~_~_~_~_~_~
4 years later
~_~_~_~_~_~
"Dominic Toretto?"
"Yes?" Dom looked the man over. Three piece business suit, a Benz in
the parking lot. The man had money, arrogance and actually acted like
Dom should be intimidated.
"My name Is Anthony Sedrick, I'm an attorney representing the
O'Conner family." Anthony waited for Toretto to be impressed. Instead
Dom merely raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
"Yes well. Brian O'Conner was involved in a car accident some months
ago. He is currently in a coma at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Until
recently the doctors held out hope that Mr. O'Conner would eventually
regain consciousness due to the fact that he is breathing on his own…"
"Fascinating. Really. But I don't see what it has to do with me. I
haven't seen or heard from Brian in four years. "Dom interrupted.
"It is my duty to fulfill the requirements of Mr. O'Conner's estate
now that the doctors have determined that he will never wake. In fact
his organs are slowly shutting down. To that end you, Mr. Toretto,
are to receive 30 % of the value of the estate. 60% of the estate is
to be held in trust until the 25th birthday of your son Caleb. Mr.
O'Conner has also left you sole custody of Caleb."
Dom was in shock. A son, he had a son with Brian. It explained why
Brian had seemed so desperate to talk to him four years ago. It had
only been one night. Letty had announced she was in love with Leon
and as soon as they made the last heist the two were going to Puerto
Rico to live. One sympathetic shoulder and too many beers later and
he was making love to Brian. And it had been Love. Despite the pain
that Letty had caused Dom had known that he had been falling for
Brian ever since he started showing up at the store ordering his tuna
with no crust. He just hadn't been able to deal with the fact that
Brian was a cop. Not even knowing what he had done for the team,
throwing away his career, risking prison to destroy evidence had been
able to soften Dom's sense of betrayal.
"Is he here?" Dom looked across the parking lot at the car the lawyer
had shown up in.
"No he has been staying with his grandparents. They have cared for
him for the last 2 months. To be honest Mr. Toretto you should expect
a fight. The elder Mr. O'Conner was never very good with money, more
interested in social extravagances then practical purpose. Knowing
this and pleased with his Grandson. Nearly the entire estate,
including the family home, was left to Brian O'Conner by his
grandfather. Having access to the 30% that was set aside for you to
raise Caleb is the only way to continue their life style. They have
been living on a small allowance that Mr. O'Conner insisted on giving
them. Were it not for his generosity, they would be broke. That
allowance does not continue after his death. 10% of the estate has
been set aside for legal expenses as Mr. O'Conner did expect that if
something were to happen to him prior to Caleb's 18th birthday they
would attempt to take custody. There is some paper work and then we
can set a date for you to take physical custody of Caleb, since the
family home has been left to Caleb it is with in your right to live
there with your son. However Mr. O'Conner has provided that his
parents may live in the family home until their death or physical
health prevent it."
"Where do I sign?"
Sedrick took out a stack of papers and began pointing out the pages
that required signatures. After agreeing to turning over the child
the next day Anthony Began stuffing papers back into his briefcase.
"You will receive a small stipend until Mr. O'Conner's death at which
time the entire amount of your inheritance will be dispersed to you.
I'll bring Caleb here tomorrow after school. Have a good day Mr.
Toretto."
"You to." Dom said distracted.
The lawyer turned back and regarded Dom for a moment before he
added "he's in room 204."
~_~_~_~_~
Hospital
~_~_~_~_~
"Hey." Dom reached out and took hold of Brian's hand. "Your attorney
came by to see me this morning, told me about Caleb. I'm sorry I
didn't give you a chance to tell me. I'm sorry I held on to my anger
and sense of betrayal for so long." Dom reached up and stroked
Brian's curls before sitting in the chair. "You need to keep holding
on, you've been doing it for two months, you can beat this, whatever
it is, Brian. Caleb needs you. I'm going to need you I don't have the
first clue how to be a father to a three year old." Dom fell silent
watching Brian lay so unnaturally still on the bed. The beeps and hum
of hospital equipment filling the silence with sound.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Next day, Hospital
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
"I need to know what was different about yesterday, you're nurses,
and you're supposed to record this stuff."
"I'm telling you nothing happened, doctor, same routine, same
medication." The nurse said.
"Well something's happened he's starting to stabilize." The doctor
replied as he glanced over his shoulder. Noticing the large bald man
entering his patient's room he moved forward to find out who this new
person was. "Excuse me…" he said as his hand landed on Dom's shoulder.
Dom turned to look at the doctor and raised an eyebrow in question.
"I haven't seen you before. You know Brian?"
"I'm the father of his son, I wasn't aware that anything had happened
to him until yesterday. Why is there a problem with me visiting him?"
