FicWad

Pete ran down the never ending hallway. Why was it taking him so long to reach the info desk? Were his feet not moving at all?

He had no idea what to expect when he got to the hospital. The calm voice over the other line told him to come to Memorial Hospital as soon as possible. It was regarding a Mr. Stump. Pete knew he was Patrick's 'in case of emergency' person, but he never thought there would actually be an emergency.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Pete made it to the info desk.

"I'm looking for a Patrick Stump," Pete said breathing heavily.

He tried to control his thoughts and his mannerisms. He was shaking uncontrollably. All the bad thoughts about what may have happened to his best friend were swarming around in his head. Pete then thought about what Patrick must have felt when he had rushed to the hospital for him. It made his heart fall with regret.

"He came in with a young lady and a small boy. They are in the ER, just down the hallway," she pointed after looking up from her computer.

Oh no, Jackson and Collette were hurt too? What happened?

"Thank you," Pete said running towards the double doors which had a large sign above them stating EMERGENCY ROOM.

After passing through those doors, Pete was wrapped up in a whirlwind of commotion. People were running from point A to point B yelling medical jargon. His eyes scanned the area looking for any signal of someone who could tell him where his friend was.

He noticed a gaggle of police in one area and there, as if the gates of heaven had opened, the policemen parted and he spotted Patrick sitting on a waiting room chair staring at the floor looking more lost than ever.

"Patrick!" Pete yelled out almost crying from relief that his friend was obviously ok.

Patrick's head snapped up at the sound of Pete's voice. Pete ran towards his friend, but stopped quickly when he actually got a good look at his friend. He was covered in blood.

"Holy shit! What happened? Are you hurt?" Pete asked walking towards Patrick.

"Who are you?" a policeman asked.

"I'm his friend," Pete pointed at Patrick who had that distant look in his face again.

Pete rushed past the police officer and knelt down in front of Patrick.

"Patrick, what happened?" Pete asked quietly.

"I went to Collette's to help her find her dogs. I should have done something. I just stood there," he said quietly.

Pete felt panic rush into the pit of his stomach. Patrick was in no condition to talk about anything.

"It's ok, Patrick. Everything is going to be ok," Pete said squeezing his hand, which was sitting tensely on his knee.

Pete stood up and faced the police officer that questioned him earlier.

"What happened?" he asked trying to stay calm.

"Well, from what we could gather from your friend here, someone broke into his girlfriend's place, stabbed the girl and went after the little boy. Apparently he went for the boy and got in a struggle with the intruder for the gun that he had, which resulted with the intruder being shot in the stomach. That's where we came in. The young lady and intruder are in the E.R. for their physical wounds," the policeman explained.

"And the little boy? Where is he?" Pete asked expectantly.

"One of the doctor's took him in back to look him over. He seemed to be untouched when I saw him," he said.

Pete let out a huge breath. Thank god Jackson was ok.

Pete looked back down at Patrick who looked as though one little pin would make him crumble to the floor in shambles.

"Is there anything that you need from him?" Pete asked the police officer.

"Well, we need an official statement, but we can get that at a later time," he said politely.

"Thank you," Pete said relieved.

"Just a question, though. Do you have any idea who would do this to his girlfriend?" he asked out of curiosity.

Pete stared straight ahead for a moment until he finally realized what had happened.

"Oh god," Pete said quietly almost stumbling backwards.

"Sir?" the officer asked of Pete's actions.

"The boy's father. He came after him," Pete said mainly to himself.

"The intruder is the boy's father?" the policeman asked confused.

Pete looked down at Patrick who just continued to stare straight ahead.

"I guess there was a custody battle between Jackson's father and Collette. Apparently after she was granted custody, she was threatened by his father, so she fled the state. That's all I know," Pete said shrugging.

"Do you know where she fled from? It will be beneficial in our investigation," the officer explained.

"Minnesota," Patrick mumbled quietly.

Pete looked down at him shocked and back at the officer.

"Minnesota," Pete nodded.

-----

Patrick was numb, completely numb. He couldn't feel any part of his body anymore. He couldn't even move his head to look over at Pete who was sitting there wiggling his leg up and down in a constant manner. Even though he wasn't talking or looking at Pete, it was a comfort knowing that he was there.

"Pete! Patrick!" they heard a voice yell in panic.

