Jonathan Turner, a motorcycle accident, and a hot blonde nurse.
Shawn begins to dig into the depths of the lies Chet told him that drove the wedge between him and Jon. And he learns that the joke Cory told him about Jon and his nurse was no joke at all.
Meanwhile, Audrey's been withholding information from Jon for some time.
TW: brief mention of a past miscarriage
A room in the ICU opened and Jon was moved into it.
Shawn was more than a little frustrated.
Once the hospital found out that he was not the superintendent's biological son nor his legally adopted one, doctors refused to talk to him about Jon's condition, and the nurses would only give him vague assurances that everything would be all right.
He was allowed to stay with him as a visitor, but that was all.
For a supposedly busy hospital, the ICU seemed oddly empty. There were only two other patients in the ward. Jon's room was at the end of the hall and, for that, Shawn was grateful. The nurses at their station were loud in their talking and laughter as they tried to keep themselves occupied. While he understood the need to keep their moods light, the joyous noise grated against his nerves.
"What's your problem?" Jon groused. "You aren't the one stuck in a hospital bed. Again."
Shawn got up from the couch and walked over to him. The head of the bed was partially raised so that Jon was in a sitting position. He looked exhausted and mildly irritated.
He took comfort in the fact that his father's trademark sarcasm was as strong as ever.
"You're in a pretty good mood for a guy who passed out a few hours ago."
"Yeah, well, I wanna get outta here as soon as possible. Preferably before your mother gets here."
Shawn smiled. "You're in ICU. I don't think you're gonna make it out that fast."
"Tell me about it," Jon said rolling his eyes.
"So what happened? They won't tell me anythin' because I'm not family."
"You're not what?" The superintendent was more than annoyed now. He sat up suddenly in response but at once regretted the action. A sharp pain hit his temple and forced him to sit back.
"They won't tell me anythin' because I'm not your son," Shawn said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Jon gave a frustrated groan. He started to say something when one of the machines around him went off. "I hate ICU so much," he sighed wearily. "You cannot sleep in this place. Someone is in every single hour to do somethin' and they will not let you sleep through whatever it is they're doin."
As if hearing him complain about the constant checks, a nurse chose that moment to walk in.
"Hello, Mr. Turner," she said with a wink as she checked on the machine that was beeping.
Something in her tone caused Shawn to bristle. It was far too familiar a tone given that Jon had only been in the ICU for an hour. Hazy memories tugged at the corner of his mind at the smile she gave his father.
The smile, as he saw it, was more than friendly.
The nurse was an attractive woman in her forties with bleach-blonde hair in a pixie cut. She had four stars tattooed on her wrist and she reminded him of someone. As the woman chatted to Jon about something unrelated to his health, Shawn felt the distinct sensation of déjà vu, although he couldn't remember being in this exact situation before.
"Hey," Jon said to her, jerking at thumb at Shawn. "Care to tell my kid what's goin' on?"
The nurse looked startled and gave Shawn a wary look. He had seen that look on many women's faces when he lived with Jon as a teen. It was a look that said, "why are you here?".
"Your," she glanced at Jon curiously, "father has hyponatremia."
Shawn waited for her to continue, but she went back to tending to Jon.
"What does that mean?"
"His sodium levels are too low," she said simply.
"Hey," Jon said, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "I don't remember much of anythin' from the ER, so could you explain the whole thing to both of us?"
The nurse stopped what she was doing for a moment. "Hyponatremia occurs when the body has too little sodium. The brain is particularly sensitive to changes in the sodium level in the blood. Symptoms of brain dysfunction, such as lethargy and confusion can occur. As hyponatremia becomes more severe, muscle twitching and seizures can happen. Blood work found that your dad's hyponatremia was caused by vasopressin."
Shawn looked at Jon who shrugged.
"Vasopressin is also called the antidiuretic hormone," the nurse went on, "It's a substance naturally produced in the body that helps regulate the amount of water in the body by controlling how much water is excreted by the kidneys. Vasopressin decreases water excretion by the kidneys, which retains more water in the body and dilutes the sodium."
She turned back to Jon. "Pain, stress, exercise, low blood sugar levels, and certain disorders can trigger the release of vasopressin from the pituitary gland. Excessive amounts of certain medications can cause this. Too much aspirin is the culprit here and would be the cause of the blurred vision, agitation, confusion, and increase in headache severity you were experiencing."
While Shawn appreciated a more down-to-earth explanation rather than medical jargon being thrown at him, her constant looking at and touching Jon as she spoke for no reason he could understand made him uneasy.
"I OD'd on aspirin basically," Jon told him. There was a strange tone to his voice. It was not sarcastic. It was more embarrassment mixed with guilt or shame.
"Something like that," she smiled, turning her back on Shawn.
The bubbly, slightly flirty attitude resurfaced and enhanced the feeling of déjà vu Shawn couldn't understand.
"You look way too young to be his father," she said brightly as she adjusted the pillows behind Jon's back. Jon grimaced as the pillows hit his back in a way that made him uncomfortable, but she didn't seem to notice. "I'll be back in an hour to get you cleaned up, Hun. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better after a bath."
"A bath?" Shawn asked. Jon hardly looked like he would be able to manage that.
The nurse smiled pleasantly. "Oh, don't worry, Hun, he won't have to do anything. I'll take care of him."
Jon arched an eyebrow and bit back a grin.
Shawn arched an eyebrow and bit back a growl.
As soon as the nurse left, Jon started to laugh.
There was nothing to laugh at as far as Shawn was concerned. "What's so funny?"
"Oh man," Jon chuckled, finding it hard to talk. He was still exhausted, and laughter took a lot out of him.