Ignoring the question the doctor asked one of his own "did you visit
yesterday?"
Dom simply nodded his head not understanding what was going on.
"Mr. …?"
"Toretto, Dominic Toretto." Dom replied.
"Mr. Toretto, can we talk for a moment?" The doctor gestured towards
one of the private waiting rooms.
"Yeahhh… I guess." Dom moved with the doctor to the room.
After closing the door the doctor addressed Toretto. "I believe that
coma patients can hear and to some existent are aware of their
surroundings. I am a firm supporter of touch therapy. Brian has been
breathing on his own and has brain wave activity meaning he is not
brain dead. However he has been on a steady decline, organs shutting
down. It's been nearly impossible to stabilizing any of them."
"Yeah ok, I don't understand why you're telling me…" Dom muttered. He
just wanted to see Brian and he didn't have much time. He had to be
home by 2:30 so the lawyer could drop his son off. He would have come
earlier but getting a room cleaned out and painted had taken a large
portion of his day.
"I'm telling you Mr. Toretto because as far as I can tell you are the
only thing new to the situation. Brian's vitals are stable. While his
organs aren't great they no longer seem to be shutting down. He's
doing better and I have a renewed hope that he may make it back from
this. In short he's fighting harder to survive. I've always thought
if someone important to him was visiting him, talking to him, asking
him to fight that he would do better. I've asked his parents a number
of times to let his son visit but they've always refused." The doctor
said.
"I wasn't aware that small children were allowed to visit." Dom said
in shock. Brian was doing better and this doctor believed that it was
because Dom had visited.
"In ICU we have different visitation rules and hours. 85% of the
patients admitted to this unit die, Mr. Toretto. We try to make sure
their families, no matter the age, have a chance to say goodbye."
"I can bring Caleb by tonight." Dom said; determined to do anything
that they thought would help Brian get better.
"As wonderful as that would be I don't want this to cause problems
between you and Brian's parents."
"It won't cause problems. I will be taking custody of Caleb today.
The lawyer is bringing him by after his preschool this afternoon;
speaking of which I'd really like to visit Brian a bit before I need
to leave to meet with the lawyer." Dom said.
"Of course, of course, I just wanted to make sure you knew your
visits were helping and to encourage you to continue to stop by."
"Everyday." Dom said as he left the room and headed towards Brian's.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Brian's Room
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dom sat down in the hard orange plastic chair and took Brian's hand
in his own.
"The Doc seems to think my visit yesterday helped. I hope so. I've
missed you… a lot. By the time I let go of the anger it had been
almost a year since I had heard from you. I figured you had moved on
with your life and there wasn't room in it for me. I'm sorry Brian.
If I had just given you those five minutes you wanted everything
would have been different. I need you to fight this Brian… for me,
for Caleb. We need you." Dom leaned forward and placed a soft kiss
against the hand he held. "Your lawyer is bringing Caleb over this
afternoon so I can't stay as long today. I would have come by earlier
but I had to clean and paint one of the rooms for our son. But I'll
be back tonight and I'll bring him with, ok? Get better soon. I miss
those baby blues." Dom stood up and placed a second kiss against
Brian's hand before laying it back on the bed and letting go. To his
amazement he felt Brian's hand clench around his briefly.
Snapping his head up he was disappointed to see Brian's eyes still
closed, wrapping his hand around Brian's again he asked "Brian? Baby,
can you hear me? Open your eyes Brian. Show me those baby blues."
Dom watch Brian's face anxiously for any movement but nothing
happened. "Please Brian… You can do this, squeeze my hand again.
Anything please…" Dom begged and then let out a loud whoop when he
felt Brian's hand contract again.
The nurse came rushing in at the noise. "Mr. Toretto this is a
hospital! Please keep your voice down." She hissed.
"He squeezed my hand!" Dom said excitedly.
"It was probably just a reflex Mr. Toretto. Brian is in a coma he has
no conscious control over his extremities." The nurse replied kindly.
"Well then why'd he do it a second time when I asked him to?" Dom
demanded.
"He responded to a request?" The nurse asked as she made her way to
the other side of Brian's bed. When Dom nodded she picked up Brian's
other hand and asked him to squeeze it. Brian's fingers twitched
slightly in her hand but Dom grinned and help up his hand showing
that Brian was holding on to it. The nurse gave her own grin. "I'll
be right back with the Doctor." She told him as she hurried out of
the room.
When the nurse returned with the doctor, Dom was asked to leave the
room. Glancing up at the clock Dom knew the he would have to leave
now to get his son anyway. He leaned over Brian and gave him a kiss
on the forehead.
