Comatose - Joey Stamper fanfic

Chapter 5

Joey sat on the plane staring out of the small window, ear buds in, music blaring. He was thinking of ways he was going to tell his family. His brothers would be in disbelief, his father angry, and his mother distraught. Joey turned up the volume on his music trying to make his thoughts disappear, even though the music was blaring into his ear drums. He couldn't even sleep during his 5 hour flight.

"We will be landing in 15 minutes please remain seated and please buckle your seatbelts." the flight attendant announced through the speakers. Joey quickly coiled up his head phones and shoved them into his hoodie pocket. He readjusted his hat as the plane started to make it's way down the runway. His anxiety rose with every foot closer the plane was to the airport. After the plane landed everyone got up and Joey grabbed his backpack and duffle bag as he made his way out of the plane. It was a gloomy fall day but he didn't want his family to see the bags under his eyes from lack of sleep he's endured since Kalyn was hospitalized. He quickly fumbled around his backpack until he found his black ray bands and placed them over his eyes. His family was holding a small poster board that said, "Welcome home Joey". He faked a smile as he made his way over to his beaming mother, smiling father, and happy brother. "Joseph, I missed you soo much." his mother said as she stood on her tiptoes to fold her arms around her son's neck. "I missed you too mom." Joey said trying to sound excited. His mother pulled away happy tears beading at the corners of her eyes. His father and brother smiled behind his mother as she looked around Joey in confusion. "Where's Kalyn, I thought she said she was coming?" She said turning to Joey with a confused expression. Joey's heart instantly dropped to his stomach. "I think we should sit down before I tell you guys." Joey said looking at the ground. "we can do that, is everything ok?" His mother asked him as she became even more concerned. She grabbed Joey's hand and moved to the nearest seating area which was luckily adjacent to the door in which Joey entered through. Joey sank into the nearest chair that is mother had dragged him to. "Joey, tell me, us, now. We're here for you." his mother said gently as she placed his hands in hers. "Kalyn was in a accident, at our last show. We cancelled the rest of the tour because they placed her in a medically induced coma to prevent damage to her brain. They don't know when or if she is going to wake up. Alan and Brycie are staying up there along with Caleb and Kelsey to make sure she has someone there when or if she wakes up while I'm gone." Joey said as he watched his mother's face as her expression fell into a pit of sadness.

"Hunny, why didn't you tell us sooner?" his mother said as her arm placed it's self around Joey's waist. "I've been having trouble talking about it and I didn't want you guys to worry about anything." Joey said as he lifted his hat and ruffled the hair underneath it as some sort of nervous gesture. "She's family, the closest thing me and your father have to a daughter We will be here for you if you need anything." Joey's mom mumbled into his shoulder as she engulfed him into a hug. He buried his head into her shoulder taking in the familiar feeling of home, safeness, no worries. when they pulled away his mother removed his sunglasses from is eyes. Tears had been threatening to spill from his now red eyes. Joey looked down, not wanting to cry infront of his family who hasn't seen him in alittle over 2 months. His mother gave a sad smile as she cupped his stubble covered face and whipped the few tears Joey allowed to fall from his eyes. "She's the only only one who has the power to wake up. Maybe she's still trying to find her way back to reality. Gods not going to let anything happen to her I promise." Joeys mother said as the boys went to put his stuff in their car. "I really needed that mom." Joey said with a small smile as he gave his mom a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Now let's get home I got dinner in the oven." Mrs. Stamper said as she linked arms with Joey and walked out of the airport to meet their family and ride home.