After resting for a few minutes, he said, "After my motorcycle accident, Alan stayed with me until Audrey made it in. Alan said not long after she arrived the nurse assigned to me came in and said the same thing about the bath. Audrey did not approve, and accordin' to Alan there was a spectacular showdown between your mom and the nurse over who was gonna 'take care' of me. Guess who won?"
"Mom," Shawn grinned, finally understanding the humor of the nurse's statement. "No one would stand a chance against her, especially if they made her mad."
"Exactly. Man, am I sorry I was still sedated when that went down." Jon looked at Shawn with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Not gonna lie, I'm kinda hopin' for a repeat. I'd like to see that fight."
Shawn started to laugh when the memory of that first hospital stay became clearer.
"Wait," he said suddenly, his countenance darkening with a frown. "Dad, was that nurse a blonde too?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well," he frowned trying to focus on the memory hoping it would fully materialize. "Was she like really pretty, really curvy, and really flirty?"
"Uh-huh," Jon confirmed with a roll of his eyes. "Accordin' to Audrey, Alan, Amy and Eli."
A wave of old anger washed over him. "I remember her."
Jon gave him a curious look. "You do? I barely remember her. Audrey had so many issues with her that she was reassigned within just a couple of days of your mom gettin' here."
Shawn frowned and ran a hand over his beard trying to recall the timeline of his last visit to see Jon. "Yeah, the day Cory told me you were awake I came down to see you."
The superintendent sat up as much as he could in his weakened state and shifted to get a better look at Shawn. "When did you come to see me? There is a lot I don't remember but I know I would've remembered you comin' in."
"I didn't actually make it in," he admitted, embarrassed. "I came down on my own because Cory and Topanga were busy. When I got here, I saw that nurse with you. I, uh, thought she was really inappropriate. She seemed like she was hittin' on you and not doin' her job. Like, I remember seein' her before you woke up and she was dressed like all the other nurses. But that day, she definitely was not. I remember tight white scrubs and a lowcut top."
Jon watched him in silence as he restlessly moved around the room.
"I remember her offerin' to go home with you when you were released to be your private nurse. And she definitely did not just mean the medical stuff either."
Jon shook his head. "I don't remember any of that."
"Yeah, well," Shawn rubbed his hands together as though he was suddenly cold. "I didn't hear you tell her no or anythin' so I kinda thought you were into her. And since I was still upset about you and Mom, I sorta left without seein' you."
A look of sadness washed over Jon's face as he sat back against the elevated bed. "Why would you think I'd be flirtin' with my nurse right after comin' out of a coma?"
Shawn shrugged. His face reddened with humiliation as the reason hit him hard. "Chet told me when he came down to see you, he saw the nurse all over you," he said slowly. "He said he didn't think that kind of thing was allowed in a hospital between a patient and nurse.'
He caught the look of confusion and outrage on Jon's face as he continued, "Chet said the nurse was the same woman he saw you with at the beginnin' of the school year."
"What?!" was all Jon could get out.
Anxiously, he pulled the sleeves of his leather jacket over his palms. Recounting the story brought back all the anger and disgust he felt as a teen toward Jon and his nurse. "He said he saw you guys at the Sunoco gas station at the edge of town. She was all over you and he said you were really into her, that you- "
"Shawn," Jon held up his hand to stop him. "That was no blonde at the Sunoco station- that was Audrey."
Shawn stared at him. "What?"
"Yeah, that was Audrey. She came down a couple of times to see me right at the beginnin' of the school year. We almost got caught by one of the board members, so she stopped comin' down. There was never a blonde, not at the gas station and not at the hospital. And Chet never came to see me."
Shawn stared at Jon for a moment as his words sank in.
Of course, there was no blonde, he thought bitterly. Chet was spinnin' stories around what I was tellin' him.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at the floor.
"So you woulda come in to see me if that nurse wasn't there?" Jon's voice was quiet. He sounded almost nervous asking as though he was afraid the answer would be no.
"Yeah," Shawn sighed. "I woulda. He shook his head in despair. "He took what I was tellin' him and turned it into somethin' else."
"What did Chet tell you?"
"That you were datin' a blonde nurse. Actually, what he told me was a lot more vulgar than that," Shawn shook his head in frustration. "He knew how much Mom meant to me. How much you and her together meant to me. He saw her with you, he knew who she was, and he lied to me. He let me believe that you moved on with the blonde nurse from the motorcycle accident."
"And that's why you were so angry when Cory told you I'd married my nurse."
"Yeah."
The men fell into contemplative silence as each thought about the events that led to them drifting apart.
Finally, Jon said, "I should have told you."
Shawn looked up at him. "Told me what?"
"That Audrey and I were married," he said quietly. "I knew you were goin' through a lot with Chet and Virna back. I thought I would be addin' to your worries by makin' you keep my secret. But I should have told you, Shawn." Jon's brown eyes were brimming with regret. "I'm sorry I didn't."
Shawn shifted his weight from one foot to the other. While he understood Jon's reasoning for not telling him, it was one of those things that, had he known, would have changed everything.
It was difficult to think about exactly how much things would have changed.
"I wish you had," he answered honestly. "It's one secret I woulda been happy to keep." He wasn't angry or hurt about not being told anymore or knowing that everyone else knew. It was just one of those things now.
"I know." Jon leaned his head back against the bed and stared at the silent television mounted in the corner of the room by the ceiling. "I thought Chet and Virna might change. I dunno. Maybe I had more hope that Virna could change, and Chet could be coerced to follow. I thought tellin' you that Aud and I were married might make you give up on them to come back to us. And that wouldn't have been right."