Patrick looked up to see Wren running over to them with tears running down her face. She was crying. Was he crying? He couldn't tell.

"Wren," Pete breathed out standing up to hug her.

"Is she ok?" she asked as her voice quivered.

"We haven't heard anything yet," he said quietly and cautiously looking over to Patrick who was just sitting there, staring.

His behaviors had started to worry Pete.

"Jackson?" she asked.

"Getting checked out. He should be ok," Pete said taking deep breaths.

This was all too real for him. Everything was just too real.

"Pete!" they heard a small voice come from the other direction.

Pete's head whipped around and saw Jackson in the arms of a female nurse. He looked completely untouched.

"Jackson. Are you ok?" Pete asked trying to hold his tears back.

"CoCo, where is she?" he asked latching his arms around Pete's neck.

"The doctor's are with her, so they can make her all better," Pete said hugging the child tightly.

"She was hurt. She was bleeding," Jackson mumbled as he sucked on his thumb. It was a habit long gone, but due to recent events it was all he knew he could do as comfort.

"I know kiddo," Pete said rocking him back and forth.

-----

"Mr. Stump?" a doctor in a white coat came from behind double doors.

Patrick bolted up and walked towards the doctor.

"Yes, that's me," he said expectantly.

Pete and Wren were in shock. It was the most he had said in over an hour.

"Please, is she going to be ok?" he asked wringing his hands with worry.

"We have her stabilized, but there is some internal bleeding that we need to take care of with surgery. She's on her way up to the O.R. We will let you know as soon as she is in recovery," the doctor said professionally.

"Is it serious?" Pete asked with Jackson still clinging on to him for dear life.

"The surgery is standard procedure, but with every operation there is a level of concern," he said simply.

Well that didn't answer any questions.

"Someone will be out to notify you on her status as soon as possible," he said and turned to go back into the forbidden zone.

Patrick sat down and put his head in his hands. Pete stood cautiously watching his friend. This was it. This was the breakdown that was about to happen. He could feel it.

"Wren, why don't you take Jackson to your place? We'll call you as soon as we know something," he said handing over Jackson.

"Nooo, Pete. I wanna stay with you!" he cried reaching out for Pete.

"Jackson, calm down. You are going to go with Wren for right now, so I can stay with Patrick and CoCo, ok?" he said trying to calm the boy down.

"Just call me," Wren said quietly walking away with a screaming Jackson on her hip.

"Nooo! Pete! Nooo!" he screamed as hard as his lungs would carry him.

Pete felt his heart break as he watched Wren walk away with a hysterical Jackson. Pete knew his reaction was due to the events that had happened earlier that day, but the hospital really was no place for Jackson to be.

Pete listened as Jackson's cries faded as Wren walked further away from them. He looked down to see Patrick clenching his hair in his fists. He didn't know what he could do for his friend, but he really wanted to comfort him.

"Patrick," Pete said quietly placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I should have helped her," Patrick said quietly.

"Don't do that. Don't blame yourself, Patrick," Pete said sternly.

"I just stood there. I watched him as he put the knife into her side. I just stood there and I watched," he said as tears fell down his face.

Pete just sat there holding his breath. This was it. It was the calm before the storm. He knew it.

"Patrick, if you would have gotten hurt, you never would have been able to help Jackson. You did the right thing," Pete said trying to be as best of a support system as possible.

"No. NO!" Patrick yelled sitting up now. He startled Pete back into his chair.

"Calm, Patrick. Stay calm," Pete said quietly.

"I just stood there! More than once, I just stood there looking at her with millions of words to say to her and I never did say one. Not ONE!" he yelled and began to cry as he looked over at Pete who had a helpless look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Pete asked worried.

"I should have told her, Pete. I should have told her that she was my reason for living, that she felt like home to me, that she was my everything. I should have told her that I loved her! Why didn't I tell her that, Pete? Why!?" he cried hysterically.

"You just weren't ready," Pete said not knowing what to do. He expected a breakdown in the form of anger not regret.

"What if she dies? Will she know? Will she know how much she meant to me?" Patrick asked quietly but still in a hysterical manner.

"Patrick, stop talking nonsense. She's not going to die," Pete said trying to laugh his words off.

"Will she!?" Patrick yelled.

