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“Hey, leave another slice of pizza for me!” Joe pointed at Camilla before heading in the kitchen to get more water and wine.
Camilla laughed and grabbed another slice of the pizza, she had just taken a first bite, when her dad’s phone started to buzz on the table, next to the cardboard box.
“Dad?? Your phone is ringing!” she called back to the kitchen.
“Can you pick it up? I got wine on the counter!” Joe replied, trying to wipe the red liquid off the counter where he had just knocked the glass over.
Camilla laughed and picked the phone up: “Superintendent Donovan’s phone, this is Camilla speaking”
A female voice replied to the young girl: “Hi, this is nurse Felicity Keller from the St. John’s hospital, I need to talk to Mr. Donovan”
Camilla’s eyes widened with surprise: “Uhm…yes, yes, just a moment” she said getting up and rushing to the kitchen, Joe saw her coming and read her worried expression: “Camilla, is everything okay? Who’s on the phone?”
She handed the phone to him and mouthed “nurse from the hospital” Joe frowned.
“Superintendent Donovan speaking, who’s this?” he said into the microphone.
“Hi, this is nurse Felicity Keller, from the St. John’s hospital, I’m calling because you’re listed as Jesse Mills’ emergency contact” the female voice told him.
Joe’s blood froze: “What happened?” he asked voice breaking “is he alright?”
Camilla looked at her father with even more apprehension.
“There was an accident in his home, a microwave short circuited and he inhaled a lot of smoke. He’s stable, but he’s unconscious at the moment and needs oxygen to clear out his lungs. I am guessing you’re not a relative?” the woman asked.
“No” Joe said “I’m his boss, I…” he stopped “gosh I have no idea about his family…can I come see him?”
“As his emergency contact, yes, you are allowed to come and be with him, all other visitors will have to come tomorrow morning” she said.
“Alright…I’m…” Joe looked around a little bit frazzled “I’ll be on my way in a minute”
“You’ll find me on the fifth floor” the woman said before hanging up.
“What happened dad?” Camilla asked worriedly, Joe put his phone in his pocket and looked at her: “There was an accident at Jesse’s place, he’s inhaled fumes and is at the hospital”
“Oh no” Camilla’s hand flew to her mouth “will he be alright?” she asked while following Joe who had started moving.
“I don’t know, baby” he replied honestly “Can you help me grab some essentials? I don’t know how long he’ll be there and I want to call Charlie and Sarah”
“Of course!” Camilla replied, rushing upstairs.
Joe was driving towards the hospital exactly 10 minutes later, Camilla had made two ready bags, one for him and one for Jesse and he had called Charlie and Sarah to let them know, and both of them had promised to be there in the morning, during visiting hours to check in on Jesse.
He had a lot to think about on the way there, and his brain was in overdrive.
Why hadn’t Jesse told him he was going to put him down as his emergency contact? He knew he had lost his parents when he was nine, but he vaguely remembered something about an aunt and an uncle? Where were they?
The ten minute drive forced Joe to re-evaluate his whole understanding of his relationship with Jesse: was the young man so alone that he had to put his boss as his emergency contact? Had he completely misread all the times they had spent together?
Oh my God…
When he finally reached the hospital, he rushed to the fifth floor, to find the nurse that called him.
“I’m superintendent Joe Donovan, I’m here to see Jesse Mills?” he said flashing his ID for the nurse to check.
“Yes, I’m Felicity, please follow me” the woman told him, walking around the desk and guiding him through a corridor.
When they reached Jesse’s room, Joe’s heart wrenched in his chest. He looked pale and gray and at least a few sizes smaller than he was in the hospital bed, covered by the oxygen mask.
“How is he?” he asked, hearing his voice hoarse and full of worry, Felicity moved to the monitor, to check Jesse’s vitals.
“He’s stable for now” she told him “as I said over the phone: he inhaled a lot of smoke, firefighters think he was asleep when it happened and that’s why he didn’t move away from the kitchen immediately, they were called by a neighbor, who saw the fumes coming out of the window.”
“Oh Jesse…” Joe shook his head “Do you have any idea of when he’ll wake up?”
“We are hoping sometimes during the night already, it doesn’t look like his brain has suffered damage from asphyxia, but we’ll only know for sure when he wakes up” she told him.
“Does he have any relatives that should be informed?” Felicity asked him, and Joe looked at her: “We’re his family, and I’ve alerted everyone. They’ll be here in the morning. I’m gonna stay here until he wakes up” he announced, taking off his jacket and dragging a chair next to Jesse’s bed.
Camilla texted him one hour after he had arrived, asking about Jesse, then Charlie and Sarah did the same, after about another forty minutes.
Joe sat on that chair for half of the night, wondering about the young man in front of him, his mind filled with questions.
