Cold Cole (Werewolf)

Chapter 3: The Aftermath

The party had long ended when Hayden realized his brother didn't arrive home. He had a sinking feeling because his brother was usually home by now.

He grabbed his phone and dialed up his big brother's number.
No answer.

Hayden started to pace around the kitchen. His gut was telling him that something was wrong. He decided to call Nolan to see if he knew where Cole was.

'Maybe he'd decided to spend the night at his place' Hayden thought.

"Hello? Who is this?" Nolan answered.

"Nolan? It's Hayden. Is Cole with you? It's late and he isn't home yet and I'm worried about him."

Nolan started to panic. He instantly knew something was wrong and jumped out of bed.

"Dude Cole left hours ago to come pick you up from practice. What do you mean he isn't home? He was supposed to take you to your party."

"Shit. Mom picked me up early. Dude I don't know where he is. He isn't answering the phone or anything. This isn't like him." Hayden explained.

"No offense Hayden but maybe he just wanted to be away from yall. I'll try to call him though"

"What the hell does that mean? Why would he need to be away from-" Hayden was interrupted by the house phone ringing in the office.

"I gotta go. Let me know if you hear from him." Hayden hung up and rushed to the phone.

"This is the Henderson residence. How may I help you?" He answered.

"This is Dr. Taylor from West Memorial Hospital. We're calling for the emergency contact for Cole Henderson, Ms. Kendra Henderson."

Hayden's blood ran cold. He shouted for his mom and rushed to hand her the phone.

"This is Kendra Henderson speaking." She answered.

A million thoughts raced in Hayden's mind. What if he was dead? What if he never got to speak to him again? He loved his brother. He wouldn't know what to do with himself without him.

Hayden was snapped out of his daze by his mom hanging up the phone. She called out for his dad Henry.

"Cole's been in an accident. They're saying its bad. He's at West Memorial." She explained while rushing to grab her purse and coat.

All three Hendersons sprinted to the car to head to the hospital.

Thoughts swirled in both Kendra and Henry's minds. They couldn't lose Cole. He was their baby.

Kendra was never a religious person but at that point in time she prayed to whatever God was out there that Cole would be okay.

Guilt flooded Henry as he thought of how he had barely spent time with Cole for the past two years. He's sure he hasn't spoken more than 10 words to his eldest. How could that be? How could he let this happen? When was the last time he had told Cole that he loved him?

Henry came out of his guilty daze only to realize they had arrived at the hospital. He parked the car and they all rushed to the reception area.

After getting all the necessary information they were ushered into Cole's room. The three remaining Henderson's simultaneously gasped in shock.

Cole was covered in bandages and casts. He had a tube down his throat to help him breathe and his face was battered and bruised. He looked so lifeless. So fragile. This wasn't the Cole they were used to seeing.

The room door opened and a petite woman wearing a white coat entered.

"I'm Dr. Taylor and you must be Cole's family." she started, " Cole suffered extensive injuries.
I'm going to be quite honest, it's a miracle he has survived. His right leg is broken in three different places. His left leg had a significant amount of glass imbedded into the flesh. He has two broken ribs and a punctured lung. He had emergency surgery to rectify internal bleeding but he will need an additional surgery to place metal screws to support his leg and aid in recovery. I know it is alot to take in but take your time. He is sedated and not currently in pain. Talk to him. It'll help I'm sure"

This was alot to process for Cole's family. They didn't know how to react.

Kendra thanked the doctor and sat down in a chair at Cole's bedside. She should have never told Cole to pick up Hayden. It was all her fault. She burst into tears and Henry wrapped his arms around her.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let him pick up Hayden. Oh god I don't even remember the last time I told him I had loved him. I'm an awful mother. What if he dies and he doesn't know I love him. I should have payed more attention to him." She wailed.

"I know honey. We were so preoccupied with getting Hayden to go pro we forgot about our other son. He'll be okay. He has to be." Henry reasoned.

Hayden felt guilty. He hadn't realized that with all the attention on him his brother got none. He felt like a grade A asshole. No wonder Cole didn't like to around him anymore. He wouldn't want to be around people that forgot he existed either.

"Oh no. What if his last memories of us are us telling him he can't play hockey anymore? We were gonna take away his passion. I can only imagine how hurt he was. I was so blind to see it but we really can't afford it." Kendra sobbed.

'Wait what?' Hayden thought.

"What do you mean you told him to quit hockey?" Hayden asked taken aback his parents would even tell his brother that he couldn't have the one thing he loved more than anything anymore.

"We don't have the money. It's too expensive. The gear and the tournaments. We just thought that since you were getting so much attention from scouts that you'd need new things and that in the long run it would be better to ask Cole to quit than you." Henry explained.

Hayden was pissed. He didn't know his parents did that. While he understood their intentions that didn't make it any better.

"You know how much Cole loves hockey. How could you take that away from him? No wonder he doesn't speak to me anymore. You guys focus all the attention and resources on me and totally neglect him!" Hayden raged. "You guys might be good parents to me but god damn you're the worst there could ever to be Cole. You have to make this right and apologize when he wakes up. Promise me."

Henry and Kendra looked at each other. They both knew what needed to be done.

"We promise." said Kendra while moving the hair out of Cole's face. The entire family looked at his bruised face. He was black and blue. Not a peak of his usual pale complexion in sight.

'What a way to spend my birthday' Hayden thought while glancing at his brother's bandaged body.

Soon the room was bathed in silence except for the various machines keeping Cole alive. As night slowly passed each Henderson prayed for Cole to be okay before eventually giving into exhaustion, falling into restless sleeps.