Shawn considered this, then said, "You're right, I would have quit on them." He shook his head in unhappiness. "What bothered me so much was that Cory had to talk both of them into comin' back. They didn't come back on their own for me." His brow furrowed in anger. "I woulda absolutely taken the chance to walk out on them and not look back, just to show them how it felt."
Jon was silent for a moment then said, "After the accident, Cory and Alan kept us updated on what was goin' on. After hearin' about what you went through with them. I wish I'd done somethin' to get you back. Assumin' you woulda come back."
"I don't know if I would have," he admitted. "I was too angry about what happened. But you couldn't have known what was comin'. Not for me, not for you. You did what you thought was best at the time. What else could you do?"
"I dunno," Jon sighed. "I just feel like I never made the right choices with you. I had no confidence in myself with Audrey gone."
"Hindsight is 20/20 or somethin' like that right?" Shawn said, giving him a small smile. "Besides, I didn't exactly offer up everythin' that went on at home. I know I hinted at stuff, but I never told you or Mom about the depth of Chet's neglect or much about the drinkin'. I didn't even give you enough to try to get anythin' outta of me. I just wanted to focus on the three of us being a family and my friends."
"And girls," Jon reminded him with a small smile.
"Of course, girls." Shawn grinned. He walked over to Jon's bedside. "I just wanted to forget about Chet and Virna and pretend that I was your kid. I didn't wanna be reminded that things weren't real, and I was just living in a dream."
"It was real, Shawn." His son's words hit him sharply in the heart and twisted there. While he knew Shawn always wanted them to be a family, he had no idea that he had been so deep in the fantasy of it. "Once Chet came back there wasn't really anythin' I could do to keep my promise to make us a permanent thing. I had nothin' to take to court to get you back with. I'm not sure signin' those papers would have made a difference. He still coulda taken you back."
"I know. And I know I wouldn't have come back without Mom bein' with us too." Shawn frowned. "Speakin' of Mom-where is she?"
Jon smiled although he looked suddenly drained. Shawn realized that this was too heavy of a subject for the superintendent to be dealing with now.
"Gettin' things in order, I'm sure," he said. "You know she won't leave once she gets here."
"I figured," he said taking a seat at the foot of the bed. "How'd she handle things the first time around?"
A pained look crossed Jon's face. "She came straight from the airport to the hospital. Alan brought her suitcases in. She set herself up on the couch in the room and refused to leave. And I do mean refused. It caused a bit of an issue when visitin' hours ended."
He smiled at the memory of Audrey arguing with staff about her rights as a wife to stay. "When the head nurse found out how young she was and that she'd just lost her dad, she made an exception and let her stay with me."
Jon crossed his arms over himself as though he was trying to keep the memories from getting too close. "Amy came once a week to pick up her laundry and bring it back. Either Alan, Amy, or Eli stayed with me while she showered and took care of herself. Otherwise, she never left my side. Audrey and Eli became pretty good friends durin' that time."
He paused for a moment and looked up at Shawn with a guilty, haunted expression. "She was pregnant, you know."
Shawn's brow shot up in surprise. "Really? So she's been pregnant every time you've been admitted to the hospital?"
Jon stared at him, looking appalled as if the thought had not occurred to him before. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I guess so. Wow, my timin' is really bad!"
Shawn gave a snort of laughter. "Right, 'cause there's such a thing as good timin' for a hospital stay."
Jon laughed then grew serious. That haunted looked settled over him again. "We found out Audrey was pregnant two weeks before Richie died. I'm glad we were able to tell him at least. He was so thrilled."
"Wait," Shawn said, trying to do the math. "Julia wasn't born in '97. She couldn't have been."
"No," Jon said as a pained look washed over his face. "She was born in '99."
"Oh, so she's not the oldest? I thought…" He let his words trail off as he realized what must have happened. "Oh, Dad, I am so sorry."
Jon gave him a rueful smile. "Me, too. I was still laid up when it happened. Not much I could do to help your mom. This new kid is actually seven, not six."
"Wow, everythin' really went wrong at the same time for you guys, didn't it?"
His father nodded as the loss of a child decades ago still bothered him.
Shawn was silent for a while then said, "So where did Mom sleep if she wouldn't leave?"
There was certainly no place in this ICU room to sleep unless it was on the short couch against the window.
A thoughtful look crossed Jon's face. "The head nurse who's name I can't remember, set your mom up with sheets and everythin' so she could sleep on the couch. She never did though."
"Where'd she sleep then?"
"Right here," he replied putting his hand on his chest. "She would sit by my side and lay her head on my chest with her ear over my heart. She didn't get a good night's sleep for months. And really annoyed the night staff when they came into check on me."
That certainly sounded like a very Audrey thing to do, even though Shawn didn't understand it. "Why'd she do that?"
"Because I was afraid the nurses didn't have him hooked up to the heart monitors right or that the machines would malfunction, and something would happen they wouldn't catch until it was too late."
Shawn and Jon both turned to look at the doorway. Audrey was standing inside the sliding door frame. Her face was emotionless, but her eyes were a turbulent storm.
"And her name was Jordina."
"I'm okay, Aud," Jon said softly, holding his hand out to her.
"I know," she said. She stepped into the room and slid the door shut behind her. "I've been in touch with the hospital every half hour since Angelo came to the house. The kids are with my aunt and uncle."
