Careless Mistake
by Kelli
Part 67
August 2006.......
Justin slowly entered his dark house. It was early morning, before the sun rose and he was exhausted. He stubbed his toe on his luggage, which was left at the base of the steps. He cursed to himself and continued walking down the hall toward the family room. He smiled when he saw Mackenzie sleeping on the couch, with her head on Jenny's lap. Jenny looked like she was sleeping sitting up. God bless her.
He walked into the room and knelt down next to his daughter, trying not to wake Jenny up. Mackenzie must have sensed something because she opened her eyes and smiled at him. He held his finger up to his mouth and then held his arms open for her. She went into them easily and he carried her back into the hallway and grabbed some luggage on his way up.
"Where's mommy?" she asked groggily as he walked up the stairs.
"She's not here right now, sweetie. But she's going to be here as soon as she can. She got hurt so the doctors are taking care of her now."
"Huwt?"
"Yeah. But she's in the hospital getting her boo-boo's fixed."
He walked into his bedroom and set the luggage down and headed toward the bed. He laid her down and then sat down next to her. He wanted to lay down and fall asleep right now so badly right now but his intention was to take a shower, change and head back to the hospital.
"Daddy?" Mackenzie said, bringing his attention back to his daughter.
"Yeah, angel?" he asked as he brushed the soft curls from her forehead.
"Where's Chase?"
He continued to stroke her hair. "He's with mommy. He got hurt too."
"He got a boo-boo too?" she asked, sticking her lower lip out.
Justin nodded because he was getting choked up. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Daddy?"
"What sweetie?"
"Are Chase and mommy shawing a bed like we arw?"
Justin smiled. "No, they have different beds because they have different people fixing their boo-boo's."
"Diffewent people fixing boo-boo's?"
He nodded and rested his head next to hers on the pillow.
"Now close your eyes, okay?"
He didn't look up but he could tell within a few minutes that she was sleeping again. He intended on getting up right now but his legs felt heavy and he didn't want to move.
When he woke up he sat up straight and looked over at the clock.
"Shit," he mumbled. It was morning now.
He smelled breakfast, though. Jenny must be awake. He looked over and saw that Mackenzie was still asleep. She had moved sideways on the bed during her sleep, which made him chuckle.
He took the opportunity to take a quick shower and change clothes. While he was towel drying his hair, he picked up the phone and dialed the hospital to check on Britney and Chase.
"Hello," Britney answered.
"Oh hey....I didn't expect to get your room," Justin said, cheerfully. "I thought I was calling the nurses station."
"It's okay, I was up. Did you get some rest?" she asked. She sounded a lot more alert.
"Yeah...I didn't mean to fall asleep because I wanted to get back there but my body must have had other ideas...."
"I'm glad you did. How is Mackenzie?"
"She's good. She's sleeping right now. I woke her up when I got home, I couldn't help it so I brought her up to our room and she's laying on our bed," he said, smiling at her sleeping figure.
"Awwww, I'm sure she liked that."
"You don't sound as groggy. How do you feel?" he asked, sitting down on a lounger in the corner of their room.
"I feel more alert," she chuckled. "In more pain but I think that's to be expected. I'm going to be feeling the bings and the bangs now. The nurse just left and said everything's looking good. She thinks the doctor will put a cast on my arm today."
"That's good. Sounds like things are moving along. Any idea when you can home home?"
"No, but the doctor will be in sometime this morning. Hopefully he'll tell me more. Maybe today...."
"That would be wonderful. It feels like it's been forever."
Mackenzie started to stir a little.
"Have you checked on Chase yet?" Britney asked.
"No, I was going to call after I checked on you. Have they told you anything?"
"Nothing new. I had one of the nurse's assistants go check on him for me.....to make sure he was still doing okay. I don't know, I just wanted to make sure he didn't look uncomfortable," she said shyly.
"I understand. I think he's in good hands, though. He seems to be resting which is probably the best thing for him right now."
"Yeah. I'm just scared to not know or understand what's going on."
Justin rubbed his forehead. "I know.....we will know more after the tests are run and we'll be able to do something about it. That's what's getting me right now....the fact that we just sit here not doing anything."
"Right," she agreed.
There was a soft knock on the bedroom door so Justin stood up and opened it.
Jenny smiled and waved since she saw he was on the phone.
"It's Britney," he said, covering the mouthpiece of the phone. "Hey Brit. Jenny just came to the door, you want to talk to her for a sec while I wake Mackenzie up?"
"Okay."
"I made some breakfast," Jenny said to Justin before he handed her the phone.
Justin nodded. "I smell it.....smells good. Thanks. I'll get this one up and we'll be right down."
She nodded, took the phone and left the room.
"Hey angel," Justin said, sitting next to Mackenzie.
She groaned a little and rubbed her eyes with a pouty look on her face.
"Come on....you hungry?" he asked, scooping her off the bed and onto his lap.
She rested her head against his chest and nodded.
Once Justin helped Mackenzie get dressed and go on the big girl potty they walked downstairs to the kitchen.
"Mmmm pancakes, Mackenzie. Aunt Jenny knows what you like, huh?" he asked as he helped her up on her booster seat.
"Yeah," she said.
"The doctor just got there," Jenny said when she hung up the phone with Britney.
"Good. Hopefully he'll have some good news," Justin said as he got Mackenzie's plate ready. "Thanks for doing this. You didn't have to make breakfast too," he chuckled.
"Well, I was hungry and I thought I'd make enough for everyone. Did you sleep well?" she asked Mackenzie.
She nodded as she picked up her fork.
"Good. What about you daddy? Did you get any sleep?" Jenny asked.
