Part 5/5
Ezra watched his mother sitting in the ICU room's one chair as she flipped aimlessly through a magazine. He was so tired. It felt like all he did was sleep. Consciousness came in brief stages, a flash of coherence here, the sharp realization of pain there. In and out, in and out, he had no idea how long he'd been in the hospital. Had it been hours? Days? Weeks? All he knew for certain was that he was sick of nightmarish memories and that no one except his mother and the doctors and nurses had been in to see him.
"Have you heard from Chris?" he asked for the umpteenth time.
Maude looked up from the glossy pages and frowned. "I've told you already, dear. He wouldn't come."
It was Ezra's turn to frown. "Why?" His voice was a whisper, his strength already fading.
Maude looked down and picked at the corner of her magazine. "I do not know."
"Is Nathan all right?"
"Ezra, you need to stop concerning yourself with them," she snapped as his voice wavered. "They aren't worried about you, so why do you insist on wasting good energy on them?" She tossed the magazine and stood, stepping closer to his bed. "You need to rest and stop your worrying. Dr. Nells said if you continue to show improvement, he'd have you moved to a private room tomorrow." She patted his hand. "You look tired. Close your eyes and rest, darling."
Ezra obeyed his mother…partially. He'd learned it was just so much easier to do what she said than to fight her. He didn't have the energy to stand up to her right now. He closed his eyes, but his mind continued to roll through the things Maude had told him, trying to remember them all and sort it out. Was it really true that none of the others had even inquired about him yet? He couldn't remember anything except the rush of water and hanging…hanging. He flexed his fingers and recalled the sensation of Nathan's hand locked like a vice around his wrist. He didn't remember Jackson letting go. Was Nathan okay? What if…fear ricocheted through him. Was that why the others hadn't come to see him? He knew he couldn't ask Maude; the more he asked, the less she told him. God, he needed to see Chris. Chris would talk to him. Chris would tell him the truth about everything. He desperately needed the truth at that moment. Where was he? None of this made sense. Chris had promised to stay with him and Chris didn't break his promises…ever.
Ezra shifted and stiffened in pain. He gasped involuntarily and suddenly his mother was summoning the nurse for another dose of pain medication. He didn't want more medicine, but his pain stole the rest of his strength and he was too weak to protest. He wanted to stay awake, damn it. He wanted to think clearly and get out of the fog that surrounded him. He felt like a small child on the verge of throwing a huge tantrum, but too sleepy to do anything. If he'd had the energy though…Ezra smiled faintly, he'd enjoy his mother's reaction to that one. Feeling like he was sinking back into the unforgiving oblivion, he tried to hang on and fight the confusion. He missed them…Chris, Vin, Josiah, Nathan, Buck and JD. Lord, how he missed them. He felt so empty without them around to make noise and tease and just be there for him. They knew him better than any one else…they'd know what he needed. He didn't know how he was going to get through this without them and he wasn't positive he wanted to.
"Mrs. Harrington." Fuzzily Ezra tried to focus on the strange voice in the darkness. He strained to concentrate as he started to float and caught only confusing snippets.
"Mr. Larabee would like…"
"Absolutely not."
"You won't even talk to them?"
"No."
"How about…"
"I said no, Mr. Wright." Maude's voice sharpened dangerously and Ezra wanted to warn the strange man to watch out. He couldn't make sense of the words, but he knew Maude was furious. Finally, he gave up his struggle to stay conscious. It just wasn't worth it.
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"They're moving Ezra out of ICU this afternoon." Buck burst into Nathan's room, startling everyone with his excited exclamation.
"Shh!" A voice behind the privacy curtain hissed out angrily.
"Sorry." Buck apologized to the curtain. Nathan's new roommate was an elderly man who'd strained his back. He didn't appreciate the crowd or the noise so he constantly shushed them and kept turning the television up louder.
"How'd you find that out?" Nathan asked quietly, poking at his soupy green jello and wondering if he really wanted to chance eating it.
"Met a little nurse upstairs." Buck admitted slyly. "Real cutie with a nice set of…"
"Buck." Chris interrupted impatiently.
"Oh sorry." Wilmington scratched his chin. "Nikki said Ezra's due to be moved to a private room around 3 this afternoon.
"How's he doing?" Josiah asked, visible concerned. So far no one would even talk to them, let alone give them an update on Standish's condition.
Buck shook his head, his excitement deflating a little. "She really didn't know more than that. She just saw the note on today's schedule. Evidently, he's been deemed real important thanks to Maude and all."
