Chapter Two-Hundred-Twenty-Six
Sean lay out on the dock for half the day like that until the clouds turned gray and it began to sprinkle. Sean felt a drop of water splash on his face and glanced up and was surprised to see the change in the weather. He wasn’t even paying attention; he was too deep into thought. Suddenly he heard the door to the house open, but he didn’t turn to look.
“Sean…come in the house. It’s going to rain and I didn’t put a bandage on you. It’s not good for your stitches to get wet.”
“Is that all you came out here for? Is that the only reason you want me to come in, is so that my stitches don’t come undone?” Sean asked, still not sitting up or turning to look at him. Trevor rolled his eyes and he came out of the house and went over to Sean and he helped him up. Sean made faces and disgruntled noises, as he hasn’t had any medication all day and the pain was coming back to him. When he was on his feet, Trevor wrapped an arm around his waist and led him into the house.
“Don’t be such a drama king. Worrying about your stitches is a good thing – if they come undone you just might bleed to death.”
“I might as well.”
“Damnit Sean…will you stop acting like you’re so worthless?”
“I am without you,” Sean insisted, as he let Trevor bring him into the house. Just as they entered it, it began to pour. Trevor closed the screen door.
“Well guess what, I’m right here. So stop it.”
“Yes, but for how long?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You can’t handle the pain I am putting you through. You said you couldn’t take it. So I assumed you were leaving me.”
“Do you honestly believe I could?” Trevor questioned incredulously, and he slid his arms around Sean as he turned him to face him. Sean shrugged. Trevor looked into his dark brown eyes for the first time all day and he looked startled at what he saw.
“Have you been crying?”
“No of course not…it’s just the rain.”
“Sean your eyes are red.”
“It’s not a big deal,” Sean insisted, and he turned and headed for the stairs. He started to go up them but cringed as he felt a sharp pain in his waist and thought better of it. He turned around and saw Trevor standing there behind him.
“Sit down,” he ordered quietly, and he carefully helped him sit on the stairs and gently lay him back so he was lying against them. He sat next to him then before turning and leaning back against the stairs too and he wrapped an arm around his waist before leaning down and planting a kiss on his forehead and playing with his brown hair.
“I’m not going anywhere unless it is with you. I promise.”
“But you said—“
“--I’ve stuck with you for this long, walking away from you now would be physically – and emotionally impossible.”
“I don’t want to hurt you anymore,” Sean insisted softly.
“Then stay in hiding with me.”
“I can’t…” Sean replied softly, and Trevor could see the torn look in his eyes. He gently caressed his cheek.
“Then you’ll do what you have to do.”
“And I guess you will too…I love you Trev…I hope you’re able to create a wonderful life. I hope you will be happy.”
“I am happy – with you. There is no place I would rather be.”
“I can’t make you stay here and put up with this anymore.”
“You aren’t making me. It’s my decision. Doing all of this dangerous stuff…knowing that I could lose you at anytime frightens me…but walking away from you, risking you doing it on your own is even more terrifying. I was born to protect you.”
“I…” Sean began softly, as tears rolled down his face and Trevor cupped his chin in his hands, titled his head back a bit and gazed into his eyes with so much love in is own.
“Like I said…you’ll do what you have to do…I can’t stop you. No one can. You’ve always marched to your own drum and that’s what I love about you. Just know that whatever you do, I’m always going to be right here doing it with you. Because I love you.” Sean looked up at him and Trevor brushed his tears away with his fingers.
“Okay?” he asked softly. Sean didn’t answer; he only slid his arms around his neck and pulled him close for a hug, and Trevor lightly rested his forehead against his. “There is no life for me without you.” The two of them lay there in silence for a few moments, and then Trevor stood up and gathered Sean into his arms so he is cradling him and he carried him up the stairs. When they got up there he brought him into their room and over to the bed before lying him in it and he grabbed a bandage from the nightstand and began to bandage Sean up. When he finished he grabbed his medicine and the water bottle that he keeps ready on the nightstand and he helped him take the painkillers. When he finished he lay next to him, once again sliding his arms around his waist and resting his cheek against his forehead.
“So how about you explain to me how my phone alarm never went off this morning…I’ve been trying to figure it out all day. I set it…it was on the right time…but it never went off.
“I shut it off before it did when I woke up. You’re always taking care of me…and you were up really late last night. I thought I would let you sleep in. It’s the least I could do.” Trevor gently rubbed his hand over his chest as he moved so his head was rested against his shoulder.
