Jay's P. O. V.
We leave the doctor's and head to my house to game for a while. I've settled myself in my bed and Devon's in the bean bag chair in the corner of the room.
"Agh, not again!" He complains as I beat him again at Mario Cart.
I laugh, pumping my fist in victory. "I blame this on the fact that I'm wearing a sling." He defends.
I raise an eyebrow. "Never mind the fact that you hurt your shoulder, not your fingers." "Yep, that part's not important." He nods.
I flop back against my bed, my head pounding like earlier in the day. "You wanna go down and get the pain meds for me?" I ask. "I had a really bad headache this morning and it went away for a while, but now it's back. Plus you probably want some for your shoulder."
"That would be good. I'll be back in a minute." He says, rising and heading downstairs.
I don't mean to fall asleep, but I open my eyes to Devon gently shaking me. I sit up, rubbing my eyes and trying to rid myself of the headache that has centered itself behind them.
"Sorry I took so long, Lex and I started talking." He tells me. I blink a few times and yawn. "How long was I asleep?" I ask.
"Well, I came back up about a half hour ago and you were out so I just let you sleep for a while. You're obviously more exhausted than you thought. Anyway, it's fine, Lex and I just talked for a while. Here's your medicine." He says, handing me some pills and a glass of water.
"Lex said come downstairs and we'll figure out supper. Your parents are working late again."
"Alright, I'll be down in a bit." I tell him, nodding and stretching. He leaves and I take a moment to wake up fully before creeping downstairs.
I catch snippets of their conversation on the way. "Whatever happened to that other friend that was over here the other day?" Lex asks.
"What'd he look like?" Devon says. "Oh, brown hair, kind of skinny. I think he was wearing a jean jacket and converse. Jay had been spending a lot of time with him before, but he hasn't gone out much these last couple days and I haven't seen the other guy either. Who is he?" Lex wonders.
"Oh, that's Ben. I met him not too long ago. He's a nice and funny guy, really caring. They got into a fight a little while ago though. I don't think they've talked since." Devon tells her.
I move farther down the stairs to listen closer when the step creeks. They stop talking and I decide to just go in. They're both sitting on the couch watching TV, acting like they've been doing so the whole time. Lex flips off the show and turns to me. "Let's get some food."
Ben's P. O. V.
It's been 3 days and 3 sleepless nights since I've actually talked to Jay. It's strange; I'd gotten so used to having him around that being without him already feels weird.
I glance down at the text that's appeared on my phone and groan. 'Family dinner tonight at 4:30! Don't forget!"
At this point I feel zapped of all social energy, and after another long night and morning, I don't want to go interact with everyone.
My mom has always considered weekly family dinner a very important thing, especially after I moved out. We spend the time cooking together, catching up, and playing games.
My younger brothers and sister always look forward to seeing me, but this week has turned to hell and I'm considering making up an excuse so I don't have to go.
Although... if I go I'd be able to work with my dad to do some research on Jay's condition. I get off the couch with another yawn, not the last of the many that have slipped out in the last few days. I take a quick shower and drink another coffee, trying to wake myself up before leaving.
By the time I arrive, the clock reads 4:40. My mother opens the door with a grin as I pull up. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten." She says, pulling me into a hug. "What are we making tonight?" I ask as we head toward the kitchen.
"Ham and potato soup with breadsticks and cheesy broccoli casserole. I've already got the casserole ready, I just have to put it in the oven." She slides it into the oven and turns back to me.
"Alright, I'm going to have you and the boys chop the ingredients for the soup, and Madelyn can help me with the breadsticks."
A little brunette figure races around the corner and attaches herself to my leg. "BENNNNNN!" She squeals. I pull her up into my arms and spin her around.
"Why who's this? This couldn't be Madelyn, could it? You must've grown a foot since last week." I say, pretending to be shocked.
She giggles and hugs me, pulling back to look at me with green eyes just like my own. "You're the big one." She says, poking me on the nose. I scrunch up my nose and stick out my tongue, making her laugh again.
"Boys! Come help make supper!" She calls up the stairs, getting groans in response. "Guys! Guys! Ben is here!" Madelyn shouts excitedly. "We have to finish this level, then we'll be down." A voice responds.
I shake my head with a smile. "Have the twins been gaming again today?" I ask Madelyn. She nods with big eyes. "They're so fast. They beat boss man."
I laugh as the boys come racing down the stairs. My mom starts listing off jobs. "Alright, Jasper and Miles, you'll be chopping the ingredients for the soup with Ben. I should think you're old enough to handle it now that you're both thirteen, but either way, be careful and do it as I showed you a few weeks ago. And remember, no messing around; there will be knives in your hands." They nod and wash their hands.
"Madelyn darling, you're with me. You and I are making breadsticks." Madelyn claps her hands excitedly as I put her back down. She bounces over to sink and I watch her with a fond smile as I start prepping my workstation.
"Where's dad?" I ask, peeling the potatoes. "Oh, he's upstairs in the office working again. He's got some paperwork he has to finish for tomorrow. He'll join us once dinner's ready."
I nod, keeping an eye on Jasper and Miles to make sure they don't chop off their fingers. We finish off the soup and throw the ingredients in so it can simmer.
