Alex

Alex loved his Uncle Ned. Uncle Ned was everything Alex hoped he could be as an adult. Sure, Uncle Ned was drunk when he arrived and had been drunk ever since. Sure, Alex stumbled downstairs one night to find Uncle Ned rooting through the pantry looking for anything with alcohol in it before downing a bottle of vanilla extract right in front of him, but Alex still loved his Uncle Ned.

At that moment, with an iron grip on his wrist, Alex truly believed that Uncle Ned was going to shake him, and he had never been so frightened before in his life.

But he still loved his Uncle Ned. He carried around news clippings of the man that he aspired to be as if they were the only things that kept him going. It was possible to love someone and be scared of them at the same time, right? Alex certainly hoped so. He knew Uncle Ned was sick, that he needed help. He tried, really he did. His parents were doing their best, but it just wasn't working. Uncle Ned frightened him terribly, but seeing him throw Alex's precious news clippings into the fireplace broke something inside him.

"Uncle Ned, stop that," he choked. Suddenly, his throat felt very tight. His eyes were stinging. He tried to pull Uncle Ned away from the fire. That was when everything went very wrong. He barely registered a fist, Uncle Ned's fist, coming at his face, before he was falling.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"I don't know. Oh God, I hit Alex!"

"Alex? ALEX?"

There was a bright light and a shrill ringing in his ears to accompany a horrible, blinding pain.

Then, Alex knew no more.

Steven

Steven Keaton never liked Ned Donnelley very much. Sure, he was Elyse's brother. That was enough for Steven to tolerate Ned in the past.

"Get off me!"

SMACK!

Now, with his son splayed on the ground, Steven couldn't hold back any longer.

"Oh God…oh God…Alex."

Steven helped his son, pale and shaking, onto the couch before addressing the sobbing wreck of a man standing over them.

"Alright, Ned," he said in a low, controlled voice, "That's it. It's over. Right now, either you get some help, or get the hell out of my house."

"Oh God…how could I do that? I hit Alex! How could I do that?"

Sobbing, distraught, Ned collapsed on the couch next to Alex. Steven glanced at Elyse. Elyse's face was white with shock.

"Oh God…Alex, I'm sorry. I didn't mean too," Ned sobbed, rubbing Alex's thigh for comfort. With a groan, Alex lurched away from Ned, throwing himself over the armrest.

Elyse dropped the AA number in Ned's lap. "Ned, I love you. I care about you and I always will. But right now I need you to call Alcoholics Anonymous, then get out of my house so I can take care of my son."

Ned staggered to his feet. "Oh God, oh God, oh God."

"M-mom?"

Steven looked up. Standing on the landing, looking out over the living room were Mallory and Jennifer, looking at their Uncle with big, scared eyes.

"Oh God, Mallory, Jennifer, your brother-I didn't mean to!"

Elyse stood, grabbed Ned by the arm and brought him to the phone. "Call the number, Ned."
Another groan from Alex gained the room's attention. "Dad…" he slurred, "Ned…Uncle Help-,"

Alex tried using Steven's arm to pull himself to his feet.

"Woah there Alex, maybe you should sit down."
Alex looked up and Steven balked. His only son was white as a sheet. His eyes were glazed and unseeing. A steady trickle of blood ran down his face from a long, thin gash on his forehead.

"Steven, is he-?"

"Elyse, has Ned called AA?" Steven said softly, careful not to startle Alex or his two daughters watching from afar.

"Yes, I'm done. I'm going to my first meeting tomorrow morning," Ned said in a tight voice.

"Ned, you should go now-,"

"No!" Steven said firmly.

"Dad, he hurt Alex," said Jennifer, obviously on the verge of tears.

"I know, Jennifer," said Steven, "And he's going to come with us to take Alex to the hospital."

"The h-hospital?" Mallory said in a small voice.

"D-Ddad hhelp-," Alex's grip on Steven's shirt slacked, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed into his father's arms.

Elyse

Paging Doctor Davenport to Head Trauma Ward. Doctor Davenport to the Head Trauma Ward.

Elyse Keaton really hated hospitals. She knew she was supposed to be eternally grateful to hospitals, and she was, in a way. She gave birth to two out of three of her children in a hospital. Hospitals were miraculous places that saved lives.

Except for when they couldn't. Hospitals could also be the places that people come to die. Elyse could only pray that her baby boy wouldn't meet that latter fate.

"Here you go, Mom."

With shaking hands, Elyse gratefully accepted the cup of tea from her eldest daughter. "Thanks, sweetie."

"Mom, where's Uncle Ned?" Jennifer asked hesitantly.

Elyse put an arm around each daughter and held them close. "He's with your father. They went to consult a doctor who specializes in addiction. Seeing Alex whisked away into surgery really put your uncle over the edge."

"Why is Alex in surgery, anyway?" said Mallory, "Uncle Ned only hit him once."

Mallory winced at her words. "I mean, it didn't look like he'd hit him that hard-,"

"Quit while you're ahead, Mal," said Jennifer, "Just quit while you're ahead."

Elyse squeezed her daughters closer. "You're right, Mallory, your Uncle Ned only hit Alex once. But Alex hit his head pretty hard against the coffee table."

"And that's why he's in surgery," said Mallory, "Not because Uncle Ned hurt him?"

Elyse flinched. "I know it's hard for you to accept this, honey, but Uncle Ned has a very serious drinking problem. Alex tried to help; this is what happened. But now that Uncle Ned has seen how he hurt Alex, I think he can finally get the help he needs."

At that moment, a man in white approached them with a kind and wrinkled face. "Are you the Keatons?"

