A/N: Thanks to you all that are following Rising From The Ashes, I apologize for the delay in posting chapters. As I previously stated in the latest update to A Walk To Remember, I've been busy studying for my certification exams and now that those are done and I've passed with flying colors I can write with a little less weight from the world on my shoulders. And I've also posted the story regarding Alan being bullied but a word to the wise it's got some parts that are capable of ruining a good mood as well as some language that may be triggering. I named it Better Than Catnip. I'll admit, I tried posting these updates on Christmas Day and the day after because I wanted to just get them up...but FF didn't think I should post and kept giving me processing errors.
Happy Holidays and a belated Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
To say that Jeff could handle his mom had been an understatement. She had been a little mad that nobody had let her in on the secret that Alan had begun walking again and she'd just about stormed into the hospital like gangbusters when she found out, visiting hours be damned. Jeff had to do a lot of groveling to get his mom not to break out her wooden spoon and it'd taken a promised trip to the fabric store with free reign over one of Jeff's credit cards that calmed his mother.
The following morning Jeff woke his mother and told her he was going to visit Alan and he wanted to know if she wanted to join him. She made it to the car faster than Jeff and it wasn't even a race. It never ceased to amaze Jeff just how spry his mother could be in her 'young' age.
"Come on Jefferson, let's go." Ruth said impatiently as they waited at the intersection. Jeff looked incredulously at his mother before glancing out the windshield at the red light that was preventing them from turning.
"Mom, the light is red. If I went now I'd cause an accident or get a ticket." Jeff said, sending his mother a weary look. The glare she sent back in his direction was enough to make Jeff keep quiet.
"Don't you back talk me. You're not too old for me to put over my knee." Ruth said with pursed lips and arms crossed tightly over her chest. "I can't believe you lied to me Jefferson."
"I didn't lie to you mother, I just found out myself yesterday that Alan was walking again." Jeff said, trying to get his mom to be reasonable. "Alan didn't want me to know.
"Don't you blame this on your baby, he's a good boy." Ruth said with a humph intermingled with a sigh.
"I'm not disputing the fact that he's a good boy, I'm just saying that he didn't tell me until yesterday that he'd begun walking again. What did you want me to do when I saw him walk, stop him and call you to come see? Let's be reasonable mom." Jeff asked rhetorically.
"Don't be silly Jefferson, you could have told me when you got back to the hotel." Ruth said, making Jeff roll his eyes in exasperation.
"That's what I did mom." Jeff said before he looked at his mom briefly. "I got back to the hotel and made the decision to tell you. I just took you out to dinner before I broke the news."
"Exactly Jefferson, you waited until after dinner to tell me. If you'd told me as soon as you got back I might have been able to go see my baby and properly congratulate him." Ruth said, pout obvious in her voice but when Jeff looked at her he saw she wasn't mad. She was just spouting off, giving the appearance of anger when she was bothered.
"Well I'm taking you to him now…aren't I?" Jeff asked as he turned left to get into the hospital parking lot. His mother harrumphed once more and Jeff rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe his mom was as upset as she was. When they'd finally parked the car, Ruth was out of the car faster than Jeff could say 'Bob's your uncle'. "Mom, wait for me."
Ruth was gone before Jeff could finish requesting his mother slow down and he had to jog to keep up with her. When he entered Blythedale, the nurses whom he was now on a first name basis with simply pointed in the direction of Alan and Fermat's room. Jeff mock saluted to them before jogging down the hall until he reached his mother who was full steam ahead.
"Mom, you can't just run up ahead like that." Jeff said after he caught up with his mother.
"I'm not incapable of taking care of myself Jefferson." Ruth said as she continued on her merry way.
"I'm not saying you are, I just think we need to enter Alan's room cautiously. He's probably still asleep." Jeff said after matching his pace with his mother.
"Then we'll wait with him to wake up. I want to see my baby walk." Ruth said before she stopped to face Jeff. She turned to look at Jeff with emotion filled eyes. "He asked me just after I got to the hospital when he was first hurt if he'd ever walk again. I told him that by the grace of god he would. He's full of vim and vinegar and I know that's part of what fuels you Tracy boys. I want to see my baby walk. I'm not trying to be stubborn or otherwise. I just want to see…him."