“What do you have in mind for this attack?” Trevor asked softly, and he listened to Sean’s ideas.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile at the Orphanage, Ashley, Nick, and the kids walked into the building with bags full of stuff and one very sleepy baby. While Ashley went upstairs with her little helper Dakota, Nick went into the playroom with Sarah where he knew he would find everyone else. When she and Dakota got upstairs, Ashley gently took Bella out of the borrowed baby sling and she lay her in the middle of the bed. Just as soon as she put the baby down, she began fussing.
“I know, I know sweetheart I’m fixing it,” Ashley reassured as she got out a baby bottle that she had bought from Wal-Mart and Florida. She looked at Dakota trying to decide if she could leave her up here with the baby while she went down to the kitchen where the microwave was when suddenly Brandon walked in.
“Hey…what’s wrong with little Bella, hmm?”
“She’s hungry and tired. I need to hurry downstairs and make her a bottle. Can you sit here with Dakota and Bella for me, please?”
“Sure thing,” Brandon replied, and he sat on the bed, gathering the fussy baby in his arms trying to sooth her.
“Great, thanks” Ashley replied, and she rushed out of the room headed for the kitchen. When she returned five minutes later with a warm bottle in hand she handed it to Brandon and he placed it into Bella’s mouth causing her to instantly stop crying and start drinking the milk, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“There, there…all better now?” Brandon asked gently as he wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of his shirt. Ashley smiled at him gratefully.
“Thanks. I should have asked Nick to come up here with me – I guess I’m a little rusty when it comes to babies.” Brandon chuckled a little.
“You’ll get the hang of it. You’re already really great with her.”
“Thanks,” Ashley replied, smiling at his words of encouragement and she sat on the bed next to him after gathering Dakota who was already there before her into her lap.
“So how is Nick doing?” Brandon asked concerned after awhile and Ashley looked at him curiously as she picked up on the tone in his voice.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Brian said he was angry with you this morning, and I know you two argued. Is everything okay?”
“Oh – yeah, everything’s better now. For now…”
“Why don’t you just tell him you’re working on a surprise for him? Then he wouldn’t worry so much.”
“Because I shouldn’t have to. He should just be able to trust me.”
“I don’t really think it’s you he doesn’t trust…”
“Same diff…if he would think that I would ever let you take me away from him then he obviously doesn’t trust me.”
“I wouldn’t try to take you away from him. I know you love him and I know what you do to him. I couldn’t hurt him like that.”
“I know, I trust you – and that’s saying a lot too, believe me.”
“Yeah, why is that?” Brandon asked while grinning a little. “Steve warned me that you would be hard to earn trust from at first and why, but you’ve been very okay with me from the beginning.”
“Well, I like your brother a lot. He saved my life and is one of the most caring people I know. He has a big heart and is always trying to save everybody as if he were the only doctor in the building. I love and respect him and always will. You’re a lot like him…so when I’m around you I tend to feel safe just as I do when I’m in his presence.”
“I’m like him? Really? That’s quite a compliment…”
“Of course you are. I swear I never would have known you were the artist in the family. I would have assumed you were a doctor just like him because you care so much and are easy to talk to, and you just seem to make everybody feel like they’re safe when they’re around you – or at least you do for me anyway.”
“Well, you know why he is always trying to save everybody, right?”
“No…I don’t. But I’ve always gotten this vibe from him…like maybe something tragic happened in the past.” Brandon nodded sadly, and looked down at the baby incase his eyes start to water up.
“Our sister was killed when we were kids…during a tornado,” Brandon began.
“Oh my god…” Ashley replied softly, and she reached over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I’m so sorry…”
“It’s okay…it was a long time ago. I’m at the point where I can talk about it and get on with my life – though it does still hurt and always will. But Steve…well he’s still in the grieving stage and has been ever since it happened. It affected him the most.”
“How come?”