"Has to be improving though, if they're moving him out of ICU." Nathan sounded hopeful. He tried to mentally run through all of Ezra's injuries that he knew about. Other than the leg and shoulder, he guessed Ezra had at least a few broken ribs like himself and the doctors were probably watching him close for pneumonia as well.
"This means we can see him now, right?" JD's question pulled Nathan ack to the ongoing discussion.
"Not as simple as that where Maude's concerned," Vin answered. "She'll probably give instructions to keep us out still."
"Does this nurse of yours know what his new room will be?" Chris focused on Buck.
Wilmington shook his head. "Nah, but she knows the floor."
Chris nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's a start." He looked at Jackson. "How would you feel if we risk getting kicked outta here?" Larabee had tried that morning to go through the hospital administrator to talk to Maude but she'd refused completely and he was done following the rules.
Nathan glanced around at his friends. "I think it's a risk you need to take."
The tv suddenly blared a little louder and several glares were directed at the curtain but they lowered their voices as they continued their discussion.
"Josiah, you'll stay here." Chris ordered.
"I'd like to be involved, Chris." Sanchez protested softly.
"I know that, but with the chance that we're about to get ourselves banned from the building I want at least one of us safe to stay with Nathan."
"I'll be fine," Nathan smiled reassuringly. "They're hinting at letting me out of here in a day or two anyway."
"I'm not leaving you alone." Chris was adamant. It was hard enough not having contact with Ezra, he would not let them be cut off completely from Nathan too, not again.
Josiah nodded wisely, accepting Chris's explanation without further argument. Despite his anxiousness to make sure Ezra was okay, he would trust the others to keep him informed. He would stay with Nathan.
"What are you thinking?" Vin quietly steered the conversation back to Ezra.
"Are we going to find his room and storm in?" JD's voice rose slightly and Buck gestured for him to keep it down.
"No," Chris grinned at JD's exuberance. "We'll spread out on the floor, watch the elevators and go from there. Let's try not to get arrested at least." He looked at Jackson and Sanchez. "You two better come up with a plan B just in case."
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Ezra felt miserable. His head pounded, his shoulder and leg throbbed and he was tired of his mother hovering about. He'd almost begun to feel human again when the fever kicked in and the coughing started. Right away Maude had been there demanding more medication. Though he was thankful for the break from the pain, he was tired of feeling groggy and incoherent. Even though the doctor's had decided he was stable enough to move to a private room outside the ICU ward…the nurses continued to voice several concerns about pneumonia.
Through the feverish, drugged haze that had become his world, Ezra wondered if the move to the new room was because he was actually improving or because Maude wanted a more comfortable and private setting to watch over him in.
He felt like he was floating as he was pushed along on a gurney. He'd tried to mumble a request for a wheelchair but Maude had adamantly refused and he was too exhausted to argue.
Ezra opened his eyes and counted the blurry lights that flashed regularly above him. The sounds changed, growing louder and louder at times and then quiet again. He didn't remember drifting off but when he opened his eyes again the lights were gone and he could tell they were in an elevator. The nurses and doctor seemed to be standing half on top of him as Maude smiled strangely down on him. It was a strange sensation, being in an elevator while lying down. The motion of the small car twisted his stomach and he closed his eyes, concentrating to fight the nausea.
His ICU nurse had given him another dose of medication right before the move and now Ezra could feel himself letting go. He wanted to stay awake but he didn't feel like fighting. There didn't seem to be reason to. Fuzzily he heard a soft ding and the mechanical grind of the elevator settling to a stop. The doors swooshed loudly and the gurney bumped over the rough threshold.
"Here, he's here!" A nearby voice almost shouted. A familiar voice. He knew that voice but couldn't place it as his mind grew numb.
"Ezra? Ezra we're here. Ezra, I'm here."
Chris? Was that Chris? Ezra tried to force his eyes to open and focus but his body rebelled against him. The voice morphed and swirled together with others. People were shouting, a lot of people. His mother's voice was loud and angry but he strained to hear beyond her, searching the din of voices for the ones that he most wanted to hear as he lost the battle with the darkness.
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"That was an idiotic stunt, Mr. Larabee." Kevin Wright paced his office, occasionally casting angry glares at the men seated across from his desk. "Not only did you disregard my instructions but you disrupted an entire floor of patients trying to rest and recover." He stopped and turned away from the small group, staring out the window. He suddenly couldn't help feeling bad for these men. All they wanted was to see their friend. "Maude Harrington wants you arrested and at the very least kicked out of the building. Give me one reason I shouldn't do as she asks?" He turned and faced Larabee and Wilmington again. The other two men, he'd forgotten their names, stood by the door. All of them continued to look defiant.
