A Family Affair (Hunter Street)

Chapter Twenty Two -- A Hospital Visit

"YOU GUYS ARE good to go in," Erik said as he stepped into the waiting room with Kate following behind him. He had a soft smile on his face as he gazed around the room at the rest of his children. Sal didn't move from his seat in one of the uncomfortable chairs. It seemed like everyone else had the same reservations about seeing Daniel in the hospital. "He's waiting for you all."

Kate wrapped her hand around Erik's arm. She looked at each of her children before saying, "I know it's scary. Hospitals are always a scary place. But Daniel's fine."

"Are you sure?" Jake asked her, worry creasing his normally smiley face. He didn't look right without a smile or even a confused look; it was strange seeing him with a frown on his face.

"Who hit him?" Max asked before Erik or Kate could answer Jake. Max had been pacing around the waiting room all night long, presumably holding onto that question the whole time.

"Daniel said that Simone came in early this morning and told him that a friend of the grave robber that he put away in jail had been following him," Erik explained gently to everyone. Kate's grip on his arm tightened. Sal knew that they were trying to appear strong for their kids, but he could tell that this had shaken them up, too. "He was the one who hit him because he was angry at Daniel for putting his friend away."

"You're sure that he's okay, though, right?" Sal asked them. He seemed to have asked the question everyone was thinking about because almost all of them started sniffling, crying, silently sobbing. Even a few tears were snaking all the way down his cheeks.

Sal, Anika, Evie, Tess, Max, and Jake all piled into Erik and Kate's arms. Even though he was older now and was going to school in a completely different country, Sal was grateful that his parents could still hold him. He still needed them and their comforting words and hugs. He still needed his family, too. He couldn't escape from them even if he wanted to. And he was okay with that. Sure, they still did things that seemed a little childish to him, but he loved doing it with them, too. As long as he was making memories with them, he would do anything to stay like this.

"Okay, I guess we should see him now," Tess said as they all pulled away from Erik and Kate. She offered their parents a shaky smile. "He has been waiting for us, and I don't want to keep him waiting any longer."

Because Tess was the oldest Hunter sibling in the room, she was the one who led them down the hallway toward Daniel's room. The pressure in Sal's chest kept growing and growing in his chest until it felt like he was going to explode as they paused outside Daniel's room. He was terrified about what he was going to see, and if Daniel really was hurt or not. He sent a quick prayer up to whoever was listening, asking to be brave enough to go inside the hospital room.

"Danny!" Anika yelled as she entered the room first, pushing through Tess, Max, Jake, and Sal. Sal tried to grab onto her arm before she launched herself at their oldest brother, but she was too quick for him. She threw herself into Daniel's arms, and Evie was right behind her. Even Tess joined in on the hug, all three of them holding tight to Daniel. "Are you okay?"

His voice was muffled underneath the three girls, but Sal could tell that he was being squished by them based on the scrunched-up look on his face. He glanced over at Max and Jake, and the three of them nodded to each other like they understood exactly what the others were thinking. Max pulled Tess off of Daniel, Jake picked Evie up and brought her away from Daniel, and Sal dragged Anika away from Daniel. 

"I'm doing okay," Daniel said to them with a wide smile on his face. Though his skin was pale and thin, Sal believed him. Daniel didn't have any casts on his body, so that meant that he didn't break anything when he got hit by the car. Nothing was bleeding on the inside of his body. "The doctors keep calling me a miracle because I didn't have any internal bleeding or broken bones. They still want to keep me for a little bit longer because they want to monitor me, to make sure nothing else could go wrong."