in her life and didn't want them there.

"No we're not family but that don't mean you don't need people at a tune like this. Let's try to take your mind off this." Felicity tilted her head. "I hear you do nails for a living. Where do you."

Sharon interrupted, "I don't have time for useless chatter. My boy's dying. Jesus, I can't do this." The woman went back to pacing.

"Sharon, please try to calm down." Felicity said softly.

"I know I'm being awful but you and I don't live in the same world, so I'm betting we have nothing in common. And, no, I don't want to chat. Now thank you for all your help but you can both go. I'm clearly wasting your time here."

"Sorry, that's not going to happen." He shook his head as he watched tears once more run down the woman's face.

"Okay." Felicity drew the word out, cut her eyes at him, and his girl not even knowing what was going on, put on her bright smile. "We don't have to talk, but we're not leaving. You don't need to be alone. Now this is me signing off." She pulled her tablet out and powered it up, while Sharon looked puzzled.

"You don't want to talk to me?"

"Nope," Felicity popped her p, "You pace, and I sit here and write some code. Kill time until we know something." Her fingers flew over the screen while Sharon's looked befuddled.

He gentled his voice, "Sharon, waiting's hard on everyone, but Ned asked me to look after you and Adrian, so we're staying. So, we're not leaving until we know something."

"Ned?" Her head snapped up. "You've talked to Ned?"

"Yeah, and he hasn't forgotten you. He wants me to take care of you."

Her face softened.

"Right, Felicity?" He nudged her shoulder with his.

"Oh, right, Oliver." She pulled her eyes from the tablet and nodded. "I can tell." Sharon gave a half grin as Felicity returned to her computer world, and she returned to pacing.

"She's like that when it comes to computers or tablets. In her own zone."

"I've noticed." Sharon gave him a small watery grin. "Sorry I'm a little crazy here, though Adrian tells me I'm crazy all the time."

"It's fine. I mean it's okay. You have the right to be crazy. It's been a crazy kind of day. Don't worry about us. Pace away."

She nodded, her face showing her wrinkles on both sides of her chin as she returned to pacing.

He checked his phone knowing it'd been well over thirty minutes now with no news. It bothered him no one else had arrived to sit with Sharon.

The waiting room had been full of family, friends and the team, when Jordan, Stan and Josh had been in surgery.

People had come in droves for Jordan and Stan.

Family, friends, neighbors and team members, the room had filled up with people there to support Jordan and Stan's parents.

Yet, Sharon like Josh seemed to have no one, and at least, Josh still had his little sister and brother, and his uncle's had thankfully stepped up to the plate.

He let his mind wonder to his visit with Josh yesterday.

Josh was a changed young man.

Warren had made good on his word and given his uncles temporary custody.

They'd rented a house and though hectic, with one of them always flying back and forth to California, together, the men, were giving Josh and his siblings a stable home life.

Josh had returned to school, and enrolled in on-line computer classes which challenged him. The teen's house still needed furniture but happiness had moved it.

The air seemed light in the house. All the kids happy, the mood good, he'd arrived to find them cooking hamburgers together and teasing each other.

This was a good thing.

But the shadow of their aunt remained.

Josh fumbled using his left hand and dropped a burger on the kitchen floor and stepped back, running in the counter, clearly freezing, along with his siblings.

"I'm sorry. I'm a kluz, stupid. I didn't mean to. . ."

"Easy, not a problem." His uncle said calmly, "You know maybe we need to get a dog? Or a cat? To eat up the messes? What do you guys think?"

The room fell quiet as each sibling looked at the other.

Ruby moved first. She stepped in front of her brother, picked the burger up and tossed it into the sink, then she grabbed a paper towel and cleaned up the grease spot off the floor. Josh's brother, Will, stepped in front of Josh, who pulled him close to his chest with his good arm.

"Okay, I'm thinking a dog. Small bred. Smart. Whose game?" The uncle turned back to the stove, clearly ignoring the awkwardness in the room.

"Me." Came three voices.

"Good. I'll send you some links. We'll decide together which dog to get. Coach Queen you got time to eat a burger?"

Smiles all around now as Josh nodded and Ruby said, "Please, Coach, stay."

"Sure, always time for a burger."

He smiled when the teen had asked him to return his broken skate board because his uncles were sending it in for repairs, and Josh had even given a tiny smile, his eyes clear, when he asked.

And he smiled too especially when after dinner Stan called Josh and the teen disappeared to talk to him.

Later on the porch, where the kids couldn't hear Josh's uncle said, "We're drug testing Josh, and he's currently not using. He doesn't like it but he's dealing."

