Another 'new' AU. This is what happens when you have too many ideas floating around in your head. Also something that came to mind when Nurf posted a small what if piece on her tumblr. So once again you have her to thank for this.
There were still times where he'd close his eyes and see Jesse's wreck again.
The Hornet tumbling across the sand. Being held back from getting to him, and the sickening wait in the hospital for Jesse to be out of surgery. Jesse's surgeries were now long over; but, the waiting in hospital was still going on a whole five years later.
The anniversary of the wreck was only weeks away, and yet there was still no change in Jesse's condition.
His brother was still unconscious with no signs of waking up.
He couldn't be waiting at the hospital everyday anymore. He had other responsibilities to see to. Ones like his job, his wife, and his kid, soon to be kids.
It had only been a few months after no change in Jesse's condition that they moved him into the closest hospital; making him once again a frequent visitor to Jefferson's. It being after that move, that he started up the garage again.
For as long as Jesse had been in the hospital, his medical bills would have added up quickly, if it wasn't for an "anonymous" donor paying for most if not all of them. He was sure that anonymous was synonymous with Piston.
Though there was no way to prove it easily on his end.
It was a huge help and as far as he was concerned they should be paying the bills for putting Jesse there in the first place.
It took a little bit of stress off of him and Joan knowing that those bills were taken care of.
It had left them with a bit more money to play around with when they had gotten married about three years ago.
They had still been visiting Jesse more regularly at that time, before Rebecca had come along.
She made it harder to go visit Jesse in hospital.
More than once it left him feeling guilty about living life when Jesse couldn't. With Joan expecting their second child in only a couple months, it was only going to get harder.
Life was only going to get busier, while Jesse still remained in his comatose state.
What left him feeling more guilty than having moved on with life; was that sometimes, he wished that Jesse would have died in his wreck. At least it wouldn't be this purgatory state that he was in currently.
It broke his heart to think of it, but it would have been a better end for him.
Jesse could have been with their parents and Ruth in a better place, one without pain and suffering, and he would have closure.
Since that wasn't the case, he'd continue to visit Jesse in the hospital, just like he was now.
Today wasn't a day that he felt like trying to talk to his brother.
Joan had stayed home with Rebecca, though they usually would've come with him.
He wasn't sure how well Rebecca understood that; though Jesse was unconscious, he was her uncle and that he wasn't always like this.
They knew all the nurses on sight, well enough that they'd bring treats for their daughter, while discussing what had been happening with Jesse. Everything from how they were treating him and how he was reacting to it, to who he had for visitors. They would also talk about personal lives since there was often no change.
He was just starting to get ready to leave, when one of the nurses entered the room. They exchanged a few pleasantries before he dared ask a question that he hated almost as much as checking on Jesse.
"Have any of them stopped by to see him?"
She looked at him with almost a pitting look.
"I'm afraid I haven't seen them come in. I'm sorry. Miss Piston did come in again this week. She's a sweet girl. Are you sure that she didn't know your brother?" said the nurse.
"Positive. Thanks again. I'm sure we'll be seeing you shortly."
"Mhm, just work on keeping your family healthy. We'll continue to do what we can do for Jesse."
He nodded as he left.
That always got him; that Lou, River and Junior couldn't take the time to visit Jesse even once a month. While Emily Piston; who didn't even know Jesse, visited him every couple of weeks for a few days at a time.
He had run into her a few times while she was visiting.
Honestly, he didn't even mind. It meant that at least he was getting someone visiting who wasn't family. Even if it wasn't from the people who were supposed to be his friends.
These hospital trips never got any easier over the years. It would probably be a few days before he went back again.
It ended up being a lot longer than he intended before he got the chance to go back.
The day that he had intended to go back, Rebecca fell sick.
He was the one looking after her, to try and keep Joan from becoming sick as well. It ended up being chicken pox, which had been picked up from one of the kids at church.
Meaning no hospital visits for at least two weeks.
He had closed the garage for a time, to look after Rebecca when she was the most sick. Leaving him backed up when he opened again.
He might have been using work to procrastinate about going back to the hospital. Afraid to see how much more his brother had shrunken in on himself.
He finally decided he needed to go back that weekend and planned to tell Joan when he got home.
Before he got fully in the door Joan was telling him that the hospital phoned.
"They have something that they want to talk to you in person about. Asking if you could come in Saturday afternoon... They assured me that Jesse is fine..."
"Okay... I was planning on visiting this weekend anyway." Joan gave him a squeeze on his upper arm.
He was nervous about what was going to be talked about.
Hopefully, it wouldn't be suggesting letting Jesse go.
He didn't think he could make that call yet, as much as it might relieve stress, this was still his baby brother, the last of his family he grew up with.
If he could have, he would have held onto Ruth.
"Mr. Hudson, we're glad that we have the chance to speak with you. We hadn't wanted to say anything too soon, but we are fairly certain now." The doctor paused.
"Over the last couple of weeks we have been seeing some changes in Jesse. We weren't sure what they what they meant. For all we knew, we could have been losing him. Unfortunately, that is still a possibility." He had been ready to object, but they raised a hand to stop him.
"-But we believe it is much more likely that he is waking up. We believe he might even wake up by the end of the week. Though it could be longer. There's no set schedule for something like this. We're doing what we can for him and we have high hopes, but until he is actually awake we won't be able to assess how well he will recover. There is a chance that he will not recover his mind or there being other problems that we've been unaware of that have gone untreated because he has been in a comatose state for so long. We want you to have as realistic of a view as possible..."
After they were finally finished discussing their newest treatment plan for Jesse, he thanked them and went to see his brother.
He had some hope now. As small as it might be yet.
"I hope they're right Jesse, and you're not just playing a game. It's been a long time since I've seen your blue eyes open... Just... please- wake up if you're going to..."
He was easily distracted the next week, waiting for the phone to ring with an update about Jesse.
He did go to the hospital to visit and see Jesse a couple times as well.
Always talking to him and encouraging him to wake up, though he didn't see any signs of Jesse waking up himself. He looked the same as always to him.
Just past the week mark, he got the call saying that his brother opened his eyes. It wasn't long, but they were open for a time.
By the end of that week, he was alert for a few minutes at a time, trying to speak, but having trouble forming his words.
The doctors also didn't waste any time getting him started on light physical therapy and starting him on broth to reintroduce him to food.
During that time, Jesse was still mostly asleep when he was visiting, but that was starting to quickly change.
He was getting his brother back.