The Waiting

JP with mdman, Jaxx, Redsword and Cindy

Timber led Mel and Jason to his truck. He unlocked the passenger side for them, then hit the all unlock button.

He walked to the other side, opened the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. Timber quickly buckled his seatbelt, then turned the ignition. The FlowMaster dual exhaust rumbled to life.

“I’m glad you guys are okay,” he affirmed. “I hope Conner is good. You’ll need to give me directions to the hospital.”

He followed their directions and soon was pulling into the hospital lot. He found a parking spot by the ER. The ambulance had already unloaded and was preparing to leave.

Kaylee held Conner's hand the entire way to the hospital and the staff let her walk with him for a short while but once they made it to the big doors with the words "emergency" over them, they told her she couldn't go any further. It would have to be pre-op first and then surgery for his leg and the nurse explained she'd be filled in but couldn't stay with Conner. Kaylee didn't like that but understood. So, she kissed Conner gently and went to find the others.

Matt and Courtney arrived right after Timber, Mel and Jason and quickly went to find out where they should go.

Mel said, "We should probably follow Matt and Courtney."

Matt quickly found his sister, and asked her how Conner was. She explained about the surgery or more like they were prepping him, if needed surgery.

It didn't take long before others arrived at the waiting room. Justin and Kyle came in followed by Carter, Blossom, Ashley, Roxy and Jack. The tension was high since it was indeed a wound from a gunshot. Despite the romantic idea of gunshots in movies, some of them knew the high danger levels of a real gunshot wound and that Conner could lose his leg and his life if things took a turn for the worse. As Jack looked up he saw the tv was playing commercials medical commercials for hiring staff and health tips. Since they were going to be there for a while he called the front desk of the school to tell them what happened in case they were late for curfew.

Zander, Riley, April and Dawn all arrived, as did Rose and JD. Rose called Sam to fill Sam and Heath in on what had happened. When she hung up, Rose said. "Sam and Heath are on their way.” Rose then called Dante but getting no answer left him a message.

Timber sat beside Mel in silence. He had never experienced anything like this before. And it was only his first weekend on campus. He would have to call his family tomorrow and let them know he was okay, especially if the administrators were going to call them.

Timber held out an open hand for Mel to take. He knew she would need the support. It was her ex trying to kidnap her.

Timber was not the violent type. Even on the wrestling mat, it was just taking care of business. At times it could be aggressive, but nothing violent.

He took a deep breath as he looked into her eyes. Up to this point, he had only assumed she and everyone else besides Conner was alright. It would have been better if Mel had said so herself.

“How are you doing,” Timber softly asked Mel.

At the hospital, the group and parents were in the hospital waiting room for about an hour after Conner arrived. Conner's dad and JD's dad arrived first together then JD's mom and Conner's mom arrived a few minutes later together. along with two men both dressed in suits, one with a briefcase. It did not take long before everyone figured out that the one with the briefcase was a lawyer named Ron and the other was a man. Both men were from JD's dad's company.

The police and the other adults talked on and off with the lawyer being part of most of the conversations. The other rather large man in the suit you find out is Jim who watches everyone closely and comes and goes tracking everyone. and offers drinks and snacks to the kids there.

after a while, the doctors walk out of some double doors. That the injury was not life-threatening but Conner would be off his feet for a few days. that Conner was a tough teen and the bullet hit on the outside part of the thigh. As far as visiting two people at a time. of course Parents first.

Mel didn't know how to respond to Timber, she didn't know how she felt. Concerned for Conner, relieved that Doug was finally arrested, that trickle of guilt that seemed to follow her everywhere playing on her fears, all of those things and more - things she either couldn't express or didn't want to. She sighed seeing Timber's hand, feeling unable to reach for it. Part of her wanted to, to reach for him but part of her wanted to reach for Jason. Then a third part wanted to reach for neither of them. She was a mess, but that wasn't what Mel said. "I'll be alright."

About ten minutes later Heath and Sam arrived. They sat down, and like everyone else waited, there wasn't much else anyone could do.

The feeling of tension lifted somewhat when everyone found out Conner would be alright. Kaylee, of course, knew his parents would go into see him first even if she really wanted to see him right then. Still, she'd get her chance soon.

Timber could see the conflict in Mel’s eyes. The fact that he had caused her uneasiness saddened him. Timber slowly turned his hand over and rubbed his own knees with both hands as if feeling anxious.

“If you need to talk…,” he stammered. “That goes for you too Jason.”

Timber didn’t dislike Jason. He seemed like a good guy. Compared to Doug, he was good. He was just glad Mel could have someone to be with her at this time. He wished it were him, but understood their relationship has been longer. Timber had only just met Mel.

He was relieved to find out that Conner would be fine. Hearing the news, Timber breathed easier.

“I’ve got to call my parents,” Timber told Mel as he stood up. “I’m sure admin will be calling the families to notify them.”

While waiting patiently for all of the big decisions between by the adults, Ashley ordered some gourmet coffee and snacks from the nearby Starbucks. Once it arrived in the lobby, she sent Jack to pick it up. He was still looking grouchy as he sighed and made his way to the lobby. However he was a bit surprised to see several bags of coffee and sweets. Apparently Ashley splurged for like 30 people. The coffees were black and came with various cream and sugar packets to add in. So he sighed as he lugged the bags to the waiting room and made sure not to spill anything. Once inside Ashley thanked him for being a good sport as helped him take everything out and put them into a table for everyone. Then she fixed some of them for herself, Roxy, Jack and Blossom. She then let everyone know they could help themselves as she grabbed a few cake pops to go with her coffees.

Mel suddenly felt worse than she already did, if that was possible. In her Mel way, she felt like she had pushed Timber away. That hadn't been her intention, she was just struggling to gain some ground at the moment. Mel needed some air, she also did need to call her parents so the girl walked down the hallway, and found a courtyard area which was quiet to make the call in. She only told Courtney where she was going.

Jason watched her go, Courtney told him that Mel had gone to call her parents. He figured she also might need some time to gather herself. So, he left her to do what she needed but Jason was realizing just how much this night might impact Melissa.

Riley and April were waiting, they had briefly called their parents. Well April her mom and Riley her Aunt but the conversations weren't long. Meanwhile, they waited on Dawn and Zander who had gone to inform their moms on what had happened, that conversation would take a while and end with theirs moms saying they'd get there as soon as possible.

Rose looked around knowing that the others were calling parents, guardians - someone. In Rose's case her parents probably wouldn't take the phone call. She did leave a message for the head butler, Reginald, who was the closest thing she had to a guardian. While he did act as her guardian, and he was like family to her, as long as he knew she was safe Rose didn't expect to hear from him.
Rose, Courtney, April, Kyle and Jason all took some coffee and thanked Ashley.

Timber’s call didn’t go well. Mom and Dad were concerned that he had been there such a short while and was already involved in trouble. To them, it seems like Timber got in with the wrong group. They were of the thought it was one of those California gangs.

Timber tried to explain the group were good kids, not bad. They were like him.

Mom insisted Dad go back to California and help Timber pack up. Timber argued not to. He finally convinced them to call and speak to the Dean in the morning.

After hanging up, Timber nearly threw his phone at the wall, but caught himself. Instead, he ran right into a courtyard and sat on a bench. All of the emotions of the night hit him at once. It overwhelmed Timber. As eyes reddened from holding back tears, Timber sat there with his head in his hands, not noticing if anyone else were around him.