"I know you aren't being stubborn mom, but we have to go in like we normally would. Yes, we can wait until Alan wakes up, but we also have to be mindful of the other patients." Jeff said as he hugged his mother tight. "I'll make sure you get to be the next person to see him walk, I wish I'd known sooner that he was walking. If I'd known you'd have seen him before me."
"No, we'd have seen him together. He's your baby too." Ruth said while returning the hug she got from Jeff. From then on, they carried on at a normal pace and entered the boy's room with a light knock. Like Jeff assumed, the boys were both still asleep and the both Ruth and Jeff found chairs to place between the beds, so they could keep an eye on both boys. It was a little over a half an hour wait when Alan snuffled in his sleep. His dad and grandma smiled at Alan's sleepy snuffle and they both stayed quiet to let him awaken at his own pace. Another snuffle and Alan's eyes opened to mere cracks as he looked around. He flopped his head to the side before giving a sleepy blink at his surroundings. When he flipped his head back toward his dad and grandmother he blinked his eyes a little faster to clear the blurriness. His grandma leaned forward and tucked the blankets in around Alan tenderly. "Good morning baby."
Alan didn't say much, just closed his eyes again before giving a little snuffle as he tried to go back to sleep. That lasted for all of a few seconds before he reopened his eyes again and picked up his head displaying the spectacular case of bedhead he had at present. He looked around before using both hands to rub his eyes. He inhaled deeply and sat up.
"Alan?" Jeff asked when he saw Alan look around his bed for something. "Can I help you with something?"
Alan didn't say anything but he did indicate a need to use the boys room and he let his dad help him up before he took hold of the forearm crutch handles and slid from his bed. He had a little trouble standing after freshly being woken up but he didn't let that stop him. His dad had enough sense to guide him to the bathroom before flicking on the light and pulling the door closed once Alan was inside. When Alan came out of the bathroom, he was led back to his bed by his dad. Once he was settled he seemed to realize that he'd just walked in front of his grandma and she hadn't yet known he'd been practicing.
"Hi." Alan said sleepily before laying down again and pulling his blankets back up as if he wished to return to sleep. "How're you?"
"I'm great baby, just wished you'd told me." Ruth whispered as her eyes glistened with tears of pride that her youngest grandson had begun to walk once more. "I love you."
"Love you too." Alan murmured sleepily. He felt exhausted and it felt like a chore for him to keep his eyes open. He didn't know why he was so tired and could only assume it was from doing too much after so long of not doing anything. "I'm tired."
"So go back to sleep baby, your daddy and I will stay right here." Ruth said softly as she reached up a weathered hand to gently stroke her thumb over the swell of Alan's cheek. Alan was asleep in no time at all and he remained so until well after the breakfast trays were distributed. When Lacey entered the room, she sighed softly when she saw her patient sound asleep still.
"Hello Mr. Tracy, how're you doing today?" Lacey asked as she smiled at Jeff and Ruth. Upon realizing her mistake, Lacey stepped forward with her hand extended to shake hands with Ruth. "I'm Lacey, I've been the physical therapist in charge over your grandson's rehabilitation."
"Hello Lacey, I'm Ruth and these are my boys." Ruth said in introduction as she gestured at Alan and Fermat. "I assume they're on their best behavior for you?"
"Oh yes, they're both very well behaved and incredibly determined young men." Lacey commented as she smiled at Fermat and Alan who were both still sleeping. "Apparently so determined, they exhausted themselves over these last few days."
"I know Alan fell asleep before I left last night as well as Fermat. I don't blame them for being tired." Jeff replied as he directed another smile at his youngest who had rolled onto his side and curled into the fetal position.
"Well, I'm a firm believer in sleep being better than an apple a day to keep the doctor away. Let's cancel their appointments for the day and just let them focus on rest. I don't want them getting burnt out." Lacey said with a fond smile at Alan and Fermat. "I'll check in with them tomorrow to see if they're feeling up to PT or not."