"He better than I've ever seen him. Tonight's the first time I've seen Josh's rage dialed back this far. You're both doing a good job with them."

"Yeah, but she's still the elephant in the room. All of them flinch if they make a mistake, they have nightmares, and they're so quiet sometimes it's like they're trying to be invisible."

"I'm no expert but this is going to take time. And this is the happiest I've seen him. You need to remember that healing takes time."

The words echoed in his head.

"Look, it's getting late. I've got to go. Tell Josh I expect him at practice starting Monday."

"He can't play."

"I know but he and Stan can sit the bench and support the other team members. It'd be good for them."

"A few of them have stopped by."

"The team?"

"Yeah, extended the olive branch so to speak."

"I can believe it. I've heard them talk before and after practice. This is small town and the team now knows Josh's home life wasn't good while living with his aunt."

"Crap, Josh won't want them to know."

"They don't know all the details but they know he and his siblings didn't live with her anymore. They maybe teenagers but they aren't stupid. It, also, helped when Josh's "Amazing Landline Rescue" story caught the local paper's eye."

"I'm glad the reporters have finally given us a break. After the rescue story made the front page, and the local TV networks picked it up and arrived to interview Josh they drove us crazy."

"Not just you but Stan, Jordan's mom, Stan's dad and any other else who'd give them a sound bite for the local news. I know it was a regular circus. Especially after the story got picked up nationwide."

"I noted you never commented."

"It was enough that they mentioned the soccer team." Yeah, he thought and they ran footage they'd lifted from the team's facebook page.

The one managed by one of team's proud mothers.

The networks also played the poor pitiful Jordan card, who still could lose both his legs and a gofundme account appeared, thanks to Felicity, and the money poured in to help with medical bills those first few weeks.

It was a win-win, and Warren had called pleased too, since the story meant good press.

"I'm glad to see some of the team members trying to friend Josh, even though he hates been outed as a genius." The man grinned at him.

"Well who doesn't want to be friends with a kid who could take two old flashlights, two broken landlines and a dead phone line, and even with a broken arm, a damaged spleen and two injured team mates get them out of a locked metal box by sending out a SOS?"

Josh's uncle laughed. "Well when you put it like that."

"Yeah, Josh is going to have to get over it. He's done hiding his brains and acting dumb and it's nice to see."

Sharon flopped back down in a chair, pulling him back from Josh and wondering what other secrets his team hid, back into now.

His phone vibrated for the umpteenth time, and he checked the screen to see yet another text from Ned.

"News? Stressing here. Talk to me."

Felicity lifted her head from the screen, and he mouthed the word 'Ned.'

She nodded, tilted her cute blonde head and went back to her screen, while he texted, "No news yet. I know you'll know. Trust me."

He hit send as Mae swept through the ER swinging doors, her face blank.

Felicity and he stood, and Sharon hustled toward the gray haired woman, reaching her first. "Is Adrian okay? Tell me he's going to be alright"

Mae sighed and ducked her head.

"Is . . . he even alive?" Sharon invaded Mae's space but the woman held her ground.

"Let's go into a conference room where we can speak privately." Mae's tone dead serious, the older woman twisted her wedding ring and his stomach bottomed out.

Mae's body language, her back ramrod and her face hard told him the news was not good.

"NO!" Sharon backed away, her voice rising, almost shrieking, as she threw her hands up palms out. "He's dead isn't he? Jesus, please, don't tell me my baby boy's dead because he texted and drove. I can't stand it."

"He texted and drove?" Mae sighed and shook her head.

"Felicity recovered his phone from the wreck. She told me he answered a text right before he wrecked. So damn foolish. He knew better than to text and drive." Sharon shook the phone. "He's grounded from this thing for at least a month."

"Foolish teenager texting and driving." Mae shook her gray head. "It a damn epidemic. People texting and driving. No sense in their heads. They can't get their faces out of their phones long enough to see they're going to die texting while driving."

Sharon's face turned pure white.

Mae twisted her wedding band, and her voice softened. "Sharon, please, sit down. This is going to be trying for you. I don't have good news."

"Trying? It's already been trying. My boy. Jesus, my boy. He's hurt bad, isn't he?" Her knuckles turned white clutching Adrian's phone. "Spit it out, Doc. Mae. Tell me my boy's dying and get it over with. He's all I got left. Figures I'd lose him too. He was always too sweet."

Sweet wasn't exactly how he'd describe Adrian. Frustrating, secretive, rude and unfriendly but never sweet.

