Chaos Celebration Part Two

Reverse to Part One

By the time Colin got to the hospital, Brooklyn had been taken back to a room. Fast service was an advantage to living in a small town. While the actual facility wasn’t huge, they were fully able to take care of an accident like Brooklyn’s in a timely manner. For anything more involved or critical, they were stabilized and transported to a larger hospital.

Right now, Colin made his way up to the front desk. “Can I help you?” the woman sitting at the desk greeted him.

“My friend, Lincoln Stone, and his sister came in by ambulance a few minutes ago, could someone let him know I’m here?” he responded.

The woman tapped something into the computer, scanning it, before pointing towards the treatment rooms. “They’re in room five,” she said. “Mr. Stone requested we send you back.”

Colin nodded. “Thanks. I’ll um… thanks.” He pushed away from the counter he had been leaning on and headed in the correct direction. Over his years of living in Oceanview, Colin had had plenty of experience visiting the hospital as both a patient and a visitor. His doctor’s office was in the building, as was his uncle John’s. In addition, any time they were injured or had an arrest that was injured, they ended up at this hospital for treatment. So, Colin was easily able to navigate his way down the hallway to treatment room five and knock gently on the door.

“Come in,” Lincoln’s voice responded.

Cracking the door open, Colin stuck his head inside, moving through the doorway when Lincoln motioned him in. “Hey,” he greeted them. Brooklyn was laying on the bed, her arm wrapped in a soft cast. She smiled wanly when she saw Colin.

Lincoln’s smile was tight and his hand was on the bed, allowing Brooklyn to grip it when she needed. “Hi,” he returned.

Colin glanced around the room, then moved over to the wall to lean against it, hoping he’d be out of the way. “Did they see you yet?” he asked. “What did they say?”

“A nurse came in and gave her something for the pain. We’re waiting for the doctor,” Lincoln answered. “I’m worried she broke it.”

Making a face, Colin said, “Not a very fun birthday present, Brook, but if it is broken, I bet Lincoln will spoil you something awful. And you get to pick your cast color.”

Her smile brightened slightly at his words. “Have you ever broken a bone?” she asked.

“I broke my hand once,” Colin said. “In a fight.” When Lincoln looked concerned, Colin explained, “While I was working. I’ve never broken a bone in the ring.”

“I broke my arm when I was a few years older than you,” Lincoln said. “I fell out of a tree.”

Brooklyn giggled, wincing when it jarred her arm. “Why were you in a tree?”

Lincoln smoothed her hair back from her forehead, pressing a kiss to it before sitting back in his chair and admitting, “I was mad. At Dad, because he’d just told me about you. That his new wife was going to have a baby. And I thought he wouldn’t want anything to do with me anymore. So, I climbed a tree that I’d climbed a million times before and the branch couldn’t support my weight anymore. I fell.” He smiled at her. “And then a few months later, I met you. And I didn’t care if Dad was replacing me because you were awesome from the first time, I ever held you.”

Brooklyn grinned at his answer before turning to Colin. “You broke your hand? Did you get a cast?”

“A soft cast,” Colin told her. “But if you broke your arm, they’ll probably plaster it.”

She nodded, sinking back into the bed with a pensive look on her face. “And you weren’t mad at Dad anymore?” she asked.

Lincoln sighed. “My feelings about Dad were complicated. Still are, Brook, but I was never upset with you. And your mom was great about letting me spend time with you.”

“Mom told me once that you took me to school?” She fiddled with the edge to her blanket with her good hand.

Lincoln’s smile widened. “I did. A couple of times in high school. And then I’d take you to my college class on… um. Thursdays, I think it was when your mom had a book club.”

Before Brooklyn could ask either of them any more questions, there was a knock at the door and a nurse poked his head in. “Hey, I hear we have someone who needs an x-ray?” he asked. “I’m Daryl and I’ll be your chauffeur today.”

Brooklyn half-raised her good hand and the nurse grinned.

“All right. Think you can hop into a wheelchair or do we need to move your whole bed?” He nodded towards the two men sitting nearer to the wall. “We can leave one of your dads here. He’ll be fine until we return.”

Brooklyn giggled. “They aren’t my dads. Lincoln is my brother and Colin is, well…” She frowned before finishing, “Colin is Colin.” She continued, determinedly, “He’s my Colin.”

Daryl nodded, clearly moving past her words. “All right. We’ll leave your Colin here. And take Lincoln with us. Wheelchair or bed?”

“Wheelchair,” she decided. Turning to Lincoln, she asked, “Pick me up?”

The nurse ducked back out and returned a moment later with a wheelchair, holding it steady as Lincoln lifted her into it. It took a bit of maneuvering to get her settled, but then Daryl was backing out of the room with her. Lincoln glanced back once as he hurried after them.

Colin leaned back in the chair he’d taken and stared at the doorway the two Stones had disappeared through. Ever since Lincoln had entered his life, he’d found things changing in a good way. First it had been Lincoln shadowing him, then coffee in the mornings, then hanging out together both alone and with Brooklyn. His life had been changed with the introduction of the two Stones and he couldn’t find it in him to protest.

While he waited, Colin texted Candance to make sure all the kids had been picked up. She assured him that everyone was gone and she’d taken Joel home. The boy was still upset about his involvement in Brooklyn’s injury, but Candance had reassured him that no one was mad at him. She also told Colin that she’s managed to corral the dogs and put them in their outdoor kennel.

He was just finishing updating her on what was going on at the hospital when the door to the room opened. Colin looked up to see Lincoln holding the door and the nurse, Daryl he recalled after a moment, pushing Brooklyn through it.

“What’s the verdict?” Colin asked as he moved so they could maneuver her back onto the bed.

