Detective

Chapter 16

Stephanie slowly opened her eyes and reached across her warm bed towards her charged phone. She checked the time and then decided to call her fiancé.

It ringed two times before David finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, David." She half whispered, he sounded like he was whispering himself.

"Hey babe, how are you?"

She scratched her head. "Feeling a bit better," She answered. "How's Jason holding up?"

David sighed. "The doctor came in and did some exercises with him, but he got a bad headache so she gave him some strong pills that made him fall asleep." He quickly informed her.

"What about Tim?" she sat up in her comfortable king-sized bed.

"He just went back into surgery. The doctors decided to do it while Jason was asleep so that he won't freak out and worry."

Stephanie bit her bottom lip. "Is he doing ok in surgery? Has anything happened?"

"Well he seems to be responding well to their treatment, but the only problem is that he just won't wake up." David sounded tired.

"I'm coming to the hospital now, you sound exhausted." She said, getting out of bed and pulling her jeans on.

David sighed. "Ok, take your time."

She smiled. "Keep me updated on Tim, ok?"

"Yep."

"Ok, bye. Love you." She half giggled.

She knew that David was smiling on the other side of the line. "Love you too."

She hung up, and then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and fix her messy blonde hair. She then put on some sweet smelling perfume, and grabbed her car keys, exiting her cosy home.

She locked her front door behind her and then fast walked towards her dark grey car. She unlocked it and then jumped into the driver's seat. She then started the engine and guided the vehicle smoothly down the silent street.

***

Stephanie opened the door to Jason's hospital room as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake up the sleeping boy. She slid across the room, and sat down on a guest chair next to her fiancé.

In her hands were two cups of strong coffee, both black. She first gave one to David, and then sipped on her own steaming mug.

A cloak of silence settled over the small room. David and Stephanie watched Jason's chest rise and fall; he looked so peaceful.

Neither David nor Stephanie knew what would happen to the boys after they get out of the hospital. Stephanie knew that her home was going to get really busy in the next few months, but she knew that Jason and Tim won't be a problem if they were to stay with them.

"What's going to happen to them when they get out of the hospital?" Stephanie asked David quietly.

He shrugged his shoulders. "They might go into foster care, or be sent to an orphanage," he started. "But I honestly hate the idea of the boys staying in an orphanage or to be put in the foster care system." He replied quietly and drank some of his coffee.

"Why not?" Stephanie asked, lowering her mug from her lips.

He sighed, doing the same. "Well after all they have gone through, they are traumatized. Especially Tim. He killed a man who had a knife cutting Jason's throat. They grew up in an abusive environment, and had never had an education," he stated. "Not to mention that their parents never fed them, which could have caused them to starve to death."

Stephanie nodded and felt a little hesitant saying what she was about to say.

"Do you want to take them in?" she said nervously. She had no idea what David was going to say to that.

He looked up at her, his brown eyes wide. "Well, if you want them to stay with us then I'm happy with it," he considered it. "But remember that our lives are about to get crazy." He reminded her, glancing down at her growing stomach.

She nodded and brushed away some of her hair from her eyes. "I understand, but you still didn't quite answer my question," she began. "I want a yes or a no."

David glanced back at Jason, feeling slightly guilty about what happened to him and his brother. He doesn't know why, but he feels responsible and thinks that he owes them a lot. It was true that he wanted to give Jason and Tim the opportunities that they had missed, but David wasn't sure that he or Stephanie could afford it.

He looked back into Stephanie's eyes, and saw something swimming in the ocean that swirls inside of them. He knew what she hoped his answer was going to be, and he is very loyal to her, and would do anything to make sure that she was happy.

David cleared his throat. "Yes."

She smiled at him happily, grateful for the answer he chose. They smiled at each other for a bit, thinking about the fun things that they would do with them, and if they could get an education. They were thinking about family dinners and having occasional movie nights on the couch.

"Well," David started. "If they are going to stay with us, then we have some work to do around the house."

Stephanie laughed a bit. They did have a lot to do around the house.

That house they live in together has white plastered walls both inside and out. They have a gravel driveway and a small garden to the left of the grey-wood front door. It wasn't a very big house, and only had one kitchen, one big bathroom, a laundry, a lounge room, a master bedroom, and a small room that they used for storage. There was also a small room next to the master bedroom where David and Stephanie would study, and read reports from cases that have been recently closed.

At the back of the house, they had a porch made of wood and four steps that led down to a small grass area. Along the sides of the house, there were bushy trees, and bright coloured flowers.

In autumn, the grass would be covered in a thick blanket of red and orange leaves, which were caught by the strong wind and fell gently and silently to the ground. Stephanie loved sitting on the porch reading an interesting book while the leaves fell down gracefully.

The whole area of the house wasn't that big, but it was still home.

Stephanie suddenly started to panic. "Where are we going to keep the boys? We have no room."

David just smiled her cheekily. "Leave it to me."