Truth Be Told

Part Six

Thank you Starema for all your help. 

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Who told you that? Jennifer?” Brian asked, surprised to have his secret revealed publicly.

 

“No. One night about two weeks after he woke up, I had a nightmare. It seemed so real and I was too upset to go back to sleep so I drove over here. I just needed to see that he was okay. When I came around the corner, I was stunned to see you sitting there watching him through the window. I asked the nurse how long you’d been there. She said, “you sat there every night. All night.”

 

“Did you tell him?” Brian asked.

 

“For a long time, I thought he already knew. When I realized he didn’t, we literally walked in on you fucking some guy on the couch, so I decided he didn’t need more conflicting feelings where you were concerned. It wasn’t my decision to make. You should have told him.”

 

“Jennifer knew,” asked Deb.

 

“Yeah, apparently the nurses told her to make sure it was okay,” answered Brian.

 

“She never said anything.”

 

“So, Justin doesn’t know. You never told him?” asked Emmett.

 

“No one was supposed to know,” answered Brian, as he looked at Daphne.

 

“Why the fuck not?” hollered Deb.

 

“I don’t know, but it’s a good thing. He never would have left if he knew and he needed to go.”

 

“You mean you needed him to go,” stated Michael.

 

“No, I mean he needed to. If I didn’t want him there, he wouldn’t have been there.”

 

“Is there a Justin Taylor here?”

 

They turned and saw a man with slightly graying hair,  wearing surgical scrubs.

 

“Are you the doctor?” Deb asked.

 

“Surgeon, Sam Lampert.”

 

“How’s Jennifer?” inquired Craig.

 

“Are you Justin Taylor? I thought I was to see her son?” replied Dr. Lampert.

 

“I’ll get him,” said Brian, leaving the room.

 

“Craig Taylor, Jennifer is my wife,” said Craig as he shook the doctor’s hand.

 

“Ex-wife,” corrected Mel.

 

There was an uncomfortable silence until…

 

“Doctor?’ Justin said haltingly.

 

“Mr. Taylor, let’s sit down,” the doctor motioned to Justin.

 

“Oh God!” Justin stopped. “She died.” He started to shake, turning pale. Brian reached for him.

 

“No. She survived the surgery, but she’s not out of the woods yet.  She’s in critical condition.”

 

“She’s alive,” smiled Justin.

 

“Yes,” answered Dr. Lampert. “We have to talk about her injuries. Obviously, we are most concerned with the life threatening internal injuries.”

 

“How bad is it?” asked Justin.

 

“We were able to repair her collapsed lung. We had to remove her spleen and one kidney. These are all procedures that while serious are generally very successful. The injury that has me concerned at the moment is to her liver. We had to remove a piece of it and that can be tricky.”

 

“Why? I saw on TV that a mother donated part of her liver to her daughter,” asked Daphne who now sat next to Justin.

 

“Yes, that is possible,” explained Dr. Lampert. “But that woman was healthy to begin with. The cumulative effect of these injuries is the unknown factor. But she’s a fighter, I can tell that already.”

 

“Yes, she is. She’s the strongest person I know,” said Justin confidently.

 

“I’m going to give you a minute to absorb this news while I go get a bottle of water and get cleaned up a bit. Then we can discuss the other things,” said the doctor before he left the room.

 

Justin slumped into the chair in shock, not sure if he should be encouraged or not. Brian and Daphne exchanged looks. Neither knew what to say.

 

“She’s alive,” said Daphne, grabbing Justin’s hand. “I think we have to hold onto that.”

 

The room was silent except for Gus’ babbling when the doctor returned. He looked a little less tired. Taking a seat opposite Justin,  Dr Lampert put a reassuring hand on his arm.

 

“There’s more bad news, isn’t there?” asked Justin.

 

“I talked to her nurse in the recovery room before I came back. Her heart rate is starting to stabilize. That’s a good sign.”

 

“Will she have any brain damage?” asked Justin, as he subconsciously flexed his right hand.

 

Noticing the doctor acknowledged and reassured Justin, knowing his history. “No, there is no indication of that at all. The only serious injury that I haven’t mentioned yet, is to her spine.”

 

“Fuck,” whispered Brian.