"I'll let them know they have the day to themselves. I'm sure they'll be ecstatic to be able to get some more sleep." Jeff remarked before Lacey turned to leave. A few minutes after Lacey left the room, Jeff noticed his mother looking more than a little disappointed. He figured his mom was sad that she wouldn't be able to see Alan up walking around, but he thought he recalled Lacey saying it'd be okay for Alan to walk a lap up the hall and back a few times a day. "What's wrong mom?"
"You know what's wrong." Ruth said, trying to cheer herself up despite the disappointment that was heavily prominent on her face.
"So, you won't get to see Alan walk in therapy today, doesn't mean that when he wakes up we can't go for a walk with him and Fermat. I'm sure they'll both want to get up and give their legs a stretch." Jeff said before smiling at the orderly that entered the room quietly to retrieve Alan and Fermat's untouched trays of food. "You heard Lacey, she thinks it's good for them to have a day to just sleep."
"I've just never known either boys to really be big on sleeping in. For all the time I've known Alan and Fermat, they're both off running around until it's time to go to bed." Ruth said before reaching up a hand to brush a bit of hair out of Alan's face and taking care to tuck it behind his ear as he slept on. "I must admit, he looks so young. Just like when he was a baby."
"You always did enjoy watching him sleep when he was a little tyke." Jeff said smiling at fond memories.
"Well yes because I always thought he was so much cuter when he wasn't causing terror at my house." Ruth said with a tender smile that matched Jeff's. "I do wish he'd wake up and be his usual spitfire and insist on doing his therapy despite Lacey having cancelled it for the remainder of the day."
"Be careful what you wish for." Jeff murmured before he stood to tuck the blankets in around both Alan and Fermat's shoulders while they both slept on.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Scott, John, Virgil and Gordon met up at the restaurant downstairs. As they sat they talked about the latest phone call from Tin-Tin. The older brothers called the island with weekly updates and they'd told Kyrano, Onaha and Tin-Tin of the transfer to Blythedale back before it had occurred. This time before the brothers could call the island, Tin-Tin called them – a day ahead of schedule to run ideas by them on a welcome home party for Alan and Fermat.
It was decided by a show of hands that Scott would be the bearer of bad news, despite his vocal rebuttals to do so. Nevertheless, Scott told Tin-Tin that they still didn't have an exact date that either boy would be granted the ability to return to their island home. That didn't discourage her though, she still carried on with asking Alan's brothers what Alan and Fermat might like doing for a welcome home party. Gordon suggested getting them a copy of the video games that they'd rented while away at school and played with their dorm mates. John suggested some movies that the boys might be interested in while Virgil suggested a trip on the family yacht for a week to forget their troubles and relax.
They were all good ideas, but Scott just felt like they weren't the plan. He wondered what his dad would think of the idea for them all, the Belegants included to go on holiday somewhere that was relaxing and comfortable…not too hot like it was on their island but not so cold that they couldn't venture outside without a coat. Scott didn't know yet where he wanted to suggest they go, but he wanted to maybe go somewhere that they wouldn't have to focus on IR while helping Alan and Fermat reacclimate himself to life away from the hospital. Maybe he'd suggest a hockey game since their whole island family seemed to have their teams that they cheered for.
"Well, the time that they will be discharged is still a while off." Scott said even as thoughts flew through his head on what they could do when the inevitable discharge occurred. Now his obsessiveness would keep his mind busy with other things aside from various ways to sneak into the juvie center and teach that Robert kid a lesson.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Dr. Andreesen sighed as he pulled into Blythedale parking lot. He glanced around at the various staff parking and he put the car into park before exiting the vehicle. He looked up at the building before straightening his glasses. He wasn't tired from the drive, more like he was still getting used to a schedule around work and the baby. Entering Blythedale, Dr. Andreesen smiled at the receptionist.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Andreesen. I'm here for a consultation with Dr. Juno?" Dr. Andreesen said as he signed in on the guest logbook before accepting a clipboard with other various forms clipped on.
