Illicit Affairs (Andy Barber x OC)

19 - Out Of The Woods

Rose took her seat next to Andy who kept his hand clasped around her own. The first day was always the hardest. "It's ok sweetheart."

She should be the one who should be telling him that, but Rose knew that he was aware of just how anxious she was about the whole thing. Andy had seemingly accepted that he'd need to face Laurie again if he wanted to move on, and he'd need to show her just how much her mistakes had cost her.

Giving him a small smile, she squeezed his hand and then Laurie was led in, looking like a shell of her former self.

Then she looked straight at Rose...

Rose knew she needed to show that she wasn't going to let Laurie get to her and her expression bore triumph. She'd come out of this fighting just when Laurie had thought that she could take everything away from her with one shove. Yes, it was a piece of Rose's heart that would always be missing, but it had healed somewhat, especially now.

Once Laurie had sat down with her lawyer, the judge entered and so the first day of the trial began. It was going to kill Andy to hear of what had happened, especially from his wife's perspective, but if Jacob ever woke up and remembered the incident, then it would be even more heart breaking.

The words of a kid usually were.

Halfway through the week that was literally all the moments that had led him down a slippery slope after the accident, the trial was postponed until further notice.

Recent news had come in, and was destined to change everything...

Jacob had regained consciousness and suddenly everything was up in the air. From the trial right down to whether he would make a full recovery.

He could testify, that was if he could remember the accident at all. He'd taken the full force of the impact and head trauma was the most serious of his injuries that he'd acquired. But if somehow Jacob could remember the events of that fateful afternoon, then his testimony could be the one to seeing that justice was served for him.

Until they were able to determine his state, the trial stopped, and Andy could feel the hope rising once again.

He had been visiting his son every day, being that he had been the first person Jacob had asked for. He'd sped to the hospital early one morning on receiving the call and had cried with relief on seeing Jacob's eyes open, and signs of life.

One week on and Jacob's condition had gone from critical to stable – and according to doctors, he was improving at a steady rate. It would be a long journey in his recovery, but Andy didn't care about that. His son would be coming home. 

He hadn't told Jacob about Rose or the baby. He wanted to, but Rose had made him hold off for the time being, which was sensible enough. "He's just come out of a coma and he's going to be so confused. The thought of me and him having a new brother or sister could make him angry or upset. I don't want him to be stressed out, nor do I want him thinking that he's being replaced." She'd said when they'd spoke about it.

Jacob would find out all in good time, but currently they were trying to determine whether his head injury had caused any lasting effects. Bits of the accident were fuzzy to him, and he couldn't remember much about what had happened on the day, but bits and pieces of Ben's trial were coming back to him.

Today Jacob was more upright as Andy walked in one afternoon. "Hey bud, how you doing?" he asked and sat down next to him. 

Jacob toyed with one of the wires that was attached to him. "When can I come home?" He'd been a little bored, not being able to get up or anything. Soon he'd be able to though and he couldn't wait.