AN: Yes, it's been a while and in that time I lost interest, got busy and all that, but I wanted to update. I'm sorry for it being this late, hopefully, I can put something together that suits my old vision. And so, with some deep western/southern gothic music playing in the background, here it is:
Elizabeth's motorcade pulled up to the house in the evening. She was home for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Henry's surgery had taken longer than expected and hospital staff had requested that he had time to rest before she visited. Although, she had every intention of spending the night she needed the rest. There was no use trying to survive a hospital night if she couldn't see Henry. She was home without him, but he was still with her… with them, and that was all that truly mattered.
Alison was in the kitchen pinning A long stretch of silver drape cloth to her sister. Elizabeth stood in the dining room for a moment, taking in the scene before both of her daughters looked up. "Hi, mom" Alison greeted with a fragile but enthusiastic smile on her face.
"Hi," Elizabeth answered a bit dazed. She pointed her coffee mug at them, "What's this?"
"Stevie's helping me with a project." Alison held up her sketchbook, "See? I'm just checking if this design works."
"Ah," Elizabeth replied as she rubbed her forehead. Stevie stepped away from the table and pins, letting the cloth fall as she walked over. "How is he?" She asked. Stevie could see the exhaustion and uncertainty in her mother's eyes and knew to prepare herself. "I don't know." The sigh affirmed the emotions in her eyes and Stevie decided not to press further. "Where's Jase?" Elizabeth added.
"Room?" Stevie shrugged. That was always a safe bet.
"Alright, I'll go find him, you two clean up when you're done," She pointed once more at the mess of pins, pencils, and fabric on the table.
"Yep," Stevie whispered to herself as her mother turned toward the stairs.
Elizabeth knocked on the door, she could hear the gunfire and shouting far before she ever reached it. "Yeah," the routine signal that she was allowed in. She opened the door to find the standard scene: Jason leaning against the end of his bed, headphones around his neck, controller in his hand, as he stared at the monitor. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know I'm home," Elizabeth yawned. Jason spun around to face her. "Hey… Did he have surgery?" He asked concerned—but he already knew the answer. And he knew he asked a dumb question, but he wanted the simple answer. "Yeah, he did." That was one to add to the 'Positives' Column. He gave his mother a small grin before she went to shut the door.
A second later he turned back to his monitor, but then spun back around. "Mom," he called out. "Still right here," she replied as she opened the newly closed door. He looked up at her, eyes wide. "Is Dad annoyed with me—is he disappointed? He doesn't understand—" Elizabeth sighed and brought her hand to her forehead, once more. "Jase, Honey, can we talk about this in the morning? I'm tired and need to get to bed… I—" She could see the sadness and vulnerability surface as his face turned a warm pink. It was an old but rare sign of her son's fast-changing emotions. She took it as an invitation to enter and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I… I need to know, mom. He's always annoyed or frustrated with me," He got up and started pacing, "and I need to know just in case."
"Shh," She patted the patch of quilt beside her.
"I can't," He throw his hands in the air, his voice rising another pitch and notch, "It's like everything I do… I disappoint him, or I piss off Stevie and Ali and then he takes their side. He looked at her for a response, she lowered her eyes to the quilt and smoothed it over. "He loves you," Elizabeth said as she stood. She walked over to her son and wrapped him in a gentle hug, "He loves you. You're a challenge," She chuckled, "You always have been, but he loves that about you, Jase. She felt as he began to quiver, felt his tears on her shoulder, and heard his shaky breath. Pulling away, she looked at his puffy, tear-stained face-it was rare, but it was true. A smile crept onto her face as she wiped the tears off his cheeks, "He's still here… can't cry yet."
"I know," He wept through a smile to match his mother's, bringing his own pam to his eyelid.
"You'll be okay," she soothed, ruffling his hair. He gave her one last hug before saying Goodnight.
The next morning was a game of 'Wait By the Phone." All four healthy McCords sat and waited in the kitchen. And finally the call came through at 10:03 am, It was coveted time for a visit.
AN: The problem with updating is that I now have to update sometime in the future. I hope this is somewhat entertaining. I get hung-up with myself always going back to Jason, but if you ask me, that's what the show's missing.