Chapter Two: At the Hospital

When they arrive at the hospital, everybody rushes in. Michael and Brian race for the desk.

"We're looking for Lindsey Peterson-Marcus and our kids, Gus and Jenny." Brian says impatiently.

"Please have a seat and I'll have someone come out to talk to you" is what the elderly woman behind the desk says.

"The fuck you will. I want to see my son right now. He must be scared out of his fucking mind." Brian is trying hard to think of a reason why he shouldn't throw this woman across the room.

Michael adds, "I'd like to know about my daughter too, Jenny Rebecca. She's just a baby and her mother just died. Please help us, please."

At that moment a doctor comes out through the swinging doors of the ER. "Are you here for Ms. Peterson-Marcus and her children?"

You're damn right we are. Now will you just tell us what the fuck is going on?"

"Why don't you all come over here and sit down."

"Are you fucking kidding me, sit down? Just tell us what the hell is going on. Is Lindsey okay? Are the kids okay? Damn it, tell us something." Brian is choking on his anger.

"When Ms. Peterson-Marcus arrived her head was opened up from the impact with the window and possibly the door frame. Her neck was broken and she had bleeding from her brain into her spinal cord. We were taking her in for surgery when she flat lined on the gurney before we could make it to the O.R. I'm very sorry. We did everything we could, but unfortunately she had sustained too many injuries."

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Are you fucking serious? If you did everything you could, Lindsey would be alive." Brian has had it with this incompetence.

Michael is saddened by this news, but has other things to worry about too. "What about Jenny and Gus? How are they?"

"The children were very fortunate that they were in some of the best safety restraints that are produced today. The baby had a pretty bad cut on her forehead, but we were able to stich it up, and I think she will be just fine. The little boy had some contusions from the safety harness and a few minor cuts. I am more concerned about him emotionally. He seems to be showing signs of traumatization. I think he may have seen his mother's head go through the window."

At this point almost everyone is in tears again.

"Can we see them?" Michael begs. "The baby girl is mine and he is Gus' father." He points to Brian.

"Yes of course. Come with me." He takes them back to the cubicle where they have kept Gus and JR together. Gus is holding JR's tiny hand and saying, "its owkay Jenny, Mommy will find us." Then he starts crying, "Mommy, where arwe you? Mommy, Mommy, I want my mommy!"

Brian can't stand to see his son in this kind of pain. He grabs Gus up in his arms. "Hey sonny boy, come to your old man."

Speaking through the tears Gus pleads with his father, "Daddy, where's Mommy? I want my mommy."

It's okay son. You're okay. Daddy's here." And he rocks him in his arms until Gus falls asleep.

The doctor steps inside the curtains. "I am very sorry to have to ask this, but could I please get one of you to positively ID Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson-Marcus."

"I can't do it. There's no way and I don't want to leave JR." He has picked her up and is holding close, fearing that if he doesn't he might lose her.

"As usual, I'll do it" Brian huffs, wondering why he always has to be the strong one. He was closer to Lindsey then any of the rest of them had been to either woman. "Justin, will you stay with Gus? I don't want him to be alone."

"Of course Brian, do you want someone else to go with you?" He questions as he walks over and takes Gus out of Brian's arms. Gus grabs onto Justin's neck and puts his head on Justin's shoulder. He falls back asleep and Justin sits down with him in the chair.

"I'll be fine." Even though he doesn't want to be the strong one, this is the role he has always played.

Down in the morgue, Brian identifies Melanie. When they show him Lindsey he takes her hand and kisses her cheek. Damn it! I can't believe you left me here Wendy and just when I was finally growing up, like you told me to do." A single tear rolled down his face.

When he gets back up to the ER, Justin gives him a comforting look, as if to say, it's okay if you want to break down. I can be strong for you this time.

"Where the hell is the doctor? I want to get Gus out of this death trap." He takes Gus back from Justin.

"He said he would be back in a few minutes with discharge papers" Michael answers. "I'm just glad we still have JR's room ready. I know she's just a baby but she'll probably still be scared without her mom."

Justin ponders, "What about Gus? You saw the way he was watching over her. With Mel and Linz gone he's not going to want Jenny out of his sight."

Michael makes a suggestion. "You guys could spend the night at our house so that when Gus wakes up he'll at least see JR. It'll give you time to figure out how to tell him… Fuck! I can't believe they're really gone, just like that. Should we call Lindsey's parents?"

"Yeah, let's tell them that they are finally rid of their dyke daughter. Assholes didn't deserve such a good daughter."

"Brian, is now really the time to be acting like this? I'll call them. You stay with Gus. He's going to need you now, more than ever.

Brian pulls Justin close and kisses him gently on the forehead. "He's going to need us both. Are you up for that?"

"Remember Brian, as long as we're together we can get through anything."

"I think I'm finally starting to realize that, Sunshine."

On his way out of the room, Justin passes the doctor going in.

"Gus and Jenny are officially released. Just keep Gus' cuts cleaned and he should be fine. Jenny will need to come back in about 10 days to have her stiches removed. I would definitely think about getting a therapist for Gus. It's very traumatic for a child his age to lose his mother especially after probably witnessing the accident. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss. The nurse will be in with release papers for you to sign."

"Good. Let's get the hell out of here."

Ted walks in. "Hey guys, I just got off the phone with Larry. You remember him; he was Melanie's old partner. I remembered Melanie telling me he was her lawyer when they asked me to be executor of their estate, in case anything happened. He's going to stop by tomorrow, at Michael's house, to go over all of the details. I know Mel made sure they had a will and all the arrangements made right after Gus was born. I'm sure they updated it when JR was born."

"I can't think about any of that right now. I just want to get my kid out of this place."

Justin returns. "Lindsey's mom wanted to come down here. I told her that there wasn't any point. She said something about taking Gus home to be with them, so he could grow up in a normal house, not the den of hedonism that had been forced on him."

"There's no way those fucking homophobes are coming anywhere near my son. They can go straight to fucking Hell."

"I think I said it a little nicer, when I told them that Gus would be just fine with his father. They didn't even care about JR."

"Well that makes perfect sense. She wasn't blood to them, just the offspring of some dyke who poisoned their daughter. Fucking hate mongers!"

Michael is still an emotional little fairy. "Can you keep it down and not fucking wake up my daughter? Let's just get the hell out of here. Are you guys coming home with us or not?"

"Brian I think you should. Just for tonight. It's what will be best for Gus."

"You mean we should go. I can't handle this shit without you. I guess what life throws at us came a lot sooner than you were expecting. You married me for better or for worse, so you have to stay with us."

"It's going to be okay. We'll figure it out together."

They sign the papers and head out for Michael and Ben's house.

Next up is Chapter Three: Settling in at Mikey's house.

Thanks for reading. I really do appreciate it.