Family Dispute Chapter Eight
"Jeremy, it's time, come on." Joshua said.
"Josh, do you think Jason will ever wake up? It's been three months." Jeremy sighed.
"We have to keep hoping and praying, Jeremy. You know Doctor Wright said it's very possible that Jason will wake up." Joshua put his arm around his brother.
"I know, but when? This is killing me, Josh. And you too. Jason is our brother and it's almost like he's… I can't even say it." Jeremy looked at Joshua with tears in his eyes.
"I know what you mean, brother. It is awful being without him in our everyday lives. Let's go see Jason before visiting hours are over. They don't give us long." Joshua said.
The two brothers were at The Olympia Hospital. Jason had been there for two months due to a severe head injury. He had been unconscious since Suzanne Blackerby hit him over the head with an iron skillet. She hit Jason because he slung her across the room after he caught her trying to suffocate Jeremy with a pillow when he was seriously sick with a fever.
Aaron had been guarding Mrs. Blackerby and Marvin Watkins in the bedroom while everyone else slept. Somehow Marvin overpowered Aaron and got his shotgun from him. Suzanne slipped into the front room and tried again to murder Jeremy with Jason sitting just inches away.
Fortunately, Jeremy was able to make enough noise so that Jason heard him and woke up immediately. Thus, came the slinging and the hitting with the iron skillet. Jeremy suffered no bad effects from the suffocation attempt.
After Jason was injured, he spent a month in Doctor Wright's clinic. During that month, Jeremy recovered from his fever, and he no longer needed Laudanum.
Joshua and Jeremy had Jason sent to the hospital in Olympia based on Doctor Wright's recommendation. The two brothers had been visiting him at least three times a week. They were planning to move to Olympia so they could see their oldest brother every day.
Joshua and Jeremy were going to take an extended leave from work. They were making arrangements with Barnabas Smith regarding a contract leaving Big Swede and Corky in charge while they were gone.
Jeremy and Joshua agreed that it would be good for them as well as for Jason for them to be close to the hospital. During the first month that Jason was in Olympia, the two younger brothers had a terrible time.
Jeremy stopped talking. Joshua didn't address it the first two days because he hoped it was just temporary. By the third day of Jeremy's silence, Joshua couldn't take it anymore.
"Jeremy, I know that not talking is your way of coping with serious emotional pain. I understand that you are heartbroken about Jason. But Jeremy, so am I and I need you, brother. With Jason in the hospital for who knows how long and you not talking, I feel all alone in the world. I can't do it. Please help me, Jeremy. I need you. Please. I need you." Joshua sobbed.
Jeremy put his arms around his brother. "J-J-Josh, I n-n-need you too. I'll talk. You w-w-won't b-b-be alone. I love you, Josh." The brothers sobbed together.
Joshua and Jeremy walked into Jason's hospital room. A nurse was wiping his face with a damp cloth.
"Good morning. Your brother slept well last night. He was not agitated as he is during the night sometimes." She told them.
"That's good. Thank you for telling us. The doctor thinks Jason might be having a nightmare when he is agitated during the night." Joshua replied.
"Yes, sometimes, Mr. Bolt calls out where are you, Jeremy? Come back, Jeremy. Other times he says Joshua, help me find Jeremy or Josh, when is Jeremy coming home? I'm guessing that you are Joshua and Jeremy?" The nurse asked.
"Yes, ma'am. He's Joshua and I'm Jeremy." Jeremy answered.
The nurse smiled at them. "I know it's very hard on both of you to see your brother like this. The three of you must be very close. He dreams about you two and you both visit him quite often."
"Yes, ma'am, it is one of the hardest things we have ever been through and yes we are very close." Joshua answered.
"Ma'am, do you or any of the other nurses ever see any signs that J-J-Jason might be t-t-trying to w-w-wake up?" Jeremy asked.
"No, not so far, Mr. Bolt, I'm sorry. Try not to be discouraged. Your brother could wake up at any time." She answered. I'll go so you young men can visit with your brother."
"Thank you." Joshua said as the nurse left the room.
After the nurse left, Joshua and Jeremy sat in chairs on opposite sides of the bed. They looked at Jason in silence for a few minutes.
"Jason looks like he is just sleeping, doesn't he?" Joshua asked.
"Yes, he does." Jeremy said sadly. "I'm sorry, Josh. It's my fault that Jason is here in this terrible shape. If I had told you and him the truth about what happened with Sergeant Todd in the beginning, this wouldn't have happened. If Jason dies, it will be because of my stupidity!" Jeremy wailed.
"Jeremy! That's not true! You did what you thought was right. You were trying to be kind to the old man after he had hunted you down to kill you." Joshua reassured him.
"That's the stupid part, Josh. Me trying to be kind to someone who tried to kill me! Who does that? Me! That's who! Stupid ole Jeremy Bolt!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"Jeremy! You're not stupid! You were just trying to be kind." Joshua insisted.
"I was stupid to try to be kind after that crazy man wanted to kill me, Josh!" Jeremy yelled.