"Ah, yes! Dr. Juno is expecting you. If you'll just sign in here also I can contact Dr. Juno and let her know of your arrival." The receptionist said with a smile before picking up the phone to call Dr. Juno. As soon as the receptionist got off the phone, she directed Dr. Andreesen to the closest bank of chairs. He smiled at the receptionist before going to his seat and waiting for the doctor.
When Dr. Juno arrived, she graced him with a smile and shook his hand before leading him back to her office. Dr. Andreesen spoke with her at length, asking questions about Alan and Fermat and learning of the progress they've made in the time that's passed since they've relocated. Dr. Juno, when they had settled in her office opened the case file specific to Alan and another file specific to Fermat. She viewed the notes made before she turned the folders and let Dr. Andreesen see the progress these boys have made.
"My goodness, I'm glad to see that they've progressed as well as they have. When they were still at Mass Gen, they were both still on total bedrest…it makes me happy to see that the move has been for the best." Dr. Andreesen said as he flipped to the next set of notes on Alan to see another transcript that detailed Lacey's notations regarding Alan's increased ability to bear weight with a walking aid. He smiled before checking Lacey's notes on Fermat to see that he'd also gotten better at walking with a walker.
"Yes, they've both done so much more now that they have stylized care dedicated to their individual needs. Hard to believe it's been right at a month since they transferred over here." Once Dr. Andreesen finished looking over the compiled file that he'd sent over for the boys from Mass Gen, Dr. Juno stood up with an inquisitive look upon her face. "Would you like to go see them?"
"Yes, I'd like that. They're still my patients, despite not being under my immediate care." Dr. Andreesen said before he too stood with Dr. Juno and allowed her to lead him to the bank of elevators that took them two floors up. Dr. Andreesen knew before looking that Alan and Fermat were close by, he could hear them bantering which was something he'd gotten used to in the months that they'd been under his care.
What he didn't expect was to see Alan and Fermat walking up the hall with Alan's dad and grandma. He smiled still and waved when Alan and Fermat waved eagerly back.
"Hello there, you two, you've certainly gotten better at walking since you left." Dr. Andreesen was cordial with the two boys and he walked over to them to offer high fives when they held up their hands. "I'm so proud of you two."
"Thanks." Alan said before raising his hand to yawn deeply. "Sorry, I guess I'm still really tired."
"Not sleeping well?" Dr. Andreesen inquired though he knew there was nothing he could do to alleviate that problem.
"No, I'm sleeping fine. I've just been doing therapy every day and I just feel zapped by the time its time for sleep." Alan said as he stifled a second yawn, he had to dispel that one with a shake of his head. "Sorry."
"No apologies necessary. I've been yawning so much recently myself, being a new dad doesn't allow for much sleep when your little one isn't on a steady sleep schedule." Dr. Andreesen answered before he rubbed the back of his head. "It's great being able to see you up walking around. I was worried when you left because you could feel a little bit, but hadn't become a norm for you yet."
"Yeah, even now I still have a loss of feeling from time to time, but usually I can get it back if I rub my feet." Alan replied before looking to Fermat. "He's making progress too. Look at him."
Fermat smiled shyly before showing Dr. Andreesen that he had indeed improved his walking. No longer was his limp as obvious like it was initially. Dr. Andreesen was beaming when he saw Fermat's improvement.
"Wow, look out world." Dr. Andreesen said before looking back at the boys. "Oh, before coming over here I was stopped by a few certain individuals and they passed along a card to you both."
Dr. Andreesen handed the card to Fermat who had a little basket on the front of his walker to set it in. He smiled before gesturing at the doctor to follow them back to their room.
"Did y-you come a-all the way h-here to visit u-us or was there a-another reason y-you s-stopped by?" Fermat asked as he readjusted his grip on his walker handles.
"I had to meet with Dr. Juno for a consultation to see how you two boys were doing and I figured that since I was in the neighborhood, I'd swing by for a visit." Dr. Andreesen said as he followed Alan, Fermat, Jeff and Ruth back to the boy's room. Once there, he couldn't help but to look around and be impressed at the amenities provided to Alan and Fermat. "Whoa, nice digs you've got here."
