A Wolf's Purpose

•Chapter 38• Looking After Family

"I'll watch him. You can go home and get some sleep." Henry tells his aunt. Selena glanced at Eric, looked at her nephew, and back to her husband. The triplets managed to punch Eric into a coma. He was out cold. He used to be very scary—Bill's rival in the whole story. But now, he looked even more fragile than Bill when he was 'sick'. "I don't know," Selena mumbled. Henry embraced his aunt tighter than before. He didn't want her to feel alone. He glanced over at his uncle, hooked up by wires and tubes. It didn't look very inviting or loving. It was almost scary to see him like this. Surrounded by so many machines, constantly hearing beeping sounds, only seeing his chest going up and down but other than that nothing would come out of him. "You need to get some sleep, Lee Lee," Henry tells his aunt. A small smile appeared on her lips. "You haven't used that name in a while." She said as she looked up at the boy. He shrugged. "Felt like a proper moment to use it. Go home. Get something to eat, take a shower, and go to sleep." He tells her. "You shouldn't have to be the one doing that. He's my husband." Selena says softly. She was exhausted. The dark circles under her eyes would become more visible with the say. She lived off of coffee and horrible sticky food from the hospital.

She knew he was right. Of course, he was. She wanted nothing more but to get under a nice hot shower and clean clothes. But she didn't want to leave without her husband. She let out a sigh and walked over to Eric on the bed. She bend over slightly and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "I love you, sweetheart." She whispered to him. She waited a second to see if he would give a sign or move or anything like that. But he lay there, as still as ever. She squeezed Henry's hand tightly. "If anything happens -" She started. "I'll call you. Go." He tells her with a smile. She kissed his cheek and left them behind. Henry walked over to the bed and sat down in the chair his aunt was sitting in before. "Hey," He started, "So, Aunt Lee Lee is gone now. We're gonna have some man time. I'm gonna read you some comics if you want. I can get us a snack too. But not from the hospital, just from the vending machine, the hospital food is just gross." He chuckled. He looked over at his uncle. He wasn't the same. Even though Andrew didn't tell him everything, Henry had a feeling that the triplets had something to do with his uncle's condition. There was no doubt. He hadn't heard from his brother. Megan was still off the radar as well. Henry shrugs off his thoughts. He leans a little closer to his sleeping uncle. "Oh, and between you and me, there is this really cute nurse who checks in on you. I won't tell Aunt Lee Lee. So, if you wake up when she checks in and then just goes back into dreamland, that's fine." He chuckles. But still, nothing happened. Henry just sat there listening to the beeping sounds. He grabs his backpack and holds a comic book. He flipped through the pages, patiently waiting for some disaster to arrive. That's why he was here after all, right?

Jade sits across from her brothers. "Alright, there is something I have to talk to you guys about." She started. The triplets gave her a strange look. They had to have some little sense something was off here. Maybe it was her tone. It could've been something in her eyes she had no control over. "I have a safe house for you three." She tells them. Their eyes lit up a little. "What? That's great!" Jack says. Jayden furrows his eyebrows together. He points at his sister. "No, no. Not great. What's up? There's something wrong." Jayden interrupted. Jade sighed and briefly looked over her shoulder to look at Casper. He gave her a little nod. She sighed and turned her head back to her brothers "There is a but." She admits. "I knew it." Jayden sighed. "What, no. There's no but. Why does there always have to be a but? And not a cute one like the one on Lyla Grace. Remember her?" Jack joked. Jayden's eyes widened a little at that name. He nudged his brother harshly with his elbow. "What?" Jack said. "We're not talking about Lyla." Jayden reminds him. "Oh, right," Jack said. Jade glared at her brothers and clapped her hands together a few times. "Hey, big guys, focus." She says sternly, "We're splitting up." She added. "What?!" The triplets exclaimed. "Told you this was a bad idea," Andrew mumbled. Jade rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, well, I wasn't going to lie to them again." She tells him. "We're splitting up? Like... h-how? How did you plan on doing that?" Jayden asked. "Like I said, there's a safe house. It's not too far from here. It belongs to a friend I can truly rely on. Dad doesn't know about him. He's on a trip with his family. He needs someone to watch the house. This could be perfect." She explained to her brothers. "Then why are we splitting up?" Jerry asks his sister. The three all gave her that look. That 'please don't say what I think you're gonna say' kind of looks. "Someone needs to stay here to handle Bill." She said. Jayden stands up. "No, not happening." He states. Jade follows her oldest brother with her eyes. "This isn't a discussion. You three are going. The others can go too if they want, I don't care. But you three need to be safe." Jade tells them. Her tone shifted. She was starting to sound more like Bill rather than herself. Casper looked at her while still standing behind her. "I don't care. We are not splitting up, Jade. We're going together, or we're not going at all." Jayden replied. Jade laughs a little. "It's funny how you think you have a say in this." She says. Jerry and Jack turn to look at Jayden. His jawline clenched. He was pissed.

"Okay, I'm going to play this card." He muttered, "I'm the oldest. You're going to listen to me. We are not going." Jayden demanded. Jade got closer to her brother, standing face-to-face with him. "And I make the calls around here. You're going. The car's going to be here soon." She responded. "We are not going without you," Jayden tells her. "I'm not going to drag you into the vehicle," Jade replied. "So you're sending us away?" Jack asks. Jade looks at him. Her gaze softened. "No, not sending you away. I want to make sure you guys are safe. I will take care of Bill. Casper, Ian, and Louis are staying with me here and getting things in order. We can protect you from here." She explained to them. Jerry started shaking his head. "I don't think this is a good idea. You going up against Dad on your own? I don't want to leave you behind. It would be best if you didn't have to deal with that all by yourself. It's our problem." He reminds her. Jade nodded. "I know. But I want you to be safe. You guys can understand that, right?" She questions. She looks at Jayden. "Right?" she repeated. Jayden shook his head again. "No, this isn't happening." He mumbled. His sister sighed. "Well, that's too bad. Because for once in your life, you do not get to make this decision. I'm making it for you." She tells him. "You're sick. You're not staying here and going against him." Jayden raised his voice at her. Jade's anger returned. She glared at him. "You're going. End of discussion." She replied. She turned around to walk away. "You're not mom, Jade!" Jayden yelled at her. "You're going!" Jade repeated. Her voice was now on the same volume level as Jayden's. And it scared the triplets. She sounded like Bill. No, no, she looked like him...