Give up Forever to Touch You

Brian sat on the couch in the corner of the studio, Zack next to him with the lyric sheets as Matt stood in the booth recording the vocals for one of the songs for their new album.

“Wrong lyric.!” He called out, stopping Matt.

As Zack read out the correct lyric from the sheet in front of him, Brian’s cell began to buzz quietly in his pocket.

He pulled it out, confused as he read the name flashing across the screen.

“Michelle?” he questioned.

“Brian, it’s Connor, he’s, he’s…” she sobbed.

“What’s happened? Michelle? Talk to me!” Brian yelled, gaining the attention of the other guys.

“It came from nowhere Bri, knocked him flying into the air…” she cried.

“What the fuck are you on about Mich? What’s happened to Connor?” Brian yelled.

“He’s in the hospital. He was hit by a car and-“

“I’m on my way.” Brian muttered hanging up and storming across the studio floor towards the exit.

“Dude, what’s wrong?” Jimmy yelled.

“I’ve gotta get to the hospital.” Brian replied as he walked out of the building. There was no time to explain.

No doubt breaking a handful of traffic laws on his way, Brian hastily parked his car and made his way into the hospital and quickly found someone to show him where his son was.

“What the fuck happened?” he growled as he stepped into the private treatment room, glaring at Michelle who was sat at the bedside, Ella on her lap as she held Connor’s hand, his arm in a cast, his eyes closed.

“The car came out of nowhere Brian. It all happened so fast.” Michelle said tears evident in her eyes.

“And where the fuck were you?” he asked.

“I was getting Ella out of the car Bri! He wanted to take his empty juice carton across to the trash can..” she yelled back.

“Please don’t shout!” Connor’s small voice interrupted.

“Hey little dude, you okay?” Brian asked.

“It hurts daddy. My arm, back, leg and tummy.” He said quietly.

“Hey, you’re going to be okay, you’re a tough kid.” Brian replied with a wink.

“Sorry to interrupt.” A voice drew Brian’s gaze from his son to the doctor stepping into the room.

“Doctor Heseltine, this is my hus- Connor’s father, Brian. Brian this is Doctor Heseltine.” Michelle said, Brian giving her a curt nod and a small smile.

“I’ve ordered Connor a MRI scan, just as a precaution to make sure that there are no internal injuries that we are missing.” She said.

“What’s a MRI scan?” Connor asked quietly.

“Well,” the doctor began taking a step closer to the bed. “You go into this special room where there’s a bed with a special camera attached to it that takes pictures of the inside of your body to make sure it’s okay.”

“Just a bed with a camera?” Connor asked the doctor nodded.

“We’ll take you up to the room to have it done in a little while okay?” Doctor Heseltine said with a warm smile before leaving the room again.

With a sigh, Brian sat down in the chair next to the bed, taking hold of his son’s hand, without a clue what to say to neither him nor Michelle.

Thankfully they weren’t in silence long as a porter came to take Connor for the scan.

“Okay, Connor, that there’s the special bed, with the big special camera around it.” Doctor Heseltine explained showing Connor the scanner. He nodded quietly, staring at the large white machine.

“You ready?” she asked and again he slowly nodded his head. He was slowly helped onto the scanner and was moved slowly under the machine.

“NO!” Connor screamed just as the scanner started.

“Connor, it’s okay-“ Doctor Heseltine began.

“No! Get me out!” he yelled.

“Get him out!” Brian yelled, the nursing staff quickly complying with his order and removing Connor from the room.

“Hey, it’s okay you’re okay.” Brian whispered gently pulling a shaking Connor into a hug.

“I want Andie.” he whispered, Brian immediately pulling back to look at his son.

“Andie?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, she always made me feel better.” He said and Brian nodded, stepping away from him to pull his cell out of his pocket.

“No way! Not her!” Michelle spat. “Not here!”

“Yes.” Brian said sternly as he pressed the button to dial her number. “If it means Connor getting this scan, I’ll do anything, and so should you."

Sat in the living room, having coffee with Andie, Rhian’s rant about one of her co-workers was cut short at the sound of Andie’s cell phone ringing. There was no need to ask who was calling, the smile appearing on her face as she looked down at the name flashing across the screen, enough to tell anyone it was Brian.

“Baby, I need your help.” Brian’s panicked voice floated through the phone before she had a chance to say hello.

“Babe, is everything okay?” she asked.

“I’m at the hospital, Connor’s been in an accident, He’s asking for you.” he said quickly.

“Oh my god! Is he okay?” she asked.

