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Chapter 13

"Hey, Sprout! How's the head?" Scott asked noticing his brother's expression.

"I think I have a migraine." Alan admitted.

"Have you told the doctor?" Virgil interrogated.

Alan nodded wincing in pain. "Did Carter go back to her grandmothers?" He asked ignoring Virgil's question.

Scott shrugged, "I think she needed some sleep."

"Good, I didn't want her freaking out." Alan sighed.

"I'll go find a doctor." Virgil insisted.

"You really shouldn't have waited to tell us this Alan. You have a concussion. This could be a symptom of severe trauma." Scott scolded.

"I know, but Carter has enough on her plate right now." Alan argued.

"I'm not going to fight with you, Alan." Scott huffed.

"Why not? Isn't that what you and Dad are best at, bossing me around?" Alan snapped.

"We just want what's best for you. When is caring about your son or brother a crime?" Scott rebutted.

The silence seemed to drag on as they waited for the doctor.

"I'm sorry I go off on y'all all the time. You don't deserve it. I just wanted you guys to accept me so bad. Then when I graduated it was like my entire word collapsed." Alan paused. "I had no outlet other than y'all and I snapped."

"Then I think you should know that Dad didn't make that decision, because of your maturity level. Dad trusts you. He said no because we weren't ready for you to grow up." Scott informed. "You grow up fast being in IR."

Alan sat and let his brother's words sink in. His head was pounding so hard it was hard for him to keep his eyes open. The pain was blinding.

"How is he?" Jeff blurted as the doctor entered the waiting room. It had been hours since Alan had the seizure. It scared Scott to death. One minute Alan and he were talking, and then Alan went stiff.

"Alan is recovering well. We did a CT scan and a few other neurological and eye exams. It appears that there is some hemorrhaging in his frontal cortex. The bleeding isn't extensive, but I am still going to put him on anti-consultants to prevent seizures and corticosteroids to treat the swelling. We're going to keep a close eye on him for a few days and go from there." The doctor stated. "Do you have any questions?"

"Is there anything we can do for him? What should we look for?" Gordon asked worriedly.

"The best thing for Alan right now is to rest. Try to keep him calm and limit his stress." Doctor Harris guided.

The next few days were uneasy for everyone. Carter had been sleeping at the hospital. It took an hour of begging to get her to go home with Gordon. They had both been driving themselves crazy. Gordon felt guilty and Carter was scared.

"Where's Carter?" Alan groaned waking up.

"Dad forced Gordon and her to go home and get some sleep." Virgil whispered.

"My head hurts." Alan complained.

"The doctor said it would take a few days for the swelling to go down." Virgil said taking a deep breath.

"Is Dad mad at me?" Alan wondered.

John and Virgil shared a stunned glance. "No, why do you ask?"

Alan shrugged, "I just haven't seen him in a while."

"Dad is with Carter's grandmother making the memorial preparations." John informed.

Alan suddenly started to get up. Virgil and John grabbed his arms and pulled him back down. "Calm down, Sprout." John reassured.

"Let go of me." Alan ordered.

"No!" Virgil commanded. "You need to lie down before you hurt yourself."

Alan did as he was told unhappily. "I should be with Carter."

"Alan, Carter understands why you need to be here." John agreed. "Take care of yourself for once."

The next few days moved by at a crawl. Alan was getting more fidgety by the minute.

"How are you feeling today, Alan?" Dr. Harris inquired.

"Great! Does that mean I can go home now?" Alan snapped.

Jeff harshly glared at his son. "He had a headache earlier." Scott interrupted.

"That was only because you were in the room. In fact it's coming back. I might nickname it family." Alan argued.

"Do you gentlemen mind if I have a few words alone with my patient?" Dr. Harris asked.

Jeff and the boys filed out of the room eyeing Alan suspiciously. "How does your head feel now?" The doctor inspected.

"It feels better than it did. I think I'm just bored and worried." Alan admitted.

"I am going to have the nurse come prep you for another CT scan. If everything looks good I don't see why you shouldn't go home tomorrow. I'll let you know as soon as I look over the results." Dr. Harris confirmed. "Would you like me to put a limit on the number of visitors you're allowed to have?"

"You can do that?" Alan jumped.

"If having so many visitors is stressful than I can." The doctor concluded.

Carter came to visit that afternoon. "Your brothers said your coming home tomorrow." She commented.

Alan nodded, "Yeah, it's good that I'll be out for the memorial."

"About that," Carter paused. "I think you should stay home and rest tomorrow."

"No, I want to be there for you." Alan disagreed. "Where is this coming from?"

"It's nothing. We thought it would be better if you rested." Carter breezed.

"We? So now my family is pressuring you!" Alan hollered.

"They just want you to play it safe for a while." Carter reasoned.

Alan shook his head angrily. "How is sitting in a pew at the memorial not safe?"

Carter rolled her eye. "I'm really not sure. They're worried about you."

Alan got out of bed and stormed into the waiting room. "You had no right to drag Carter into our problems!" He shouted at his father.

"Alan, you need to get back to bed." Jeff insisted.

"Not until you tell me why you conned Carter into being your messager!" Alan yelled.

"We thought that you might be more accepting of the idea if Carter asked." John confessed.

Virgil sighed, "I told you all this would happen."

"When are you going to learn that I don't need you anymore? In fact I never needed you. I'm actually thrilled you shipped me off to boarding school every year. That way I learned I could never rely on you." Alan stated coldly before walking out of the room. Carter followed after him to make sure he was okay.

"He's just angry, Dad." Gordon comforted. "You know how Alan is when he gets worked up."

"Still doesn't make it right." Scott added.

"Alan, doesn't say what he's feeling until someone hurts him. Then he releases a bombshell of repressed feelings." Virgil explained.

"I've lost him." Jeff whispered.

"There is time to repair your relationship with Alan. I did. It's amazing how easy it is to talk to him when you give him some space." John offered.

"He needs you more than he knows." Scott encouraged.

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