"How bad is it?" Felicity stepped up and questioned. "His Jeep, after the wreck, looked like a giant turned it into a crushed metal ball. And he wasn't wearing his seat belt when Sharon and I found him since he ended up in the Jeep's ceiling."

"He's a teenager." Mae shook her head and looked at the ceiling, like she was looking for strength, then she looked back. "They haven't figured it out yet. They think they have but they haven't. And now we have to deal with the aftermath."

"He's hurt bad? Isn't he?" Sharon's icy mask slid into place, her voice cold, detached now.

Felicity reached for his hand, and he savored her closeness, never taking her touching him for granted.

Mae lifted her chin. "You're right. He is. Adrian sustained a traumatic brain injury when he wrecked his Jeep. Since he didn't wear his seat belt, and with his Jeep overturning several times, his body was thrown around, and he couldn't stop from hitting his head more than once. His left pupil's blown which means he's experiencing a brain bleed."

"A brain bleed?" Felicity repeated.

"His CT shows he has a large subdural hematoma."

"Which means?" Sharon's voice cracked as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "I don't understand what that means."

"By not wearing his seat belt when he wrecked, he banged his head over and over as the Jeep rolled, now his brain's bleeding into his skull and causing more pressure and possible brain damage. And he scored a damn three on the Glosglow Coma scale. I hate it but he's not responding to any verbal commands, has no motor response and."

"Coma scale? What the hell? Are you saying my boy's in a coma?"

What the hell? Mae had used the word "damn" repeatedly and he'd never heard her curse.

Ever.

Adrian's injuries were serious. He tightened his grip on Felicity's hand and her eyes found his.

And he found fear in her eyes.

"It's the scale we use to rate a person's brain injury, to rate the severity." Mae twisted her ring again. "He's considered deep unconsciousness. Not a good sign, ever. Right now the only good news is his brain's still working well enough he's still breathing on his own. Points in his favor is that he's young and strong. But if he needs immediate brain surgery."

"How good are his chances?" Sharon barely squeaked the words out.

"About twenty percent. He's developed a blood clot between the surface of his brain and the brain's tough outer covering and his brain's still bleeding, putting pressure on his brain. I've called the Halo-Flight chopper, Sharon, and they're in flight and will be here soon."

"I don't understand. Who are Halo-Flight?"

"They're a non-profit helicopter emergency service for southern Texas. They'll airlift him to Spohn Memorial Hospital, a level II trauma center in Corpus. A team is prepping right now for his immediate brain surgery."

Sharon stumbled back and sat heavily into an empty seat. "Brain surgery? A helicopter? How much is this going to cost? Why can't he just go by ambulance? We aren't that far away."

"Minutes matter right now. It's rush hour in Corpus. He could die sitting in traffic in the ambulance. I'm giving him every chance, so I've activated a launch request, and they've confirmed. This team can normally be in the air in about six minutes, so they'll be here soon. And they help everyone regardless of whether you can pay or not so don't stress the cost."

"Here? We have a helicopter landing pad?" Felicity frowned. "Can't say I've noted a large white cross painted on a hunk of pavement."

Mae almost smiled. "They'll land in the grass beside the parking lot. They've done it before. They're a rescue team, and they've been known to land on the highway. And if I'd had known how severe Adrian's injuries were, I'd have had him flown out from the crash site."

Felicity squeezed his hand, and he pulled her closer to his body. His mind raced, processing that Adrian's injuries were serious enough to require him to be medevac'd to a trauma center in an attempt to save his life and he still might die maybe because he had texted while driving.

How many times had he glanced at his phone while driving? And how many times had he texted and drove?

More than once or twice and Felicity was the world's worst to text and drive or text and walk. Yeah, her magic fingers texted with the speed of light, but he'd bet Adrian, who'd grown up texting, texted like a champ too, and he lay dying after a sending a text while driving.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

Mae twisted her ring. "You need to prepare yourself. Even if he survives the surgery his chances are not good." The older woman hesitated and looked Sharon straight in the eye. "Has Adrian ever voiced his views about organ donation?"

Felicity inhaled sharply beside him and tightened her grip on his hand.

Sharon shut her eyes as her mask slipped and clear pain crossed her face. Opening her eyes, they were bright now with fresh tears. "Adrian's barely talked to me since Gram died. And no, he's an average teenager. He thinks he'll live forever. His texting and driving could have caused the wreck." She waved his phone at Mae. "He even signed a contract at church that he wouldn't do it. He knew." Sharon shook her head and the frown lines at her mouth ran deep as she wiped at her eyes.

