Chapter One
Fate and its Mysteries
It was raining. The office was quiet, the silence substituted with the sound of water droplets sputtering against the windows. Harvey had his back straight, eyes on his computer screen, typing; paying no attention to anything but the draft he was writing up.
Gretchen knocked twice and entered, rather hurriedly. "Mr. Specter."
He looked up. When she hesitated, he knew something was wrong. "What's wrong."
She breathed. "Your sister in law just called. They're in the hospital. They were hit by a car and your brother is still in surgery."
His breath hitched. Harvey swallowed before nodding to Gretchen, telling her he'll handle the situation. She read out the floor number and waiting area they were in before letting him leave. He nodded, grabbed his suit jacket and rushed out of his office, headed to the hospital.
Harvey hastily got out of the cab and into the hospital. Once the door of the elevator opened, he moved out, trying to navigate his way to the floor Gretchen had told him.
He glanced to a bunch of seats and saw a familiar wisp of blond curls. "Sarah!"
She turned around and released a breath of relieve. "You're here."
His eyes immediately fell to the small cuts around her face and the bruises on parts of her arms, in addition to large bandages wrapped around her right arm and one one on her forehead. "What the hell happened?"
Her eyes filled with tears for the umpteenth time, and her chest tightened and the memory that had only occurred to her perfect family. "Harvey," her voice cracked.
Harvey opened his arms and held her tightly against him. "What happened?"
She swallowed hard, forcing her wavering voice to form coherent sentences. "We were going to get ice-cream to celebrate Jack's role in the school play-" she breathed, "and then there was a car that came crashing. There was so much blood."
She moved out of the embrace, wiping away at the tears that stained her cheeks. "Jack and I are okay, but because the car hit his side-," her eyes met his' "Marcus is still in surgery."
He gently nudged her towards the chairs. He lets her lean on his shoulder, rubbing soothing circles on her back because he had no idea what to say. He doesn't want to provide any false sense of hope, especially when he has no idea how serious the accident was, so he doesn't say anything. He just sits there next to her.
After a few moments, she straightened her back and looked around the waiting area.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Jack went to the vending machine a while ago, and he still hasn't come back," she said, worry evident.
"I'll go find him." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and then went to search for his nephew.
Harvey walked a little past the nurse's station to a row of vending machines. His eyes fall to a twelve year old boy sitting on the ground, staring at one of the machines. He breathed in before approaching the child. "Hey bud."
He looked up and then to the ground.
Harvey moved and sat next to the boy on the ground, his shoulder touching his nephew's.
Jessica sauntered towards Harvey's office and upon seeing the empty chair, her frustration grew. "Where the hell is he?"
Gretchen looked up," Mr. Specter's brother is in the hospital. He rushed out of here about five minutes ago."
Her features soften in understanding. "DId you tell Mike to cover his deposition with Mr. Shuman?"
"Told him four minutes ago."
Jessica nodded. As she was about to leave, she hesitated in her steps. "Does Donna know about this?"
"No," she answered.
She smiled. "You might want to tell her then."
Gretchen chuckled and watched her leave. She picks up the phone, dials, and waits. "Ms. Paulsen?"
"Gretchen, What can I do for you?"
"I thought I might just tell you that Mr. Specter's brother was involved in an accident and is in the hospital."
"Marcus is in the hospital?"
Gretchen raised her brows, surprised that she knew Harvey's family. "Yes."
"Thank you," Donna said, before ending the line.
Donna grabbed the files on her desk before entering Louis' office. "Here are the files you asked for."
He nodded. "Thanks Donna."
She nodded and rushed out, grabbing her trench coat and bag from behind her desk.
"Where are you going?" Louis asked, moving out of his office.
She began walking towards the elevators, but with Louis walking alongside. "Out."
"To where?"
She raised her brows. "I have a couple of things to do."
He pursed his lips. "Cut the bullshit Donna. You never leave work. What the hell is going on?"
She stopped in her steps and turned to him. "Harvey needs me. His-"
"What?" His brows furrowed. 'I'm confused because I thought you don't work for him anymore."
"I don't, but-"
"Then why are you leaving your work for him in the middle of the day? I need you here." He states, stance firm on the ground.
"If you would just let me finish, you'd hear that his brother is in the hospital." She says, moving once more towards the elevators. "So, if you have anything more dire than that, I think he needs me right now."
"Oh." He watched as she entered the lift. "I didn't know that. Go to him," he said as the lift went down.
Donna went up the hospital elevators to the floor Gretchen had told her. She moved towards the waiting room area to find Sarah in one of the seats. She looked up, her eyes eyes widened in surprise. "Donna?"
"Hey, I heard about Marcus." She said, moving to occupy the seat beside her. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she said, but upon seeing Donna's sympathetic eyes she relented, "No. I don't know. My husband is still in surgery. Harvey is trying to find Jack, and my youngest son is at home, too young to know what is happening around him."
Donna placed a comforting hand on her arm. "Take a breath."
She obliged and inhaled, allowing her lungs to fill up, and after a beat, she breathed out.
"Go easy on yourself."
Sarah nodded, "Thank you."
She smiled in return. "I'll get us some coffee." Donna stood up and walked towards the nurse's station, but before turning, she saw a familiar man in a suit sitting on the ground next to a child.
