Chapter 38

Jon’s week had somehow been relatively unexciting yet eventful leading up to Wednesday morning. Monday he had had his first taste of fighting with Steph trying to get her to go to school. When he went to wake her up at 7 o’clock when she didn’t come down for breakfast, she said she was too tired from the weekend to get up and go in. Part of Jon wanted to give in just to avoid the fight but the thought of this coming out at the week’s parent teacher conferences quickly changed his mind. He’d rather fight with his daughter now in his own home than with his ex, in front of her teachers about what an irresponsible parent he was.

When he dropped her off at school, 45 minutes late, he felt at peace with his decision. She may not appreciate it now but as a parent he truly did have her best interest in mind. One day may not be a big deal now, but it was better to stop a bad habit before it began. On her lunch break she sent him a text message making him nearly glow for the rest of the day. i know u were right this morn…im sry I yelled @ u.. With little rewards like that how could anyone not want to be a parent? He knew that he had gotten lucky with her, he had heard horror stories from other parents about their teenage daughters, which only made him that much more thankful for his own daughter.

Tuesday came just at cold as they had predicted, it didn’t get any warmer than 25° and the wind was whipping. An unusual cold front left a cranky Jon, in his Michelin Man coat, in the frigid weather for nearly four hours with 40 equally cranky first graders, two teachers, two teacher aides, and three other parents. The other parents, mothers of course, didn’t seem to be bothered by the cold one bit. Word must’ve gotten out that he would be on the field trip and it seemed they were dressed up especially for the occasion, unless they usually wore boots to go hiking and opted for a fashionable coat rather than a warm one in similar weather.

Jon didn’t always mind the attention though, his group of five boys were exactly that, five boys who were full of energy, and the other mothers took pity on him and lent a hand when they could. With the perks however came the shameless flirting from both the married women and the newly single mom. Jon remained polite, while trying not to freeze or lose a child, not wanting to give any of them the slightest indication that he was interested. Not going public with his relationship with Melissa was proving to become difficult, because he couldn’t simply say he was taken. He couldn’t let Jake overhear, and if one of the women found out it would surely get back to Dot. This was her territory after all. The boys all went to the same private school and she seemed to have a hand in all the gossip while Steph went to the Catholic high school in town.

Two hours of apple picking, an hour for what should’ve been an enjoyable picnic lunch, and another hour or so letting the kids run wild did eventually take their toll on Jon. He didn’t notice it much on the bus ride back to the school as Jake napped on his lap, much to his pleasure, but by the time he picked Steph up he was developing a sore throat and a dreaded stuffy/runny nose. Dinner in Amalia’s care consisting of big pot soup seemed to help a bit, but he was still on the cold-y side when he pulled in the hospital parking garage Wednesday morning. He bundled up thoroughly today, not wanting to take any chances on his way from the garage to the building, fully equipped with the Michelin Man coat, hat, gloves and a scarf, even though it was a good 15° warmer than the day before.

He made the familiar walk thinking about the phone call he had received earlier that day. His mother had called to check on him, as she often did, but also told Jon that she and his father would be making their last trip up north for the year before Christmas. They were flying up the next morning and she was asking Jon to pick them up at the airport. He quickly obliged and told her that she would probably get to spend the day with the kids while he and Dot were in conferences. When he offered his house to them she told him that they were staying with Matt because his wife Desire was expecting in a few weeks. In Jon’s head he knew it made sense, but part of him hoped that it would be nice to have a little bit of family in the house for Steph besides Richie popping in for a few days every month or so. He had avoided telling her about Melissa, he would rather do that in person, and he wanted to see if Melissa had meant what she said about meeting his parents. If it seemed too soon for her he could make an excuse to postpone it until their annual Christmas trip.

Before he knew it he was passing the familiar faces in the lobby and was quickly in the elevator starting to shed some of his winter gear. When the doors opened on the fourth floor Angela was walking by with another nurse and dropped the charts she was holding when she saw him.

“Oh my god, I think that coat is more hideous in person,” she said her jaw nearing the floor. “Yet in a strange, strange way you kinda pull it off.”

“Thanks, I think,” Jon said picking up the charts from the floor.

“I didn’t think it was cold enough for that coat yet,” she said still staring.

“You weren’t outside the entire day yesterday. If you were, you’d be wearing it too,” Jon said with a quiet sniffle.

“Yeah, yeah. You better hide that thing in Mel’s office before the clowns enlist you in their traveling group, or you scare the kids, or someone else sees you,” Angela said taking the charts from him.

“I think I just might do that,” Jon said. “You’re coming aren’t you?”