Jon nodded and Shawn stood up to greet her, but she walked past him to sit next to Jon. She took her coat off, handed it to Shawn, then rested her head against her husband's chest with her ear over his heart. Audrey dissolved against him. She closed her eyes as she tried not to cry. Jon lightly kissed the top of her head then settled back against the pillows. He wrapped his arms around her as much as the IV tubes would allow him and tangled his fingers in her hair.
Shawn walked over to Audrey's side. A warm feeling of security rushed over him at the sight of them wrapped around each other. It was a tremendous reassurance to see them like this. They still loved each other.
They were still in love.
But there was a melancholic look in Jon's eyes.
"She did everythin' for me after the accident," he said quietly as he caressed her hair in long, loving strokes. "The head nurse, Jordina, took a real likin' to Aud. She had been through the same thing when she was newly married. Her husband was in a bad car accident right after they got back from their honeymoon. She was a nursin' student. The attendin' physician helped her through her program and allowed her to get on the job trainin' by takin' care of her husband. Because of that, Jordina wanted to help Audrey as much as possible."
"Is that what got you started on a nursin' degree?" Shawn asked, unconsciously inching closer to her.
Audrey nodded. "Jordina wanted me to be occupied, especially when Jon spent most of the day asleep. She found out that Saint Louis University was starting a correspondence program for their nursing school. She encouraged me to take the course since I insisted on being a part of Jon's care team."
Jon chuckled at the care team statement.
"I was obsessive with studying, just like I had been obsessive with my weight," she went on. "Jordina knew my medical history so as long as I was eating, she let me go on studying."
"Aud was an excellent nurse," Jon said, glancing at Shawn before returning his attention to his wife. "But you know that. She could have had a great career in nursin', but she wasn't interested."
"I only cared about you," she mumbled into his chest.
"And the whole nursin' staff except for Jordina hated you for it," he chuckled.
Audrey pressed herself closer to him.
"Why?" Shawn asked. "Why would they hate her for carin' about you?"
"Other than tellin' them how to do their job, they hated that she was often right. See, Audrey knew me so well that she knew what I was capable of and what I wasn't. Better than the nurses did. Even when I couldn't really talk, she knew what I needed. Between that, her possessiveness of me, and her favor with the head nurse, Nurse Audrey was not a hospital favorite."
He smiled at the memory and rested his hand on her head. She made a face at the name.
"I wanted to get out of that bed so bad. I knew I could. Aud pushed for me to start physical therapy much sooner than the nurses said I should. She knew that I could do it, too, and that I needed to do it." Jon paused for a moment, lost in thought. "That blonde nurse did come back for a while when she subbed for another one of the nurses. What was her name?"
Shawn saw a disgruntled look settle over Audrey's face. "I don't remember."
Jon arched an eyebrow. "I don't believe that for a minute."
"What does it matter?" Audrey groused. "She was ten years older than me. She looked it then; she'll look it now."
Shawn was surprised to hear the jealousy in her voice all these years later. That nurse must have been almost as bad as Chet said for her to react like that. Curious as he was, he refrained from asking about it.
Jon shook his head in amusement. "Anyway, she and Audrey went head-to-head over what was best for me. That nurse was incredibly unhappy that Audrey found a physiotherapist to take me early and that she got my doctor to agree to it."
"Was she the one who started the Nurse Audrey thing?"
Jon nodded. "She really disliked your mom."
Shawn smiled. He wished he had been around to see that.
"Aud's insistence to start therapy when I did was the reason why I don't have a limp," he said shifting his position so that Audrey was more comfortable. "I was back on the ice after nine months. Joke aside, I wasn't lyin' when I said I married the nurse who took care of me after my accident. Your mom may never have completed her nursin' degree, but she was my nurse."
The superintendent fell silent. He kissed the top of his wife's head and closed his eyes. Shawn watched them for a moment then got up to pull a chair up to the side of the bed. He couldn't help but notice how tired Audrey looked.
Jon opened his eyes at the sound of the chair scraping the floor. "You know," he said quietly so as not to disturb Audrey who appeared to be sleeping. "She's never had a truly peaceful period in her life since she was thirteen."
"She hasn't?" This statement worried Shawn a great deal as he was afraid he was implying that their marriage was turbulent.
Jon shook his head. "After her mom died and her dad fell apart, she had to deal with him, school, the pressures of dance and Julliard and the eatin' disorder. She did have peace with us." This brought a sad smile to his face. "But then she was back to the eatin' disorder and was taken away from us. Richie died and I was in a motorcycle accident. Then a miscarriage. I recovered, but then came the kids and now this."
There was a distant look in Jon's eyes and Shawn could tell he was reliving part of his and Audrey's past. With a heavy sigh, he continued, "She gave up being a normal twenty-year-old for me, Shawn. She gave up seein' what the world had for her. I can never repay her for that or anythin' else she's done."
"You can repay me," Audrey said without opening her eyes. "By never making me live a day without you."
Jon smiled and Shawn sat back in his chair with relief. When Jon said she never had a period of peace he meant time to herself without something going on. Not that their marriage was troubled. He wasn't sure why he worried about them so much. He never worried about the state of his best friends' marriage. Perhaps it was Katherine's attempts at meddling that were the cause of concern. Or because he had missed out on their life.
"Shawn."
He raised his brow in response to Audrey saying his name.
"What's wrong? You look worried."
Shawn shrugged. "I was just thinkin' about you and Dad. Cory and Topanga."
She smiled affectionately at him. "You want to go to Philly."
He nodded and looked away, but he was pleased to know that she still knew him so well she could almost read his thoughts.
"Yeah. I'm just a little disappointed we're not goin' now."
"Why wouldn't we go?"
Shawn gave her a funny look. That was a strange question.
"Uh, Aud," Jon said tapping her shoulder. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm in the hospital."
