Finding love - 13. Chapter 13

I awoke to find a strong pair of arms wrapped around me. Where was I? I struggled to turn my body as these arms were wrapped tight around me. I got my head turned enough to discover they were Brody’s arms. I look around for clues as to where I was and could hear the sound of my parents favorite late night show host and knew instantly I must be in one of the upstairs rooms. I finally broke free from Brody grasp and crept down the stairs to find my parents both asleep in front of the TV.

“Mom, Dad?” I whispered louder than I should have as they both jumped.

“Mattie are you ok?” Mom asked in a panic.

“I’m ok, what’s going on?”

“You had a panic attack buddy,” Dad said and pulled me by the arm to the couch and sat me between the two of them.

“So it wasn’t a dream?”

“Afraid not; your brother had a mental break and was taken to Pennsylvania by your grandparents.” Mom said.

“So he did ruin the room?” I said on the verge of tears.

“Yes,” the said in unison and I started to bawl my eyes out.

While mom and dad tried their best to comfort me I heard heavy feet descend the stairs.

“Is he down here?” Brody said breathlessly. “He wasn’t in either room or the bathroom.”

“He’s right here,” Mom said pointing between her and dad.

“I was worried,” Brody replied.

“Thank you for staying Brody,” Dad said.

“Who were those guys that helped your parents?” Brody asked. “They got here super-fast.”

“They work for us and can assemble rather quickly,” Mom replied.

“What exactly do you do?” Brody asked.

“It’s complicated,” she replied.

I heard another set of feet descend the stairs and Nick appeared.

“Hey guys,” Nick yawned. “What’s going on?”

“Your brother woke-up,” Mom replied.

“Hey Matt,” Nick said and then kneeled in front of me. “Look, I know I may not tell you this but I do love you. I know I give you a hard time and mostly that’s because I am trying to impress Nate but I realize now that it was wrong to do things that upset you.”

“That is very big of you Nicholas to apologize but don’t expect Matt to accept it right now. Why didn’t you tell us how crappy Nathan was treating you?” Dad asked.

“I just figured it was normal brother stuff,” I sniffled.

“None of what he did was normal bother stuff and your mother and I are angry with ourselves for not seeing it.”

“We talked with Emerson and he agreed to help us find someone who can facilitate family therapy. I think we all need it,” mom sighed.

“I think Nathan’s needed it longer,” I said.

“Your brother has struggled and sending him to my cousin Emerson instead of the hospital wasn’t an easy decision. The farm was better suited to help and if he needs it he got St. Lukes Hospital nearby and they have an excellent mental health unit.” Mom said. “On that note, your father and I are driving up tomorrow to be with Nathan for a while. Your grandparents and uncles will be checking on you.”

“Can Brody stay over?” I said with my best puppy dog eyes.

“Let us sleep on that decision. We don’t want to make any rush decisions.”

I slept wrapped in Brody’s arms and it was the best sleep I had in a while. I could smell breakfast cooking and put some clothes on and found the bathroom that had been relocated and then went downstairs. I found Asher cooking in the kitchen with mom.

“Want some eggs?” Mom asked.

“Sure and I love some bacon.”

“What do you think this is; a Waffle House?” Mom said and laughed.

“In that case, I’ll take pancakes too.”

I could hear Brody and Nick talking upstairs and they seemed to be having a good conversation. I really hope we can figure out Nathan’s issue and we go back to some kind of normal. They came down and had breakfast and my father eventually came out from his office.

“Dear, I was gathering Nathan’s medical records and found the stuff on his concussion he had when he was 7.”

“I forgot about that,” Mom said while she set some bacon and toast in front of me.

“I have the scan and the records and there are some notations about calling if we noticed any behavioral changes in him. Did we miss this?”

“Maybe we did, we were so busy between the two family businesses that we could have. I’m going to call Emerson with this news and maybe he can take Nathan and get some tests done.”

“Dad, do you think this is the answer,” I asked.

“I’m not a medical doctor but I know concussions are not good and you have to be vigilant. Your mother and I really could have missed some serious signs and caused your brother to go off the deep end.”

“How did he get the concussion?” Nick asked.

“In school,” Brody said. “I remember that day and I thought I lost my best friend. We were playing on the equipment outside and horsing around and some boy said Nathan and I were weird. Now I think that they would have thought we were gay but anyhow. The one boy Marcus pushed Nathan and he hit his head hard on the wooden pole and then fell to the ground. I remember he wouldn’t wake-up and I screamed and the teacher’s came running.”

“Good memory Brody. Yes, he suffered a concussion and your grandmother watched him like a hawk for several weeks and he couldn’t go to school and his bed had rails so he wouldn’t fall out.”

“Grandma is a good nurse,” I said.

“She was Nursing Administrator at Walter Reed Army Hospital for years before she retired. She was sad that none of her children followed in her footsteps. Your mother being the oldest sort of was expected to but she loved what her father did and went into Security and Business. Your Uncle Ted was a combat medic and when he left the Army, he joined the family business. Your grandmother will tell you a combat medic is nowhere near being a nurse.”

“Are you talking about my brother?” Mom said coming back into the kitchen.

“Yes, I was talking about Ted. How is he doing? It’s been a while since we’ve talked to him.”

“Oh you know Ted; he’s out on some mission that my father sent him on. It’s a shame he never got married. Any ways, Emerson was very intrigued with the idea of the concussion causing the problem. He was going to talk to a friend at the hospital about running some tests. He did say it sounds like a possible answer and would keep us apprised of the situation.”

“So what’s going to happen while you are away?”

“Brody can stay only on the weekends. He has school and needs to attend classes. I spoke with his parents and they are going to assist in making sure you boys stick to the rules. Mr. Baker will be checking on you boys and someone will stay here each night. Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs should be coming down once Grandpa feels better. Until then it will rotate between Grandma and Grandpa Michaels and Uncle Ron and Uncle Tony.” Mom said.

“At least we’ll have the weekends,” I said.

“Yes and there will be no hanky panky or Dancing on a Star either,” Mom said.

“What’s dancing on a star?” Brody, Nick and I said at the same time.

Mom and Dad just laughed and told us it had to do with our great-great-grandparents.

Mom and Dad packed the truck and took off for Pennsylvania. Brody went home and Nick and I were just watching Netflix when there was a knock at the door. We both looked at each other afraid to open the door. The person knocked again and I went to the door and could see a figure through the glass.

I pulled the door open and nearly leap through the screen door.

“Uncle Ted!”