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............Part
Eleven........,
Chris moaned and moved restlessly.
Roy jumped up from the chair he had pulled alongside the bed. "Hey, son, time to wake up now," he gently crooned as he brushed the hair back from Chris' bruised forehead.
"Daddy," Chris rasped, "my head hurts, make it stop."
Roy's eyes clouded with tears, trying to remember the last time his fiercely independent son called him Daddy instead of Dad. "Don't worry, slugger, I 'll ask the doctor for something for the pain."
As he reached over to hit the call button, Chris started struggling and trying to get out of bed. "Mommy, Jen, where are they? I've gotta get them out!" He fought with all his limited strength against Roy as Roy shushed him "Shhh.it's all right. Everyone got out and they're gonna be okay," I hope, he added silently, thinking of Joanne who had yet to regain consciousness.
Chris hugged Roy tightly and started sobbing. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault! I thought I could fix it by myself so HE wouldn't have to come back," he said with evident disgust in his voice.
"What do you mean," Roy questioned.
Chris hicupped and drew a shaky breath. "I heard Mom talking to one of her friends on the phone and she said the stove burner still wasn't working right. I thought I could tighten it up or something like Johnny did because I didn't want her to call HIM back," he said with all the scorn a 10 year old can muster.
"Hey, that's no way to talk, young man," Roy gently scolded. "Why in the world didn't you want to wait for me to fix the stove or have your Mom call Uncle Johnny?"
Chris looked down with a sullen expression on his face. "Because when I got home for school the other day, I saw Mom hugging him and heard her say she loves him. I hate him."
"Come on, sport," Roy said as he ruffled his troubled son's hair, "you know as well as I do that your Mom loves Uncle Johnny, just like I do, as a brother, that's it..and you know your Mom, she hugs everybody," Roy finished with a laugh. "Aren't you the one who's always complaining about her hugging you in front of your friends?"
Chris grinned slightly, with relief to hear his Dad's explanation. "I guess you're right. You won't tell Mom or Uncle Johnny what I said will you?" he said with a worried glance at his father. "I suppose now you think I'm pretty stupid, huh?"
"No," Roy grinned, "I think you are a pretty good kid, maybe a lousy repairman, but still a good kid," he teased gently as Chris lay back down and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
Roy eased his hand out of Chris' as he exited the room, thoughts of the conversation with his son echoing in his head as he tried to convince himself that the explanation he had given to Chris was the truth.
A small preview of coming complications...
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