“He was the closest to our sister…she was always following him around like she were his shadow. Well, the day of the tornado, mom had left Steve and me with our sister because we were a one car family so she had to go and pick dad up from work. Steve was in charge of the two of us. Well, he had gone outside to the backyard to check on our sister. They were in the tree house playing when the tornado struck. Steve saw it coming, got our sister down from the tree house, and I was at the door screaming at them to get inside. On his way inside the house, a car part came flying at Steve and barely missed him by inches – Kayline screamed. We thought it was just out of fear so we thought nothing of it…we ran in the house and down to the basement and Steve sheltered us from the tornado. He was lying on top of Kayline and the whole time we thought she was okay. We really thought that she was…but when the tornado was over we discovered that the car part that came flying at them earlier, hit her. There was a huge glass stuck in her side. Steve did EVERYTHING he could to save her…but seeing as how he was thirteen years old and uneducated in the medical field, there was nothing he could do to save her. She died in his arms…”
“Oh Brandon that’s horrible…I’m so sorry,” Ashley replied sympathetically and she wrapped both arms around him and pulled him into a hug with Dakota still sitting in her lap. She was quietly sitting there listening to the story, feeling so horrible for her Doctor J.
“She was just seven years old…” Brandon replied as his eyes watered. “It about killed Steve when we lost her – and on top of all that, our parents never made it home. He’s been beating himself up over it ever since. He became a doctor because of her…determined to save everybody in the world because he couldn’t save our sister.” Ashley pulled back a bit but continued to rub her hand over his back.
“Is that why he is so emotionally involved in that woman in the coma?” Brandon nodded.
“I have a feeling that if she doesn’t come through…he may very well need professional help.” The two of them sat there in silence for a few moments, Brandon sitting there feeding the baby and Ashley sitting next to him holding Dakota. After a few moments Nick walked in the room and stopped abruptly in his steps, not expecting to find Brandon in the room – let alone sitting on a bed with his girlfriend and daughter and feeding his girlfriend’s baby. Ashley and Brandon looked up at him, the both of them cautious of his reaction.
“Hi baby,” Ashley greeted, and she set Dakota down before getting up and going over to Nick. She slid her arms around his waist and he bent down and kissed her forehead softly before looking in her eyes questioningly – surprisingly calm.
“The baby was crying – she was hungry and you were downstairs. All I had with me was Dakota. Brandon heard the baby crying and came in here to see what’s up and I asked him to stay with the baby while I run downstairs to make her a bottle. So he did and when I came back, he was holding her, so I just handed him the bottle and he started feeding her. We were sitting here talking.”
“About?”
“Doctor Johnson,” Ashley answered honestly. Nick gazed into her eyes and when he saw she was telling him the truth he pulled her closer and bent down and brushed his lips lightly over hers. Ashley loosened up in his arms then, not even realizing that she was tense in the first place. Brandon got up then and gently lay the baby on the bed, still holding her bottle in her mouth and he looked at Dakota and smiled at her, unknowingly using his charming smile that lures every girl of all ages in. Dakota smiled at him shyly.
“Wanna hold the bottle Kota?” Dakota nodded and scooted closer to Bella and she took the bottle in her hand allowing Brandon to let go. Brandon ruffled her hair and then walked toward the door.
“Bye Ash, thanks for listening,” he told her.
“Bye,” Ashley replied, and as he walked past, he placed a small piece of paper in her hand as it was behind Nick where he couldn’t see and he walked out of the room. Ashley closed her hand around the note and smiled up at Nick and he smiled back and shut the door, before gently pulling his girlfriend over to the bed and he lay down pulling her with him. She lay back against his chest as the two of them lay there facing the baby and she reached out and gently rubbed her hand over Bella’s head as she watch her lie there drinking her bottle.
“What is everybody up to downstairs?” She asked softly.
“They’re in the playroom...Brooke, Peyton, Jaime, Howie, Kori, Wiley, Scott, and AJ. Ryan, Spencer, and Laila are playing with the other kids and Peyton and Jaime have been assigned to a couple of new kids. Other then that nothing much. I told Scott that Detective Stabler needs a list of those names, so he is working on that and will be bringing it up to me soon. I want you to tell me if you recognize any of the names and if you can identify any of them. Can you do that for me?” Ashley nodded quietly.
“I can try my hardest…”
“Thanks baby,” he replied, while kissing her forehead softly. Ashley snuggled into him and he slid his arms around her waist and rested his cheek against hers.
“What if when I identify them…they come after me?” Ashley asked softly.
“They’ll have to get through me first baby. I’ll keep you safe, you know that.” Ashley looked up at him and he smiled at her reassuringly as he cupped her cheek in his hand and he brushed his lips lightly over hers. She gazed into his eyes believing him. She may feel safe with Brandon, but she feels invincible with Nick. Nothing can get her as long as he is there. She can’t lose him.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