"Because you know she's wrong." Larabee kept his voice low and calm but Wright could sense the power and anger in the man.
Wright sighed heavily and looked down at the office's plush carpeting. There were days he really hated his job. He ran through the various consequences in his mind, realizing how thankful he was that Franklin Harrington was out of the country for another week. "Stay away from Standish," he finally looked up. "You can continue to see Mr. Jackson during normal visiting hours, but pull another attempt like this and you will be forcibly removed from this building."
Larabee's eyes seemed to smolder and Kevin found himself swallowing the sudden lump in his throat as the man stood and walked to the door. He'd opened it when the youngest looking man stepped forward. The man looked nervous but determined. "Can you at least tell us how Ezra's doing?" He paused, looking very young as he continued, "Please?"
It was the pleading tone and the genuine worry that broke Wright's will to completely close these men out. His shoulders slumped wearily as he sank onto the edge of his desk. "He's improving but slower than his doctor would like. The major concerns now are infection and pneumonia and he's running a steady fever. He's still pretty medicated and that's not leaving him very lucid." Wright frowned.
"He's in that much pain?" The long haired man's voice was raspy with emotion and Wright wished he could remember all their names.
"Some of its antibiotics and such. I think…" He hesitated, meeting the other's concerned blue eyes. "I believe that Mrs. Harrington is requesting the medication."
"Why?" Larabee's voice was hard.
Wright smiled weakly. "She doesn't want to see him suffer, Mr. Larabee. She means well." He met Chris' cold gaze. "When he is awake, the nurses tell me, he asks about Mr. Jackson…and you." The mixture of hurt and frustration that flashed across Larabee's face was more than he could handle and Wright turned back to the window and listened as the men quietly filed out of his office.
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"What now?" Buck threw his hands in the air as he sat heavily in the chair beside Nathan's bed. He answered the loud "Shhhh" from behind the privacy curtain with a rude a gesture. "They didn't even let us get close enough to talk to him. Maude just started shrieking and security came running."
"Do you think he knew we were there?" Vin's voice was raw with anger.
"I'm not sure he was awake," Chris admitted quietly. "I tried to get to him, but if he's as doped up as Wright said…I'm not sure he was aware we were there."
"Can Maude really keep him drugged up like that?" JD asked, looking at Nathan for the answer.
Jackson shook his head even as he sank back deeper into his pillows. He was so tired. "His doctors are monitoring him closely. Right now, they might agree that keeping him sedated will keep him from getting too agitated and hurt himself moving around too much or something."
"Like he might if he's anxious and wondering about us," Buck added.
The room was quiet save for the annoying drone of Wheel of Fortune behind the curtain. Someone was excitedly buying a vowel.
"Damn it." Vin punched at the wall. "We need to find a way to let him know we're here, that we're trying to get to him. Anything so that when he is awake enough…he'll understand."
"Gentlemen." The group looked up at the nurse entering the room. She smiled sweetly as she stepped around Josiah and JD and carried an arrangement of purple and blue flowers behind the curtain. "Someone has been thinking of you today, Mr. Dillard." They heard her chatter easily with the room's other occupant. A couple of minutes later, she moved past them all again. "Visiting hours end in ten minutes," she reminded kindly as she left the room.
Josiah looked at Chris and smiled widely. "I think I have an idea. How much money you got on you?"
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Ezra stared groggily at his breakfast tray, uninterested in its contents. The restricted diet was already old; this morning's meal included cream of wheat….he didn't have an appetite for any of it.
Maude was there already, suspiciously cheery as she read him what she deemed entertaining tidbits from the local newspaper. She refused to give him any information about the storm or flooding, and he'd finally stopped asking. CNN was muted on the TV and he stared up at it while his thoughts wandered. Though his doctors had finally agreed to cut back on his medications, he didn't remember much of the previous day and he had a strong feeling there was something important he should be recalling. Everything, though, was a jumble of odd scenes interspersed with nightmares. He hated drifting off anymore. Twice now, he'd woken up with harsh shouts that had Maude paging for the nurses. The first time it was just another memory of his uncle, but the second time, the second time he'd been hanging, clutching onto Nathan's arm and when he'd looked up searching for Jackson…Nathan had been wide eyed and lifeless. His dead body the only thing keeping Ezra from floating away in a rush of muddy water.