Why hadn’t he known he was Jesse’s emergency contact? Where were his relatives? Why a boy barely four years older than his own daughter had been left to fend for himself in the world? How had he been so blind as to not see and help him? Had he failed him? He had always noticed that Jesse was constantly looking up to both him and Charlie as older men in his inner circle trying to get as close as he could, and he had always kept a respectable distance between them, but now, seeing him here and realizing how truly alone he was…
Jesse mumbled something, and Joe was pulled out of his reverie, he immediately leaned in towards the bed: “Jesse?” he called “Jesse how are you feeling?”
Jesse’s eyes squinted trying to put him into focus: “Joe?” he asked, confused “what happened?”
“There was an accident, at your place” Joe tried to explain “your microwave burned and you’ve inhaled fumes”
“Crap” Jesse murmured “I knew I had to throw that thing out…I never managed to repair it” he said.
Joe shook his head with a bitter smile on his lips: “Let me call the nurse to check on you, we can talk later”
After the nurse and two doctors had visited him, Jesse was allowed to sit up on his bed, put his glasses back on and drink a small water bottle in little sips. Joe was watching him like a hawk from his spot next to the window, and only when the medic team had left the room, he retook his place to the chair next to him.
Jesse threw a glance at him, and Joe saw a little embarrassment on his face.
“I’m sorry they called you in” Jesse finally said after another sip of water “I’ve probably ruined your Saturday night”
Joe’s eyes filled with incredulity, and a sharp pang hit him.
“Jesse, what are you talking about?” he asked “You risked your life, I’m glad they called me. why didn’t you tell me you had me as your emergency contact?”
Jesse shrugged: “I’m sorry…I should have asked, but…I was afraid it would look bad for the department and I don’t really have anyone else” he sighed “I can maybe ask Yazmin and change it if…”
“No” Joe shook his head “No, you leave me in, alright? I’m here for you” he told him and noticed immediately Jesse’s green eyes well up.
“Thanks.” the man murmured.
“How are you feeling?” Joe asked, before getting up and picking the bag Camilla had prepared for Jesse.
“My head hurts, and my throat and nose are still quite numb when I swallow, but I guess that’s normal, at least I’m not coughing my lungs out” he tried to joke, but Joe knew him well enough to see the tension behind his eyes.
“It’s okay to be scared, you had quite an accident” he told him while picking one of his old hoodies from the bag, he smiled seeing also a videogame in the bag.
“It’s my fault, I’ve tried to fix that microwave for ages, I was sure I could…I’m…” he sighed “I should have known better”
“Hey, you’re a smart man… an accident doesn’t change that, okay?”
Jesse nodded, but Joe continued: “Do you want me to call anyone?” he asked “Your aunt? Your Uncle? Yazmin?” he asked.
Jesse’s eyes darkened a little bit: “My uncle and my aunt have passed” he said “maybe Yaz, but not now, it’s late she might be sleeping…I don’t want to wake her up for this”.
Joe’s eyes widened again: “Jesse, why didn’t you tell us anything? I had no idea your family passed away! You always say you go to your family for the holidays!” he stopped for a moment: “ Also, Yazmin is your girlfriend, I’m sure she’d want to know something happened to you!” he looked the young man straight into his eyes: “Me, Charlie, Sarah, Rex…we’re here for you, you are not a bother, alright? And I’m sure the same goes for Yazmin”
Jesse nodded: “I go visit my family on the holidays” he murmured “at the cemetery, I’m used to not being a problem, you know? I don’t think I’m a bother, I just…don’t want to be…”
“someone else’s responsibility?” Joe supplied and Jesse nodded.
“I’ve asked the hospital multiple times, if I could go without an emergency contact, I’ve explained that I don’t really have anyone, but…”
“Jesse, I told you already, you did the right thing by putting me in.” Joe looked at Jesse and passed him the bag Camilla had made.
“Camilla put something for you in the bag I asked her to make” he told Jesse, “she doesn’t let people near her stuff, you’re lucky” he said.
“A switch?” Jesse smiled and picked up the videogame “that’s fantastic! Please thank her for me?” Jesse asked.
Joe shook his head: “You’ll do it yourself, you’re coming home with me when they discharge you, at least until we can get your house back in shape. Firefighter department sent me pictures, you can’t stay there”
“Joe, I don’t…”
“Jesse, I want you to, and Camilla does too. You’re not alone anymore, understood?”
Jesse smiled and looked down, a single tear dropping on the Switch he held in his hands: “Understood.”
Joe smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing: “Now go on and play with that thing, I know you’re too freaked out to sleep anyway” he told him with a fond smile.
Jesse smiled as well: “I’m gonna crush Camilla’s record”
“Yeah, you do that” Joe said, sitting down with a smile, and observed Jesse starting to play.
He had the feeling he had definitely adopted another child.