"I know that and but he's damaged his brain, and the brain normally swells after surgery. They may need to remove a section of his skull to give the brain room to swell. If that happens his survival rate fall to about twenty percent. I'm sorry, but there's a very real chance he won't survive this. And if the worst happens, though I'm praying it won't, he could help a lot of people."

"This cannot be happening. I told him. I warmed him. I knew he was going off halfcocked." The women rocked back and forth holding Adrian's phone.

"Is there someone I can call for you? Someone, who can come to the hospital and sit with you? A friend? Maybe someone from Adrian's church?"

Her upper lip trembled and the woman visibly grew smaller. "I should call his youth leader and his pastor. What's his name? I can't remember his name."

Felicity looked at him, and he shook his head, since he hadn't known Adrian attended church.

"It will be fine. He probably already knows or will soon. Don't worry about contacting them. You know how news spreads in a small town." Mae added. "I'm sure they'll start a prayer chain for him."

"No doubt, like that's going to help." Sharon turned her head and gripped Adrain's phone so hard her knuckles turned white. "Please, Doc. Mae, can't you do the surgery here? I never go to Corpus, especially by myself. I'm not good with big towns and all the traffic, makes me too nervous. Adrian drives and normally does my GPS for me. He takes care of me. Always has. I don't even know if I can find the hospital in Corpus."

The woman was breaking down before his eyes.

Mae tone turned comforting. "Sorry, but I'm not a neurosurgeon. Your son needs a specialist, and Spohn Memorial has a fine one. He's a good man. I've talked to him and his team's prepping for Adrian right now. He'll be in surgery for hours, then recovery, so we have time to find someone to take you."

"I don't have anyone who would come. You don't understand." Sharon hugged herself.

"We'll take you." Felicity volunteered.

"We will?" He looked at her and she glared at him. "Of course, I mean, of course, we will. But, Felicity, we own a two seater."

"Sharon owns a SUV, plenty of room."

"I couldn't put you out like that."

"It won't be a problem." Felicity assured her.

"Then it's settled. Good. Thank you both." Mae nodded toward them then patted Sharon on the shoulder. "Now you can do this. Put your game face on and pull it together. I've got faith in you. I delivered you. You're strong. All my babies are."

"Doc. Mae, I'm not. You for one should know that." Sharon shook her head.

"I disagree. You are. Every child I delivered is strong and you," Mae nodded at her, "are one of my strongest. You stood by yourself, took care of your grandmother and your boy, when those fools turned their backs on you. I remember those days. I know what happened. What you gave up. But you got through and raised your son. Proud of you and I know you can do this."

Felicity cut her questioning eyes at him, and he shrugged, knowing he would get the answers to those questions as soon as possible.

Sharon ducked her head and Mae continued, "Now come and see him before they arrive. But prepare yourself, Adrian's has a lot of tubes in him, and he's been intubated."

"Intubated?"

"I put a tube down his throat, in case he needs help breathing. Everyone's doing everything we can to keep him alive, to help him. But Sharon you have to hold it together for Adrian."

She nodded her head rapidly, like she didn't believe it but would try. "For Adrian."

"Good and you need to remember, this is not about you. When the helicopter gets here the paramedic and the nurse need to focus on Adrian, on your boy. So, you cannot break down yet. I need you to keep it together."

"Okay," but her voice broke.

Felicity tightened her grip on his hand. "Corpus isn't that far, Sharon. If you like, Oliver and I," she smiled at him and he smiled back, "we'll wait with you until Adrian comes out of surgery. And I'll give you my number. You can call when you need something."

He squeezed Felicity's hand and his chest tightened as she smiled that smile he believed belonged only to him. Pride filled him knowing his girl just gave and gave.

Sharon shook her head and looked down. "That's too much trouble. I couldn't put you out like that. It's bad enough you're driving me there."

"It's okay. We like to help people. It's what we do." Felicity assured her.

"You don't even know me. Why would you bother? I'm nothing to you."

Felicity shook her head. "That's not true. You're a person and you don't have to do this alone. Adrian's a member of Oliver's team and I support his team. Adrian's important and you are his mother so you're important. Believe me, we want to be with you, want see him through this. And no one should be alone when their kid's having brain surgery. Let along if."

He cut her off, squeezing her hand before she babbled on and mentioned Adrian dying. And that was straight where her logical brain was headed. "Felicity's right, this is no time to be alone. Felicity can drive you down in your SUV, and I'll follow in our car, and we'll both sit with you for a while. Please let us. It would mean a lot to us."

"If you're sure?" Sharon had tears in her eyes.

"We're sure." Felicity jumped in.

"Okay, then I'd like that. Have you heard from Ned again? I need to talk to Ned. He needs to know how hurt Adrian is."