Ezra blinked, trying to chase the horrific image from his mind. Nathan had to be alive. Ezra wanted to believe that but worry and fear prevailed. No one would tell him anything about Jackson or the others. Loneliness pierced him, bringing a heaviness he didn't even want to fight.
The door of his private room opened and Maude lowered the paper, scowling at the unannounced interruption.
"Good morning, Mr. Standish." A petite blond nurse entered the room, completely unabashed by Maude's glaring. She held a simple floral arrangement. Ezra's eyes widened as she winked at him and placed the arrangement on the table next to his bed.
"Who's that from?" Maude asked suspiciously.
The nurse continued to smile as she turned the arrangement just so. "It's a complimentary gift from the hospital's auxiliary club," she explained easily. "They donate arrangements every year." She leaned closer to Ezra. "Is there anything else I can do for you this morning?" she questioned almost suggestively.
Ezra swallowed slowly, not daring to look at his mother. "No, thank you." Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Buck saying, "Hello-o Nurse!"
"Okay, sweetie. You don't hesitate to buzz if you find you need a thing. Just ask for Nikki." She turned and sashayed out of the room, winking at Ezra one more time before the door swung closed behind her.
"Well," Maude half snorted in disgust. "She was appalling."
Ezra rolled his eyes. "She was sweet."
Maude laughed loudly, pushing herself out of the chair. "I'm sure you'd think so. She was almost throwing herself at you. Shameful." She straightened her dignified blouse and walked around the bed to the table. Haphazardly, she searched the flowers. "There's no card," she sighed with exasperation. "You'd think after all the trouble I've gone through to be here every day and to get you settled into a very nice, private, expensive room…the least they could do is provide proper nursing care."
Ezra listened to his mother mutter about the hospital's hiring policy as she moved back to her chair. He looked at the flowers beside his bed and smiled. There, nestled in amongst the simple daisies was a small Galileo thermometer, with its clear glass tube and floating balls of colored liquid. Settling back onto his pillows, Ezra closed his eyes, relief seeping through him. A Galileo thermometer. He'd only just started collecting them and, so far, his meager collection included two, a large 24 inch one that hung on his porch and a smaller version he'd put in the kitchen of his tiny apartment. Only six other people knew of his affinity for the unique thermometers.
Suddenly, he felt as if the constant fog he'd been stuck in was lifting and he began to see more clearly what had happened. He didn't have all the answers yet, but as he opened his eyes and focused on his mother, he finally knew how to get them. A half hour later, after he'd successfully persuaded his mother that the only thing he truly needed was some of her special gourmet, Indian Darjeeling tea…he called the nurses' station and requested to see Nurse Nikki.
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Maude paused outside the closed door of Ezra's room preparing herself for another day with her son. It pained her to see him this way…hurting, weak and ineffectual. How many times had she warned him this storm chasing dream of his was going to get him killed? Not only was it dangerous, it was embarrassing. How do you explain at a society event or a hospital fundraiser that your only son is nothing more than a crazy man chasing after the wind? It angered her; Ezra had so much more potential than that.
She looked down at the tin of tea in her hands. She'd need to get someone to make it for Ezra. Sighing, she shook her head. How maudlin she'd become, driving all the way into the city just for tea. She'd never coddled Ezra this way when he was a child, but if little things like this would help bring him back to her…then taking hours to get a cup of tea was well worth it.
Smiling, Maude squared her shoulders and pushed into the room. She froze. Her eyes swept over the empty private room. The can of tea crashed loudly to the floor, bouncing once and sliding into the wall. The bed was stripped, the television off. There was no sign of occupancy at all.
Fear struck first, no…it couldn't be. Ezra'd been improving. His fever had broken and the doctors were hopeful that pneumonia would not set it. They'd assured her the infection in his leg was normal and minor. No there had to be another explanation, the fear in her morphed into anger. It filled her and drove her, fuming, from the room. Larabee.
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Chris followed JD into Nathan's hospital room, anxious to check on Jackson. It'd been a long evening of restless boredom at the hotel. He and Vin had worked on the trucks because the vehicles always needed working on, and both he and Tanner needed something to do. Then, he'd researched some area weather patterns with JD and Buck. He'd managed to keep busy and yet the heaviness of waiting made time crawl.