"I have to go now. I have to meet the lawyer to get Caleb. But I'll
be back in a couple hours. Keep fighting Brian; Show the doctor what
you can do." Dom told him then pressed his lips against the hand
curled around his before laying it back on the bed and leaving.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dom's House
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anthony Sedrick walked up the cracked concrete steps with Caleb in
tow. He was anxious to get this over with and get out of this
neighborhood before some punk stole his car. He couldn't believe that
Mr. Toretto wasn't even interested in living in the O'Conner home. It
was a lovely old Victorian mansion. There was more the enough room
although he had to admit that living with the elder O'Conner's would
probably be strained and very annoying. Sedrick took a deep breath
before knocking on the front door.
Dom opened the door and looked down at his son, immediately dropping
to his knees so he wouldn't seem to imposing. "Hello Caleb" he
whispered.
"Mr. Seder-ick says you're my other daddy. Grandfather says that you
just want my daddy's money." Caleb told his father in that innocent
way that all three year olds seem to have.
"Well Mr. Sedrick is right I am your other daddy but I didn't know
about you until yesterday. Your grandfather is wrong. I would very
much rather have you and your daddy then all the money in the world."
Dom said very seriously looking into his son's eyes. Caleb cocked his
head to the side as if weighing the truth of Dom's words before
giving a decisive nod of his head and holding out his arms to be
picked up. Dom lifted his son into his arms and held him close.
Looking over at the lawyer he asked where Caleb's belongings were.
"I'm afraid that Mr. O'Conner refused to let me remove anything from
the home. He said as far as he was concerned this was a temporary
thing and he's sure a judge will return Caleb to their care. Since
you are Caleb legal guardian and I do not actually represent you, I
was unable to legally force them to allow me to remove property from
the home. Because the home technically belongs to Caleb they can't
refuse you entry. If they do you can call the police. I did manage to
get him a change of clothes. And all of his preschool information is
in there. I wasn't sure if you planned to keep Caleb there or not so
I told them you would call them. Will there be anything else Mr.
Toretto?"
"No I think I got it." Dom growled then turned and walked back into
his home letting the door swing shut behind his without another
glance, leaving Anthony Sedwick standing on his porch.
Dom sat down on the couch with Caleb in his arms and gave him a small
smile.
"We need to talk buddy."
"'bout what?" Caleb asked as he played with a hole in Dom's wife
beater.
"Your other daddy, what did your grandfather tell you about him?" Dom
asked trying to figure out how to explain to his son so that he
wouldn't be scared when they got to the hospital. He was not prepared
for the answer.
"That he had to leave me and go to heaven." Caleb answered. In a
small whisper he added "he didn't even say bye."
Shit! Shit, shit, shit was all Dom could think. Now he had to explain
not only that his father wasn't dead but that he was very sick and
could still die. No wonder those asses wouldn't let Caleb visit.
What kind of grandparent tells a kid his dads gone to heaven before
the man dies.
"Well buddy, we need to talk about that. See your daddy's not in
heaven. He's in the hospital. He still might have to go to heaven. He
doesn't want to though; he wants to stay here with you. Only he's
very, very sick, but the doctors think that if we, you and I" Dom
gestured with his hand between his son's chest and his own "visited
him and asked him to get better that maybe he would. Do you
understand that?
"UH huh… Daddy needs Hugs! Hugs fix everything. My daddy told me so."
Dom smiled and gave a small chuckle before commenting. "Yeah, son, he
needs *Lots* of hugs." Dom said as he tickled his boy's
belly. "We're going to go visit daddy at the hospital tonight but we
have to be very careful because the doctors have a lot of tubes
connected to your daddy. They have medicine in them to help him get
better."
Caleb clapped his hands and smiled at his new daddy. "We go now?" he
asked with a little bounce.
"Don't you want to see your new room first?" Dom asked his son.
Caleb whipped his head back and forth "nuh uh. We go see daddy."
"Right then, let's head out." Dom said standing up and tipping his
son upside down. They headed out towards Dom's Mazda RX-7 amid shouts
of laughter and giggles. Stopping at the car Dom set Caleb on his
feet and stared at the back seat of his car. "No car seat. Shi… uh,
never mind." Dom muttered glancing down at his three year old.
Caleb smiled and pointed to the porch. "My seat there."
Dom glanced back and sure enough in the corner of the porch sat a
child's booster seat. "Ok then, Wait right here ok. I'll be two
seconds." With that said Dom sprinted back up his porch for the car
seat. It took Dom a couple minutes to figure out the car seat but
after that they were ready to head out to the hospital. With the
stereo turned down Dom listen to his sons chatter with a smile all
the way to the hospital.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Hospital
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Dominic Toretto was amused at his son's babble. The little boy had
not stopped chattering once on the ride to the hospital. Dom now knew
that Caleb thought Dom's red car was neat but not as neat as his
other Daddy's silver one and that neither were as cool as his own
blue one, which he could drive himself. He learned about swimming
lessons, the puppy he was going to get as soon as he was a `big boy'
and his son's apparent dislike for cooked carrots but not the raw
ones.
