Our Time Will Come - An After Story

133

Hardin

"Move out of the way, you fool of a man!" I hurl abuse at the gormless driver that is quite frankly, blocking my entrance. I am in no mood for people like him tonight, though that's blatantly obvious. I know for sure that Tessa will be pissed that I left so hastily, and made her stay at my fathers while I dash to the hospital, but I need to deal with this as a father, in my own way. Emery and that dope of a boyfriend of hers, need thoroughly educating on the dangers of drugs, alcohol and the dimwits that surround them. I need to scare them into trusting no one, and I know that Tessa would disapprove of that, she sees the best in everyone.. which is why I decided that it's best I do this on my own.

My frustration grows when I struggle to find a parking space. I debate deserting the car in the middle of the road, it isn't mine after all, it belongs to that sister of mine, who needs to be taught a lesson right now. I finally find a spot, as far away from the entrance as I could possibly be.

I reflect on tonight's events on the walk to the emergency room. I flew out here with the intention of giving Charlie a piece of my mind. I assumed that he had done something rotten to my daughter and jumped to conclusions, when I shouldn't have. I weren't to know that he'd been drugged, but I heard a snippet of a conversation over the phone and I instantly thought the worst of him. I've been working on my optimism, but I let myself down tonight.

I just hope he's okay. That's not to say that he's completely redeemed. I warned the pair of them before they boarded their flight, that they weren't to attend any spring break parties whilst in Washington and Charlie completely disobeyed me. As his legal guardian, that calls for a verbal arse whooping.

When I reach the department, I seem to have slightly calmed down, luckily for the kids. I spot my father, who is drifting off in the waiting room. I startle him on approach and get a kick out of the way his eyes widen when he spots me. "Son?!" He rubs his eyes. "What are you doing here?" He gasps, standing from his seat.

"Thanks for calling me" I sarcastically huff. He stutters like crazy in response. "I didn't call you, because I didn't want to unnecessarily worry you all the way over In Brooklyn" he admits. I put him out of his misery, by thanking him for bringing Charlie to the hospital. "How is he?" I discreetly cross my fingers. I need him to be okay, I don't know what I'll do if he's not. Not only is Emery head over heels for him, but he's a big part of our family now.

"He's fine, still a little out of it, but he's going to be fine. They want to keep him in overnight just to keep an eye on him" Ken explains, before taking a sip of his presumably cold cup of coffee. "Thank fuck for that" my subconscious chimes.

"Where's Emery? I mutter, my eyes scanning the room for a sign of my eldest offspring. "She's in the room with Charlie" he tells me, pointing to the room itself. A wave of 'dad guilt' hits me as I realise that since learning that Charlie was drugged, I have barely given Emery a second thought.

I pat my father on the shoulder as a silent and additional 'Thank you'. "You get yourself off home, I'll stay with dumb and dumber for a little while" I smirk and he lets out a brief sigh of laughter. He thanks me and is quick to throw on his coat. "Let Tessa know that Charlie's alright, will you?" I stop him on his way out. "Tessa's here too?" He raises a brow. I don't say anything, I just nod, before heading through the double doors of Charlie's room.

Emery

"How are you feeling" I ask my beau as he awakens from his not so peaceful slumber. "Like I drank an entire vodka factory dry" he groans, as he sits himself up in the bed. I thank my lucky stars that he seems to be fine, and just experiencing the worlds worst hangover.

"See, this is why I warned you about Abby. I love her, of course..but she knew those people were trouble, yet she lured you into their company" I scold my man. I shouldn't be throwing 'I told you so' in his face at a time like this, but I can't help it. After our heartfelt conversation, about him moving away, I needed him, but he decided to go and get drunk with my annoying Aunt instead.

"I know, I know. I'm a dick" Charlie raises his hands in defence. I wouldn't say that. This isn't all his fault, plus, I don't want him to feel worse than he already does. He's lay here in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and quite frankly ..looks like shit. I have been in this exact situation. In fact, the people that I thought I could trust put me in it. and it's not the greatest. I know I should be less harsh on him, but this is hard for me too.

"I'm just so glad that you're okay. You scared me for a minute there" I place a hand over his, beginning to get a little emotional. The image of him unconscious in the back of my grandfathers car, is an image I'll never forget. "Charlie..The thought of losing you, it doesn't bare thinking about" my bottom lip wobbles as I lose eye contact with my man. It's true, it would be like losing a limb. I don't want to do life without this fool of a boy of mine.

"Hey! Stop that" he leans forward to cup my chin in his hand. "I'm never leaving you, baby. I'm here to stay" he promises. I don't recall beginning to cry, but the evidence is the warm tears that have coated my rosey cheeks. "Don't make promises that you can't keep" I mumble, whilst drying my eyes. It sounds harsh, but it's true. He says that he's here to stay, yet he's graduating school a year early, to move to a different state. I'm trying my hardest to be happy for him, I really am, maybe if I had more time to process it, I'd feel better.. but it's hit me all at once. I just wish he had told me sooner.

"I'm not making promises that I can't keep! This isn't me leaving you, baby. It's me doing what I have to do for our future. We'll make it work" he tells me, empathy in his voice. When he puts it like that, it's hard for me to stay mad at him. "I know.." I force a smile. "I love you" I tell him and he mimes the words back to me.

The two of us stay silent for a quite while, as I reflect on all that has happened in only twenty four hours. "What a day" I take a deep sigh. I knew today was going to be a whirlwind this morning, when we arrived at Molly and Logan's place. It was an eventful visit to say the least. Those guys are the definition of love - hate relationship. To cut a long story short, Molly went into labor during dinner. We got the news that she had given birth to a healthy, baby boy a few hours later. It's crazy to think that that happened today, as so much as happened since then.

From the pregnancy scare, to finding out about Charlie's scholarship, you could say that this evening has been hectic. To put the cherry on the cake, my boy is in the hospital because of the cowardly actions of Abby's vile friends. I can only hope that tomorrow will be a better day and that we can enjoy the rest of our spring break here.

"Oh my god!" Charlie suddenly yells, breaking me out of my trance. I jump out of my skin at the dramatics. "What is it?" I ask and he covers his mouth for extra effect. "Do you need to get sick?" I shoot up from my chair and he laughs at my expense. "No, I'm just thinking about your father" he gasps. My father? Why is he thinking about my dad and why is it so funny? Is he still drunk?

"He's going to be sooo mad" my man stammers and I gulp as I realise that he's right. He warned us multiple times, no drinking and no attending any spring break party's with Abby.. if Charlie would have stayed true to his word, he wouldn't be in this situation right now. That being said.. how mad can he get? This wasn't Charlie's fault, the blame lies with the sick bitch that did this to him.

I almost lose it, when Charlie puts on the worst British accent that I think I've ever heard. He continues to repeat his ridiculous impression of my father. "You focking idiot, what the fock are you playing at, Charlie?!" He mocks, causing me to tilt my head back in laughter. In fact, I laugh so hard that I don't hear the closing of the door behind me.

"Is something funny?" a shiver runs down my spine, as a voice that I definitely wasn't expecting to hear, sounds in the room. "Dad?!" My jaw drops open as I set eyes on him. There he is by the door, wearing all black and getting a huge kick out of my reaction. I swallow a gulp as I take in his expression, he does not look happy. "Talk about speak of the devil" Charlie attempts to whisper, though everyone in a ten mile radius probably just heard him.