Josiah's flowers had been delivered early this morning and they had yet to hear anything. They weren't even sure Ezra had received them or that he'd understood the message. Chris was determined. Not only had he made a promise to stay with Standish but he also needed to physically see for himself that Ezra was okay. He had to get to Ezra today and, even if it meant jail, he was going to find a way.
Nathan had gotten so frustrated with all of them and their impatience that he'd ordered them out of his room for a lunch break. "Take a long long lunch," he'd snapped. "Mr. Dillard is getting discharged and we don't need you getting in trouble by being in his way. Besides, I want to rest a bit without all of you staring at me because you have nothing else to do."
Josiah had made certain they took a couple of hours and Chris had to admit even with his concern about Ezra, getting out of the hospital helped immensely. He felt a little rejuvenated and ready to find another way to get to Standish.
"Hey, Nathan, you get any rest while we were gone?" JD's voice was loud as he entered the room and Nathan immediately quieted him, motioning to the pulled privacy curtain.
The five men stared at the room divider, stunned. "I thought you said he was getting discharged today." Vin looked at the curtain with confusion and irritation, his voice barely a whisper.
Nathan shrugged carefully, flexing his strained shoulder and grimacing slightly. "New guy," he answered softly.
"Well, hell." Buck leaned against the wall. "This sucks. Too bad you couldn't get yourself a private room."
"Private rooms do have some advantages but they're not all they're cracked up to be." The voice behind the curtain was soft, but distinctively clear. Five pair of eyes turned from Nathan who was now grinning widely to the opaque curtain.
Vin moved first, whipping the curtain back out of the way to reveal Ezra, comfortably ensconced in the room's second bed.
"Why the hell is the curtain closed?" Buck demanded with a look of shock.
"He wanted it closed for his sponge bath." Nathan's voice was light and teasing. "Wanted privacy with Nurse Nikki."
"Mr. Jackson." Ezra snapped with annoyance.
"You got a sponge bath from Buck's nurse Nikki?" JD's eyes widened.
"Not quite," Nathan answered, ignoring Ezra's stuttering protests. "He fell asleep before she could finish."
Everyone looked at Ezra.
"Thank you for the lovely flowers." Standish nodded to the arrangement now perched on the windowsill, redirecting the conversation. "It was a pleasant surprise to discover I was in your thoughts." He pretended to ignore the teasing chuckles but they were the best medicine he'd had in what felt like a very long time.
"You never left them, brother." Josiah smiled with relief. Despite the pale, tired features, Ezra looked well. It was the best thing he'd seen in days.
"Yes, well, if I'd have been a little more clear headed before now," Ezra smiled sheepishly as they surrounded him, questions about his welfare overlapping questions about how he'd gotten there. He looked up at Josiah. "I'd have realized that."
"I told you Nikki was a sweet thing." Buck grinned broadly after hearing Ezra explain that he'd recruited the young nurse to help him get transferred to Jackson's room.
"What about Maude?" Vin asked.
"I'm afraid I sent her on a fool's errand." Ezra frowned. "I'm sure she'll have returned by now. We'll be hearing from her shortly."
"Can she have you moved again?" JD questioned, fear rising in his eyes. They'd just gotten Ezra back. His family finally felt whole again.
Ezra met JD's gaze reassuringly. "Despite what power my mother thinks she wields around here, now that I am able to adequately voice my wishes…she is powerless to do anything about it."
"Like hell I am." Maude's voice surprised all of them. She stood in the doorway, glaring angrily at the satisfied looking group. "I'm having you moved back upstairs immediately," she informed, ignoring everyone but her son.
"No. You. Are. Not." It was the first time they'd heard Ezra speak so harshly to his mother. "I'm staying right here," he explained, somewhat more gently.
Maude seemed to shrink a little as she cast a disparaging look at the men sitting around the room. "Why?"
Ezra smiled softly. "Because they're my friends, mother. I need their support and encouragement just as much as I need yours." He paused, willing her to understand. "We're a family," he admitted, not able to look at anyone else. He'd never shared that he felt that way with them before and wouldn't be able to bear seeing different.
"I won't accept that." Maude lifted her chin, anger returning. "They drag you down. You have so much more potential than…this." She waved at the hospital bed. "I will not accept this," she repeated. "You want a family? Fine, but it's them or me." She refused to react to the hurt she saw in her son's sad eyes.
"Maude, please." Josiah tried to intervene.
"Shut up, Mr. Sanchez," Maude bit out. "Stay out of it for once."
Ezra never took his eyes from hers. "I'm staying here." His voice was heavy, his accent thick. "With them."
