Chapter 4 - Dolores
Charlie was to remain in the hospital at least until the next night. Bella was primarily concerned about Charlie adjusting to being in a wheelchair temporarily, at least until his broken leg healed. But even after the cast got removed, he would need to start physical therapy to build strength back into his knee. On top of that, she needed to tell Charlie that his father was on life support and that Robert was displaying no signs of regaining consciousness, and to top it all off, Robert's sister was coming to make the executive decision on what to do with that . . . that thing.
Perhaps he was being extremely unreasonable, but Ted couldn't help it. He couldn't see Charlie's father as anything else but an animal, a sick monster of the worst kind; every time Robert was brought up, Ted referred to Robert as a thing and it and that because that to him wasn't a man, anybody who did anything like that to his own child couldn't be human. Even animals had more humaneness than that; animals treated their offspring better.
But he was careful of how he spoke about things around Charlie. He figured it would be better if Bella broke the news to the kid because maybe the boy would respond better if someone from a more neutral territory relayed it to him.
He sipped the coffee Bella had gotten for him from the hospital's staff room. The stuff from the cafeteria was horrendous. And he sympathized with Charlie immensely; the kid was stuck on a primarily liquid and soft foods diet until he regained some weight, meaning he was stuck with Jell-O, yogurt, bananas, potatoes, and eggs until he could handle eating more than one hundred calories. Still, he knew what Charlie actually wanted was pizza or a burger. He remembered when he brought along a breakfast burrito for Gordon, and Charlie had watched bitterly, demanding whether Gordon would eat that right in front of him.
"That's cruelty to humanity," he'd seethed at Gordon as he picked at lime Jell-O and hard-boiled eggs.
Ted watched in sympathy as the kid ate his lunch – string cheese, raspberry Jell-O, hummus, and celery. Out of respect for the kid's feelings, he ate his McDonald's lunch outside the hospital room, but Charlie was still pissed that he was missing out on real food after having been starved for seven months.
Charlie picked at the Jell-O in disgust. "Why do they serve this?"
"It's supposed to help regulate blood sugar and is easy on digestion," Ted said. "And you've been dehydrated for a while."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I'd rather starve than eat this."
Ted eyed the second Jell-O cup that was there. "How about I suffer a bite after each one you suffer?"
Charlie smiled slightly at the idea of getting some justice there. But before Ted could pick up the Jell-O cup, he heard a knock at the door and saw Bella coming in.
"Ted, can you come out for a second?" she asked.
Ted nodded, rising from his seat and going out to the hallway.
"Robert's sister is here," she whispered. "She's with Casey, Gordon, and the doctor who is in charge of Robert. I'm going to tell Charlie now."
Ted nodded.
"She wants to talk to you and, afterward, to see Charlie. She feels responsible for letting Charlie know her decision," Bella explained.
"Okay." Ted swallowed. "She's in the ICU?"
Bella nodded. "Yes."
"All right, I'll go and meet with her. Just . . . be careful how you tell the kid. He's been through enough."
Bella smiled at him. "Coaching the Ducks has made you soft."
"I just hate that he, of all people, had to go through this. I knew he saw Gordon as a dad, but I guess I underestimated how close they were and how personally he took it. Me coming in, laying down the law and demanding he do laps immediately, I can see how that rubbed him the wrong way. It doesn't mean I'm not gonna push him when he's ready to come back, but I'll push him when I feel it's time for him to be pushed harder. Because when the doctor says he's ready to go back to playing, I will make sure he does all his physical therapy and that his knee gets better."
"I know you will." Bella kissed him gently before beckoning him to go. But even as he ventured toward the adult ICU, he could've sworn he heard Charlie starting to cry upon Bella breaking the news to him.
Walking closer to where Robert Galloway was, Ted felt his anger surface. He didn't know how he was going to be able to look at the man's sister. What was he supposed to say to Dolores Morrow? I'm sorry that your brother is a worthless piece of scum?
Clenching his jaw, he wandered until he was outside the room; he saw Casey and Gordon already there while Dolores stood there, talking with the both of them.
"We're sorry you had to make this decision," Gordon was telling her.
"He was so far gone, nothing would've made a difference," Dolores said. "I moved off to Michigan to get far away from him. I didn't want him around my family; I knew it would be a matter of time before he killed himself." She turned to Casey. "And I know he put you and your son through absolute hell."
"That's an understatement," Ted said, not even bothering to disguise his bitterness as he approached Dolores, who turned around, the curtain of her long, dark hair spinning with her. Looking at her face, she looked almost nothing like her brother – sure, their hair color was the same, but that was where it ended; where Robert's eyes were blue like Charlie's were, hers were a soft brown – he guessed one sibling took more after another parent.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm the boy's hockey coach," Ted said. "Ted Orion."
Dolores seemed to register this. "Oh, right, you played with the North Stars before they moved to Texas."
Ted nodded.
"Why do you think he suddenly decided to do this?" Casey asked, her voice shaking.
Dolores sighed. "I don't know. The thrill of it? He'd lie all the time when we were kids, and he hated our dad for leaving us and our mother; he hated our dad for doing the same thing he did to his own son." She shook her head at the irony.
"I'm not surprised," Gordon whispered, his voice sounding more like a snarl.
"Once, he put some broken glass in his taco at Taco Bell and sued for it; he just seemed to get a thrill from lying," Dolores explained. "And he eventually got addicted to drugs when we were in high school; he hung around the wrong people, but he never kept too many friends. He wasn't interested in attaching himself to anyone. Personally? I think he chose to go after your son because he is known to the public eye; your son is world-famous, and everyone knows who the Ducks are; they went to the Junior Goodwill Games. He saw an opening, and he went for it." Dolores laughed mirthlessly, the noise filled with nothing but disgust. "I got a restraining order against him six years ago when he called my daughter and threatened to come after me and my husband."