“Doctor hasn’t read the x-rays yet,” Lincoln answered once he was sure Brooklyn was comfortable on the bed. “Do you want anything?” he asked her.

“Can I have ice cream?” she asked.

“Yeah. I think we can…” Lincoln started.

Colin got out of the chair he’d retaken. “I’ll get it for her.” He waved Lincoln off as the other man reached for his wallet. “Chocolate?” he checked with Brooklyn.

“With chocolate sauce?” she asked.

“I’ll see what I can do. Linc, you want anything?”

Lincoln looked up from where he’d been staring at his phone, the screen blank. “Coffee? Please? And thanks.”

Colin left the hospital to get the coffee, knowing that nothing he bought there would be palpable. There was a small shop not far down the road, it wasn’t Brewing Books by any means, but it was decent coffee. He picked up a couple of sandwiches and pastries, knowing Lincoln hadn’t had time to eat. Another block or so and he located an ice cream shop, ordering Brooklyn’s choice and making sure they added sprinkles and whipped cream.

When Colin got back, Lincoln was running his hand through his hair and slouched back in his chair. He accepted the coffee and sandwich gratefully. “Thanks.”

Brooklyn reached out for the ice cream when Colin held it out. “Any idea how much longer the doctor is going to be?”

“He’s already been,” Lincoln replied. “She broke her arm in two places. Cleanly at least. Someone will be in to cast her in a few minutes.”

“At least it was a clean break,” Colin said. “No surgery.”

Brooklyn nodded, scooping up as much ice cream as she could one handed. The bowl scooted around the bed table as she tried to dig more out. Lincoln set his sandwich on his leg and reached out to hold her bowl. Colin darted forward and grabbed the sandwich before it could fall to the floor. “Thanks,” Lincoln said.

Colin suggested, “Why don’t you eat and I’ll hold onto Brook’s ice cream?”

Lincoln nodded gratefully, releasing her bowl and taking his sandwich back. Colin moved to stand by the bed, getting a firm grip on the bowl so she could dig in. “You can sit,” Brooklyn said as she dug into the bowl, taking a large scoop.

“I don’t want to jar your arm,” Colin answered.

They were silent for a while as Lincoln and Brooklyn ate, the only sounds in the room were their chewing. It wasn’t normally a pleasant sound, but Colin was glad to see them both eating. With his free hand, he sent a text to Candance to find out what had happened with the pizzas. It took her a few minutes to respond, but when she did, she told him that she’d sent some of them home with the kids and put two in the fridge for the three of them when they got home.

“Candance saved us some pizza,” Colin said, ignoring the feelings that knowing she considered them one unit invoked. “So that’ll be good for tomorrow.”

“And maybe when Brook is feeling better, we can have everyone over for her to open the presents,” Lincoln said.

“Or we could do it on video?” Brooklyn asked.

“We’ll see,” Lincoln said as there was a knock on the door and the doctor entered.

“Hello,” the doctor greeted them. “I hear we’ve got someone who had an unhappy birthday?”

Brooklyn looked up from scrapping her ice cream bowl. “I fell over my brother’s dogs. I broke my arm.”

“How about we get a cast on it and send you home?” he asked. “Want to pick your color?”

“What colors do you have?” she asked as Colin took her bowl and spoon to throw in the trash.

“Navy Blue, Light Blue, Green, Red, Black, Pink and Off White,” he answered.

“Pink,” she answered decisively.

“All right, I’ll be back in a few minutes with the casting materials,” the doctor answered.

The doctor returned a few minutes later with a nurse pushing a cart of supplies. Motioning for Colin to move the table, he sat Brooklyn up, asking, “How’s the pain?”

“It hurts,” she said. “But not as bad as it was.”

“That’s good.” He picked up the tablet, flicking through her chart. “Okay, looks like you had something about thirty minutes after you came in.” He glanced at his watch. “And you aren’t due anything yet. So.” He set the tablet down. “I’m going to go ahead and cast the arm. It shouldn’t hurt, but let me know if it does.”

Brooklyn nodded, even as the doctor gently took her arm and rested it on the cart.

Much quicker than Colin expected, the doctor and nurse had the cast applied and was setting Brooklyn’s arm back down. “You’ll have to wait for it to harden which will be about thirty minutes and then you’ll be able to go. Make sure you don’t bang it around for the next two days. You should be fine without a sling since it was just the forearm, but we’ll give you one if you want it.”

“Is she getting any pain medication?” Lincoln asked.

“She would be okay with something over the counter,” the doctor replied. “Make an appointment in six weeks to check on her arm and get the cast removed if it’s ready.”

“Great,” Lincoln said.

“The nurse will be back in about thirty minutes with the discharge papers.” After imparting that news, the doctor turned and left the room. The nurse took a few more minutes to clean up the supplies, then left behind the doctor.

“How’s it feel?” Lincoln asked as he watched Brooklyn examine her arm.

“It’s kinda heavy,” she said, “but it doesn’t hurt.”

“Good,” Lincoln said. “So, I was thinking that we’d go ahead and set up a video call with all your friends for tomorrow or Sunday. Then you can open your presents.” He glanced over at where Colin was leaning against the wall. “Maybe Colin can come over for pizza?”

“Chinese?” she questioned.

“I think we could arrange that,” Lincoln said. “Colin?”

“Just let me know when and as long as I’m not on shift I’ll come,” Colin answered.

“Yay!” Brooklyn cheered.

Colin smiled as Lincoln crossed the room and settled next to her. He’d sign her cast when it was hard and make sure they didn’t need anything for the next few days. He was just glad it wasn’t worse. It was definitely a birthday she wouldn’t forget.