A Little Laughter Left In Me... (Laughing Jack x Reader)

~An Unsettling Pit-Stop, then Arrival~

It was seven in the morning when doctors arrived to help Philip, it didn't take long for them to come to the conclusion that he would never be able to hear as well as he used to, they did several tests and in the end it was clear that he was nearly deaf, not quite, but dangerously close.

When he woke up for the first time after the incident a doctor spoke to him in a calm tone and he began writhing in agony once more until all went quiet. The doctors had to whisper as quietly as possible in order to prevent Philip from being hurt audibly any further.

Arthur was an anxious wreck after hearing the news, Philip would have to be transported to the nearest hospital so that the doctors could have the proper tools to try aiding him in any way. Your stepfather attempted to console him again, but no matter what he said Arthur refused to accept his gesture and just demanded for you both to leave as soon as possible.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"It's my fault he's angry at us..." You said sadly as your father started up the van. He turned his head to give you a serious look, putting his hand on your shoulder.

"(Y/n), Arthur and I may not know exactly what happened, but he's a fool if he believes that a sweet young lady like you would do such a thing." He stated, furrowing his brow, then he looked up at the rear-view mirror as he began backing out of the parking space.

"But...--" You were quickly interrupted.

"--Again, no 'but's about it. You're a good person, no matter what situation you're in. You've always done the right thing, and I know you would never lie to me."

At that, your heart sank, feeling even worse. But you just faked a small smile and nodded, saying: "Thanks, dad..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After hours upon hours of driving through the snow, you looked out the window groggily after a nap to notice the storm had stopped, or rather that you'd driven away from it.

"Where are we now, dad?" You asked, sitting up and noticing that he looked tired himself, but still had his eyes locked on the road. One corner of his lips curled up a bit as he spoke.

"From this point, I'd say we're about five hours away from our destination."

"Really??" You looked at him in shock. Sure, that was still a pretty long time, but you were excited regardless.

"Yep. There should be a gas station not much farther from here, we'll stop there to use the bathroom and I'll fill up the tank." He explained.

You nodded in understanding, smiling gleefully.

You took your phone to check the time, seeing it was six in the afternoon, and that you'd also gotten a text from your mother, or, at least it said it was from her.

You checked your messages curiously, noticing it'd been sent ten minutes ago, then restrained yourself from giggling as you saw what was written.

'I wish I was there to give you something to do besides sleeping, maybe do a trick or two to make you laugh.'

You decided to reply with:

 'I wish you were here too. But as long as you'll be around when I get back, I'll be fine. :)'

'As long as you come back, I'll wait as long as it takes.'

He sent another message a second after, and you nearly snorted.

'Wait, you can make a smile with this?? How do I do it?!'

'Type a colon and parentheses next to eachother. :)'