"I'm supposed to text him as soon as I know something."

Mae's eyebrows arched, her eyes blazing. "Are you taking about Ned Walker?"

"Yeah. It's not a secret anymore. He's Adrian's dad." Sharon turned her head away. "He should be here. I don't understand why he's not. I told him today Adrian's his."

"Adrian's not Grover's?" Mae cocked her head.

"No, he's Ned's."

"Sharon, I'll remind Ned ask you to keep that quiet," his voice harsh, "and Mae, you need to keep that information completely confidential, and I mean from everyone. Not even Warren confidential."

"You want confidential? Not even Warren confidential? You know I can't do that. He's my husband."

"Try because I mean, no one knows this, it's confidential. You tell Warren, you make darn sure he doesn't tell anyone else or things could go south."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Sharon ask.

Mae also gave him a strange look.

"Ned will explain things to you, but for now the subject's still on a need to know basis and there are some problems Ned and I need to work out, so we're going to keep Adrian paternity under wraps for now. And I mean all of us."

"Don't tell me Ned is denying him? He'd better not." Sharon's voice rose.

"No, he'd not denying him. But enough said, I'm not able to talk about this. You have to wait on Ned, and Mae, I'm not kidding. Tell no one. And Sharon, you've kept that secret for almost eighteen years, a few more days is all Ned and I are asking. Give us a couple days to figure things out."

Mae huffed out a breath. "Why am I not surprised? The man who acts like he knows James Bond personally plans to work out a need to know problem in a few more days. What in the world are you talking about?" Mae looked skyward.

"I can't talk about it. But you need to tell no one who Adrian's father is."

"Oliver?"

"I'm serious. Both of you hold people lives in your hands so don't gossip."

"I never gossip." The older woman crossed her arms and lifted her chin.

Helicopter blades beating the air in the distance filled the small waiting room. The sound intensifying as it got closer until, it almost hurt his ears as the large machine got closer to the building.

Turning his head, he watched a large blue and yellow helicopter land smoothly in the parking lot as the sound whooshed through the air, the large blades still turning.

"You," she pointed her finger at him, "we'll talk later. And I'll take your blood pressure. For now, you're lucky, Adrian's my focus."

"Lucky me."

She turned and waved her hand. "Come on Sharon, follow me. It's show time, and you need to see him before he goes."

Clearly, Mae was giving Sharon a chance to say goodbye, was telling her this could be the last time she saw him alive, as Mae moved, and like normal she moved quick, and the two of them disappeared leaving the ER doors swinging behind them.

Felicity turned to him. "I don't understand what's going on right now but you need to get Ned and haul his butt to Corpus ASAP."

"That's easier said than done." He grabbed her hand and pulled her outside into the windy parking lot as he eyed the helicopter.

He read the words Halo-Flight in white on helicopter side, as he noted the yellow pin striping looked good on the large white and blue helicopter.

The pilot clearly didn't plan to stay, since he didn't shut the machine down and the large blades kept turning, singing sharply through the air, the sound loud enough he covered his ears and noted Felicity covered hers too.

Seconds later, the helicopter's door's slid open, and a man and a woman, wearing head gear, both dressed in a yellow and blue flight suits, climbed out.

A dark haired nurse, dressed in blue scrubs, rushed forward to meet them gesturing to them and as a unit, they rushed into the building.

Less than a minute later, together, the team from the helicopter and the nurses pushed Adrian's gurney across the parking lot. Strapped to a backboard the teen didn't more as they wasted no time transferring Adrian to the inflight gurney, taking all the tubes and IV's with them.

The nurses pushed the gurney back toward the hospital, heads down as they rushed away.

On board, no one exchanged words, no one hesitated, instead, the they worked like a well-oiled team as they smoothly loaded the large teenager into the helicopter. Seconds later, operating in syndic, they both attached more leads and still worked on Adrian as the door slide shut.

The helicopter's blades picked up speed, the blades turning faster and faster as he pressed harder on his ears, as the pilot increased the engine speed, and the helicopter took off with a brrring sound and wasted no time becoming a speck in the sky.

Felicity turned and grabbed his t-shirt, and he let her pull him to him. "Spill, Oliver, and right the frack now."

#####OQ#####

As always thanks for the read. Question should Adrian die from texting and driving?

Hope you enjoyed this week's story. Sorry I didn't get it posted until today. The holiday threw me behind. The next update will post on June 11th. Have a great summer!

Remember next week's Bonus Chapter is already up on my website. www. Write4TVFans .com (remember to remove the spaces) under the Bonus Chapter tab.

Enjoy!