Audrey sat up and looked at Shawn then back at Jon. "I've spoken to your doctor. He'll release you with a private nurse. You'll just have to check into Northeastern Hospital once we get to Philly to make sure everything is okay."
Shawn felt relieved.
Jon didn't look impressed. "You're actually gonna allow that?"
"Allow what?"
"A private nurse. The last time this came up you shut it down real quick."
"The last time," she said with a roll of her eyes. "The nurse who tried to get herself assigned to you was also trying to get with you."
"No wonder it took you so long to get down here," Shawn remarked leaning back in his chair. "You were gettin' a private nurse lined up."
A curious look passed over her face. She dropped her gaze to the blanket covering Jon.
Shawn saw this and frowned. "Mom?"
Audrey folded her hands in her lap and said nothing.
"Babe," Jon put his hand over hers. "What's the deal with the nurse?"
She pursed her lips into a thin line before answering. "I'm your nurse," she said so quietly they had to strain to hear her.
Jon exchanged confused looks with Shawn. "Yeah, and you're a great one. I mean the professional nurse you got to take care of me."
Audrey glanced at him. "It's me. I'm your nurse."
"Well, that's impressive," Shawn said not sure why she looked so upset. "How'd you convinced the doctor to release Dad to you and make you his nurse?"
Audrey looked extremely uncomfortable and not because of any physical discomfort from the baby. "Private home and hospice care are typically done by licensed practical nurses. And since I am one..."
Jon and Shawn stared at her.
"Technically," she explained anxiously twisting the hem of her shirt.
"Aud?" Jon said incredulously. "Whadya mean technically? You never finished your degree."
At the look on her face, Jon realized she had been keeping something from him for an exceptionally long time. "Did you finish your degree?"
"I finished my LPN degree, yes," she said softly. She looked like a child who had been caught in a lie and was facing adult disappointment.
"I didn't think you did," Jon mumbled. He was stunned. "Why didn't I know this?"
She shrugged, looking miserable. "You were so consumed with getting out of the hospital, I guess. SLU's nursing correspondence degree was brand new in '97 and I was completing the course work faster than they could put it out. Jordina and my advisor at SLU coordinated a specific program for me with the hospital and Community College of Philadelphia."
"That I knew."
At the hard look he was giving her, Audrey shied away from him. She was afraid he would be upset with her for keeping something she considered unimportant from him. With a shaky voice, she explained, "Jordina scheduled my National Council Licensure Exam while you were in surgery to repair your ACL after your casts were removed. She knew the surgery would take a while and didn't want me to fixate on you being in there without me."
"So," he said slowly still trying to wrap his mind around what she was telling him. "I take it you passed?"
She nodded.
There were two things Jon didn't understand: why she'd kept her education a secret all these years and why she looked like she'd committed some terrible crime.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Audrey shrugged miserably. "With your rehab and everything that went on around that, I honestly forgot unless I needed it to prove to someone I could take care of you. By the time my tests results came back you were pretty fed up with everything that had to do with hospitals and nurses. We still had a long stay left, so I set it to the side. I haven't needed it since so…" Her voice trailed off as she stared at her hands and anxiously twisted her engagement ring in tandem with her wedding ring.
Shawn didn't understand why Audrey was almost ashamed and regretful that she'd completed her degree. It seemed to him that what she accomplished was significant considering the circumstances.
Jon was quiet as he mulled this new information over. His recovery from the accident had brought out the worst in him and Audrey bore the brunt of his frustration during that time. He probably would not have reacted well to her news then. After a while, he said, "Well, at least things finally make sense."
Audrey looked at him worriedly. "What do you mean?"
Growing tired of laying around, Jon pulled his knees up towards his chest to alleviate the stress on his lower back. "I always wondered how you managed to get me into PT so soon; why my doctors listened to you. I always thought it was because you were my wife and very charismatic. But it wasn't that at all, was it? It was because you were one of them."
Audrey didn't look pleased with this comparison. "I'm an LPN, the others were RNs or higher. Only the blonde was an LPN. They didn't like that your doctors listened to me."
"Did they know you completed your degree?"
She nodded.
"Whadya know," he said softly, taking her hand again. "I did marry the nurse who took care of me after the accident after all."
Shawn stared at them as he thought back to the meeting Cory forced between him and Jon three months before. Now, with a full understanding of what surrounded the creation of the joke, he found it funnier than his best friend had. "You know, Cory's gonna die when he finds out his joke wasn't a joke after all." Imagining his best friend's reaction made it hard not to laugh. "Topanga will be thrilled the joke is dead."
Jon pulled Audrey back against him with a chuckle. "No wonder you hated that joke so much," he said to her. "You shoulda told me why. I woulda dropped it a long time ago."
Audrey did not see the humor in it that they did. "I didn't see what the point in saying anything was."
"So, you're my nurse again." There was a mischievous tease in his voice. "Did you have to retake a test or somethin'?"
"No," she said. "I've kept my license renewed just like my teaching license even though I don't use it either."
"Wait a minute," Jon said with a frown. "Every few years you renew the license, but you never thought to tell me about it?"
"I don't tell you when I renew my teaching license," she mumbled into his chest.
"Yeah, but I know about that. Aud, is there anythin' else you haven't told me about you?"
She shook her head and Shawn saw that she looked close to tears. Having kept this information from Jon all these years clearly bothered her a great deal.
"I'm sorry," she said despondently. "I didn't mean to hide it from you. I just didn't think much about it. It's not like you're around when I pay the renewal fees and then I just forget." Audrey continued to babble on with an explanation that was muffled by Jon's hospital garb. "It's just insurance anyway. In case something happened. Like with my dad. Then at least I can care for you myself."
