The chemical pine scent of hospital cleaner stung Logan's nostrils and he winced; the pungent odor triggering thoughts of the rehab facility he stayed in not ten-miles away from the psychiatric hospital. A shiver ran through him, remembering how he dreaded going to sleep at night, fearing the nightmares and cold sweats that would wake him at all hours. How he regarded the members of his group therapy with distrust, wondering for the first week if one of them would sell his stories of Aaron's abuse to the tabloids. Then the fear, deep down in his soul the day he left that he would relapse and end up going through the living hell of beating his addictions once more.
As he was led to Dick's room by a burly bearded nurse with a shaved head, in deep green scrubs, Logan averted his eyes from the patients he passed in the halls – some crying, some shuffling along, and some sitting stone still, staring off into some unknown world in their head. They really weren't that dissimilar to the people he saw in rehab and he thought for a moment that some of them were probably driven mad by their addictions, not having the money he did to help himself before his daemons consumed him.
Reaching Dick's room, the nurse knocked roughly, peering through the tiny window in the door for any signs of life.
"Mr. Casablancas! You have a visitor." He called out before opening the door.
Dick sat in a grey metal chair facing a solitary fenced-in window, his back to the door. His head turning slightly towards them as they entered.
"Cool." He muttered in a low monotone.
The nurse nodded at Logan, pushing the door open further when Dick remained seated. "You have 15-minutes, Mr. Echolls. He's still on the sedatives to keep him calm until we hear from the Judge, so he may not be as responsive as you expect. With his outbursts..."
Logan frowned, hobbling through the doorway on his damaged leg and crutch. "Thanks. I think we'll be okay."
With another nod, the nurse retreated, closing the door with a loud click of a lock, and Logan's attention turned to his friend. Dick sat on the only available chair, so Logan had no choice but to sit near him, leaning awkwardly on the edge of the unmade hospital bed.
"How's it going, Dick?" He asked, placing his crutch up against the metal side table.
"Going home."
Dick continued to keep his eyes focused on the window, his pale face and blond hair illuminated by the sun. The white uniform he wore was similar to that of the nurse's scrubs and Logan briefly thought that it was still a better outfit than prison orange.
Logan crossed his arms, his eyes following Dick's out towards the sunlight. "Yeah. Once everything is settled with the case. Did your lawyer fill you in on what happened?"
Dick nodded. "Messed up."
A low chuckle left Logan's throat. "That's the understatement of the year. It's a Goddamn cluster-fuck is what it is."
"How're the kids?" Dick's head moved slowly towards Logan, but his eyes didn't make contact. "And Ronnie?"
Reaching up, Logan ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a deep sigh that reverberated in the room. "The kids are traumatized, but they have too much of Veronica and me in them so they're trying to pretend like it's nothing. Jack has taken to following Veronica everywhere, but he won't admit it's because he's scared; and the twins have settled into some weird twin-mental-telepathy thing where they look at each other like something out of a Stephen King book and nod before actually talking to us."
Dick's head bounced up and down slightly, his eyes fixed on the green linoleum floor. "They'll be okay."
"Yeah, I know they eventually will, but right now I don't want to talk about them...I want to talk about you, amigo."
"Me?" Dick's eyes finally glanced up at Logan before lowering again.
"You need to know, everything I'm about to say is because I love you Dick, and I just want what's best for you."
Dick nodded his head, turning towards the window again.
"You need help, Dick - professional help. Regardless of what Mercer did to set you up, those girls you hooked up with were sixteen years old. Sixteen. You may have others convinced that you didn't think they were that young, but I know how much you like to party with eighteen-year-olds, like you're still one of them, and I'm here to tell you it's wrong. You're not eighteen anymore and it's time that you started getting your life together, before it's too late."
Taking a breath, Logan paused, looking for any sign of recognition on his friend's face to anything he had said. Leaning forward, he placed his hand on Dick's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze.
"I know your dad was an asshole to you and to Cassidy. I know your mom abandoned you both. I know that Cassidy's death still haunts you, but Dick, you have to stop hiding in a haze of drugs and booze and girls. It's time to let go of the past and move towards the future. And I don't mean just going back to that quack psychiatrist who gave you the prescription for pot – you need to get into treatment for your addictions so you can move on with your life. "
Closing his eyes, Dick's head dropped as he let out a deep breath. "What life, Logan? You have a life. You have a career. You have people that love you. I have none of that."
Logan swallowed hard, his chest heavy with emotion. "When I went into rehab I had nothing, Dick. You know I had hit rock bottom...you saw it - I wanted to die. But I turned it around and I got clean, found something I loved doing, and when Veronica saw that I was truly trying to live a good life, she stayed."
A small snort of laughter escaped Dick and he opened his eyes, turning his head towards Logan. "She would have loved you even if you were in the gutter."
"No. She would have tried to save me – dragged me out of the gutter - but it wouldn't have been real. I got my life together and then we were able to make a life together because I could contribute to our relationship in a very positive way; in a way I couldn't even imagine when we were younger. With Veronica, we found in each other the person who balances us in life. Some days it's 50/50, sometimes it's 60/40, but we are both equipped with the skills to help ourselves and each other, and it's real and it works. That's what I want for you, Dick – I want you to have something real - whether that's a family or a career or just something to be proud of in your life."
Dick's hand covered Logan's, grasping his fingers in a vice-like grip. "I don't know if I can do it."
Logan leaned forward, his hand gently clutching the back of Dick's neck as his head bent to touch his forehead to Dick's.