Justin sat down next to Mackenzie and handed her a plate. "Yeah....a little. I actually just wanted to change and leave but my body had other plans."
"I'm sure Britney was fine, she probably just slept anyway."
Justin nodded as he started to eat his pancakes.
"It's surreal. I don't think it's really hit me," he said, not looking up at Jenny who was now sitting across from him.
"I know. You haven't had time for it to sink in. Maybe that's a good thing, Justin."
He nodded and the phone rang. He picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Justin....I just got Britney's mom's message. I called her and she told me what she knew so far....so what's the latest?" JC asked.
Justin explained the situation.
"Do you need me to come over there?"
"No, Jenny is here now. I'll have her call you if she needs to be relieved," he softly chuckled.
"Seriously if there's anything I can do....."
"I know....thanks. Right now I'm going to head back to the hospital. They're supposed to run the tests on Chase this morning and hopefully that will tell us a lot."
"Yeah. They're both strong, man....."
"I know. I just want answers....."
"I know you do. Well, let me know if there's anything I can do."
"I will. Thanks."
They hung up and Justin looked at his plate and then at Mackenzie who was now just playing with her food, more than eating it.
"Mackenzie," he warned. "Now you're going to have to take a bath," he said.
She looked up at him and licked her fingers, which made him chuckle.
He started to stand up and take his plate to the sink when Jenny stopped him.
"You go ahead and go and I'll clean up this mess.....oh and the kitchen too."
Justin laughed. "Yeah, you're going to have your hands full." He stopped at the table again. "Really we can't thank you enough...." he said shaking his head.
"And you don't have to keep thanking me. I'm glad I can do it. If I need anything, I'll just call JC...."
"Right," he nodded. "Lynne is on her way also....at least that's what JC just told me."
"Well, that's good. I'm sure Britney will be glad to see her."
Justin nodded. "Okay sweetie, you be good for Aunt Jenny, okay? I'll be back later."
He leaned down and carefully kissed the only spot on her head he couldn't see any syrup.
"Bye daddy," she said.
"I love you."
"Wuv you too," she said before smearing her hand in the syrup again.
He jogged upstairs so he could grab the small bag of Britney's things and noticed the video camera out on the table by the sitting area in their bedroom. When he got closer to it he realized the cable was attached to the TV so he turned the TV on and pushed play on the camera. He sat on the back of one of the chairs and watched his son sitting on the floor playing with his toys. He could hear Britney in the background encouraging him.
"Come on big boy. Show me again how you can get to mommy now," she said.
Chase giggled and clapped his hands, which made Justin smile. Finally the baby leaned over and got on his hands and knees and started to crawl toward the camera. Tears were now streaming down Justin's face.
"Way to go big guy," he whispered.
"That's my boy...." Britney said.
Chase started to babble in baby talk as he got closer to Britney. The tape turned off and Justin buried his head in his hands and let out all the emotions he had been keeping inside since that phone call last night.
~*~
"Good news," Britney greeted Justin as he entered her room.
He walked over to her and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Good, I need good news," he said, sitting down next to her.
"The doctor said I can go home tonight. He'll check on me one more time and then I can go."
"Great," he said smiling. "I talked to JC while I was at home and he talked to your mom.....she's on her way here."
"No wonder I can't get a hold of her."
"Yeah, I'm sure she's tried to get a hold of us but it's been hard."
She nodded.
"I just checked on Chase and he's doing the same....."
She lowered her eyes.
"Which is good, Brit. At least he's not getting worse...."
"I know," she sighed.
"I also ran into the doctor and he said they've run one set of tests already and they're going to run one more set. He hopes to have information for us later today. He's thinking surgery to relieve some of the pressure that's on his spine....."
"Would that be dangerous?" she asked.
"I'm sure there are risks, but we'll just have to wait and find out."
She looked down at their entwined hands which were resting on her lap.
"Justin?"
"Yes...."
"I haven't looked in a mirror yet. Can you bring me a mirror so I can look at my face...."
She looked up at him with her big brown, doe-like eyes.
He thought about it for a moment.
"Okay.....I'll see if I can find one," he said before walking over to the bathroom.
When he found one he returned to the bed and sat back down next to her. He held the mirror in his hands so she couldn't see herself yet.
"Just remember how beautiful I think you are.....okay?" he asked.
She smiled at him and nodded.
She took her good hand and brought the mirror to her face. They both held the mirror as Britney studied the injuries that marred her face. She touched each mark.
"Are those stitches?" she asked, gently rubbing the wound above her left eyebrow.
"Yeah....three stitches," Justin said.
"Wow. It seems pretty deep." She kept looking at them and then set the mirror back down.
"You okay?" he asked, rubbing her arm.
She nodded. "Yeah....you were right not to let me look yesterday. I've had time to let things really soak in and I can take it better today."
"It's not that bad," he said, taking her chin in his hand and looking at her skin closely. "Nothing that will scar.....except maybe the gash above your eyebrow but you can hide that with hair. Not that it would matter to me if you had a thousand scars.....I'm just so thankful to have you alive."
He moved closer and gently captured her lips with his again. She let the kiss linger a little longer this time. "I'm glad you have me alive too," she smiled. She kissed him one more time before he sat up straight.
"I brought a few things for you," he said, putting the bag down on the bed next to her.
"Oh good....thanks."
"And I saw the tape....." he said, letting his head hang.
She touched his leg. "I'm sorry....I didn't mean to leave....."
He stopped her. "It's okay. I'm glad I saw it. He did good, huh?" he said with tears glistening his eyes.
She nodded and teared up as well. "Yeah, he did. And he'll do that again real soon, Justin.....we have to believe that."
He lowered his forehead to touch hers.
"I do believe it, Britney."