"Thanks, I like them too." Alan replied with a cheeky smile. "Fermat seems to like them also."
"Y-Yeah, I do." Fermat replied before sinking down on his bed and sliding back against the pillows that Jeff piled up for him so he could sit up instead of lay down. "It's c-comfortable."
"I'd say so." Dr. Andreesen said before sitting in one of the chairs to visit with Alan and Fermat a little longer. "So how are you two doing otherwise?"
"Alright I guess, I'd love to go home…but I still need therapy." Alan replied truthfully. He did want to go home, he's never been one for staying in bed and being confined to bed with occasional stints to get up and stretch his legs has been driving him up the walls. He's been pushing himself in therapy so that hopefully he'd be discharged soon. Lacey was forever telling him to take it easy, but Alan wasn't the kind of person that enjoyed being told to slow down. He was never the kind to go easy on anything.
"I'm sure you do. After my wife had the baby, she was ready to go home within an hour of being labor free – she hated being cooped up in bed and even worse having her sleep disturbed by the nurses." Dr. Andreesen replied with an easy-going smile. "She was happy to be told that she could go home and even happier knowing the baby was coming with us."
"Yeah, I'm eager to go home. I miss the sun and the warmth." Alan said as he glanced briefly out his and Fermat's suite window to see the spring blossoms preparing to open and stretch towards the sun's rays. He longed to go outside now, but when he'd asked his grandma and dad they'd said he'd have to use the wheelchair and that spoiled his desire to go outside.
Dr. Andreesen seemed to have detected what Alan wanted and he figured he could indulge in the two boys for a few minutes longer. So he turned to Jeff and Ruth with a raised eyebrow.
"Would you care if I went on a stroll with your boys? I've always found that cabin fever seems to lead to more mischief and I'd rather avoid that if possible." Dr. Andreesen said as he sent a discreet wink at the two boys that were still in his care. Both Alan and Fermat looked to Jeff and Ruth and used their most innocent eyes to try to encourage them to let them go outside. Jeff was easily won over, but Ruth on the other hand was not as easily swayed by the 'puppy dog look'. Ruth was formidable in her own right and having been on the receiving end of the look from Jeff many times throughout his life, she'd grown immune to it when her grandsons tried it on her.
"Alright you can go, but…Alan you need to put on your hoodie. It's much too cold for you to go running around outside in your delicate condition. And Fermat, you need your slippers young man and your robe. I won't have you boys getting sick under my watch and heaven forbid you two set yourselves back in recuperation." Ruth grabbed everything she'd listed off and bundled both Alan and Fermat up in their respected articles of clothing. "And Alan I want you to use that wheelchair that lovely nurse gave you. I saw how tired you were getting on our walk and I think it's much too soon for you to be up lollygagging around. No, no buts from you, young man. You will listen to what I have to say, and I don't want any lip from you either."
Once Ruth finished trussing the boys up and making sure Alan was in his wheelchair and using it properly, not popping wheelies and trying to balance, she backed away with a look of satisfaction. Dr. Andreesen directed Alan and Fermat from the room and waited until they were a fair distance away before stopping near one of the patio exits. There were coat pegs and Dr. Andreesen helped Alan take off the hoodie so he could hang it up and from there he led Alan and Fermat outside to sit at one of the many tables. It was outside the cafeteria and Dr. Andreesen graciously offered to order the boys something after hearing their stomachs growl.
Once he'd returned with a tray of food, he sat with Alan and Fermat after dolling out the food.
"So, how are you boys enjoying Blythedale?" Dr. Andreesen asked as he stirred some blueberries into his plain yogurt. He ate slowly while he waited for Alan and Fermat to answer. Alan on the other hand was picking at his sandwich that Dr. Andreesen got for him. He looked like he wanted to say something but also like he didn't know how to phrase whatever he wanted to say. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just miss everybody. I'm surprised that I would miss somebody I've only know a few months and not even in the best conditions." Alan replied before taking a bite of his sandwich and washing it down with a sip off of his apple juice box. He glanced at the juice box, trying to remember when the last time he'd had a juice box had been.
