Haunted

Elastic Heart, Part One - UNEDITED

Disclaimer: This chapter has not been edited from the original as posted on JBFF. There will be mistakes, typos, continuity problems and other issues.

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"This way," Steve pulled Maddox through a set of double doors.

The sounds of the hospital swirled around him. Someone's TV on low, machines beeping at different rates, something called a code yellow being announced overhead.

"Dax!" Wes's face was the first one Maddox's eyes focused on. "You can fix her, right?"

"Fix what?" Maddox asked.

"G-ma," Wes said. "She's hurting real bad but you can fix her, can't you? Like you fixed me?"

"Oh," Maddox could see his vision getting fuzzy at the edges. He reached out his hand.

"I'm right here," Brent slipped his arm under Maddox's shoulders. "I've got you, Babe."

"What's going on?" Maddox asked.

"Maddox," Emily came out of the room behind Wes. James was behind her and took Wes down the hall into a different room. "Come sit down."

"Dr. Edwards," a nurse said. "You asked for the pet scan?"

"Not me," Emily shook her head. "My husband, he's inside."

"She called you doctor," Maddox sat down.

"Dax," Emily took a deep breath. "Your mom is okay now but they're running some tests."

"Okay," Maddox nodded.

"She got dizzy earlier and asked Dad to bring her in," Emily explained. "He did, and when she got here things did not go well."

"What does that mean?" Maddox hadn't realized his hands were shaking until Brent started rubbing them.

"It could be nothing," Emily said. "But she was coughing up blood and then she passed out. She had a small seizure and then admitted she had one about a week ago and never told anyone. The good news is her lungs are clear so that's something."

"What's the bad news?" Maddox asked.

"That is the bad news," Brent said.

"Well, that and they don't know what's wrong," Emily said. "Her blood pressure is really low, so they think she's going to keep passing out if they don't figure something out."

"They're sure her lungs are okay?" Maddox frowned. "She smokes a lot of pot."

"Even with all the pot," Emily nodded. "They're looking at her brain now, Dax."

"Her brain," Maddox repeated. "Because of all her headaches."

"Yeah," Emily said. "Do you want to see her?"

"Is she okay?" Maddox asked.

"She looks like your mom," Emily nodded.

"Okay," Maddox took a deep breath. "Yeah, let's go see her."

He followed Emily into Clara's hospital room. Justin was sitting on the foot of her bed with Dylan on his lap. Clara was sitting up, an IV in her arm and wires attached to places Maddox couldn't see, but she looked completely normal.

"Did you call the entire family?" Clara glared at Justin.

"Yes," Justin nodded.

"I said don't bother anyone," Clara sighed. "Where's Hannah?"