      The familiar smell of thanksgiving filled the home. Decorations of leaves, turkeys, and cornucopias littered the walls, Windows, and side tables. Colors of red, gold, and purple filled the rooms of the small home. Football was playing on the tv and Christmas music was playing softly in the kitchen while Mrs. Stamper hummed along softly as she started to set the table. "I'm going to put my bags in my room mom." Joey yelled into the kitchen. "Dinner is in fifteen." His mother replied. Joey nodded to himself and made his way to his room. The nostalgia of his childhood brought him comfort as he placed his bags next to his bed and sat down. Old band posters and highschool medals lined the walls. His closet still had some of his teenage clothes in it. He smiled slightly as they still had a slight hint of the cologne he used to wear. He did a quick glance around the room before smiling to himself and walked downstairs. His family had migrated from the living room into the dining room that was adjoining to the kitchen. "Joey we still need some help setting the table, want to go grab the mashed potatoes and rolls from the kitchen please." His mother said to him as she placed a pan of green beans on the table. "Sure mom" Joey said as he walked into the kitchen. The mashed potatoes had always been a family favorite especially between Joey and his brother.

Kenny stamper, one of the other brothers, was attending to his wife's thanksgiving with her family. His empty space was suppose to be filled with Kalyn. Joey stared at the empty spot for a slip second once he entered the dining room but quickly looked away. He didn't want to dwell on such sadness at such a happy time. Everybody took a few minutes to sit down. Wine was poured and everybody filled their plates. "Let's pray before this meal." Mr. Stamper said as everyone grabbed hands and bowed their heads. "Lord, we thank you for letting us live to see another glorious day. We pray that you always watch over us. We also pray that you keep Kalyn safe and out of harms way as she is recovering. We pray that everyone around us stays in good spirits and good health. Amen." Unanimous "amens" echoed around the table as everyone began to dig in. Stories were shared along with laughs and smiles.

Joey knew Kalyn would of loved to meet his mother and father for the first time. He knew they would of loved her. He still continued to smile. He wanted to act as happy as possible. For once he wasn't surrounded by sadness except for that of his mind. Kalyn constantly flooded his thoughts and heart but he gingerly accepted to ignore while he was around his loved ones.

After everyone had gotten full from dinner and dessert they bid their good nights since they were going Christmas tree shopping in the morning.

Joey scrolled through his contacts as he looked for Caleb's name, quickly finding it he clicked on it and brought the phone up to his ear as it dialed. "Hey bro." Caleb answered. "Hey! How's Kalyn doing?" Joey asked excitedly. "She's still the same although the doctors said that her brain is healing a lot faster since the surgery." Caleb answered. "It's better than nothing i guess." Joey replied through the phone. Sighing with relief. "How are you holding up not being here?" Caleb asked, the sounds of beeping in the background must of meant he was taking his shift of watching Kalyn. "I really needed this... I actually haven't told my parents all that's happened until I got off the plane." Joey said with a small sigh. "Hey man, it's ok. Somethings are hard to find the strength to pursue. You gotta do things at your own pace. Either way we are all still here for you if you need to talk." Caleb said in efforts of boosting Joey's now depressing attitude. "Thanks I really appreciate it. Is Kelsey and everyone else doing ok?" Joey asked changing the topic. "Yeah we actually ordered some Chinese and brought it back to the hospital." Caleb said. "Chinese for thanksgiving?" Joey asked with a slight laugh. "I might of had the opportunity to choose dinner tonight." Caleb said shyly. Joey laughed picture Kelsey questioning Caleb's choice of dinner. "Don't judge, it was delicious!" Caleb answered defensively joking. "Yeah I'm sure Kelsey and Brycie were loving their chicken stir fry instead of turkey and mashed potatoes." Joey said sarcastically. "Well I know I'm going to here it from Kelsey later but yeah." Caleb laughed. "Isn't it really late your time?" Caleb asked. "Shoot, yeah I should be getting to bed. My parents want to go Christmas tree shopping tomorrow morning." Joey groaned as he looked to the clock on his wall. "Well, good luck with that and we will keep you posted if anything changes." Caleb said. "I always keep my ringer on. Well I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, happy thanksgiving." Joey said. "Happy thanksgiving bro, night" Caleb said and hung up. Joey set an 8:00 alarm before plugging his phone in and falling into a deep slumber, knowing that Kalyn was slowly improving brought a small smile to Joey's  sleeping face.