"They's mushy that way. Peas is mushy to. I don't ike peas neither."
Caleb stated as they walked down the hospital corridor.
Dom gave a chuckle before scooping Caleb up in his arms and setting
him on his hip. "Ok kiddo, we're just about there so we need to talk
about some rules. There are lots of sick people here so we can't be
loud." As Dom spoke he looked his son in the eye to gauge how much of
this his three year old was taking in.
Caleb gave a sharp nod "no yeing. What else?"
With a smile Dom answered "no running and you have to be very careful
of the tubes and wires that are hooked up to your daddy ok. They tell
the doctors how sick he is and give him medicines to help him get
better."
"no prah-blemo." Caleb gave his father a sly look before adding "I's
be a good boy… a big boy!"
Once again Dom found himself laughing at his son's antics. "A puppy
is something that we have to talk with your other daddy about, my
boy. But I could do a happy meal for you." Dom finished with a grin.
"Is this na-go-she-bull?" Caleb looked at his father with what passed
for a calculating look on a three year old.
"Sure we can negotiate." Dom said as he tried to keep a straight face
while hold back his laughter. He was pretty sure this was one time
that laughing would not be appreciated.
"How about pesaw? It's a long time I have pesaw. Grandfather says its
icky for you." Caleb gave a little bounce as he said this. Then
taking a second look at his dad's face added "and maybe a toy puppy?"
"I think we can do a toy puppy and pizza. But you have to be on your
best behavior." Dom said with mock sternness just as he stopped in
front of Brian's room. "Here we are kiddo."
Dom slowly pushed the door open, only to find an empty room. He
blinked a few times before turning on his heal and with a frown
marched over to the nurse's station.
"Where is Brian?" He demanded of the nurse on duty.
"Brian… Room 204?"
"Yes! Brian O'Connor room 204! Where is he!" Dom was close to
panicking. He knew that Brian was doing better but he was still in
critical condition. The doctors had been convinced it was only a
matter of time only a couple days ago.
"Dialysis treatment, he should be back in about fifteen minutes or
so. The nurse said with a soft smile. She could understand the mans
panic when he got up to the ward only to find his friend missing. "Is
this Brian's son?"
"Yes the doctor said it would be ok?" Dom was trying to convince his
heart to relocate back to his chest and not take up permanent
residence in his throat.
"It sure is." She said with a smile as she ruffled Caleb's
hair. "Would you like some juice while you wait for your daddy?" she
asked.
Caleb gave a quick shake of his head and shyly ducked his face into
his daddy's shoulder. Daddies were one thing strangers were something
else.
Dom walked back into Brian's room with Caleb still resting in his
arms and sat down to wait.
Twenty minutes later an orderly wheeled Brian back into the room. Dom
was starting to think that he should have said something more to
Caleb about how his father looked. There were deep bruises on Brian's
arm from the dialysis treatment, not to mention the fact that he was
tube feed and had not been out of the bed for the last two months.
Brian over all did not look good.
Dom whispered to his son that everything was ok and watched as his
son reached slowly to touch his other father's face. After a few
minutes of silence Caleb began to talk… and talk… and talk.
Brian really wanted to open his eyes. He could hear Dom and Caleb in
the room talking to him. But he felt disconnected from his body;
neither his eyes nor his mouth would obey his commands. After awhile
he gave up and settled for listening to his son. A voice he hadn't
heard in two months.
"… and Mr. Seder-ick kept looking back at his car. Why did he do that
daddy? It's not a very nice car. Not like yours or daddy's red one.
Although my blue one is still the best! I told daddy all about when I
get to be a big boy I get to have a puppy. I told daddy I would be a
big boy here but he says we still gots to ask you fore I can have
one. But if I be on my best be-haver then I can have a toy puppy now.
Do you think they have toy puppies what will bark and do tricks?"
Brian wanted to grin. Nobody in the world could make him smile like
his son. Brian could feel his son curl up on the bed and lay his head
next to him. He wanted more then anything to pull Caleb into his arms
and feel him rest against his chest. To feel the silky black hair
that curled wildly atop his head. He felt his arm twitch as he
struggled to move it.
He felt Dom take hold of his hand and he wanted to scream in
frustration. He had been so close. Just a little longer and he would
have gotten his arm to move he could have touched his baby.
