Through Thick and Thin.

Once Jimmy and I arrived to the hospital I immediately ran to the nurse’s desk to ask what room Brian was in. “Are you family?” she asked rudely. “No, I’m his girlfriend.” I replied, a little taken aback at her rudeness. “Well sorry but girlfriends don’t get special privileges. We only give out information to family.” I walked away from the desk and into the waiting room with Jimmy, who stopped pacing the floor when he saw me. “What room is he in?” he asked, walking towards me. I immediately burst into tears. “She won’t tell me because I’m not family. I just have to know he’s okay.” I sobbed. “Shh Bean, the rest of the guys are on their way, I’ll ask Matt to find out what room he’s in.” “They won’t tell you where he’s at?” Matt shouted, walking into the waiting room. Seeing all the guys here made me cry even more. “No, the nurse told her because she wasn’t family she couldn’t give any info.” Jimmy told him, “This is all my fault.” I sobbed, “He wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me. He would be at home sleeping. You would all be at home sleeping. I ruined everything.” I dropped to my knees crying, “He’s probably better off without me. We had such a good night and it all went to shit because of fucking Jamie!” I shouted, getting angry. “Hey hey hey, it’s okay Brook.” Johnny said picking me up off the ground and wrapping me in his arms. “It’s not your fault, it’s that psychopath Jamie’s fault. And he would NEVER be better off without you, you are the best damn thing that has ever happened to Brian, we can all vouch for that.” “I just, I feel so bad. I didn’t do anything to help him. I should have protected him better.” I argued, “NO, you called 911. You sacrificed yourself and went with Jamie so he wouldn’t kill Brian. You were so brave, and when I got that phone call from Jimmy earlier I thought I was never going to see you again. I couldn’t live the rest of my life without my best friend.” He said, choking up a little. “Phone call? Jimmy called you guys?” I asked confused. “Yeah, I did.” Jimmy spoke up, “After you left with Jamie and I made sure Brian was doing okay, I called the guys to let them know what was going on. I told them Jamie shot Bri and took you. I was on the phone with Johnny and heard the gunshot. I completely freaked out, told Johnny to call the guys and meet us at the hospital. I didn’t know what was happening. And when I heard you scream I knew you were okay, at least I hoped you were okay.” He explained, getting choked up. “But then I saw you come running up the stairs covered in blood and I knew it wasn’t yours, because obviously if you were covered in your own blood you wouldn’t have been running up the stairs toward Brian, you would have probably been dead on the grass too, which would have been horrible and I can’t even think about that.” he rambled, putting his head in his hands. “Jimmy. Jimmy. Jim!” I said, trying to calm him down, “I am okay. A little shaken up, yes. A little worried, hell, a LOT worried about Brian, yes. But I am okay. No harm done. Now we just need to get an update on Brian. And we need to do it soon or I might start abusing nurses.” I looked around at the guys to see which one would go ask about Brian’s condition. “Zack, you’re up.” “Yes ma’am, I’m on it.” he kissed my forehead and jogged off toward the nurse’s desk, turning on the charm. A few minutes later he came walking back to us with a huge smile on his face. “Seriously, I don’t know how he does it.” Johnny mumbled. “Okay, here’s the thing,” Zack said once he got back to the group, “They had to take Bri to surgery to remove the bullet. But he should be out soon. The nurse said it was a quick in and out procedure. Wait, has anyone called Papa Gates?” “Holy fuck, I totally forgot. I’ll give him a call right now.” Jimmy said, stepping away from the group to make the phone call. Shortly after a doctor walked out into the waiting room. “Is there anyone here for Brian Haner?” he asked, “I am. Well, we are.” I said, motioning to the group and walking to the doctor. “Is Brian okay?” “Mr. Haner is just fine. He lost a bit of blood, so we gave him a transfusion. He should be waking up soon, and I’m sure he’d like to see some familiar faces. We will just have to keep him a couple of days to observe him, but other than that he should be just fine.” he responded with a smile. “Oh my gosh, thank you SO much doctor.” I gushed, tearing up and hugging him tight. “I don’t know what I would have done if I would have lost him.” “I can assure you he’s fine ma’am, and I’m almost positive he will want to see you as soon as he wakes up. Follow me and I’ll show you to his room.” We all followed the doctor to Brian’s hospital room, and as soon as I walked through the door I thought I was going to pass out. Brian was laying in that bed, motionless, with needles and tubes coming out of his arms, and an oxygen mask over his face. He looked so pale it was scary. I immediately started crying and an arm was wrapped around me. “Shh, come on Bean. You know he’s gonna want you by his side when he wakes up.” Matt said, kissing my head. I nodded and walked over to the side of the bed and sat down in a chair, grabbing his hand. “Okay Bri, I’m here. You can wake up now.” I whispered, kissing his hand. I don’t know how long we sat there watching him sleep, waiting for him to wake up, but when he finally opened those gorgeous brown eyes the sun had been up for a while. He groaned and looked over at me “What the fuck happened to me? I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck.” All the guys chuckled and I said “Welcome back babe. You don’t remember what happened last night?” “Oh shit. Jamie. WHERE THE FUCK IS JAMIE?” he yelled, trying to get out of bed. “Hey bro come on, you have to be careful. Jamie is dead.” Jimmy said, trying to calm him down. “Dead?” Bri asked, a little confused, he looked to me for confirmation when his eyes grew huge. “Holy shit Bean, why are you covered in fucking blood? Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I’d fucking kill him if he wasn’t already dead if he hurt you.” he rambled. “Brian I’m okay. It’s Jamie’s blood. He shot himself when he saw the cops on our lawn. I’m fine. A little shaken up, but I’m a lot better now that I know you’re okay.” I explained. “I guess I should have taken a shower, but I really wanted to be here when you woke up. And I’m definitely not leaving until you go home.” “I’ll go to the house and grab you some clothes baby B, I need a shower anyway.” Jimmy spoke up. “Yeah I’m gonna go grab some breakfast and a few hours of sleep. My belly button is about to eat my backbone.” Johnny whined, while the other guys nodded in agreement. “We’ll be back later Bri, just get some rest brother.” Matt said, giving Brian a bro hug. Zack also said his goodbyes and soon Brian and I were left alone. I curled up in the bed with him and we fell asleep for a while, until his dad and Jimmy came in. “Son are you alright? Brook are you okay? Why are you covered in blood?” Papa Gates rambled, causing Brian and I both to laugh. “We’re fine dad. I’ll be fine, I just have to stay for a few days for observation. I’m not gonna lie though, it hurts like a bitch.” Brian told his dad, causing me to tear up. “Hey babe. It’s okay, it’ not your fault. I told you that.” he said, wrapping his arm around me. “Yes it is.” I argued, “It’s my fault that Jamie shot you, because he wanted me. I should have just gone without arguing and you wouldn’t be here.” I cried. “Bean, if you would have done that, YOU probably wouldn’t be here right now.” Jimmy stated sadly, “And I don’t know if I could handle that.” “Exactly.” Brian said, “So please stop blaming yourself. I’m glad it was me and not you.” He kissed my head and wiped the tears off my face. “How about you go take a shower and relax while I talk to my dad and Jim?” “Okay, but I’m doing it here. I’m not going home without you.” I said “Here Bea, I brought you some clothes. I didn’t really like getting in your underwear drawer, so Leana did that for me.” Jimmy cringed, bringing a smile to my face. “Thanks Jim Jam, I can always count on you.” I hugged him tight and walked into the bathroom with my bag of clothes and toiletries. A shower was definitely what I needed to wash this horrible night out of my memory.

Notes