"Yes, sir," said Elyse, "How is my son?"

"Very lucky to have such a caring family," said the doctor, "My name is Doctor Davenport. Alex received a blunt trauma to the front of his head which caused a brain hemorrhage-,"
"A horrphinage?" interjected Mallory, "That sounds bad."

"Hemorrhage, Mal," Jennifer said patiently, "It means Alex's brain is bleeding."

Mallory paled and hid her face in her mother's shoulder. "Oh my God."

"Thank you, Miss Keaton. As I was saying, we were able to drain the hemorrhage but I would like to keep Alex under observation for a while. Injuries to the brain take lots of perseverance to recover from; your brother will need all the help he can get."

"Just imagine," Jennifer said feebly, "Alex needs our help, for a change."

Elyse sighed shakily. Though her heart bled for her baby boy, she knew she had to be strong for her two girls, strong enough to make them see why their brother was now in the hospital. "May we see him?"

"I'll let you see him, Mrs. Keaton, but I should warn you if you plan to take your daughters with you. Young Alex is recovering from surgery; his appearance could be jarring."

Mallory bit her lip. "We're going to see our brother now."

For all her bravado, Mallory burst into tears the minute she saw Alex.

Elyse wrapped her arms around her daughter and held her tight. Oh, her poor baby boy! Alex looked so fragile, lying there under a thin sheet, a halo of bandages around his head.

"He looks so peaceful," said Jennifer, "He never looks that peaceful."

"Uncle Ned did this," Mallory sobbed, "Uncle Ned did this to Alex. Why did he do this to Alex?"

"I don't know, Mall," Elyse said softly, "I really don't know."

Ned

Ned Donnelly was scum.

Once at the top of his game, this shell of a man now followed his brother in law meekly down the hall of a hospital to visit his nephew that he had hospitalized.

His nephew, the boy who thought the world of him, was-as far as Ned knew- still in surgery.

Because of him. Because he couldn't control his lust for the bottle.

"I can't do this," Ned said meekly.

"Oh you are going to do this, Donnelly," Steven Keaton growled at him, "You may have an alcohol problem, but you put my son in the hospital. You'd better do what I say unless you want me to press charges."

At that moment, Steven's phone rang. "Hello? Oh God." Steven sank to the ground in shock. "Amnesia? Really?"

Ned had to brace himself against the wall; he was going to be sick.

A door opened next to them and the white face of his beloved sister was suddenly pulling her husband to his feet. She exchanged a few quick words and a bracing hug with Steven, before he slipped into Alex's room to see his son.

"Hey, sis," Ned chuckled weakly, "Long time, no see?"

"No, Ned," Elyse said sternly, "You don't get to joke, not after what just happened."

Ned gulped. "H-How is he?"

Elyse sighed. "He's awake, so that's a start. The memory loss isn't as bad as it could have been. He has no memory of the past three days."

"You mean-,"

"That's right," said Elyse, "He's still waiting for you to arrive. He's embarrassed for you to see him in the hospital; he thinks he fainted and hit his head."

Ned tried sinking to the floor, only for Elyse to catch him and pull him to his feet again. "No, no, no, Ned, you listen to me and you listen to me good. This is your chance to turn your life around. Alex has every right never to speak to you again but he's been robbed of that reasoning. This is your chance to return to the hero he still sees you as. Do you understand?"

Ned gripped his sister's arms. "I do, Elyse, this is my second chance."

Elyse nodded, "I know you're scared, but so was Alex when you hit him. You didn't give him the chance to back down so I'm not giving you a chance either. You have to do this; I believe in you."

And so, with his sister at his back, Ned Donnelly entered the room of his nephew that he had hospitalized.

Steven and Mallory sat by the head of Alex's bed, each latching on to one of his hands as if the hospital bed would swallow up his tiny frame if they let go. Jennifer lay squished next to the boy in bed, an arm wrapped protectively around his torso.

Then there was Alex. Pale and groggy-looking, Alex listened silently to Mallory's anxious chatter. A small smile played at the corner of his lips like it always did when Mallory was still amusing him and not annoying him. Ned saw none of the fear that had consumed Alex when he was around him, nor the bubbly cynicism with which Alex teased his sisters. All Alex emulated was pain and confusion.

It broke Ned's heart.

Elyse cleared her throat. Steven sighed, and gently nudged his son.

"Alex, I think someone's here to see you."

It broke Ned's heart even further to see how Mallory and Steven had to help Alex gently turn his head to look at the door. But then, Alex saw Ned, and his tired eyes lit up at once.

"Uncle Ned!"

Thankfully, Alex didn't notice how everyone cringed at his excitement. "I'm sorry you have to meet us here; I don't really remember what happened up until waking up here with Mallory's stupid face leaning over me. She scared the living daylights out of me!"

Mallory chuckled weakly, earning a strange look from Alex. "Well, anyway, I want to hear all about what you've been up to. Have you found a new job yet? I've been following dad around with your resume to give to his boss so you can get a job at the radio station. Isn't that great? I'm so glad you're here!"

Alex stopped only when his face went snow white from exhaustion, and Mallory and Steven helped him back into a more comfortable position.

"Careful, Alex," Steven said with forced calmness, "You just came out of surgery."

"The pain meds are making him a little loopy," Elyse whispered in his ear, "but the excitement is genuine."

Alex's eyes were drooping; it was clear he would fall asleep at any second. "It's good to see you, Uncle Ned."

Ned cleared his throat. Blinking back tears and a silent vow to never, ever hurt the ones he loves, whether physically or mentally through his own physical detriment, again, Ned said, "It's good to see you too, Alex."