“Where,” Angela asked curiously. “I mean yes obviously, wherever you go I will gladly follow.”

“Melissa’s office, besides I know you want to try this thing on,” Jon said.

“Well if you insist, how could I refuse one of our favorite volunteers. Can you take these to the nurses station for me,” Angela said handing the charts to the other nurse.

“Of course, nice to see you again, Jon,” the nurse said as she left them.

Angela chatted as they headed to the office and she kept punching his arm to see if he could feel it, through all the layers. Much to her delight he couldn’t and she continued to sneak punches at him until he finally took it off and she put it on herself.

“It’s so heavy. I think if I walked in this I would burn twice the amount of calories I usually would,” Angela said as she was drowning in the coat. “How can you even move it this thing?”

“Well I don’t exactly think it’s your size for one,” Jon said starting to feel defensive of his coat. It had certainly taken its share of verbal abuse for years.

“I know but I kinda feel like a little kid in a snow suit,” Angela said.

“Enough with the poor coat, it does its job and that’s what matters right,” Jon asked.

“I guess, but man I could show you pictures,” Angela said taking it off and handing it to him.

Jon threw it on one of the empty chairs and it sat up on its own, almost taking the shape of person. Angela giggled at the sight, but didn’t say a word with one look from Jon. He muttered something under his breath to the coat before turning to Angela heading to the door.

“So where’s Mel today,” Jon asked holding to door open.

“She’s with a new patient. I don’t think I’ve seen her leave that room all day. I think you may be in trouble mister, I think there’s someone else who’s stolen her heart,” Angela said.

“A new patient,” Jon asked curiously. He was surprised to find himself so attached to the patients he had met over the last month, and was ready to meet a new one and form a new relationship.

“Oh yes, I think I’ll have or rather you’ll have a hard time getting her outta here tonight. I’ll take you down there in a minute, but first I swore that I would take you to Miss Lindsay the second you arrived, but I couldn’t let her see you in your perfectly functional coat,” Angela said smiling.

“She’s around,” Jon asked his eyes lighting up when Angela mentioned her.

“I knew what time you were coming in, so I may have switched a couple things around so she could see you while she was feeling up to it,” Angela said.

“Perfect,” Jon said heading in the appropriate direction.

When they reached her room, Angela knocked before heading in. “Hey, Linds, how are you feeling? There’s someone here who wants to say hi.”

Jon could hear the girl inside answer excitedly, “Is he here?”

Angela gave him a nod and he walked into her room and gave her his customary hug. “How are you feeling today kiddo?”

“It’s been a bad morning but I’m much better now,” she said smiling from ear to ear.

Jon hugged her mother and gave her a supportive smile, as they had become close over the past couple of weeks. Angela walked behind Jon and whispered in his ear, “I’ll give you a couple of minutes in here before she has to go,” before she left.

“May I,” Jon asked her mother gesturing to one of the chairs next to the bed.

“Of course, Jon,” she said sitting back on the bed that she had called home during the weeks her daughter had been hospitalized.

“Thanks,” Jon said taking a seat. “Now Lindsay, I heard that you had quite a wonderful weekend. Anything special?”

“Yes! The concert was amazing. I can’t wait till I get outta here and I can go to one for real,” Lindsay said.

“Wait, do you mean to tell me that you’ve never been to a show,” Jon asked and Lindsay shook her head. “I thought you had been. You talk about the shows like you’ve been there before.”

“I have all the concerts on DVD,” Lindsay said pointing to her collection on one of the shelves.

“I see, but that’s not quite the same now is it? As soon as you’re outta here, and healthy enough I might just have to have a concert for you. If not the next tour, any show you want the tickets are yours. You, your mom and dad, whoever. You’ll have the seats in front of my kids, that good,” Jon said as Lindsay looked at him in shock.

“Lindsay what do you say,” her mother said in disbelief of the generous offer that was made.

“That’s ok, Elise, her face says it all,” Jon said.

“Well, thank you all the same. It’s greatly appreciated, such a kind offer,” Elise said.

“It’s my pleasure, I assure you. Now Lindsay, what was your favorite part of the show? I just have to know. And you can’t take the easy way out and say the part where I was chit chatting with you,” Jon said.

“I did love that part. It was soooooo cool. But I also loved when you danced with Miss Melissa and then you forgot to sing and Richie had to sing for you,” Lindsay said with a little giggle.

“You know I don’t think they’re gonna let me forget that one,” Jon said laughing.

“But you and Miss Melissa looked really cute together,” she said.

“We did, didn’t we,” Jon said. “What else did you like?”

