((Links with Nightmares Do Come True.))
The street outside the hospital was thronged with reporters, photographers, and well wishers. The Watch seemed to be having a little difficulty holding them back from overwhelming the staff and visitors who periodically moved through the doors, but thankfully, no one seemed to be packing any more guns as Caroline drew the black Mercedes into a parking space on the lot, close to the crowd.
She looked into the rearview mirror, meeting Humphrey Granger's eyes in concern.
"You sure you want to do this, Grandpa?"
The Old Man looked out through the darkened window beside him, frowning at the interest their arrival had garnered. The reporters, in particular, were drawn to the car, and the Watch had no jurisdiction to protect the Grangers from the interest of the public. Which was why Caroline had locked the doors, waiting until Humphrey's own private security detail arrived to clear a path for them.
"I'm sure," Humphrey said quietly, the weight of his years and cares heavy in his voice. "I won't sleep easy until I've seen him for myself. And neither will you." He sighed. "I never thought I would hear myself say this, but it was a good thought to bring that blasted chair, Caroline. I will not be able to walk through a pushing crowd."
"He'll be fine, Grandpa," Caroline assured him, hoping like hell she wasn't lying through her teeth. "They said he was stable, that's good, isn't it' I'm more worried about Correy than Jon."
Humphrey frowned again, this time in faint confusion. "Correy was there?" he asked, his gruff voice even more harsh as he leaned forward to hear her answer.
"Uh, yeah." Caroline bit her tongue. It wasn't her place to tell the Old Man how things stood between Jon and Correy. "Seems like Correy went out with the cast for their end of run celebrations. He was there when Jon was shot."
"Oh, that poor lad ....Ah, they're here. Action stations, Caroline."
The reassuringly familiar shapes of the private security firm Humphrey had hired to look after his family before Christmas had appeared in the midst of the crowd around the car, pushing people back and clearing the way. Caroline unlocked the doors, climbing out to go and retrieve the wheelchair from the boot of the car, alarmed by how much she was jostled despite the presence of the big men protecting her.
"Miss Granger, what do you know about your cousin's shooting ....any idea who is behind ....about rumours that it was an inside job ....do you have any reason to dislike Jonathan Granger ..."
Ignoring the questions and accusations, just the way she had been trained to, Caroline brought the chair around to Humphrey's door. The arrival of the Old Man on the scene brought another loud round of inane questions, all of which he ignored coldly as his granddaughter wheeled him between the security men and into the hospital proper.
"Damned vultures," Humphrey growled once they were in the elevator. "All they care about is their story, not the people involved in it. Don't ever give them an inch, Caroline, they'll spin it out into a conspiracy theory."
"They'll write something about us not speaking to them, anyway," she pointed out, but was overridden by his harsh bark of laughter.
"Let them! They can't twist words if they don't have any to play with."
They both fell silent for a while, barely speaking until they arrived at the private room where Jon was being cared for. Humphrey Granger needed no security checks done on him, and by virtue of being introduced as his granddaughter, neither did Caroline.
Correy was asleep, his head on his arms where they rested against the bed. Jon ....Jon was quiet, seemingly also asleep, monitored in a manner frightening to any of the Grangers who had seen Caroline in the hours after her return a few months before. With a quiet word, Humphrey ordered Caroline to set him by the bed.
She did so, before moving around to the other side. Wrapping a gentle arm around Correy, she carefully shook him awake, shushing any sound he might have made, and with the firm hand he knew entirely too well, led him out of the room, to be certain that he had eaten at the very least.
Left alone with Jon, Humphrey sighed, and for that moment looked every one of his seventy-nine years. First Caroline, and now Jon ....who was next, he wondered, to complete the old adage that trouble came in threes. His hand curled into Jon's warm, but still fingers.
"We're here, lad," he said quietly. "Come back to us."
The street outside the hospital was thronged with reporters, photographers, and well wishers. The Watch seemed to be having a little difficulty holding them back from overwhelming the staff and visitors who periodically moved through the doors, but thankfully, no one seemed to be packing any more guns as Caroline drew the black Mercedes into a parking space on the lot, close to the crowd.
She looked into the rearview mirror, meeting Humphrey Granger's eyes in concern.
"You sure you want to do this, Grandpa?"
The Old Man looked out through the darkened window beside him, frowning at the interest their arrival had garnered. The reporters, in particular, were drawn to the car, and the Watch had no jurisdiction to protect the Grangers from the interest of the public. Which was why Caroline had locked the doors, waiting until Humphrey's own private security detail arrived to clear a path for them.
"I'm sure," Humphrey said quietly, the weight of his years and cares heavy in his voice. "I won't sleep easy until I've seen him for myself. And neither will you." He sighed. "I never thought I would hear myself say this, but it was a good thought to bring that blasted chair, Caroline. I will not be able to walk through a pushing crowd."
"He'll be fine, Grandpa," Caroline assured him, hoping like hell she wasn't lying through her teeth. "They said he was stable, that's good, isn't it' I'm more worried about Correy than Jon."
Humphrey frowned again, this time in faint confusion. "Correy was there?" he asked, his gruff voice even more harsh as he leaned forward to hear her answer.
"Uh, yeah." Caroline bit her tongue. It wasn't her place to tell the Old Man how things stood between Jon and Correy. "Seems like Correy went out with the cast for their end of run celebrations. He was there when Jon was shot."
"Oh, that poor lad ....Ah, they're here. Action stations, Caroline."
The reassuringly familiar shapes of the private security firm Humphrey had hired to look after his family before Christmas had appeared in the midst of the crowd around the car, pushing people back and clearing the way. Caroline unlocked the doors, climbing out to go and retrieve the wheelchair from the boot of the car, alarmed by how much she was jostled despite the presence of the big men protecting her.
"Miss Granger, what do you know about your cousin's shooting ....any idea who is behind ....about rumours that it was an inside job ....do you have any reason to dislike Jonathan Granger ..."
Ignoring the questions and accusations, just the way she had been trained to, Caroline brought the chair around to Humphrey's door. The arrival of the Old Man on the scene brought another loud round of inane questions, all of which he ignored coldly as his granddaughter wheeled him between the security men and into the hospital proper.
"Damned vultures," Humphrey growled once they were in the elevator. "All they care about is their story, not the people involved in it. Don't ever give them an inch, Caroline, they'll spin it out into a conspiracy theory."
"They'll write something about us not speaking to them, anyway," she pointed out, but was overridden by his harsh bark of laughter.
"Let them! They can't twist words if they don't have any to play with."
They both fell silent for a while, barely speaking until they arrived at the private room where Jon was being cared for. Humphrey Granger needed no security checks done on him, and by virtue of being introduced as his granddaughter, neither did Caroline.
Correy was asleep, his head on his arms where they rested against the bed. Jon ....Jon was quiet, seemingly also asleep, monitored in a manner frightening to any of the Grangers who had seen Caroline in the hours after her return a few months before. With a quiet word, Humphrey ordered Caroline to set him by the bed.
She did so, before moving around to the other side. Wrapping a gentle arm around Correy, she carefully shook him awake, shushing any sound he might have made, and with the firm hand he knew entirely too well, led him out of the room, to be certain that he had eaten at the very least.
Left alone with Jon, Humphrey sighed, and for that moment looked every one of his seventy-nine years. First Caroline, and now Jon ....who was next, he wondered, to complete the old adage that trouble came in threes. His hand curled into Jon's warm, but still fingers.
"We're here, lad," he said quietly. "Come back to us."