"Yeah, of course she will," Pete said swallowing hard.

"I love her, Pete. I should have told her," Patrick said putting his head back into his hands.

Pete put a shaky hand on Patrick's back scared of what events lay ahead.

-----

Collette walked up the driveway of her childhood home. How she had gotten there, she wasn't sure.

She walked on looking at the trees that she passed. She missed her home so much since she had left for California. She took in a deep breath as she saw her cream colored house with the deck just as she had left it. She smiled slightly. She was home.

"CoCo!" she heard someone yell her name.

Collette turned her head swiftly to see her sister swinging in the tree swing their grandpa put up for them when they were younger.

"Come push me!" Morgan demanded.

Collette smiled as memories of her childhood with Morgan came flooding back to her. She remembered their father and grandpa pushing them in the swing when they were too young to push each other. She then remembered when they were teenagers. They would go out to the swing and Collette would push Morgan as they talked about school and boys until the sun went down and it was time for them to go to bed. She missed those care free days.

"Are you coming or not, pokey!" Morgan said pumping her legs in order to go higher.

"Patience is a virtue," Collette said.

"What ever," Morgan mumbled.

Collette laughed slightly. She was constantly telling her sister to be more patient and Morgan was constantly rolling her eyes at her sister.

Collette walked over to the swing and began to push Morgan. They relaxed in each other's presence in a comfortable silence. Words didn't need to be spoken. They knew what each was thinking.

"I've missed you," Collette said breaking the silence.

"I've missed you. But I try to visit as often as possible," Morgan said swinging higher.

"Visit?" Collette asked.

"Yeah. You know, in your dreams," Morgan said like it was no big deal. "I visit Jackson, too."

"I'm so sorry," Collette said crying now as she stopped pushing her sister.

Morgan put her feet down to stop her from swinging.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" Morgan asked remaining seated in the swing.

"For failing you. I promised I'd protect Jackson from him, and I couldn't do it. I failed you," Collette said still crying.

"You did not fail me. Jackson is going to be just fine. And there is no way I could have expected you to keep Kiefer away from Jackson. That would be unrealistic," Morgan said touching Collette's shoulder.

Collette just shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"He's gorgeous," Morgan said simply.

"He's absolutely amazing, Mo. You would be very proud of him," Collette said looking her sister in the eyes.

"I already know Jackson is gorgeous and amazing. I'm talking about your boy," Morgan cooed.

"Patrick?" Collette asked confused.

"Duh!" Morgan said dramatically.

Collette just smiled and looked down thinking about him.

"He loves you, CoCo," Morgan said simply.

Collette's head snapped up in shock.

"How do you know?" she asked accusingly.

Morgan just looked up and shrugged.

"Have you been spying on my boyfriend, little sister?" Collette asked in a teasing manner.

"CoCo, look into the boy's eyes. They reveal all," Morgan said seriously.

Collette stood there keeping her eye contact with her sister. She noticed how much Jackson really did look like her.

Collette's eye contact was broken when she heard a loud beeping sound.

"Where is that coming from?" Collette asked looking up into the sky and then back at her sister.

Morgan's carefree eyes were now full of sadness.

"You have to go," Morgan said simply.

"Go? I just got here," Collette said shocked.

"It's time," Morgan nodded.

"No! I'm not leaving you again. I don't want to leave you again," Collette started to beg.

"He needs you and I'm not talking about Jackson, CoCo," Morgan said sternly.

"He needs me?" Collette asked as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I love you," Morgan whispered.

Collette broke down into a bawl. She didn't want to leave her sister. She hugged Morgan tightly.

"I love you," Collette cried and started to walk back down the driveway towards the gravel road.

"I'll be watching you," Morgan sang.

"Not all the time, I hope," Collette laughed lightly.

The last thing she heard was Morgan's laugh before the silence and the darkness engulfed her again.

THE END...JUST KIDDING!

AN: Sorry I left you guys with such suspense last time and for so long. After some threats, I finally got off my sick butt and wrote some more. HOWEVER, I was on Nyquil during the editing process, so if something doesn't make sense or there are many typos, you have been warned. Thanks to all of you for the LOVELy reviews. They are greatly appreciated. OH YEAH and a shout out to my DoJ girls. I'm addicted to you all like I'm addicted to Nyquil. SMOOCHES!