"Hey babe, that's some little man we got there. He hasn't stop
talking since he got here. I really thought it would be harder to
deal with him but it's like he's always been there. The only thing
missing is you. I really want you to wake up Brian. I know I fucked
up, but if we try, we can work this out and be a family." Dom voice
was low and warm as it rumbled through the room.
It caught at Brian's mind and evoked memories of his summer with Dom
and the team. It had been a summer of cars, races and falling in love
with Dom. He often ignored the fact that he had been an undercover
cop, sent in to catch Dom and his team in a heist.
"Excuse me." A nurse stuck her head in through the door. "Visiting
hours for non critical or fatal patients is over now. And since Brian
has been upgraded I am afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
Dom looked back at her and gave a small smile. "Give me five to say
goodbye and then we'll be out of here."
That's fine. I'm very happy for you. His being upgraded is a good
thing. Every little boy needs his daddies." The nurse said with a
smile before ducking out.
"Well Bri, I guess that's it for tonight. I will bring Caleb by
tomorrow. Maybe we can have lunch here with you huh? If you wake up
I'll bring you a tuna on white no crust." Dom said with a chuckle.
With a soft kiss to the corner of Brian's mouth, a kiss Brian tried
to return, and a squeeze to his hand which Brian did return, Dom let
go and carefully lifted his sleeping son. Holding him against his
chest he took one last look back at Brian before walking out of the
room. He didn't notice Brian's eyelids fluttering as the door swung
shut.
Dom couldn't believe it was so late. Or that he'd completely skipped
dinner and kept Caleb at the hospital until 10 o'clock at night.
As Dom walked out to his car, a nurse making her nightly rounds was
rushing to the nurse's station to page a doctor and commenting on the
ocean blue eyes open and blinking in room 204.
"Can you imagine he just missed seeing his son by five minutes? Why I
bet they are still on their way out of the hospital." She remarked to
the other on duty nurse as she punched in the code for Brian
O'Connor's doctor.
"Maybe we should call security and see if they can catch them. I mean
no one thought Mr. O'Connor was going to make it til that tall side
of beef started to visit him." The other nurse said as she punched in
the hospital security number.
Both nurses were giggling as they waited to see if security had
indeed caught up with the side of beef in question.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Parking Lot
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
"Hey! Sir?! Wait up mister!" The security guard shouted as he
sprinted after the tall bald man cradling a child in his arms.
Dom looked back to see a slightly older man running to catch up with
him.
"Your friends with O'Connor in ICU?" the panting man managed to ask
of Dom. When Dom answered with a nod, the security guard told him he
was wanted back up at the unit.
Dom didn't even pause to ask why he just took off at a sprint,
fearing the worst. The jarring motion of his fathers jog woke Caleb,
who simply wrapped his arms around Dom's neck and held on tight.
Dom didn't wait for the elevator as soon as he felt Caleb's arms take
hold around his neck he headed for the stairs. When he reached the
ICU there were several nurses standing around and the Doctor was
striding into Brian's room.
He headed for the group of nurses gathered at the desk guessing,
correctly, that he would not be allowed in Brian's room at the moment.
"What's going on?!" Dom demanded not even stopping to catch his
breath from his dash to the second floor.
"He's opened his eyes" one nurse exclaimed with a broad smile.
"Oh I am so glad security caught up with you. Can you imagine just
missing your son by a couple minutes like that? I for one would want
to be able to see my loved ones as soon as possible" said the nurse
that had asked them to leave earlier.
"Opened his eyes. He opened his eyes." Dom let go a deep breath, all
the tension since the guard had told him he was wanted back on the
unit suddenly left and Dom sat down right in the middle of the
hallway. He looked down at his son who he still had clutched to his
chest.
"Did you hear that Kiddo. Your Daddy woke up!"
"a-course he did. I told you… hugs fix everything." Caleb responded
in a very sleepy, put out tone.
There were chuckles all around as Caleb gave a wiggle before laying
his back onto his fathers shoulder and closed his eyes.
"Hey Brian, finally had enough of the beauty sleep I see. Well let's
just see what's the what, shall we." The doctor said to Brian. The
only sound Brian seemed to be able to make in response was a very
mumbled groan.
"Don't worry about the heavy feeling in your limbs. You may find it
hard to move them but I assure you that it will clear up. You've been
here for two months. Between the feeding tube and the physical
therapy we have kept your muscles from atrophying. But that doesn't
change the fact that it's been two months since you've used them. Or
eaten much more then nutrient enriched mush." The doctor said as he
continued to check Brian over.
"c… ca…" Brian stuttered.
"Caleb?" The Doctor asked.
Brian gave a barely noticeable nod of his head and the doctor smiled
at him.
"I believe he is out in the lobby with his other father charming the
nurses. I also think that everything looks good and we'll do some
testing tomorrow and I will be back into see you. But for now I think
I will send your men in." The doctor told Brian as he finished with a
wink.
