Eventually Jimmy was released and transferred to a nearby psychiatric hospital. He was still extremely weak and required a wheelchair most of the time. He would recover physically but the future of his mental health remained uncertain.
Jimmy stared out the window of his new room. The mental hospital was better than the regular hospital. In the sense that he had a little more freedom. The wards and windows were locked but their were common rooms and he could come and go from his room as he pleased. He had three hours of therapy a day and another two of physical therapy. The road would be long but he was determined to get back.
The one draw back to the psych hospital was only being permitted visitors once a week. Saturday was visitation day. A long five days away but Jimmy was praying it would go by fast. He could not wait to see his family and friends once again. Breena and him had agreed to try and work things out and Ducky had promised to bring Tori by every week. Things were finally starting to look up.
Breena wandered around her empty house. Ed had rushed off to deal with some business at the funeral home. This was her first time being alone since Eddie's death. Her first time without a child in the house for most of two years. She wondered if Ducky would bring Tori over. She considered calling him but there was still so much tension between him and her. Him and most of Jimmy's colleagues had objected to the way she had treated Jimmy. She couldn't say that she blamed him. She had been unnecessarily cruel. He had agreed to try and work things out but they still had a long way to go and it would be a long time before anybody trusted her again.
Jimmy's mind drifted to his wife. He prayed that things would work out between them. He hated the idea of their family being broken apart. He hated the idea of his daughter growing up in a broken home. Bad enough that she had lost her older brother and unborn younger sibling. She did not need her parents breaking up as well. At least without trying to work things out.
Breena stepped into Eddie's room. Her first time entering since he had died. If you looked around his room you would not know off hand how sick he had been. Unless you noticed the emptied boxes of latex gloves and surgical masks or the worn places in the carpet where oxygen tanks and feeding pumps had been placed. The room was unusually clean so a nurse could rush inside at any time if need be and his toys were constantly being sanitized. For the most part he had missed out on the childhood rite of passage of having friends over and roughing up his toys. He'd never learned the difference between sharing toys and private toys. Through his far too short four years of life he'd only ever had one friend over. Conner another little boy with cancer. Both boys had been too weak to play much. Conner died less than a month after that play date. After that day Breena could not bring another cancer kid into the house. She hated the reality of everything.
"You shouldn't be in here." Ed commented.
"I need to be." Breena insisted.
"Are you sure?" Ed asked.
"Yes" Breena insisted.
"OK but don't stress yourself too much." Ed replied.
Jimmy could not help thinking about his son. He had not thought of Eddie much in the past few days. Even though it had been Eddie who had pulled him through. While lying in the coma he saw his son in heaven. He saw Eddie free for the first time. For the first time in four years Eddie was healthy and free of medical equipment. He had his shaggy blonde hair and bright green eyes back. He was no longer emaciated and pale. He was finally perfect once again. Seeing Eddie healed gave Jimmy hope. It still killed him to know that his son was gone but he was relieved to know that he was finally free from the horrid pain he had endured.
"It's dinner time, Mr. Palmer." A nurse announced.
Breena struggled to eat the meal that Ed had placed before her. She was trying to better but it was not easy. Everything reminded her of her son and she felt tremendous guilt for the way she had treated Jimmy. She had dishonored the the memory of her son by attacking her husband. At least he was forgiving. Even Ducky was willing to make peace. He had promised to bring Tori over the following day. He had wanted to bring her that afternoon but he had an appointment and had left her with the DiNozzos.
"Do you want me to make something else?" Ed offered.
"No it's good. I am just not hungry." Breena replied.
"Alright" Ed replied.
Jimmy forced his dinner down. Even with the recovery he still struggled with eating. That was probably a big part of why he was still so weak. After dinner was evening therapy. It would also be Jimmy's first session. He knew it was necessary but he was dreading this part of the process. He was dreading having to relive those horrible days.
"Mr. Palmer it is time to go to therapy." Betty announced.
"Coming" Jimmy replied turning his wheelchair toward the door.
Therapy went better than Jimmy had anticipated but he was still grateful when the session was over. There was still time before lights out but Jimmy still turned off the television and crawled into bed. For the first time in months he drifted off into a peaceful and pleasant sleep. He dreamed of his son again but this time Eddie was holding a baby in his arms. Jimmy could not tell the gender but the baby looked exactly like Eddie. Seeing these babies together gave Jimmy so much hope. Even though he would give anything to have them together.
A/N: Both Palmers are finally recovering but will they be able to save their marriage? New chapter will be up soon. Thanks for reading and please review.