Chapter Text
Six hours.
It took six fucking hours before the doctor came out to the waiting room to see them.
Every time a doctor or a nurse came out, one of them would jump up just in case it was about Justin. It never was until a woman name Dr. Lin came out and approached their group.
“Are you the family of Justin Taylor?”
Brian was up to his feet in a heartbeat and went over to the woman with Jennifer by his side. In his peripheral vision, he could see everyone else stand up too.
“Yes! Yes, we are. Please tell me how my son is,” Jennifer begged and the doctor took a breath.
“I’m not going to try to sugar coat anything. It was touch and go for a long time. He lost a lot of blood but he’s lucky the bullet hit the right side of his body. There’s less blood pressure on that side of the heart so he could have lost more and could have easily died before he was transported if he had been hit more directly on the left. I’m not sure if your son is extremely lucky or extremely unlucky. The bullet grazed the right ventricle but the damage was pretty minimal considering. It actually did more damage to his right lung. He’ll need to stay in the hospital for a while and have treatment for the damage. He will need to have regular checkups for a very long time so any indication of any residual side effects or damage can be caught. This can cause long term problems sometimes so he has to be careful until he is given an all clear. He cannot strain himself or get stressed out once he’s released. But it was a clean shot with a small bullet and it didn’t affect his spine. I am hesitantly going to say that he’s going to be okay.”
“Oh thank God! Oh thank you! Thank you so much, ma’am. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. Thank you, for saving my baby! Brian did you hear?” Jennifer blabbers as she reaches over to hold onto Brian’s shirt. Brian puts his arms around her and she cries into his chest.
Despite the good news, Jennifer is an emotional wreck so she isn’t capable of talking anymore so Brian takes over.
“When can we see him?”
“It’s the middle of the night. I should be telling you to wait until tomorrow but I’ve been in a similar situation with my brother. So I will make an exception. You can go one at a time once he gets a room in ICU. He won’t be up until at least tomorrow evening. We don’t want him to strain any of his injuries so we’re keeping him sedated. I am very glad that I could give you some good news.”
The doctor turns to leave and Brian finally risks looking at the rest of the group. Everyone is hugging, smiling, and crying. He usually doesn’t like emotional scenes like this but when Emmett and Ted hug him he surprises them and himself by returning the embrace. He manages to hold back the emotions that are overwhelming the rest of the gang. He already broke down once in front of them. He’ll wait until he’s alone before he lets the relief truly hit him.
“I’m going to go call Debbie. Let her know the news,” Brian tells them.
“Do you want any of us to go outside with you?” Jennifer asks him, like he needs his hand held.
“I’m a big boy, Mother Taylor,” he says to her as he bends down to kiss her cheek.
Brian goes outside and lets out a shaky breath. He gets out his phone and dials Debbie’s number. It’s 11 o’ clock at night and he knows she has had a rough day but he also knows she will be able to rest much better when she gets the good news.
“Hello? Brian? What’s going on?” Debbie answers the phone, not sounding like she is resting at all.
“He’s-,” Brian breaks off. Fuck, he thought he could hold back longer.
“Brian? Please. Just say it. Oh honey, please tell me what’s going on,” Debbie tells him and he can already hear her starting to cry so he momentarily toughens up and tells her.
“He’s going to be okay,” he whispers into the phone.
“CARL! SWEETHEART! JUSTIN’S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT!” Debbie screams and laughs. Brian hears her settle down.
“Brian, he’s going to be okay! It’s a real miracle, isn’t it?” Debbie tells him.
“Y-Yes,” Brian sobs out as he clutches his chest.
“Oh, sweetheart. It’s going to be alright! Justin’s okay! Brian, honey...” Debbie consoles him, managing to sound happy and concerned at the same time.
“It’s alright, baby. I know how much you love him. I can’t imagine how scared you were. But now you can show him. Show him and tell him how much you love him and how much he means to you. Life’s too short. That’s been proven with him more than once now so don’t you forget about it.”
Brian wipes his face and calms down.
“I know. I’m going to prove it to him that he’s it for me.”
“You better. I love you, kid. I really really do. I love all my boys. You call me if you need to talk.”
“You too, Ma.”
“I’ll come by in the morning. Try to get some rest when you can, okay? I know you. I know you won’t be leaving there any time soon but you are no use to Justin completely exhausted. Try to at least get some shut eye in the waiting room. See you later. Oh, I am so happy.”
“Me too.”
Brian hangs up the phone and gives himself a few minutes to calm down. He’s cried more in the last several hours than he has in over a year. After he vows to himself to not break down for at least another three years, Brian goes inside.
A nurse comes out to tell them Justin’s room number about 20 minutes after Brian comes back inside. Jennifer gets up but then looks at him for approval.
“You’re his mother. Go ahead.”
She nods and makes her way through the doors. Mel leaves to check on Lindsay and the kids and to “talk to her.” Brian thinks that he isn’t the only one who was forced to take a close look at his life today. She touches his shoulder before she leaves and says she and Lindsay will bring Gus tomorrow so they can get lunch in the cafeteria. Brian is not looking forward to cafeteria food but he can’t see himself leaving the hospital until Justin is up and talking. It will be nice to see his Sonny Boy.
Emmett asks him if he needs anything before he goes. All he really needs is to see Justin. But Emmett tells him he’ll bring Brian some more comfortable clothes and a toothbrush so Brian gives him his keys and Emmett leaves. Ted stays with him and provides a silent gesture of friendship until Jennifer gets back.
When Jennifer walks in, Brian can see she’s been crying. But she smiles at Brian through her stress.
“He’s hooked to so many machines. It just reminds me of before, you know?”
Brian nods and looks past her at the swinging doors.
“Go see him, Brian. He’d want you to be there.”
Brian stands up and looks down at Jennifer.
“You look exhausted. Go home and get some rest. I’ll stay with him tonight.”
“Oh, I couldn’t-“
“Jennifer, you are no use to him exhausted. Besides, this is early for me. I’ll sleep in a chair in his room.”
“They might not let you do that.”
“People can be persuaded,” Brian tells her. He’ll make sure he gets the all clear. He won’t back down from that.
“Alright. Call me if there’s any trouble, okay?”
“I will.”
Jennifer gives him one last and surprisingly bone crushing hug and turns to go. Brian is left alone and goes to Justin’s room. And while it does give him a strong sense of déjà vu, he also feels such happiness to see Justin there alive. He pulls up the chair, sits next to him and takes his hand. He won’t let it go any time soon.
“When you wake up, things are going to be different. You understand? I’m going to be different. You’re it for me, Sunshine. I want you to rest now, okay? I’m going to be here with you every day. I’m going to take you to your appointments and make sure you don’t strain or stress yourself. I’m going to be someone you deserve and I’ll prove it to you.”
Brian leans over to kiss Justin's forehead. He had a lot to think about. He had to think about what all he could do so Justin could get better. He had to talk to him about becoming monogamous if Justin took him back. He had to think about Michael and if their relationship could be repaired. Despite everything, he hoped it could. But he needed to focus on Justin first. Justin deserved to be put first. He could plan everything out in the morning. Right now, he needed to rest. So Brian lays his head by their linked hands and the reassuring and beautiful sound of Justin's heart monitor lulls him to sleep.