"I'm pretty sure that the waiting chairs are more comfortable." The
doctor told Dom as he exited Brian's room.
Dom stood up with a grin. "I was a bit overwhelmed with the news."
"Well I am going to let you and Caleb visit for a few minutes. He's
going to be tired so I don't expect him to stay awake long. Once he's
asleep I would like you to leave. You are of course welcome to come
back tomorrow. He will be having several tests through out the day so
no panicking if he's not in the room." He gave Dom a sly grin.
Dom gave a tight smile and a nod before pushing open Brian's door.
Dom stood there and looked into Brian's warm blue eyes and then gave
the biggest grin of his life before stepping closer to the bed.
"Hi."
Brian gave the only response he could a slight turning up of his lips
and tiny nod then he settled his gaze on his son's small form.
Dom seeing the longing in Brian's eyes quickly settled Caleb into the
bed next to him and helped move his hands so that he was holding him.
Brian gave a blissful sigh and seemed to soak up the contact.
Dom didn't say much during the visit instead he seemed to be content
to watch Brian cuddle with Caleb; happy to see the intelligence and
recognition that lit Brian's eyes. It wasn't long before those eyes
closed in sleep. Dom placed a kiss on Brian's forehead before careful
extracting his son and heading home.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Next day, Hospital
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
"Good Morning Brian. How are you feeling this morning? I imagine you
have some questions for me?" Dr. Kota addressed Brian as he entered.
"Yeah" Brian said weakly. "What's with the bruises on my arms? And
why is it so hard to talk and move?"
"Well the bruising is from dialysis. You went into kidney failure.
Now for quite awhile your serum creatinine was less than 400 µmol/L
which meant that we could treat it with medication, however, it was
doing little to help. About two weeks ago your serum creatinine
increase to 900 µmol/L this meant that without dialysis or a kidney
transplant you would die. Because you were in a coma and at the time
it was my opinion, as well as others, that you would not recover, you
were not eligible to be placed on the transplant list. The only
action available to us was dialysis. You numbers have been improving
and I believe that you should make a full recovery and there really
won't be a need for a transplant. However you will need to continue
with dialysis treatment three times a week until your kidneys are
function correctly. Well that was a bit of information for you. Do
you have any questions on that before we tackle your other question?"
Brian frowned but gave a shake of his head to indicate that he had no
questions.
"You're finding it hard to control your extremities because you have
not moved them in two months. Your muscles are much weaker then you
remember them. This is because of disuse. However now that your no
longer in a coma you will be weaned onto regular food starting with a
liquid diet and working up to a solid diet. You will also be having
daily physical therapy including hydro-therapy a couple times a week.
This should have you back to form relatively soon."
"hydro?" Brian mumbled.
"Water therapy. It takes place in a pool." The doctor answered.
Just then an orderly came into the room.
"Ahh… your lifts here. We will be running several tests today. Right
now I believe you will be headed down for a cat scan. We will also be
doing an EEG. However that will be done here in the room. Someone
will be in to draw blood as well. I'm on-duty until six o'clock so
it's likely that I will drop by to check on you again today. Don't
worry Brian; we will get you back on your feet and playing with your
son." The doctor gave a wink and left Brian with the orderly.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Meanwhile
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Dom had a headache. He had gotten home late Friday night only to find
Mia asleep at the kitchen table with books spread out all over the
place. After putting his son to be he had roused his sister enough to
get her up the stairs and into her own bed. He laid awake in his own
bed trying to figure out how he was going to explain Caleb to Mia.
After everything that had happened back then things had been tense
and stressed between them so Dom had kept his mouth shut about the
night he's spent in her boyfriend's bed. Mia had transferred to
school in San Diego saying she needed a fresh start where people
didn't know who he was; `where she could find a guy who wanted to be
with her without him being in awe or in fear of Dominic Torretto'.
After getting only a couple of hours of sleep he had been wakened by
his son who felt that bouncing on the bed was the perfect way to wake
up his daddy. Of course after rolling onto his back to watch his son
jumping, he ended up with a groin full of little boy knees pretty
much insuring that even if he and Brian got back together Caleb was
going to be an only child.
Breakfast wasn't that much better. Mia had come down while he was
fixing bacon and eggs and was just in time to hear Caleb ask
his `daddy if he could have juice instead of milk for breakfast'. She
stood in the doorway looking back and forth between Caleb and
himself. Caleb truly was a blend of himself and Brian and neither one
of them was ever going to be able to deny paternity. From the black
curls to blue eyes, Dom's nose and skin tone and a smile that was all
Brian. It didn't take her long to take in his looks and apparent age
and start screaming about back stabbing brothers. Caleb had been
terrified and jumped from his seat to hide under the table. It took
his own shouting to shut her up and convince her to wait until after
breakfast.
