The Road Within: Completed

Twenty five - search 3

Don't worry, I didn't forget the Q&As, just giving time for others to ask questions. Please don't forget to share this!

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"Alright, we will do it your way." Mr hood said reluctantly as he pulled into the police stations parking lot.

"Thank you." Dr rose said , undoing her seat belt when they were parked. Both got out of the car and walked into the building.

It didn't take long for them to be seated and to start talking to one of the police officers.

As dr Rose was going over details, mr hood was on the phone with his new wife. "Okay, I called the card company and they turned his card back on."

He sighed in relief, "thank you."
"What do you want me to tell Dan about tonight?" Monica asked, sounding annoyed. "I don't know." He sternly replied. "But David! " Monica whined, "I just picked up my dress!"

My hood sighed , it was his turn to be annoyed. "Monica, he's my son." Monica pouted on the other end of the phone, "fine." She said. "I'll call if I have any other news, love you. Good bye." He said just before hanging up.

---time jump---

They spent hours in the police office, explaining they weren't charging the guys for car thief or as run always. They just wanted help finding them, they were legal adults after all.

It was already dark by the time the two adults left the police office. They were both exhausted and drained, plus more worried since they didn't spend the day searching for the guys.

As mr hood approached the car he groaned loudly, noticing a flat. "Aw come on!" He threw his jacket onto the hood of the car and bent over to look at the tire better.

"What?" Dr rose asked, slowly following mr hood. "You got a spare?" He asked, straightening up.

After she helped him pull the spare tired from the back of the car , she helped him put it on the ground by the car.

She leaned against the car to watch him struggle with the tire iron. It slipped from his hand, making him hit his knuckles against the metal.

"God fucking damnit!" He said, throwing the iron down. Dr rose rolled her eyes and sighed , "the apple really didn't fall far from the tree."

Mr hood sighed and knelt back down, "maybe you're right." He said as he grabbed the iron again. He returned to getting the bolts loose, to take off the tire.

He worked in silence for few moments, wanting to admit his feelings. He didn't know if it was a good idea, he barely knew dr rose but she was a doctor for this kind of stuff.

"You know, I was the first one of my friends to become a father." He said softly while looking up at dr rose, meeting her stare.

He grunted as he keep working on trying to loosen the bolts, "and Calum was amazing. He was a little devil, but he was amazing." He finally loosened a bolt and moved on to the next.

He looked down to watch his hands work before looking back up at dr rose, " when did he start to show signs?" She asked.

Mr hood furrowed his brows in thought, " in second or third grade. His teacher came to us and said that he was extremely out spoken. " he finished with that bolt and moved to the last one, again he looked at his hands for a moment.

"Bet you liked that." Dr Rose said, making mr hood look back up at her.

"Of course. And we just thought it was a phase and that he'd grow out of it. " he frowned and looked down as he finally removed the last bolt. He scooted back and started to tug the wheel off with few grunts.

"But it just got worse?" She asked, walking over to help move the flat tire aside.

"No, something died inside.." He started to honestly admit. After they removed the tire and replaced it with the new one, he started screwing back the bolts. "..inside of me, when we got the diagnosis. "

Dr rose frowned and stared down in sympathy as mr hood kept explaining, "all my hopes and dreams for him just disappeared."

Mr hood sighed deeply, feeling guilt and sorrow build up in him. He finished screwing in the bolts but he stayed kneeling, " and every time I looked at him and he was twitching and cursing and what not..."

He turned around and sat down on the ground, leaning back against the tire. He shook his head, hating that he was admitting how he felt, "I felt like I was looking at someone else's kid. Someone else's problem."

He felt ashamed , so he looked away from dr rose and sighed again. Dr rose kneeled down and gently put a hand on his shoulder, seeing tears building in his eyes.

"And I felt awful, not only for him, but for his parents .. And then he called me dad. Dad! " mr hood started to raise his voice , "fuck, dad! "

Mr hood sighed, calming down a little. He looked back up and over at dr rose, seeing her sitting next to him, her hand still on his shoulder.

"It's awful to say but I was embarrassed by him. And the pitiful looks we'd get from people. We'd have to leave restaurants and movies. We got kicked off a plane once." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the car.

He took deep breaths before continuing, opening his eyes to speak. "and I just wanted a different boy.." He ashamedly admitted.  "And he knew it.." Mr hood said sadly, with a nod of his head. "He could see it on my face. I don't think he will ever be able to forgive me for that."

Dr rose spoke softly, "it seems like he's capable of a whole lot more then you think.