"Aud, Aud," Jon said putting a hand on her head. He really didn't understand why she was so upset although it being pregnancy related did cross his mind. "It's okay. I'm not mad about it. I'm just surprised there's somethin' about you I didn't know. I'm glad you're gonna be my nurse. I really am. No one else in the world I'd rather have take care of me. You know that."
Audrey nodded and nestled against him, careful not to disturb the tubing and wires around him.
The nurse from earlier came in and was far less friendly than before. Shawn wasn't sure if that was because Audrey was present or because she had other matters on her mind.
Audrey removed herself from Jon's side with nothing more than an exchanged look with the nurse. She stood next to Shawn who put his arm around her. He leaned his head against hers.
She wondered when he grew taller than her.
"How are the kids?" he asked.
"Fine," she sighed "The younger ones don't know what happened yet. They just think they're visiting their cousins and Jon's getting a checkup at the hospital before we leave."
"What about Julia?"
Audrey shook her head and rubbed her free hand over her eyes. "She's in the waiting room with Maya."
Shawn was surprised that both girls were at the hospital and that Julia had not come in. He thought, if anything, she would be worse than Audrey when it came to staying with Jon. "I thought for sure she'd be in here bossin' the nurses around."
She gave him a small, tired smile. "She's afraid, Shawn. Julia's always known the story about my parents and how old I was when I lost them. She was six when she asked Jon why he didn't ride his bike anymore. He told her and ever since she's been afraid something would happen to him. I think my own fear has rubbed off on her."
"Yeah, well, I understand not wantin' to come in here. I was in her position eighteen years ago. I get the fear."
"Will you talk to her?"
Shawn nodded. "If you promise not to beat up any nurses while I'm gone."
Audrey gave him an incredulous look and then burst into laughter which made Jon smile.
Chuckling to himself, Shawn kissed her cheek and headed to the waiting room to get his sister.
Shawn found the girls sitting in the waiting room engrossed in something on a screen. Julia was leaning over with her elbows resting on her knees. Her head was down as she stared at her phone. Maya sat by her intently listening to whatever was playing on the mobile device.
"Jules."
Both girls' heads popped up. Maya was out of her seat and at his side in an instant.
As he put an arm around Maya, Shawn saw the apprehension in Julia's eyes.
Julia dropped her head again. "I'm gonna go, Dre. Shawn's here. Yeah, thanks. I'll text you soon." She disconnected the call and sat back, staring at him with wide gray eyes full of unshed tears.
"Dad's okay."
She didn't say anything.
Shawn motioned to Maya to follow him and took a seat next to Julia. Maya left him to sit on the other side of the teen. When Shawn took Julia's hand, Maya took the other and gave her a squeeze.
"He is okay," he said earnestly. "Dad's awake and talkin.' Jokin' even."
Julia didn't look even slightly relieved. "This time," she said quietly.
"Yeah."
"What about next time?"
Shawn dropped her hand and put his arm around her pulling her close. "It's this time that's important, Jules. Not somethin' that might never happen."
Tears began to stream down her face. She pulled away from both of them, tugged the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her palms, and pressed them against her eyes. Then she got up and plopped herself on Shawn's lap, wrapping her arms around him, desperate for his reassurance. Maya took the chair she'd been sitting in and leaned against Shawn's shoulder.
"How can you say it might not happen again?" Her words came out in spurts. "The motorcycle accident happened. And now this!"
"It was a motorcycle accident that happened once." He tucked a lock of black curls that was tickling his nose behind her ear. "It hasn't happened again."
"Because he doesn't ride anymore!"
"But he's ridden since the accident, and he's been fine."
Julia put her sweatshirt-clad fists against her cheeks, pressing upwards until she resembled a chipmunk. She couldn't remember how many times her father had taken the Harley out in her lifetime, but she did remember riding with him a few times. Nothing had happened. But then, according to her mother, nothing had happened for almost twenty years before that either. To the teenager, this meant it was due to happen again since it was almost twenty years since the accident.
"Julia," Shawn said firmly pulling her hair away from her face so she could see him. "Take it from someone who has lived his whole life worryin' about what might happen and obsessin' about what did happen- it's a waste of time and it steals your life from you."
"I don't wanna grow up without my dad!" The tears were unstoppable and drew the attention of the nurses on the floor. They may have thought it strange that she was crying and being held like she was five, but deep down inside that's exactly how old she felt.
"You're not gonna grow up without Dad," he replied firmly laying a kiss on her forehead. When the nurse assigned to Jon attempted to comfort his sister, he waved her away with some annoyance.
Shawn glanced at Maya and gave her a reassuring smile. "I know it's hard to stop worryin' about somethin' happenin', but you need to. Dad is gonna be fine. Mom'll make sure of it."
Julia responded by wiping her tears and her nose against his sweatshirt.
A deep empathy for his sister washed over him as he recalled Chet's death. He was angry with Chet for abandoning him yet again. But he was also scared. And very alone. His brother offered no comfort in the time after Chet died, choosing to seek comfort in his roommate Rachel, rather than the two of them being there for each other. For Julia, irrational as it was, Jon's hospitalization seemed like he was on the brink of death. He was not about to let her think she did not have a brother to turn to.
"Don't you wanna see him?" he asked her quietly. "I know he wants to see you."
She shook her head violently, sending a spray of curls into his face. "I can't," she replied. Her voice was thick with tears making her difficult to understand.
"Why not?"
