After the youngest brother put away his crayons, he jumps up and runs to the kitchen, where his oldest brother has already filled him a plate. He also starts to laugh at the child's eagerness, before stroking his younger brother's black curls and setting the plate down in front of the child, who instantly digs in. "Hey, shouldn't you call him out for manners?", the second oldest brother says with a smile as he enters the kitchen. "Isn't that your job, 'mom'?", the oldest one says with a mocking tone, making the other role his eyes. That joke was seriously getting old.
The three of them start to eat and joke but after a while the second oldest brother, who has barely touched his food, motions for his older brother to come outside for a second. "Hey, Jax. Don't you think it's getting late?", he says looking at the clock, which says that it is now 8 in the evening. Their parents still aren't home and also didn't try to contact them yet, which is very unusual. Their younger brother was obviously getting tired, his eyes shutting every few seconds. "Yeah, I do. I tried to call mother, but the call didn't go through.", Jaxon answers, nervously tapping his foot. He could see his younger brother Yujah bite his lip. At that moment, the phone starts to ring - which is very weird. Who would call at this hour? Especially on the house phone? Sure, their grandparents used to do that, but they both died before Jonah was even born.
The two brothers look at each other, debating which one of them should answer the call. Jaxon smiles and nods towards Jonah, who is sitting at the table half asleep. Yujah immediately understands and nods to Jaxon, making his way to the kitchen where he picks up the younger boy from his seat, while the oldest brother answers the phone. "Jaxon Clark, here.", the older boy says. A few moments later, his eyes widen and his head whips around towards his younger brothers, who are on the staircase that leads to their bedrooms. "Okay, I understand, please wait a moment.", he then says into the phone, his voice shaking a little, before taking it away from his ear to say something. "Change of plans. We need to get to the hospital.", he says to Yujah, who had already stopped walking, confused by his older brothers' actions. "What's wrong? Did something happen?", the boy asks back. "They got into a car accident, so we need to go there. Get ready while I finish the call.", Jax says with a serious tone. Yujah nods and walks back into the hall, placing Jonah down in order to gather both of their shoes and jackets, making the tired child look at him, confusion written all over his face.
A few moments later, all three of them are set to go. Jaxon, who is the only one old enough to drive and luckily also has his license, sits down in the driver's seat. Yujah sits down next to him, after strapping Jonah in the backseat. The drive to the hospital is nerve-wracking, luckily Jonah is tired enough to sleep through the whole ride. It had already gotten dark outside. Spring break is going to start in a few weeks, but the weather is still fairly cold. The drive is silent except for the radio playing in the background. No talking, no conversation, just three boys sitting in a car, one sleeping and two busy with their own thoughts. Their town's hospital isn't actually far away, but apparently, their parents were brought to a different hospital closer to the location of the accident, which was about an hour away from their hometown. The clock seems to be ticking a lot more slowly than usual, torturing the two older boys with nervousness and a whirlwind of thoughts.
When they finally arrive at the hospital, the first thing they get to do is wake up their little brother who is still very confused about what was going on in the first place. Jaxon says that he is going to ask the receptionist about the details and where their parents are at the moment, leaving his younger brother to deal with the child on his own yet again. Climbing into the back of the car with ease, without even getting out of the car and using the door, the small build teen sits down next to his younger brother, slowly shaking him awake. "Yuyu?", the small child asks, his voice sleepy and his eyes dropping close again every time he tries to open them. Yawning, Jonah tries to get the sleep out of his eyes with his small hands. "Wake up, Jon. We need to go somewhere, okay?", the older boy says very gently, smiling down at the younger one. "Where are we?", the youngest brother asks after he is a little more awake. "We're at the hospital. This is where mom and dad are, Jaxon is already inside and waiting for us.", Yujah says, making his younger brother nod. After picking up the shoes that the child managed to get rid of during the ride and getting them back onto the younger boy's feet, Yujah takes off the seatbelt and opens the door before climbing out and taking his brother into his arms, who immediately wraps his arms and legs around his older brother.