Now here he stood watching his son running in the back yard through
the kitchen window while his sister raged behind him.
"Look, it happened. Your bitching isn't going to change it. If you
need to know… It was the night that Letty told me about her and
Leon. I stormed out and Brian came after me, wouldn't let me get in
my car. He drove me around for awhile and we ended up back at his
room with more then a couple Corona's. He was drunk, I was drunk. I
was hurting and I just wanted it to stop so I kissed him. And things
happened. He wasn't the love of your life Mia; you were dating
Hectors kid brother two days after everything went down. The only
reason you're pissed that he slept with someone else is because that
someone else was me. Your going to have to deal with it Mia. Work it
out however you want because Caleb is my son and he lives here now
and hopefully when they release Brian from the hospital he'll come
home to." Dom finished his speech and turned around to look at his
sister sitting at the table staring at him.
"I'm going back to school." Was all she said as she stood and walked
out of the room.
"Shit" Dom bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck. Taking a
deep breath he turned back to check on his son not at all prepared to
see Vince leaning against the fence playing catch with Caleb.
"Vince" Dom said as he walked across the back yard.
"Dom." Vince responded with a nod of his head.
"It's been awhile." Dom caught Caleb's wild throw and toss the ball
back to his son.
"Two years. So the kid?" Vince responded.
"Mine and Brian's. " Dom responded as he leaned on the fence. "And
two years because you didn't want anyone visiting you while you were
locked up." Dom watched as his son tried to catch the ball and ended
up chasing it across the yard.
"Bet Mia's pleased. That what you two were talking about in there?
Seemed kinda serious, I was gonna head in but the kid here said it
was `big people fighting'. And anyway you didn't let any of us come
visit when you were sent up either. "
"Yeah well… I didn't think you were gonna get drunk and follow in my
footsteps either. " Dom rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't know
you were getting out. I would have picked you up."
"Half way house for two months, part of my parole. Listen, Dom… I
need a job… I was kinda hoping?"
"Yeah, yeah that's cool; you don't even need to ask man, your family.
Clear it with who ever, you can start back at DT on Monday." Dom
squinted up at the sun before looking over at Vince.
"Caleb, come here a sec." Dom said with a grin as he knelt down to
catch his running son.
"Caleb this here is your Uncle Vince." Dom pointed up at Vince from
his position on the ground, one arm still wrapped around his son's
waist.
"Is he going to live here to?" Caleb asked excitedly. Anyone who
would play catch with him was cool as far as he was concerned.
"Maybe in a couple months, for now it's just gonna be the two of us.
And hopefully pretty soon your daddy to."
"Can we go visit daddy?" Caleb asked turning to look at his father.
"Sure, we can stop and get you some pizza and have lunch with your
daddy. How's that sound?" Dom questioned.
"And a toy puppy, you promised. Can I have a piggy back ride?" Caleb
gave his daddy his best cute little boy look.
With a chuckle Dom swung Caleb up and on to his back, looking over at
Vince with a grin he invited his best friend along.
"Naa that's ok. I am supposed to be looking for work. Have to report
in and all that stuff. I have to earn levels or some sh… ah something
like that to get free time out side of the house. So in a couple
weeks I'll stop by. Where is Brian anyway?" Vince responded barely
curbing his tendency to swear.
"Hospital, he had a major accident a couple months ago. He was in a
coma… only just woke up last night." Dom answered.
"That's rough man. Tell him I said to get well. I'll stop by when I
get free time. I'll see you in a couple days." Vince said as he
walked backwards towards the driveway.
"Later." Dom said as Caleb waved from his dad's back. "Bye, bye!"
"Hi Daddy!" Caleb chirped as he preceded his other father into the
room. Dom followed carrying two personal sized pizzas and gave Brian
an amused smile as Caleb immediately launched into a story about
meeting his auntie Mia, who was very loud, and his uncle Vince, who
played catch with him.
"Caleb, love why don't you eat your lunch" Brian said rather softly.
Interrupting the flow of information about how `purr-fect' Dom's
house was for a puppy.
"But I haven't shown you my new toy puppy yet. We found one what does
tricks!" Caleb exclaimed in excitement.
"That does, not, what does and you can show me after Lunch, I want
you to eat right now, ok?" Brian said just as the nurse brought in
his own lunch. Being on a liquid diet meant that he could only stare
in longing at Dom's pizza with all the peppers, meat and cheese,
while drinking his own chicken broth that tasted more like yellow
salt water. Maybe if he pouted just a bit he could have a small bite,
surely Dom would share.