"Jeremy! Stop calling yourself stupid!" Joshua shouted.
"Don't tell me what to do, Joshua!" Jeremy hollered.
"Don't call me, Joshua!" Josh yelled.
"That's your name, you big dumb cheese brain!" Jeremy was almost screaming.
"I don't like the way you say it, baby brother!" Joshua bellowed.
"Baby Brother! Who the hell are you calling baby brother?!" Jeremy screamed.
"You, baby brother!" Joshua screamed in Jeremy's face.
"Well, shut up!" Jeremy screamed in Joshua's face.
"You shut up!" Screamed Josh.
The two brothers kept screaming shut up at each other until a third voice said, "Both of you shut up before I kick your arses to Oregon!"
Joshua and Jeremy became quiet instantly. They looked at each other in shocked surprise. They turned their heads in unison and looked at Jason.
Jason was awake and looking at them. "Jason! You're awake! Thank God!" Joshua and Jeremy shouted.
Jeremy ran to get the of them came running back into the room.
"Oh! Mr. Bolt! How wonderful!" Nurse Hartley exclaimed.
"Ma'am, is it okay for us to hug our brother?" Jeremy asked.
"Certainly, that's fine. Just be careful, please. No bear hugs just yet. I'm going to get the doctor." The nurse answered.
The three brothers hugged. Each of them had tears in their eyes.
"How do you feel, Jason?" Joshua asked. "You have been unconscious for three months."
"Three months?!" Jason was shocked. Joshua and Jeremy told him what happened that led to him being seriously hurt.
"Well, I have been out of touch with reality for a while, haven't I?" He spoke.
"Yes, you have big brother. How do you feel now?" Joshua inquired.
"I'm hungry!" Jason replied in his booming voice.
The Bolt brothers laughed and smiled. "How are you two boys? Are you alright?" Jason asked.
"We are great now that we have you back! We sure did m-m-miss you, J-J-Jason." Jeremy replied.
"Did you recover from that bad fever, Jeremy?" Jason was concerned.
"Yes, I did, Jason, I'm fine. I don't need Laudanum any longer either." Jeremy told him.
"That's fine! Just fine!" Jason was very pleased.
"How are you, Josh? You and Jeremy were in quite a shouting match when I woke up." Jason said.
"Yes, we were. We aren't angry at each other, Jason. Just blowing off steam. Our lives have been pretty stressful for the last several months." Joshua replied.
"I hear that, brother. I have even been stressed while I was unconscious. Several times it seemed like, I had the most terrible nightmare. It was exactly the same every time." Jason said somberly.
"What was your nightmare about, Jason?" Jeremy asked.
Jason looked at his youngest brother with tears in his eyes. "It was about you, Jeremy. I dreamed that you died."
"What?!" Joshua was shocked. "That must have been a horrible dream."
"Yes, it was, Josh. In my nightmare, when Jeremy died, I lost my mind. I mean I absolutely went crazy. Every time anyone said anything about Jeremy being gone, I just couldn't comprehend it at all! The very words each person said about you, Jeremy, sounded like a million bees buzzing around a beehive." Jason explained.
"Wow, Jason! How did your nightmare end? Did I come back somehow?" Jeremy wondered.
"No, Jeremy, you didn't. My nightmare ended with me being caught between reality and insanity. In my terrible dream, Josh and I were at the dock to see Clancy off to San Francisco. I asked Clancy to bring you back to Josh and me the next time he sailed to Seattle. That was me trying to hold to the insanity that you weren't gone just away on a trip. But then, I cried a single tear as I looked out at the horizon and tried to understand the reality that you were gone forever." Jason sobbed.
"Oh, my God!" Joshua exclaimed.
"Jason, please don't cry! It was terrible but it was just a nightmare. I'm fine. I'm right here. I love you, Jason!" Jeremy sobbed as he hugged his oldest brother.
"Hey! Let me in!" Joshua sobbed."I love you, Jason! I love you, Jeremy!"
Jason and Jeremy each held out an arm to Joshua. The three brothers hugged and cried. "We love you, Joshua!" Jason and Jeremy said at the same time.
A few days later, the doctor said Jason was well. He was released from the hospital. The day before Jason went home, he and his brothers received word that Suzanne Blackerby and Marvin Watkins had been convicted of three counts of attempted murder and each of them was sentenced to life in prison.
The three Bolt brothers went home to Seattle, to their mountain, and to their friends.
Two weeks after Jason got home, the brothers went to church. Jeremy and Joshua played their guitars and sang Amazing Grace. Jason gave his testimony about how God had protected the three of them through all the trials and troubles they had faced in the past several months.
When Jason finished speaking, there were hugs, and tears, and I love you's not only among the Bolt brothers and their friends, but throughout the entire congregation.
When Aaron kidded Jason about the Bolt brothers living charmed lives, Jason stood between Joshua and Jeremy with an arm on each brother's shoulder. Jason smiled his dazzling smile and in his deep booming voice, he said, "Not charmed, Aaron, blessed. My brothers and I are very blessed."
The End?