“When you played the harmonica, and Dry County, and Stick to Your Guns,” she said eagerly.

“So you liked all that rare stuff huh? You have Mel and Ang to thank for those,” Jon said remembering the long list of songs they gave him.

“I will, it was awesome. But my mom liked a different part, she was crying and everything,” Lindsay said.

“Lindsay that’s not what he asked you,” Elise said embarrassedly.

“That’s ok, you can tell me whatever your little heart desires,” Jon said to Lindsay before turning to her mother. “May I ask what it was?”

“I thought the tribute you made to your daughter was breathtaking, got me all emotional looking at my baby girl. Who knew you a rock concert could have that affect on someone. But the part that really got me was your daughter. That’s what every parent wants to hear deep down isn’t it? The pure appreciation of what we do, and a little ‘I love you’ goes a long way doesn’t it?”

“It sure does,” Jon said standing to give her a hug. “She loves you too you know. You’ve raised a wonderful daughter. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard this is, but you are doing a fantastic job. As a parent I know it may not always seem like we do things the right way, but they notice,” he whispered in her ear. She nodded at him and took her seat back on the bed.

“She’s really pretty, you’re daughter,” Lindsay said bringing his attention back to her.

“Well thank you, I will tell her you said that,” Jon said beaming with pride.

“How old is she,” Lindsay asked.

“She is just a couple of years older than you, she’s 15,” Jon said.

“That’s the same age as Catherine,” Lindsay said.

“Catherine,” Jon asked looking as Elise.

“My other daughter, she’s 15,” Elise answered.

“I had no idea you had another child,” Jon said.

“That’s because you’re here during the week while she’s at school. She comes by almost every evening during the week for a little while to visit and then Pat stays at home with her. She usually spends a full day on the weekend here too, its hard trying to fit friends into everything, but she’s making it work,” Elise answered.

“I bet you miss your sister huh,” Jon asked Lindsay.

“Yeah, we used to share a room but she comes and visits a lot,” Lindsay said grabbing a picture frame from the nearby table. “This is us right before I was admitted here,” she said handing him the frame.

“Two beautiful young ladies. You’re both gonna be quite the heartbreakers. You’re about the same ages as my oldest two and I know they miss each other, whether they wanna admit it or not,” Jon said looking at the picture.

“You have another kid who’s my age,” Lindsay asked.

“My son Jesse James is a year older than you,” Jon said.

“Cool I didn’t know that,” Lindsay said.

“Yup, I’ve got three boys and my little girl,” Jon said proudly.

“Four kids, you’ve certainly got your hands full,” Elise said. “I thought two was a lot.”

“They can be a handful, but they’re my pride and joy. Don’t get me started about them, I could be here all day,” Jon said.

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to cut you off right there,” Angela said from the doorway.

“Aw, do I have to go already,” Lindsay asked.

“I’m sorry, but you do. I pulled some strings to switch your time, you don’t wanna make me look bad and show up late do you,” Angela teased.

“Ok,” Lindsay said.

“Jon, Elise, if you just step in the hall so we can get her transferred,” Angela said and they obliged.

When the transport team rolled her out a minute later Lindsay said goodbye to her mom and Jon. “Not so fast kiddo, I don’t know where you’re goin’ but I hear they allow music there. Since I can’t go and serenade you myself, I’ve got other people to see you know, how about this for a couple hours,” Jon said handing her an ipod from his pocket.

“Really,” she asked taking it from him.

“I cleared it with a nurse I know. It’s not the one I usually listen to; I don’t think you’d like that one too much. This one has all of the music we’ve ever recorded on it, including demos that didn’t make the 100 million and stuff since then,” Jon said.

“Thanks so much. I’ll take good care of it, I promise,” she said smiling as they wheeled her away.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Elise said.

“I know, but if something that simple can make her smile, why wouldn’t I? I know she makes me smile, I’m just trying to return the favor,” Jon said brightly. “Can I get you anything before I go?”

“No, no. You’ve done more than enough for me,” Elise said.

“Ok then, I’ll check in with you before I go then,” Jon said before she turned back into her daughter’s room.

“Now I’m sure you wanna find Mel,” Angela said. “I’ve got a bunch of meds to check and I’m swamped because we’re down a nurse today. I think I’m being punished for treating your coat so unfairly,” she said. “She’s down the hall all the way on the left, room 4982.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you in a bit,” Jon said as she left.

Jon made his way down to the end of the hall, briefly checking in on a few of the patients on the way. When he came to room 4982 he found a note on the door scribbled in Melissa’s handwriting: Don’t even think about knocking…SHHH! Jon did as the note advised and quietly opened the door to one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.