Skyfall

Chapter Twenty-Six

Harvey strolled through the hospital early the next morning with a clear purpose. He wanted to check on Rebecca and Olivia before checking in on Marcus. He had spent the night trying to come up with anything he could use to help Marcus' case but the whole thing was proving challenging.

The only thing he could come up with was sending Marcus to rehab for an alcohol addiction. Maybe if he went away for two months it would show the judge that Marcus was serious about getting better.

As for the child endangerment charge that was sure to come down, the only thing he could think was to also use rehab as a way to show he was serious about his issues. Then have Marcus take parenting classes designed for parents with addictions. During the time that Marcus was in rehab, the children would need to stay with his mom. But he didn't think that would be a problem. She had already been helping to take care of the kids. Surely she wouldn't have any issues doing it a little longer.

He didn't know if his plan would work but it was the only plan he could come up with that wouldn't immediately land Marcus in jail for months or years. This way he would have a fighting chance to stay out of jail. He opened Olivia's door and saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks.

Both Olivia and Rebecca were still asleep. Rebecca was on the bed with Olivia. Olivia was cuddled up next to her with the giraffe cradled in her arm and Rebecca had her arms wrapped around the girl, as if she was trying to protect her from something He couldn't help but smile at the sight before him.

He had to admit that when he heard that Olivia had been hurt, it tugged at his heartstrings in a way he hadn't experienced before. He loved Olivia, just like he loved Ethan. But hearing she was hurt made him feel protective in a way he hadn't before. It was a newer feeling but he didn't mind it. It made him think maybe he was being too hard on himself. Maybe he could be a good father after all.

A part of him wanted to let them sleep. He even contemplated leaving the room to check on Marcus first. But before he could leave a nurse came in.

"Good morning." The nurse said with a cheery voice before getting on the computer to check Olivia's chart.

Rebecca started to stir and opened her eyes. When she saw Harvey she smiled. Then she gently shook Olivia awake.

"Sweetie, time to get up." She told Olivia.

"Do I have to?" Olivia grumbled.

"Yes please." Rebecca told her.

Olivia opened her eyes. "Hey Uncle Harvey."

"Hey yourself." He smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"My arm still hurts. But I'm ok." Olivia answered.

"It's time for some more Tylenol." The nurse told them. "That should help with your arm. I'll go get you some and then you're going to be ready to be discharged."

"That's good news." Rebecca smiled.

Harvey saw the nurse leave and then looked over at Rebecca. "Can I talk to you in the hallway for a moment?"

"Yeah, of course." She nodded. Then she turned to Olivia. "I'll be right back."

Harvey grabbed Rebecca's hand and led her to the hallway. "First of all…" He trapped her against the wall and gave her a slow kiss. "Good morning."

"Good morning." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. Then she studied his face. "You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?"

He chuckled. "How did you know?"

"I know you." She told him. "I know what you look like when you are sleep deprived."

He chuckled. "True. Usually when I'm sleep deprived it is because I was doing something much more fun than working on Marcus' case."

She grinned. "That's very true. What did you come up with?"

"Who says I came up with anything?"

"Again…" She chuckled. "I know you. You always come up with something."

He kissed her forehead. "He doesn't know it yet, but I'm sending him to rehab. I imagine they will arrest him today when he gets discharged. I'm not sure I can get a bail hearing until tomorrow since today is Sunday. But as soon as he gets out on bail I am driving him to rehab for two months." He explained.

"That's a good idea." She nodded. "It shows he is serious about his sobriety."

"I'm also enrolling him in parenting classes." He went on. "They have some that are geared more towards parents with addictions."

"That may help with the child endangerment charges." She sighed. "But those are going to be harder to get rid of than the DUI charges."

"I know." He sighed. "The only problem is we need someone to watch the kids while Marcus is in rehab. Do you think you could talk to my mom and make sure she is alright doing that?"

"Why didn't you talk to her about it this morning?" She asked.

"You know why. Please?" He asked. "I can't talk to her."

"You mean you won't." She teased.

"I need your help." He pleaded.

"Ok. I'll do it." She nodded. "I'll take pity on you and talk to her about it."

"Thank you." He gave her a quick kiss.

"No, thank you." She smiled. "I know you weren't happy about helping Marcus. But I appreciate it."

"He doesn't deserve our help right now. He doesn't even deserve to make bail in my opinion." He explained. "But you were right. His kids do deserve the help. And I'm not going to stand by and let them get hurt even more than they already have by this."

"I was right?" She gently gloated. "I need to write that down in my calendar."

He grinned. "I'm going to go check on Marcus and tell him the plan. Why don't you take the car after Olivia gets released? Her car seat is in the back. I'll meet you at my mom's later?" He handed her the keys to the rental car.

"How are you getting back?"

"I'll Uber or something." He shrugged.