"And by somebody, do you mean a certain dark haired young lady whose name sounds suspiciously like a small body of water?" Dr. Andreesen inquired as he smiled at the blush forming quickly on Alan's face.
"No." Alan replied though he knew Dr. Andreesen had figured it out. He'd seen the numerous times that Alan and Brooke had been closer than your average patient and knew it was a matter of time.
"Liar." Fermat said playfully before his eyes narrowed to reflect a level of mischief Alan himself had only seen a handful of times.
"Well, if you read the card I gave to you two…you'll learn that that same small group of friends have found a way to convince our hospital director to take a small handful of patients for an educational outing. I don't know how they pulled it off, but they're planning to come visit for a few hours and they wanted you two to join them – as their guides. I already mentioned it to Dr. Juno and she thought would be a fabulous idea. She was going to broach the subject with your fathers about making you two boys ambassadors for the day and to entertain the guests i.e your friends for a few hours. I'm sure that won't be impossible for you two considering you're both close with the whole lot of them." Dr. Andreesen said with a smile on his face.
"That'd be awesome!" Alan said smiling happily at the idea of seeing their friends.
Dr. Andreesen looked surprised momentarily before he snapped his fingers. "Oh, and I also wanted to let you two know since you're still patients of mine that our pediatric unit is hosting a spring ball in the next month – it's times where Mass Gen as well as our affiliates inform the patients of this ball and give them time to find dates if desired and they can come hang out or dance. The nice thing is that it's not a black-tie event, if patients would be more inclined they can wear what feels comfortable."
"How w-would we get t-there?" Fermat inquired though he was never much for dances. Wharton's wasn't a co-ed school so they didn't have dances. The chances Alan and Fermat got to attend dances were like seeing Haley's comet – probably a once in a life time experience. They went to a handful of dances and both of those were holiday parties that Lady Penelope threw for the holidays. It's hard to dance to Jingle Bells, but Alan had a young lady insist they could dance to the song and he'd made a laughing stock of himself to his brothers by trying to dance to the song.
"Well, we'll inform all the patients at the surrounding affiliated pediatric units and then depending on their condition we'll employ the use of the vans or a medical transport bus to bring them back to Mass Gen for the night and then we'll bring you all back the following morning if you choose to stay the night at the hospital otherwise our drivers will bring you back the same night." Dr. Andreesen said before he looked at the two boys knowing that he had lots of young patients that were eager to attend the spring ball. It wasn't widely discussed outside of hospital boundaries, but it was discussed by the patients that looked forward to the annual ball.
"I think that'd be fun…I'm not much of a dancer and in my…condition I'll be even worse than when my two left feet are working properly, but I think it'd be fun." Alan said as he smiled at Dr. Andreesen. "I might even ask a certain someone if she wants to go with me as my date though I'm a lame dancer."
"Oh, I'm sure you're not that bad of a dancer." Dr. Andreesen said.
"Y-You're better t-than me." Fermat said in argument.
"I digress." Alan replied with a roll of his eyes. "I have a question…what if we wanted to extend an invite to someone that isn't a patient to any of the affiliate hospitals…or a patient at all?"
"We're not opposed to it, but we do ask that any patient guests be within their age bracket, we don't want to be sneaking adults into a party for pediatrics." Dr. Andreesen said before seeing Alan elbow Fermat with a cheeky grin.
"Why don't you ask Tin? I know you're sweet on her." Alan said teasingly.
"She's older than me!" Fermat argued back, face going red with embarrassment.
"So? This is extending an invite to attend a spring formal, it's not a proposal for marriage!" Alan replied while throwing his hands in the air.
"B-But she likes y-you more than m-me." Fermat stammered nervously.
"Ferm…we've tried going there and it's too weird for us. She's like my sister and I don't savvy asking my like sister to a dance. She's also one of my best friends like you are and I know she'd love to go to a dance, she always enjoys getting an opportunity to dress up. Just ask her the next time we chat on the vid and see what she says. If she says no, then she says no. It's not the end of the world."
"Okay…" Fermat replied with a sigh.