Forever N ever (Book 13 in the Forever Series)

Chapter 17

Mercy

My brother, Jerry needed to get better soon because this twin thing seemed to be working in overdrive & it wasn't fun experiencing the sensation. When I got the feeling that something was wrong, as my dad & I were leaving Reid & Avery's room, it was painful. More painful that the last time. My chest ached & my head hurt.

While we were in the elevator, Dad tried to convince me that Jerry was fine, but the feeling I had come over me made me know better. The moment the elevator doors opened, I hurried out & stopped when I saw Mom in the hallway, but that wasn't what made me freeze. I saw doctors pushing Jerry's bed toward us, but then they turned sharply to go down a hall.

Once I couldn't see my brother anymore, I looked to where Mom was, paralyzed by fear when I saw the horror on her face. Then she started to fall, slowly, to her knees so I screamed out & started running in her direction. Dad ran with me, since he was concerned for Mom. I was stunned, unable to really speak as I watched Dad lift Mom up off the floor, effortlessly, then sit her in a chair nearby. Tears sprang to my eyes because the way Mom was acting had me thinking Jerry was close to death. I wanted to scream at her to tell me what happened. I wanted to shake her & find out where they took my brother. I couldn't do that, though, because Mom was fragile. I knew by the way Dad was holding her. 

I don't remember every detail of my childhood, but I do remember what it was like after Delaney died. I saw my dad hold my mom many times, the same way he was holding her now. Even when Dad reached up to touch my cheek, since I was visibly upset, he kept his arms around Mom, making sure she didn't fall apart. He was letting her know he was there & I was grateful for him, at that moment. JD was good to Mom, but he could never comfort her the way Dad did. Dad has been a safe place for Mom since before I was born. He's been holding her when she was on the verge of falling apart, for so long, that he was a professional at it. I could remember, vividly, all the times Dad comforted Mom & not because it was traumatic. I remembered because it was my dad, who was my hero because of this amazing thing he always did for my mother. The way he was there for her was exactly what I wanted one day, for myself. I wanted a man to be my hero, my rock, my safe place to fall, just like my dad was for my mom. 

What amazed me, that day, in the hospital, was the fact that my parents weren't even married anymore, but they still were there when they needed each other. I know they were the parents which made sense for them to lean on each other but I have had friends whose parents can't be together for any reason without fighting or ignoring each other. 

There was a time when I doubted that my parents could be this close again because of the reason for their divorce but I should have had more faith in their love for each other. After the way Dad hurt Mom, it was amazing to see them being there for each other, because it seemed as if Mom didn't remember that heartbreak Dad caused her. In this moment, at the hospital, I felt a flicker of hope that maybe Mom could forgive Dad completely & trust him enough to be married to him again.

Finally, I couldn't take not knowing what was going on with Jerry any longer, so I asked in a quiet voice, "Mom? Where did they take Jerry? What happened?"

Mom sat up & wiped her tears with the tissue Dad had given her, while he held her other hand & kept his arm around her. "His blood pressure started to drop & the machines started going off then they were rushing into the room. I thought he was crashing... like..." Mom let out a sob as she glanced at Dad, since she was probably remembering when Dad was in the hospital a year ago, after he fell into an ice cold lake while on a trip with Jerry. "Like when I thought you were... Anyway. A nurse told me as they were wheeling him out. He has internal bleeding so they need to take him to surgery to repair it."