Dom gave a chuckle and held out his pizza allowing Brian to take a
small bite before taking one of his own. "Don't go poutin' for
another bite either it would probably make you sick." Dom said after
he swallowed.
By the time that both Brian and Dom had finished their lunches Caleb
had eaten half his cheese pizza, curled up on the bed near his
fathers hip and fallen asleep. With a soft smile at his son, Brian
turned the conversation away from the team and what they had been
doing to what the doctors had told him this morning.
"Brian…" Dom looked up from playing with his pizza box to meet
Brian's eyes "I want you to come home after they release you from the
hospital, Home with me and Caleb."
"Dom…" Brian closed his eyes. Part of him wanted to say yes. The part
that wanted Caleb to have both his fathers, but the rest of him
remembered the hurt that Dom had inflicted on him; the loneliness of
not having anyone to share the joys of pregnancy and give him the
emotional support when he needed it. Brian was not ready to move in
with Dom and pretend that none of it happened.
"I don't think that's a very good idea. There's too much shit between
the two of us. We need to work it out before we even think about
having any kind of relationship other then as Caleb's parents let
alone living together. And I don't think having that conversation
while Caleb is around is the best. "
"But there's a chance for us right? I mean I can swing by during the
day while Caleb's at pre-school and we can have lunch and talk and
stuff. Work it out." At Brian's nod Dom gave him a large smile and
reached out to stroke the side of Brian's face "That's all I want
Brian, just a chance."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Epilogue
~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Brian signed the release papers with flourish. A month of physical
therapy, tests, and Dialysis was more then enough. Of course he would
have to continue with physical therapy twice a week until they
determined that he was back to full strength or as strong as he was
going to get. Brian was determined though. He hated the thought of
being stuck on crutches or with a cane for the rest of his life. And
since there wasn't really any muscle damage there wasn't any real
reason for him not to make a one hundred percent recovery.
Man he couldn't wait for Dom to show so he could go home. Dom had
kept his word and had come everyday for lunch, sometimes even
bringing the tuna on white no crust that Brian loved. They had talked
about everything and anything that could have possibly caused a
problem with them getting together. It had been hard; there had been
a lot of pain and anger on both sides. Which had surprised Dom, he
had thought that he had gotten over it all. But Brian knew they would
make it this time. There weren't anymore lies between them, no more
half-truths, no more things left un-said.
Dom pushed open the door to Brian's room with a grin bringing Brian
out of his thoughts.
"Ready to go home?"
"Most definitely" Brian said with a large smile. "Where's the little
monster man?"
"He's at the house with Vince." Dom said before leaning over and
giving Brian a kiss.
Brian grabbed his crutches and got to his feet while Dom grabbed his
bag.
"So why didn't Caleb want to come?" Brian questioned as the orderly
came in with the required wheelchair.
Taking the crutches from Brian as the orderly helped lower him into
the wheelchair Dom answered rather quickly "hegotapuppy".
"He got a what?" Brian stared at Dom incredulously.
"I got him a puppy. The lady down the street was going to give it to
the pound."
"Right and at the pound someone ELSE could have adopted it. Dom, he's
not old enough to take care of it. Feeding, watering and training it
to piss outside and cleaning up the shit. I sure as hell don't want
to get stuck doing it. That's why I told him he would have to wait
til he was older, Dom!" by the time that Brian was done with his rant
they had reached the car parked at the front doors.
Dom stored Brian's gear in the back seat before helping him into the
front seat. Once Brain was seated Dom leaned in and gave Brian a soft
kiss on the corner of his mouth. When Brian turned and looked his way
Dom gave his best pout.
"I'll take care of the dog; I'll teach Caleb how to care for him.
Come on Brian it's not such a bad thing is it?"
"Considering you knew how I felt about it, at least enough to be
nervous about telling me?" Brian asked.
"I'm sorry." Dom said as he stood and walked around the car. After
settling in he looked over at Brian "but it is a really cute puppy.
It was kinda hard to say no to Mrs. Carmenetti once I'd seen him."
"Wait a minute; is this Caleb's dog or yours?" Brian asked with a
twitch of the lips.
"Both?"
Brian gave a chuckle before sticking out his finger and point
forward "home, brat."
"Yes Sir! So does this mean you're not mad anymore?" Dom said as he
pulled away from the front of the hospital.
"It better be a REALLY cute puppy." Brian mock grumbled and then gave
a chuckle. "Just remember YOU'RE taking care of it!"
Dom shot a quick look at Brian and with a smile he said "I love you."
"I love you to." Brian said with fondness.
THE END
Story Notes:
Brian let Dom go and destroyed the evidence
so that the FBI and cops had nothing more then what they had when
they started. Dom refused to see Brian or talk to him whenever Brian
tried. Eventually he stopped trying…