 

Justin closed his eyes for a minute, and then opened them. He took a deep breath. Terrified of the answer, he knew he had to ask the question. “Will she be paralyzed?”

 

“It’s too soon to tell. There’s too much swelling. We do know that the spinal cord has not been severed, even though, it is damaged. Until the swelling goes down we won’t know much more. Except that the damage is in the middle of her back. So, even a worse case scenario would be paraplegic not quadriplegic.”

 

“What’s the difference?” Michael whispered to Ben.

 

“It means she’ll be able to use her arms at least,” replied Justin. “I guess that’s something.”

 

“Justin, like I said we don’t know the extent of the injury. It could be nothing. It could require rehab for a full recovery,” explained Dr. Lampert.

 

“Or she could be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life,” mumbled Justin.

 

“Yes”

 

“Is there anything else?” Justin asked.

 

“Not really, she has some cuts from the broken glass but most of them will heal without a scar.”

 

Justin nodded, “can I see her?”

 

“As soon as she’s taken to the ICU, you can have a short visit.”

 

“Thank you,” offered Justin, trying to smile through his tears.

 

“She’ll be in the recovery room for at least another hour. The next twenty-four to forty-eight hours are crucial. That’s the milestone we’re aiming for at this point. Once we get there, we’ll have a better idea of how things will work out.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Dr. Lampert gave Justin’s hand a squeeze and stood up. “I’m going to go check on her. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

 

Justin sat in silence for several long minutes, as tears slid down his cheeks. Everyone looked to each other trying to figure out how to help. Even Craig looked concerned.

 

Slowly, Justin rose to his feet, swaying a little, but Brian steadied him. He looked at Brian about to tell him he was all right; when a wave of nausea hit him and he bolted for the washroom.

 

Brian started to follow, but Daphne went instead. After a few minutes, a splotchy faced Justin walked through the room and then into the hall.

 

“He’s going to sit with Molly until he can go to the ICU,” Daphne told the group.

 

Craig smiled at her. “Daphne I’m proud of you. You are a good friend to Justin… well to the whole family really. You know there was a time when I hoped you’d become an official member of the family.”

 

“There was a time when I would have considered that a great compliment. I used to adore you. You were so much more fun than my Dad. I loved spending time at your house. But Justin and I were never going to get married. I’m not his type.”

 

“Are you saying you knew he was gay?”

 

Daphne looked at him as though he had grown another head. “Of course I knew.”

 

“Since when?”

 

“I guess since forever really, but I never thought about it much until we were twelve or thirteen.”

 

Craig was speechless.

 

“Do you really think Brian was the first guy Justin was attracted to?”

 

“Uh well.”

 

“Please. He was seventeen. I mean, did you ever take a good look at his room? Or his art?”

 

“I only noticed that after I found out about him,” Craig said, pointing to Brian.

 

“I guess you only saw what you wanted to see.”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“He told me  that he came out to me first because he thought I would take it harder than anyone. I said ‘Me? What about your parents?’ He said that you’d be mad and confused for a couple of days, but then you’d get over it and slowly accept it.”

 

Craig shuffled his feet and began to move away.

 

“He was absolutely certain his parents loved him unconditionally,” Daphne continued. “Do you have any idea what it did to him to realize you don’t.”

 

“I….”

 

“You taught him to stand up for himself; to be strong and independent, to have self-esteem and self-confidence. So he did.  When things got bad at school, did you back him up? Were you there for him when he needed you? NO! You made it worse. You hit him, too!”

 

“Daphne, you don’t understand,” said Craig.

 

“Oh, I understand Mr. Taylor. I understand that you have disappointed me more than anyone in my life ever will. Because like Justin, I’ll never believe in anyone the way I used to believe in you,” Daphne finished, her eyes overflowing with tears. She sat in a chair next to Mel and Lindsay as Craig slinked off to the corner.

 

“Wow! The way you tell men off is enough to earn you honorary dykehood,” laughed Mel. “Even if you do like dick,” she added with a shudder.

 

Daphne couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks.”

 

“Remind me never to piss you off, sweetie,” smiled Emmett.

 

“I’m so fed up with everyone taking advantage of and hurting Justin because he’s so nice and has a good heart, but I guess I’m done for now.  Unless someone knows where I can find Hobbes.”

 

Everyone laughed, even Brian.

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