"Ben, can you go tell your dad the food's almost ready?"
I nod and climb the stairs, knocking on the door to his office.
"Come in." I open the door to his tired expression, but he looks up to see me and grins. "Hey there." I smile back. "Hey. Whatcha working on?"
He leans over and lowers his voice. "I'm actually seeing if I can find a loophole to help Jay. Come look at these."
He slides a few papers over the desk and I sit across from him, scanning the documents.
"So once he moves out or is 18, he can make the decision himself?" "Yes, and his birthday," he says, grabbing another paper, "is here." He points.
"That's only a week or so away." I realize. "Exactly. Even if he doesn't move out until the end of the school year, he'll legally be able to make the decision about the scans and tests once he's 18." He says, smiling.
"Thanks dad." I say, reaching across the desk to give him a hug. "Of course. Now I actually have to get my other paperwork done, so get on out of here." He chuckles. "I'll be down in less than five minutes, I'm just going to finish what I was working on." I close the door behind me with a satisfied smile.
I run down the stairs and catch my foot several steps from the bottom, twisting my ankle and crashing down the last steps onto the floor with a thump.
"Ben? You alright?" My mom calls from the other room. I wince as I put pressure on my ankle, but manage to get myself to a standing position, favoring my good foot.
"I'm fine, I just tripped." I lie, limping back to the kitchen. I sneak to the table when her back is turned.
Madelyn runs out from down the hall. "Ben Ben Ben!" I smile softly as she climbs up on my lap. "Yes?" "Can we watch a movie?" She asks. "After we eat." I tell her. "Yay!" She exclaims with a giggle.
The rest of the family joins us at the table and we dig in, exchanging stories and laughs. I ignore the increasing pain in my ankle and force a smile though I'm exhausted.
"Hey Ben, did you try out those new pills?" I stare down at my plate, pushing my food around. "Yeah. No luck again."
My dad frowns. "Guess we'll have to keep trying." I nod tiredly and finish my food.
"I'll put the food away so you guys can start your movie." My mom says, smiling as she gets up and collects the dirty plates.
I push back from the table and slowly stand on one foot. I glance across the threshold at the living room couch that now seems so far away.
I clench my teeth and start limping over, heavily favoring my good foot.
Madelyn notices and frowns at me, pointing at my foot. "Hurt?" She asks. I grimace as another shock wave runs up my leg from putting a little weight on it and sigh at her. "I tripped on the stairs. I'll be okay."
She shakes her head. "I get daddy. He make you better." She runs off to the other room, and I limp the rest of the way to the couch. I raise my foot up unto a stool and look over my ankle.
She's not wrong; it does look kind of bad. I can hardly walk on it and it's starting to swell.
"Let's see it." My dad says, dragged in by Madelyn. He crouches on the floor by my propped up foot and examines it, moving it around and asking me questions as Madelyn watches anxiously.
"Pretty sure it's just a bad sprain, but we should probably stop by the office and do x-rays to be sure. Either way you need to stay off it for a while. I think there's a pair of spare crutches upstairs; let me go check."
He goes upstairs and Madelyn crawls onto my lap, looking worried. "Will you be okay?" She whimpers. I pull her into a hug and give her a peck in the forehead. "Don't you worry, dad will fix me up." She smiles and hugs me tighter.
My dad returns from upstairs with a pair of crutches, handing them to me and checking his watch.
"You want to drop by the office now? I have a few papers I need to drop off anyway." "Sure." Madelyn slides off my lap and I unsteadily rise with the crutches.
I wobble my way out to the car and get in, setting the crutches on the floor of the back as my dad climbs in. I stare out the window in silence as he drives, startled when he suddenly speaks.
"Are you doing okay?" I shift uncomfortably. "I'm fine. We'll be there soon." He glances at me. "We both know that's not what I'm talking about."
I sigh and avoid his gaze. "Jay and I got in a fight a few days ago, and since I'm thinking about it all the time, it's making my insomnia worse." I say quietly.
He nods. "I have the research team working on both of your cases. And I'm sure you guys will make up. You have some sort of special connection." He smiles.
He pulls up to the hospital. I pull the crutches out of the back and follow him to his office as he greets people along the way. He stops to talk to a nurse.
"Hey Dave, can you get me a slot for the x-ray room? I need to scan Ben's ankle and make sure he didn't break it." Dave looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "Hey kid. What'd you do this time?" He teases.
I roll my eyes with a smile. "Never change Dave." I salute him and crutch away.
We get into my dad's office and I sit in the corner as he rifles through papers. "I'm going to bring these out to the front desk. Dave will come get you in a minute and do the x-ray. Just meet me back here after."
I nod and scroll on my phone, trying to keep my ankle in the air so there's less pain.
Dave peeks his head around the door frame. "All ready."
I follow him down the hall and he does the x-rays. When he's finishing up, my phone rings from across the room.
He glances at the screen. "Emerson. If you wait for me to do this last one I'll bring it to you." I nod as he finishes and hands it to me.
"Hey." I say. "Where are you at?" "My dad's office." "Wait what? Why?" "Doesn't matter. What's up?" "I need you to come down to the bookstore. The police have taken River into custody."