“He needs a scan, but wants you here with him, baby please, I, we need you here.” Brian explained quickly.

“I’m on my way.” She said hanging up the phone and standing quickly from the table.

“And? What’s wrong?” Rhian asked.

“I need you to look after Abi for me. Connor’s in the hospital, he wants me.” she said hurriedly.

“Go.” Rhian said simply as Andie grabbed her keys.

Andie got to the hospital in record time, Brian waiting outside for her, ready to take her to where Connor was, explaining what had happened as they made their way through the corridors.

“Andie!” Connor exclaimed as she walked into the room behind Brian.

“Hey little man, thought you knew better than to go around fighting with cars.” She teased walking over to the bed, more than aware that she was receiving a hateful glare from Michelle who was sat on the other side of the bed. They hadn’t seen each other since Christmas day. “Now, your dad tells me that you need a scan.”

“Yeah, but I’m scared.” He admitted quietly.

“Want me to come with you?” she asked, Connor nodded.

“I’ll go let Doctor Heseltine know that we’re good to go.” Brian said stepping out of the room.

“Where’s Abi?” he asked quietly.

“She’s with Aunty Rhian.” She told him.

“Why isn’t she here?” he asked.

“Well, I thought you may need all my attention today.” She said with a small smile as Brian returned with the doctor.

“Okay, sweetie, just close your eyes and keep thinking you’re an astronaut sat in your spaceship ready to take off on a mission to Mars. You need to count down from, hmm, can you do from fifty?” Andie said as Connor lay on the scanner again.

“I can go from a hundred.” He said proudly.

“Even better. Now I’m going to be on the other side of that door, I’ll be able to see you through the glass. Now that’s the control room and I’m going to be in there, with your dad, Ella and your mom, listening to you count down and there’s a button in there that I can press to talk to you want.” She said, leaning over to kiss his forehead.

“You ready?” she asked and once again he nodded. With a smile, Andie walked out of the room, Brian reaching for her hand as they watched him enter the scanner, slowly beginning to count down from one hundred.

“Thank you for doing this.” Brian said quietly kissing her cheek

“It’s not a problem, there wasn’t a choice. If he needs me, I’ll be here.” She said with a small smile.

“Little miss perfect aren’t you.” Michelle muttered.

“Michelle don’t.” Brian warned.

“Michelle, I’m sorry. I never planned any of this. But I love Brian and I love Connor and Ella too.” Andie said, trying to keep her voice strong. “I’m here for Connor, and Brian.”

“Just remember they are my kids!” she spat. “I’m their mother.”

“Michelle, this is not the time or place.” Brian warned again.

“He’s ready to come out now.” Doctor Heseltine said, Michelle pushing her way past Brian and Andie to get to Connor first.

“Sorry.” Brian muttered kissing Andie’s temple.

“It’s fine Bri, I was expecting worse.” She murmured.

“Did you hear me count backwards?” Connor asked excitedly.

“Sure did little dude, you did great.” Andie replied with a smile.

Connor was taken back to his hospital bed, where Doctor Heseltine explained that the scan had looked normal at first glance, but that she’d like to keep him in until the films came back so she could look at them properly, making sure that she hadn’t missed anything.

“I’ll just go and call Rhian, make sure Abi’s okay.” Andie said, not overly keen on wanting to stay in the room with Michelle.

“Andie?” Connor’s small voice stopped her.

“Yes sweetie.” she said turning to face him.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly.

“For what sweetie?” she asked, taking a small step closer to the bed.

“For saying that I hated you. I don’t, I love you.” he said with a small smile.

Andie smiled back, tears filling her eyes. “I love you too sweetie.”

They hugged briefly, kissing his forehead before making her way out of the room to call Rhian.

She filled Rhian in with what had happened and made sure she was okay to stay with Abi for a little longer. As she turned to make her way back into the room, she came face to face with Brian, his arms opening to pull her into a gentle embrace.

“Thank you.” he said quietly, kissing the top of her head.

She lifted her head off his chest to look up at him, noticing he had tears in his eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I could have lost him,” he whispered.

“No, he’s a Haner, he doesn’t give in that easily.” She said quietly, her hand gently cupping his cheek, her thumb gently bushing a rouge tear away.

“You were amazing in there with him.” he said with a smile.

“It was nothing.” She said with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

“I love you Andrea Jennings.” He said quietly, leaning down to kiss her lips.

“I love you too Brian Haner.” She replied with a smile, kissing his lips again and resting her head back on his chest, his arms tightening slightly around her, holding her close.