Chapter Thirty-One Part Three

They followed the nurse into a room. Robert was laying their heavily sedated, hands and arms bandaged. Robert's eyes flickered open when he heard the door open.

"Mom, Dad?" he croaked through dry cracked lips. "I tried," dry hacking coughs cut his voice off.

"Shh, it's ok," William soothed pushing hair out of his son's eyes.

"I really tried Dad," Robert tried to sit up but William gently pushed him back. "I couldn't get to her. Sydney was trying to put the fire out then Casey ran in to keep the fire from getting behind her and cutting her off. I came with another fire extinguisher to help," Robert stopped to catch his breath. "The fire was spreading so fast. The wall was starting to collapse.   Sydney must have heard it cracking when she pushed Casey towards me as it caved in," Robert's mouth opened in a silent scream as he focused on the horror he survived. "She was screaming and I couldn't get to her. I grabbed part of the wall that was pinning her down but I couldn't lift it. I wasn't strong enough. The fire was all around us and Casey needed help, his back was covered in flames," Robert turned to his Dad. "I knew I had to choose, if I took the time to dig Sydney out, Casey would have been burned alive. I didn't want to leave her Dad," he sobbed into William's shoulders as his Dad rocked him back and forth. William held him wanting to absorb all the pain, the hurt into himself. William's chest tightened and his breathing became constricted from the overwhelming guilt he felt over the impossible decision that Robert faced. He could only imagine the turmoil that was going on inside Robert's head when he was faced with saving his brother and lose his sister or saving his sister and lose his brother. When Robert's sobs ceased he laid him down so he could sleep.

With wavering breath, William asked the nurse "How's my other son, Casey?"

"The Doctor would like to speak with you before you go to see him." The nurse replied beckoning them to follow her.

William started to follow after, when he observed Jessica stagger in front of him. Relenting, he put his arm around her, knowing that despite what she had done, she was as much a victim as he was and she hadn't wanted any of this happen. They would need to talk about it but right now they had to get through this first. Jessica fell into Williams side in relief and weakness. She had no strength left, she felt battered and caught in a nightmare that never ended.

"Doctor this is Mr. and Mrs. Bennett."

"Come in, sit," the Doctor said waving her hand towards the empty chairs. Eyeing Jessica, she noticed her lack of color and shambling walk. "Are you all right, Mrs. Bennett?"

"No yes I," Jessica mumbled incoherently.

"I think your wife is going into shock," the Doctor said getting up and calling the nurse back. "Take Mrs. Bennett back to Robert's room. Make her comfortable and give her a sedative so she relaxes."

The nurse helped Jessica to her feet as Jessica franticly requested "No please tell me about Casey."

"Now, now dear everything will be alright. You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else," the nurse gently told her as she guided her from the room.

 

When they left, the Doctor turned back to William. "Robert should be fine and recover full use of his hands. Casey suffered 3rd degree burns over 90% of his back and will require multiple skin grafts. We have him in an induced coma to help him with the pain."

"Will he," William stopped choking over the lump in his throat "Will he be ok?"

"His condition is critical but I'm cautiously optimistic. If he stayed in the fire any longer than he was, he would most likely have died from his injuries. He's been lucky so far, let's hope his luck holds."

"Can I see him?"

"Come with me. You'll need to suit up in sterile gown and mask as a precaution against infection."

William followed on leaden feet, how he longed to just curl up in a ball and pretend this was all a bad dream. But he couldn't afford the luxury of blanking it all out. Too many people were relying upon him, needed him, he had to keep it together.

Each day William sat beside Casey and a kept a vigilance at his bedside, hoping, praying that Casey would recover. He couldn't bear the heartbreak of losing another child. He was thankful that Mrs. Olivia offered to have the other kids stay with her. He had to insist they go with her. Their pleading eyes haunted William's thoughts but he knew it was better for them to be away from the hospital.

Jessica spent her days with Robert, helping him cope without the use of his hands. She found it difficult to watch him struggle to do the normal everyday things. She prayed that he would regain function of his hands once the burns healed and the bandages came off. She focused all her energy on helping Robert so that she could avoid thinking about Casey. He was still in a coma despite there efforts to bring him out. They were growing concerned that he may never wake up. It's been 2 months and each day increased the chances he would never recover consciousness. There could be brain damage due to smoke inhalation and lack of oxygen. Most nights she cried herself to sleep and she dreamt of her children being whole, healthy and alive. She couldn't face planning the funeral and had flatly refused until her boys walked out of the hospital.

Three months since the fire, William was dozing in the chair he had pulled up to Casey's bed. He jerked awake at the sound of a low moan, he held his breath waiting to hear it again. He reached for Casey's hand, he heard the moan again and felt Casey's fingers move against his hand. "Oh my God. Casey honey, can you hear me?" William asked heart racing hoping his son would open his eyes.

"So how are we today?" the Doctor asked coming into the room.

"I think he's coming out of it" William replied intently focused on Casey's face.

"Well let's have a look." the Doctor leaned over and flashed a light in Casey's eyes "hmmm encouraging. I think he's on his way back."  She smiled at William "Your son's a fighter. I think he'll be waking up in a day or two."

William found his muscles relaxing from the tension he had not realized he had. "That's the best news I've heard in a long time."

 

Casey wanted to tell them he was awake but he couldn't form the words and his eyes felt like they were weighted down. The voices kept getting louder until he no longer felt weights on his eyes and he blinked. At first everything was dark and it was too difficult to keep his lids open. Sometime later he opened his eyes and there was light coming through a window. His Dad was asleep in a chair near his bed. He opened his mouth but his lips refused to work. His throat was dry and his arms weighed a ton but he managed to drag his hand over to touch his Father's leg before letting his hand drop to his side.

William woke instantly at that slight touch. He opened his eyes to stare into the watching eyes of his son. "Casey?" His voice broke.

Casey spent three more months in the hospital going through intensive physical therapy. As Casey recovered William and Jessica turned their thoughts towards preparing the memorial service for Sydney. They decided to use the pool area as that had been Sydney's favorite place to paint and exercise and it was also the only part of the house still standing.