"You can do this. I know you can. I've see you get tossed by the waves and come crawling out of the ocean with a grin on your face. You need to think of this as being pulled under by a really, really big wave – just take a deep breath and swim towards the shore, dude. I'll meet you there."
Releasing Dick, Logan sat back, leaning on the bed and stared at his friend as Dick continued to focus his gaze out the window, his features blank, his eyes glassy. Seconds turned to minutes as the friends lingered together in the silence of the space, Logan praying that his words would be enough to save his friend from himself.
"Hi Grandpa!"
Keith's eyes flickered open, focusing on Veronica and Jack sitting in a chair beside his bed before a small smile pressed across his lips. He raised his hand slightly in a tiny wave, dropping it back down on the hospital bed like a dead weight. Opening his mouth to speak, he started to prop himself up slightly in bed, before Veronica stopped him, laying her hand gently down on his chest.
"Save your strength, Dad. We just wanted to come by and check on you."
Keith nodded, lowering himself and closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. It had been 48 hours since Keith woke up and in that time he had been visited by his own doctors, every specialist Logan could pay for, as well as two county deputies. He was still weak and his words were coming slowly, but he managed to identify that it was Mercer who broke into his house and attacked him. For now, they were monitoring him, hoping that the his words and thoughts would continue to come quicker as his body healed from his head wound.
"Lexie? Linc?" Keith whispered, his eyes moving around the room.
Veronica rolled her eyes. "They convinced us to let them go to soccer practice, so I dropped them off with Lianne and came to check on you, since the field isn't too far away. Jack decided to come with me."
"I gotta watch Mommy," Jack stated, shifting himself on her lap.
A soft chuckle shook Keith's body and he smiled warmly at his grandson. "Good."
Kissing the boy's head, Veronica wrapped her arms around her son and rocked him gently. "I have three very brave kids, Dad."
Keith's hand slipped between the cold metal bars on the hospital bed. Veronica reached out and took it, squeezing it gently. "Like their mom and dad."
Veronica nodded, tears coming to her eyes. "All this time, Logan and I have tried so hard to protect them from the world..."
"Resilient." Keith croaked. "Three smart, resilient kids."
Blinking back her tears, Veronica locked eyes with her father, his face beaming with pride.
"We didn't let that man scare us, Grandpa," Jack said, his voice strong and confident as he sat up in Veronica's lap. "Lexie told us to trip him with my Hot Wheels, and Jack hit him with big rocks, and I banged my pots and got the police to come, and Lexie and Linc shot him with Nerf guns."
Jack went quiet, his eyes dropping down to his lap. "Then Daddy came and there was the loud bang and the ambulance came and took Mommy away. But the baby is okay and so is Mommy. And Daddy says that man can't hurt us any more because he died."
Veronica's stomach turned and she closed her eyes. As resilient as she hoped her children would be, the facts of that night would never leave them. Jack was too young to hide his trauma as well as his siblings and she hoped that with time and help, the impact would fade over the years.
"An amazing story, Jack." Keith whispered, taking his hand away from Veronica and offering it to Jack. "I'm so proud of you."
Jack puffed up his small chest and flicked his head to the side, tossing his shaggy bangs out of his eyes, a beaming smile on his lips.
"How's Logan?" Keith's eyes focused back on Veronica and she shrugged in response.
"Coping. He went to talk to Dick about some things, but he's hyper-focused on taking care of me and the kids right now. It's distracting him from everything going on in his head."
Letting out a deep sigh, Keith's smile disappeared. "He's a good man...needs to remember that."
Veronica smiled, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. "If you could tell him that the next time you see him that would be great. I think he needs to hear it from someone other than me."
"We get to go home tomorrow!" Jack interrupted with excitement. "And Pony comes home too."
Keith released his hand and brought it back to his side, feeling around for the remote for the bed. "Can she come visit me?"
"Dogs don't go to hospitals!" The electric whirring of the bed raising Keith to an upright position made Jack giggle. "You're like a robot, Grandpa!"
"Not yet," Keith said, coughing slightly as he shifted around to make himself more comfortable. "But maybe soon."
"Robot Grandpa doesn't sound like a bad idea," Veronica said as she bounced Jack on her lap. "He'd be indestructible."
"I already am." Keith winked playfully at Veronica and she shook her head at him.
"Yes, well, when we get into the house tomorrow, Logan is going to hire movers to clean out our home office and put in a new guest room. Lianne is going to stay for a while and help us with the kids, and you can stay in the downstairs guest room until you are fully healed and able to go back home on your own."
"Veronica..." Keith started but she raised her hand up to stop him.
"Don't argue – I don't have the strength or patience right now, old man. This is how it's going to be. You need time to recover and if you're with us, I can keep an eye on you, since I won't be going back to work for a while. And as for Lianne...Hunter is staying with a friend for a few weeks until his exams are done, then he's going to come out here and crash with us. We'll all be together – just one big happy family."
Veronica pursed her lips, forcing a tight smile. The idea of having her mother and father under one roof was an idea that she was still warming up to as well, but she knew enough to hide it from Keith.
Resting his head back against his pillow, Keith rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Fine."
"Fine." Veronica replied, quirking her eyebrow at him.
"Yeah!" Jack happily clapped. "A big, happy family."
In spite of herself, Veronica giggled, enveloping Jack in a bear hug. "That's right, little dude. That's us. One very big, very happy family."
Keith nodded, smiling at Veronica and closed his eyes, releasing a deep, content sigh. Sitting quietly with Jack, Veronica watched her father slip back into a peaceful sleep.