"Fine." Maude nodded curtly. "Do not expect me to be there the next time you're hurt or need money or anything. You want them, depend on them, then." With that, she spun and headed out of the room.
Blinded by angry tears, she didn't see the woman in the hallway and they collided. "oh."
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
Maude blinked at the woman holding onto her arm, her eyes taking in the plain oversized sweat suit, simple ponytail and lack of makeup. "Is this Ezra Standish and Nathan Jackson's room?" she asked.
Maude stared a moment, not wanting to answer, but her curiosity won out. "Yes, why?"
The woman's large brown eyes filled with tears. "I need to thank them."
Maude frowned. "Whatever for?"
Through her tears, the woman smiled and Maude realized she was actually quite pretty.
"If not for them, I'd have lost everything." She spoke with emotion and Maude felt inexplicably drawn to her as she listened. "The storm, it came with out warning," the lady explained. "Destroyed everything, the whole house, and when we dug ourselves out…we couldn't find Bobby." The tears thickened and she swallowed. Looking up, she met Maude's gaze. "My son."
Maude felt her heart constrict.
"We didn't know if he was still in the heap that was our house or if he was somewhere else." She gestured toward the room Maude had just stormed out of. "These men, they just came to help." The younger woman shook her head, her ponytail bobbing cheerily. "It didn't matter that it was dangerous or that it was still raining. They didn't even hesitate…they just started searching." She took a deep breath. "It was because they were helping us that they got caught up when the river flooded. I need to thank them. I need to see them and say thank you that they were willing to sacrifice so much for us."
Maude looked from the woman to the door of her son's room. "And your son?"
The woman's smile brightened. "They found him. They brought him back to us safe and sound."
"Good." Maude found herself saying as the woman finally moved to Ezra's room, knocked lightly and hesitantly pushed the door open. Maude wanted to stay angry, to lash out and attack Ezra for his choices, but her anger was just…gone. She didn't accept it, she guessed she never would, but for a moment she understood why Ezra chased his storms and, for a brief instant…she was incredibly proud.
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Ezra woke with a start, a shout and a cry of pain.
"Easy, you're okay." Chris' voice was a low whisper near his ear and he blinked his eyes open.
"My apologies," he whispered, breathing heavily as he shook off the effects of the dream.
"Don't be an idiot," Chris reprimanded. "Need a drink?" He reached for Ezra's hospital issued oversized mug of water, but Standish waved him off with his good arm.
"Did I wake Mr. Jackson?"
Chris grinned and shook his head. "No, Nathan's fine. Bad dream?"
"Of a sort." Ezra was not ready to share his nightmares of Nathan's death or his history with his uncle with Chris yet.
Chris watched Ezra closely. He knew it'd been an emotional day for the southerner, first the fight with Maude and then the visit from Mrs. Davis. Visiting hours were almost over and, sensing exhaustion in both Nathan and Ezra, he'd already sent the others back to the hotel. "Anything I can do?" he asked.
He watched as the emotions scrolled across Ezra's face. Pain, exhaustion, hurt…before a smile settled and his green eyes opened lazily. "You're already doing it," Ezra admitted thickly.
"And what exactly is it I'm doing?" Chris waited but Ezra was already asleep again. Larabee looked down, surprised to realize that Ezra's hand was lying on top of his. He gripped Standish's long fingers and squeezed gently. "What am I doing?" He repeated quietly.
"You're not letting go."
Chris' eyes snapped up to meet Nathan's. He hadn't realized Jackson was awake. "What?"
Nathan smiled tiredly. "I don't think Ezra's ever had friends or even family like us."
"Like us?"
"The kind that refuse to let go."
Chris frowned. "I don't understand."
Jackson adjusted so that he was facing Chris. "He grew up with Maude and God knows who else. What's the first thing she does when things get tough or unpleasant?"
"Takes off," Chris huffed.
"And what'd Cox do?" Nathan saw the anger rising in Larabee and waved him off. "Right, exactly, he ditched him, too. What Ezra needs most is just someone willing to stick around. Someone who'll keep hanging on no matter how hard it gets." Satisfied Chris got the point, Nathan closed his eyes again, turning so he wasn't pressing on his sore shoulder.
Chris watched, realizing that Nathan had lived his point, not letting go of Ezra no matter how tired or hurt he'd been. Looking down at Ezra again, Chris focused on the scraped and bruised fingers holding onto his. "I can do that." He promised. "I can do that."
The end.
thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the whole story. And thank you for the reviews -I appreciate them.