She took a few more steps towards the two, the corner of her lips turning upwards as she recognized the two. She moved just close enough to hear them, but far enough for them not to notice her.
"What are you getting?" Harvey asked, turning to the teen.
He looked up at the machine but shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know."
Harvey pursed his lips. "You know, when we were kids."
The beginning of another story intrigued the teen and his focus went to his uncle.
"There was this time when I was about your age and your dad was a few years younger. It was right after school, and your dad kept on whining about wanting a soda and he kept pestering me again and again so I gave in. I went to buy a can of coke. So Marcus was waiting at one of the benches and I got the soda." He smiled as the memory unfolding in his mind.
"I took the can and I shook it."
Jack's eyes widened. "You what?"
"I took the coke and I started shaking it as I walked back, and I gave it to him. He was so happy and he just opened it. Coke started to bubble up and spill everywhere." Harvey tried to mimic the incident, showing his nephew how the sugary drink dripped across his arms and got his shirt wet.
"And then what happened?" The teen asked, eager to know his father's reaction.
Harvey chuckled. "He stood there and cried."
The teen laughed, imagining the entire incident of his father crying in the middle of a park bench over a can of soda.
"Big baby," Harvey uttered, causing the teen to laugh even more. "So," he stood up. "-You want a soda?"
"No," the teen said, following his uncle, and standing up as well. "But that was awesome. Maybe I should do that to Gordon."
"You kidding me. Gordon is still so tiny, and your parents might ground you for life."
There was a moment of silence, as the reality of their surrounding returned to their minds. "I miss him." His chest constricted as memories of the dark red blood oozing out of his father as the paramedics cut through the seat belt to pull his father out of the driver's seat.
"Hey," Harvey pulled him against his chest. Jack immediately wrapped his arms around him tightly. "I miss him too."
"I don't want to lose him," he said, his voice muffled by the sound of Harvey's suit jacket. "I don't want to lose him," he repeated. "I don't want to be alone."
"Jack," Harvey called, moving out of the embrace. He bent down till their eyes met. "You are anything but alone. You got that."
The teen nodded, the tears staining his flushed cheeks.
"Let's get you back to your mother." He nudged the boy and walked with him back to the waiting area.
Donna held onto two coffee cups and headed to the waiting area. She had left Harvey and Jack once he had finished his little story between him and Marcus.
"Hey," she handed Sarah her coffee.
"Thanks." She took a sip and looked back up. "Wow, this is surprisingly good. How did you manage to get this? All I got was the hospital's crap coffee."
She smiled. "I'm Donna, remember?"
Sarah nodded remembering the first time she was introduced to her. "Well, Harvey is very lucky to have you."
At that moment Harvey and a tear-stained Jack returned from the vending machines.
"Jack," His mother stood up and embraced her child, wishing she could take away every feeling of pain she knows he's experiencing. "Everything will be okay."
"Maybe you guys should head home," Harvey suggested, knowing the two must be feeling tired. His eyes wandered to the bandages on both mother and son again.
"No, I need to be here if anything happens." She said, her eyes wandering to the red light above the surgery room.
Donna took a step closer to Sarah and held his hands. "We'll be here. You need to rest," at her protest she continued. "You should check up on Gordon. You're both tired and no amount of coffee can help. Take Jack and go home. Check up on Gordon and get some rest and we'll be here until you come back."
The worried mother complied. She nodded and held onto Jack's hand. She bit the insides of her lips. "Thank you. I'm just going to check up on Gordon and I'm coming back."
"I'm coming back too," Jack uttered, audible enough for the adults to hear.
Sarah immediately protested, "'Jack-"
"I'm coming back too." He said rather sternly, casting his eyes down.
She sighed, and nodded. "Fine." She tugged his hand and moved towards the exit.
Donna held up the other cup of coffee in front of Harvey. "You okay?"
He sit down on the seat that was just occupied by Sarah. He ignored her question,"You don't have to stay here. I'm sure you have a lot of work you still need to get to."
"Harvey, I'm here." Her eyes shown genuine concern.
He nodded in understanding. He leaned back, waiting for time to tell of his brother's fate. His eyes were glued to the red light right above the surgery room. His thoughts went to every insignificant moment he shared with his brother and in hindsight, there weren't many. His chest tightened, the lump in his throat surfacing.
His thoughts centered around the moment he revealed his mother's dirty secret to his father, breaking his family into pieces. The day he broke his father's heart, the moment he broke his brother's young life apart. The tears began to burn and so he rubbed his eyes to feign tiredness.
He felt vulnerable, having his feelings exposed. "I'm going to sue the shit out of the guy that hit them."
Donna chuckled. "I'd be surprised if you didn't.
His eyes went to Donna and then back to the floor. "It hit his side of the car." He rubbed his forehead. "I don't-" he paused, trying to form the right words, "They saw a lot of blood and-"
Donna held his hand. "He's strong." When his gaze remained to the floor, she nudged him, "Hey," once she had her attention she made sure he listened. "I'm here. We'll go through this together."
A/N: Hey guys, this is my first Darvey fic. Please review and tell me what you think. YOU CAN TELL ME ANYTHING :D
-Cafe