"I don't wanna see him hooked up to those machines and stuff. I don't wanna see my dad like that. Mom told me what happened. She told me what was wrong. That's all I need."
"It's not as big of a deal as you think it is, Jules. Those machines are just monitorin' him. The IV is helpin' him get better."
"You don't understand," she said miserably into his shirt collar.
"Don't I, Jules?" Shawn tried to think if there was anything that would have gotten through to him when he was her age. Cory had a tough time reaching him. But thankfully, Julia wasn't angry at the world like he had been then.
"I was there when the accident happened," he reminded her. "I didn't wanna go in and see him either for the same reasons you don't now. I couldn't stand seein' him that way. But he's not like he was then. It's not the same thing. You don't have to wait to find out if he'll be okay because he is okay now."
Julia sat up, twisting the left sleeve of her sweater into a knot. "Daddy's my best friend, Shawn," she said in hushed reverence. "Even better than Dre."
"And you're scared to lose him," he finished. "Been there, Sis. Wanna try again for somethin' I can't understand?"
This garnered a small smile from the teen. "You're more than twice my age," she said as the sarcasm she inherited from their father began to peek through. "I'm gonna lose every time."
This made Shawn laugh. "Did you just call me old?"
Julia grinned at him. "Well, you are."
"Get up!" Shawn said with mock annoyance. He stood up which forced her to stand up too. Putting his arm around her, he continued to tease her while steering them toward Jon's room. They were at the door before she could protest. Shawn slid open the door and gently pushed his sister into the room.
"Shawn?" Maya asked. She peeked around him to look into Jon's room.
The younger girl had been so quiet, he'd almost forgotten about her.
"Yeah?"
"Is Uncle Jon really gonna be okay?"
"He is, Maya," he said confidently.
"How do you know?"
Shawn looked down at her and gave her a smile.
"Because he's got the best nurse in the world takin' care of 'im."
The moment Julia saw Jon, she burst into tears.
Much like Audrey, Julia saw her father as a superhero. She could not remember a time he was in such a weakened state. There were times when he had been sick but not to the point that he was prevented from going about business as usual after a day or two unless he was milking it for the attention he got from her mother.
Seeing him in a hospital bed in the ICU sent a feeling of utter fear through her. She couldn't bear to see him so pale and thin.
Timidly, Julia approached his bedside. Jon saw the anxiety on her face and held his hand out to her. She took his hand gingerly, afraid that anything tighter than a light touch would hurt him. Audrey moved away from Jon enough for her to sit in front of her.
A ripple of heartache went through Jon when he saw how fearful his daughter was and how much pain his hospitalization caused her.
"Hey," he said softly. "You can hug me, you know."
Julia hesitated, unsure of where to put her arm. The tubes and wires scared her even though she knew what they were for. With her mother's encouragement, she embraced Jon. Succumbing to the tears and fear and relief that he was okay, Julia held onto him tightly.
While Jon held Julia, Audrey stood up and motioned for Shawn to follow her.
"What's up, Mama?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"I need your help."
"Anything. Just tell me what to do."
"In a few hours I want you to take Julia and Maya home."
"Okay."
Audrey silently went over the checklist in her head, then said, "Dinner is in the refrigerator. You'll just need to heat it up. There's a list of things I need done tonight. It's not much. There will also be a few things to do in the morning. You'll have to load the Yukon with everything by the back door. At 8, my aunt and uncle will be over with the kids. Load them up and lock up the house."
She gave a weary sigh and went over the list again, checking off the things she already told him to do. "You're riding the bike to Philly, right?"
He nodded.
"Uncle Tom will drive the Yukon then. Aunt Annette will follow in the car. Meet us here, okay?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay," she said distractedly. "I think that's all."
"When's Dad gettin' out tomorrow?"
"Dr. Alivers wants to do one more round of blood work to check his sodium levels- that's what he's most concerned about. Barring any issues tonight, I'm expecting him to be out around ten or so. Maybe sooner."
Shawn ran his hand over his beard. "Are we goin' straight to Philly from the hospital?"
"Yes. Alan will meet us there. He's going to take the kids home and leave me his car."
"How long will Dad be at Northeastern?"
"I don't know. We'll just have to see."
A frown crossed Audrey's face and Shawn could tell she was worried she had forgotten something. "Mom, are you okay?"
Pressing her thumb against her teeth she nodded.
"Can I ask you somethin' then?"
Audrey looked up at him inquisitively and nodded.
"Why didn't you tell Dad about passin' your nurses exam?"
She looked away and stared at the space in front of her.
"The longer I went without telling him the harder it was to find a time to bring it up." She shook her head and pinched her bottom lip with her fingers. "Jon hated anything and everything to do with hospitals, doctors, and nurses. I know he doesn't remember this, but he actually ordered me to stop taking the nursing classes. When I passed my exam I wanted to tell him, but Cory brought up the nurse joke. Jon laughed but then said he was glad I wasn't a nurse. Said he'd divorce me if I was. He was serious too."
Shawn's eyes widened in surprise. Both Jon and Audrey had alluded to hard times early in their marriage when he first came home, but it was apparently much worse than he thought.
"I can see why tellin' him wasn't priority."
"I got that license for one purpose and one alone," she told him. "And that was to make sure I was the one to take care of Jon if something happened. My dad wasn't allowed to take care of my mom the way he wanted to in her final days because he didn't have the right education or degree. I wasn't going to let that happen to me." A hazy look settled into her eyes and Shawn could no longer read her expression.
"I've always been too afraid to let it lapse." There was a catch in her voice. "Too afraid I would need it again."