When they enter the hospital, Jaxon is already waiting for them together with a nurse. "There they are.", Jaxon says to the lady next to him, motioning towards his younger brothers. "Please follow me.", she says the moment the two of them arrive where the oldest brother and the nurse had been waiting. "We already told your brother, but your parents are currently getting operated in the emergency room. The accident was pretty bad. We don't know how long it is going to take or what the outcome will be.", the nurse says, explaining the current situation. For the youngest boy what she said had no real meaning, his mind too tired to process the information, but for the older two, it just makes them even more nervous than they already were. The nurse brings the boys to a waiting area where only a few other people seem to be, too busy with themselves to even do as much as look up as the four of them enter the room.
"What are we doing here? Where are mom and dad?", Jonah asks his older brothers, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Mom and dad had a bad accident with their car. The doctors are taking care of them, but this can take a while. We have to wait for them to finish.", Yujah answers. The child nods, desperately trying to keep its eyes open. "Are mom and dad going to be okay? Are they hurt badly?", he then asks again after a short pause. "I don't know, Jon. I'm sorry. We have to wait for the doctors to tell us. Do you want to pray with me?", the second oldest brother says. The child nods. As the younger boy puts his hands together, the older boy takes a rosary which is hanging around his neck, usually hidden under his shirt, into his own hands before doing the same - all while ignoring the frown displayed on Jaxon's face as he does so.
Both of Yujah's brothers have small crosses of their own around their necks, but Yujah's is special. While his brothers' are small and simple, his is bigger with ornaments and four small blue gems on the front, one at each of the four ends. It fits into his hands perfectly. "What a beautiful rosary.", an old lady sitting across from them says with a smile on her lips. "Thank you, madam.", the teen says with a smile of his own. "It's always nice to see fine young kids like you, who know about respect and believe.", she continues to say. "Thank you for the compliment, madam.", the boy says, again smiling at her politely. Looking at her, viewing the lady's multiple crosses and rosaries, he then proceeds to ask if she wanted to pray with them, which brings another smile to her face as she comes to sit next to the boys. "I'm praying for my husband. Who might you be praying for?", she asks while taking one rosary into each of her hands. "We're praying for mom and dad.", Jonah answers as the three of them proceed to make a small circle, holding hands and closing their eyes. The woman starts to recite prayers when Jaxon speaks up. "May I join?", he asks. "Of course, you may.", the woman says, delight showing on her face as they expand their little circle and she continues to recite in a low voice, Yujah soon joining in, making her smile yet again.
After a while, a doctor comes to talk to the woman. Before leaving, she tells them how happy she was to find such fine young men and wished them the best of luck for their future as they are surely going to be fine adults. After she leaves, Jaxon snorts. "So we're all going to be fine adults only because we were raised religiously? Yeah, right. If that was the case, the world would be a better place.", he says, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Yujah just nods, knowing that his brother is more than right. Being religious does not automatically make you a good person.
With the woman gone, the boys sit down in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. They are tired but also very awake, nervous, uncertain, scared, and hopeful. It's an odd combination of feelings. As they sit there, blending out the conversations of others, all they do is sit, breathe and think.
The room is slowly getting more and more empty, as more and more people get called out. Yujah is still holding his rosary in his hands, while his younger brother is now leaning against him, half-asleep. After waiting for nearly an hour, a doctor comes up to them. "Are you the children of Mr. and Mrs. Clark?", he asks. "Yes, that's us.", Jaxon says while standing up and shaking the man's hand. "Jaxon.", he says. "Dr. Kovitch.", the man replies. "So, how are they?", Jaxon asks. When the doctor doesn't immediately reply, he gets a bad feeling. He looks the man directly into the eyes as if challenging him. Dr. Kovitch shakes his head. "I'm sorry for your loss. We did everything we could.", is all he says.
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