"What's going on here? Who are you?" it could have been hours later but someone intrudes on Connor's room to wake me. As soon as I see him laying in bed asleep I take his hand again running my other hand over his bearded cheek "Hey buddy, it's your dad-I found you like you wanted." The emotions are far too raw and new. Connor is alive and here in front of me as real as the stars in the sky; "I asked you a question, who are you?" not bothering to turn around I look over all the tubes and wires in my son, my heart breaking.
"I'm Lindsey Buckingham" as if that explanation is enough, I don't mean to be rude but I'm still largely in shock that Connor is alive. That after all my searching and having resigned him to the grave here he is. Clinging to life "Why are you in here? Only authorized family members-" clearing my throat I finally stand and face the other person in the room, she looks like a nurse "This is my son-I haven't seen him in almost twenty years" doesn't seem as if she cares, her arms crossing "You're not on the approved visitors list" I refrain from throwing something, God these people are thick.
"Of course, not I haven't seen him since he was a toddler, he doesn't even know who I am. I have court orders giving me guardianship of his son, my grandson. I have DNA test that establishes I'm related to my grandson through is father. i.e. my son" I'm glad I got that test done more than ever now. It's all the legitimacy I can claim "If you have proof of that I'll need to see it before you can come back again, for now you need to leave"
I want to fight, to tell her to fuck off and leave me and my son alone. But that won't do Connor any good and it'll just hurt my chances of being perceived as not an asshole "I'll be back in the morning with a court order to stop you people from unplugging him. Who has his power of attorney?" the nurse scowls at me but shrugs "His wife used to, but she hasn't been here in over a year so the hospital has been making all of his decisions" once again his life is in someone else's hands instead of his own.
"She hasn't come to see him in over a year because she's been telling people he's dead" the nurse seems taken aback but says nothing watching me as I leave the room. Irma is standing in the hallway when I walk out looking star struck "You don't look the same in person as you do on your albums" smiling I give her a kiss on the cheek a token of thanks for her help "I'll be back tomorrow, don't worry I'm not going to let them unplug Connor" she nods and I take the staff elevator back to the first floor. I can't wait to call until I get back to Stevie's, so I ring Marvin's home number waking him from his solid ten hours of sleep. He's annoyed and groggy but he gives me his word he'll have the injunctions in the morning as well as an application for power of attorney to be transferred to me.
When I get home I find Stevie and Denny just waking up for the day, it's seven in the morning and Denny is supposed to spend the day at the community center with his group. He looks forward to it so much, and it teaches him important social and scholastic skills that he'll need when he finally goes to "real" school. It makes me wish we'd had programs like this when Connor was first born, but I have so many regrets from that time in my life it's hard to keep track.
"You've been gone all night, what's the matter?" I probably look like a mess, I haven't shaved my clothes are wrinkled and I've been crying off and on for hours. I think I may have dehydrated myself "Steph...baby sit down" Denny munches his cereal watching the two of us curiously. Laughing softly Stevie takes a seat "What is it hon?" I kneel next to her wiping my tired eyes and grinning just a little. Taking her hands in mine I gather my thoughts and blow away the cobwebs of my mind. This is good news, Connor's alive.
"I-I went back through those tapes the ones Connor made for Denny" at her look of disappointment I drop my head a fraction in apology "I know, I said we'd wait but after the detective left-I just got to thinking about everything. Anyway I found a short tape that he made for us, he knew instinctively that we still loved him. And he knew it was us he stayed with back in 1978 and only put it together when he got older. As his illness progressed he thought more and more about leaving Denny with Mina and he wasn't comfortable with it-so he asked us to take care of Denny after he died"