"Ok." She nodded, giving him a kiss. "I'll see you later. Good luck with Marcus."

"I spoke to your nurse and you're going to be released soon." Harvey said after entering Marcus' hospital room.

"And then they will arrest me?" Marcus sighed.

"Yeah." He nodded. "And since it is a Sunday, I can't get you a bail hearing until first thing tomorrow morning."

"So I have to spend time in jail?"

"Yeah." He nodded again.

"That's just great." Marcus rolled his eyes.

"Look…I have a plan for you, but you aren't going to like it."

"Well let's hear it."

"As soon as I get you released on bail, you're going to rehab for two months."

"No." Marcus shook his head. "I am not doing that. No way, Harvey. I have to be here for my kids and the restaurant and mom…I can't be away from everything and everyone for two months. No. I've got too much to do and too many responsibilities."

"Do you want to go to jail for years and be away from everything and everyone for that long?" Harvey asked. "Because if you want to have any hope of avoiding jail time for what you've done, you will go to rehab and you will stay there for the entire two months."

"Harvey…"

"Don't Harvey me!" He yelled. "I have worked all night to figure out the best strategy to try and save your ass from going to prison because of your shitty decisions…not because I necessarily think you deserve it but because your children deserve it. But this is non-negotiable. You will go to rehab for two months and you will take the parenting classes."

"Why parenting classes?"

"It's to try and get them to reduce the child endangerment charges." He explained. "I'm in full damage control mode for you right now and this is the only thing I can come up with to try and fix your issues."

"There has to be some other way than rehab for that long." Marcus sighed.

"Trust me…If there was another way, I would have found it."

"You don't understand why I can't be away that long."

"I get it. You are worried about the kids and your business." He sighed. "But you have your business manager at the restaurant who can take over, and I'm sure mom can take care of the kids…"

"You can't just assume things like that." Marcus shook his head. "You don't know the first thing about mom and what she can or can't do, just like you don't know anything about my restaurant business."

He could tell that Marcus was getting agitated. "Why are you getting so angry with me about this? I'm only trying to help you."

"You haven't been around enough to know everything that's happened in the past."

"Ok if you are going to start getting on me about that again, then this conversation is over." He shook his head. "I'm not engaging in another 'let's bash Harvey' session right now."

"Of course you declare the conversation over. Because you don't really want to be a part of this family." Marcus challenged him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Let's face it and be real about this. You haven't been a real part of this family for a very long time. Sure, you called on birthdays and Christmas and you came by to visit a few times. You'd bring presents for the kids and they would fall in love with you only to have you disappear on them again. But there is a lot you don't know about and a lot that you have missed." Marcus pointed out. "And the only reason you came back to this family at all was because of Rebecca. Let's just be honest about that. But you don't really want to be here. If you did, you would be trying to make things right with mom. But you aren't because you're selfish. You always have been. You want everything to be on your own terms."

"I am not the one who is selfish. She…"

"She made a mistake, Harvey! A mistake that in the grand scheme of things shouldn't have escalated to this extent." Marcus interrupted. "And you've been rubbing her nose in it for the past twenty years like she's a puppy that made a mess on the floor. It's always been about what you had to go through and the pain she caused you. What about the pain you have caused everyone else by staying away for so long? Do you think that was easy for any of us? Do you know what it is like to have to explain to Olivia and Ethan why Uncle Harvey and grandma can't be in the same room together? Because that was never a fun conversation. But you don't know what that was like. So give it a rest and let it go."

"I'm not taking advice from someone like you who decided drinking and driving was a good decision." Harvey scoffed.

"Heaven forbid I'm human and I make a mistake, right Harvey?" Marcus scoffed this time. "Are you going to cut me out of your life for the next twenty years because of it? Because that's what you do to your family. That's your track record. Someone makes a mistake and you cut them out of your life. I just hope to God Rebecca doesn't ever make a mistake because it would devastate her to be ostracized by you the way you've done it to mom."

"Just shut up!" Harvey yelled.

"Why should I?" Marcus asked. "It's the truth."

"This isn't about me. This is about you and your poor decisions."

"No, it is also about you." Marcus argued. "You have no idea what's gone on in this family or what we have endured while you were off sulking and pouting. So don't come in here acting all high and mighty. Mom and I have done the best we can without you in this family."

"Mom has obviously done a shitty job with you." Harvey pointed out.

"She did her best to try and help me with the drinking." Marcus sighed.

"You mean she knew you were drinking?"

"Yeah."

"Unbelievable." He sighed. There was a pause and he was about to say something else when the door opened. The police officer that was stationed outside Marcus' room came in with the doctor.

"It looks like the internal bleeding has stopped and everything looks good." The doctor said, looking at the chart. "So we will be discharging you from the hospital."

"And you will be arrested and coming downtown with me." The officer stated.

"Ok." Marcus sighed.