Shawn thought about everything she had been through in her life, and it filled him with deep sorrow that she had gone through the aftermath of the accident essentially alone. Even though the Matthews and Eli were there it wasn't the same as having someone there whose life was interwoven with theirs.
His thoughts drifted to Cory's parents and what they went through when Josh was born prematurely. Although Amy was grateful for his presence and Topanga's, they weren't the ones she needed by her side. It was her husband and her children. The ones whose lives were intertwined with Josh's and whose lives would be severely impacted if they had lost him.
His was the only life that intertwined in that way with Jon and Audrey. He should have been the one there. Audrey should have been able to lean on him.
As his mind drifted to the edge of depression, Audrey, right on cue, turned to him and said, "I am so glad you're here, Shawn. I don't think I could go through this without you."
Shawn wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. Remembering the promise he made at Jon's bedside, he forced his mind to focus on the present and not a past that couldn't be changed.
"Stay with him, Mama," he told her. "I'll take care of everythin' else."
Audrey squeezed his hand and went back to Jon's room without another word.
Shawn remained in the hallway for a moment gathering his thoughts, then he turned to the empty waiting room. There was a call he needed to make.
As usual, his call was picked up before the second ring could finish.
"Shawnie!" Cory cried worriedly. "What's going on? How's Jon?"
"He's gonna be fine," Shawn said. In the background, he could hear the bustle of movement and voices vying to be heard over the others indicating that he was on speakerphone. That meant Topanga was nearby. With a deep inhale he proceeded to tell his best friends what happened.
"Shawn?" Topanga's voice was thick with concern. "Do you want us to come back?"
"No, you don't need to."
"We don't?"
"Dad's being released to go to Philly under the care of a private nurse."
"Well, that's good," Cory said sounding uncertain. "I'm surprised Audrey would allow that. But whatever gets you guys home."
Shawn rubbed his eyes wearily and bit his lip trying to decide whether he should tell them now or not. The image of Cory's goofy smile as he delivered the terrible joke that almost made him leave the City sprang to mind and he started to chuckle.
"Shawn?"
"Cor," he said swallowing back the laughter. "You were right."
"Right? What are we talking about?"
Even without being able to see his best friend, he knew he was baffled. "You were right. Dad did marry the nurse who took care of him after his accident."
Cory's laugh came out in an uncertain cough. "I'm glad you came around to the joke."
Topanga let out a grunt of disgust. "I swear if you bring that joke to Philadelphia…"
"It's not a joke," he insisted. He could feel himself starting to break. "It's true!"
"Oh, shut up, Shawn!"
Shawn just knew she was dramatically rolling her eyes at him. The idea made him laugh more. "What? It's true. Mom's an LPN. Technically."
"What?" Cory and Topanga exclaimed simultaneously.
"Mom passed the exam she needed to finish her degree way back when."
"I honestly thought Cory telling you that stupid joke would put an end to this," Topanga huffed. "You're worse than he is!"
"Topanga, if you don't believe me, ask Mom."
When Shawn finished telling them what Audrey told him and Jon, a familiar warm voice commented, "None of you knew that?"
"No," Topanga answered. "I had no idea."
"Mom? You knew?" Cory asked incredulously.
Amy's laugh brought back memories of sitting in the Matthews' kitchen as a kid. Shawn smiled fondly as he thought about his best friend's mother.
"Of course, I did. Audrey called me the day she got her license."
Shawn found it strange that Cory's mother would be the one she would tell, but he tended to forget that his parents were much closer to the Matthews than they were when he lived with Jon. "Did you know that she didn't tell Dad?"
"No, but it doesn't surprise me. There was a lot going on then, Shawn."
"That's what I'm learnin'," he sighed.
While Topanga excused herself to help Riley with a problem she was having, Shawn talked with Cory about Audrey's plans for the rest of the day and the next. After he said goodbye, he scrolled through his personal emails, then pocketed that phone, and took out the burner.
The emails and texts were mostly work related with personal correspondence sprinkled throughout. Shawn assumed Audrey would take care of these eventually.
He was about to close the app when one email, hidden amongst the rest, caught his eye.
It was from Katherine Tompkins' personal email address.
His heart started to race as adrenaline and anxiety flooded his body at the sight of the name. It irritated him to no end that the mere mention of her name or thought of her could invoke this heavy stress.
He felt sick and his thumb shook as he clicked the message open.
Jon,
I just wanted to follow up with you about getting together. I've already talked to Eli about visiting Philadelphia. We'll be down next week and we'd really like to spend some time with you. Eli's interested in the three of us going to Bear Creek Mountain Resort. It would be nice to get away from everything for a few days.
Let me know when you're free and we'll make reservations.
Kat
That sick feeling gave way to anger as he read the email over. On the surface, it appeared to be nothing more than a friendly note. However, there was something obvious missing from the email.
Audrey.
Eli and Jon both made it clear the night he and Katherine came over that they wanted to double-date and that date included his mother.
In Katherine's email, Audrey didn't exist.
It made Shawn wonder if Eli would actually make the trip if Jon was to answer yes to her message or if he would conveniently have something else to do.
Not that it mattered. Given his father's situation, there was no way now for Katherine to get Jon alone without Audrey.
However, Shawn could see another issue if she came to town. If Katherine came snooping around the Matthews' house and discovered that Tippy was Topanga and related to all of them, it might cause significant problems they couldn't handle right now.
This left him with a decision to make: did he delete the email or show it to Audrey?
Many thanks for spending some time with me. I so appreciate the reads, reviews, and all that. Hope everyone is doing well.
Next chapter might be slightly delayed. I'm working on a Valentine's Day story, although this one is still priority. See you soon. :)