little talks [ sweet pea ]

twenty five

when you wake up in a hospital bed with your father, the person you're having a fling with, your best friend and someone you've never met before staring at you, you're going to be a little shocked.

so Jacksons reaction to immediately yell out 'fuck' was completely reasonable.

"how long have i been out?" it was a question asked in every movie or book when someone wakes up in a hospital bed. kind of very cliche. every time Jackson watched a scene similar to that, or even read it, he always found himself promising to, well, himself that he'd never be one of those people. he groaned when he realised this, but passed it off as pain in his head to the concerned looks shot his way.

"about six years," Sweet Pea responded and Jackson immediately sat up, dismissing any pain he felt from the sudden movement. now there was definitely a pain in his head. Kayden put his hand over his mouth to hold back his laughter.

"what!?" he exclaimed and looked around the room in panic on a search to find his phone. "are you serious? ive been in a, what? fucking coma for six fucking years? im like, twenty two, twenty three years old now? fuck dad, you're even older now."

Joshua rolled his eyes at his son, of course he'd say something like that. glaring at Sweet Pea he said, "he's fucking with you, Jack. you've been out for around fiften hours. its three in the arvo. do you remeber what happened?"

"oh, well, your still old," he shrugged and calmed down at hearing his fathers words. he relaxed back into the bed, flipping Sweet Pea off which earned him the middle finger back. he thought about his fathers question. what had happened? Jackson remembered Moose getting beat up, Toni telling him to meet at Earls shop, a Ghoulie, or who he thought was a Ghoulie anyways, showing up and punching him. after that everything was just blank memories.

"i got my ass kicked by a Ghoulie- or well i think he was a Ghoulie. hey, how much damage did the dropkick do?" Jackson asked and raised his arms. he let out a low whistle at the sigh of his arm being bandaged and began to wiggle it around but was scolded by the boy he'd never seen before who was standing off in the corner with his arms crossed. he reminded Jackson of Jughead. moody and anti social.

"dont do that," he said, making his presence finally known. "it was literally snapped in half and hasn't been operated on because of your concussion. you keep waving it around, its going to swell up and then your surgery will need to be set back again."

Jackson raised one hand up in surrender, placing the broken one on the bed beside him carefully, "there you go, master. any other orders? hey, who even are you?" Jackson asked sarcastically, voice changing to curiosity at the second question. the boy rolled his eyes and sighed. he pushed himself out of the corner and made his way to Jackson.

"even though i'd imagined this to be on much better circumstances, i'm Benji... your brother," Benji stuck his hand out to Jackson, who slowly took it in his good hand and shook it lightly. so this was his long lost half sibling. Jackson would admit, he could see the resemblence between him, Benji and his father.

"Jackson," Jackson smiled and let go of Benji hand. the boy retreated back to his spot in the corner beside Kayden. Sweet Pea stood up and walked over to Jackson, motioning for him to scoot over. rolling his eyes, the younger Doherty did as told and scooted over so Sweet Pea could fit in the bed with him.

"when can I get out?" Jackson asked his dad as he moved over. Sweet Pea laid himself down beside Jackson and wrapped his around carefully around Jacksons torso. Jackson smiled softly down at the boy and started playing with his hair as he rested his head on Jacksons chest.

"well, they cant do surgery just yet. they want to play it safe because of your concussion. for the damage question you asked earlier you have a snapped arm and a concussion, obviously. apparently a cracked rib, your ribs and guts are all bruised too. i'm assuming they were kicking you and your face is a bit busted," Joshua explained and Jackson nodded taking in the information.