"I'm amazed you and him are even related," commented Gordon.
"Me too," Dolores said.
"So, what are you choosing to do?" asked Ted, though he had a feeling he knew what it would be.
"I told them to take Rob off life support," Dolores said, her brown eyes filling.
Ted sighed. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"It's hardly a loss," Dolores argued. "He had a sister and a niece; he chose drugs over his own family. If he'd given a damn, he would've gotten clean and wouldn't have abandoned his son." A single tear went down her face. "Does he know yet? About this?" She turned to Gordon and Casey.
"My wife is telling him now," Ted said. "I couldn't do it."
"Would I be able to see him?" Dolores asked.
Casey bit her lower lip. "I don't know."
"I feel I owe it to him. His dad is about to get taken off life support; he should hear about it from me."
"That's not his dad," Gordon said angrily. "I'm his dad."
"I know that," Dolores said quickly. "I'm not suggesting my brother deserves to be called his dad. But . . ."
"I know. And I'm sorry," Gordon apologized. "I guess you could visit him. But be careful with what you say to him. He's been traumatized enough."
Dolores nodded, allowing Gordon, Ted, and Casey to lead her to the pediatric ward. When they approached Charlie's room in the PICU, Ted felt his nerves worsen even more. He didn't know how Charlie would react to meeting the woman who was his aunt, whom he'd never met, never knew, who had a daughter, who'd be his cousin living outside Detroit, attending a local community college, and would be transferring to go to college in Minneapolis so she could finish up her criminal justice degree and begin working as a legal aid until she could gather up the money to attend law school, which would be at least a decade or so from now.
Slowly, Gordon clenched his hand around the doorknob and pulled, entering the room and seeing Charlie sitting up in bed, tears staining his cheeks. Ted hung back with Dolores while Casey and Gordon walked up to their son, who was noticeably sniffling. Gordon slowly wound an arm around him, prompting the boy to look up at the man who would be his stepdad. However, Ted noticed Casey wasn't wearing her engagement ring – Ted suspected Casey would keep that ring a secret until she and Gordon found the right time to tell Charlie they were engaged, which made sense; Charlie needed to adjust to coming home first before he could be happy for his mother.
Gordon, who still hadn't shaved at all, gave Charlie a whiskery kiss on the forehead as Casey sat in the chair beside the bed, holding the boy's hand while Dolores cautiously approached the family.
"Charlie, sweetheart," Casey whispered. "This is Robert's sister, Dolores."
Charlie stared back at her, his blue eyes holding a strange combination of disbelief, grief, terror, and agony as he started crying harder. For a moment, he said nothing. He leaned closer to Gordon, shrinking back, making him appear even smaller.
"Hi," Dolores said gently.
Charlie remained silent, apart from his tears.
"He's not gonna go near you again," Dolores continued, realizing Charlie wasn't going to say anything. "I told the doctors to take him off life support."
Charlie stared back at her, open-mouthed, before choking out, "But . . . But he was your brother."
"And none of that mattered to him," Dolores whispered. "He had a mother, a sister, and a niece. And a son. Those are titles you call someone when they're related to you by blood. But blood doesn't make you a family. He didn't give a damn about anyone; he only cared about getting his next fix. This was bound to happen to him eventually, but I never thought it would happen like this, him trying to murder his own child, only to hit a tree and kill himself." Dolores paused before adding, "I'm just relieved to know that you're alive."
Charlie didn't say anything in return. Silent tears kept streaking his face as he looked at his aunt, the aunt he never knew he had up until now.
"I'm very sorry that this happened," Dolores said. "But God was watching out for you. I hope you know that."
Charlie nodded, bringing his hand up to clutch at Gordon's arm, fingers wrapping around his wrist while Gordon kept stroking his hair. Finally, Charlie asked, "What . . . What's gonna happen after . . .?"
"The doctors said they'll try and harvest some of his organs, see if any are usable," Dolores whispered. "I would be shocked if there were any that could be used to save someone else's life. Because after years of him doing drugs, I'm surprised he didn't die long ago. But if some part of him could be used for something good, then I'll hope for that."
Charlie seemed to agree with that. Finally, Casey said, "Dolores, while I appreciate you coming, he needs his rest. How long are you staying out here for?"
"Not long; I have to go back home to my husband and my daughter. I really worried them when I told them I got the call about my brother. My daughter, Alex, thought I was out of my mind coming out here for this."
"She sounds like a smart kid," Gordon commented softly.
"Actually, she's not much younger than you," Dolores admitted to Gordon. "She's maybe roughly ten years older than you, Charlie; it took her a long time to complete community college because she decided to double major in criminal justice and political science and minor in creative writing; it took her four years to get enough credits to transfer to Metropolitan State."
Gordon smiled weakly at this. "At least she's got ambition."
"She sure does." Dolores turned back to Charlie, who sat there in silence, watching as Dolores backed away from the bed before she added, "Feel better, honey."
Charlie nodded back at her, watching as she departed. But as Dolores shut the door behind her, more tears poured down the kid's face as Gordon hugged him a little tighter, clutching him closely while Charlie buried his face into Gordon's shirt.
A/N: Bear in mind, the only reason why I'm updating the story so quickly on here is because I really want it to be caught up to where it is on AO3; on AO3, I've posted chapter 6 already, and I'd want to ensure that this story is just as caught up as the version on AO3 is before I even consider updating the AO3 version with chapter 7. So, if you like the story, feel free to review and let me know your thoughts.