Her Safe Haven

Chapter 38 - Meeting The Family

His answer was quip and honest. "We don't know yet."

At the statement Rohan's expression briefly fell grave, but like the slide of a curtain it quickly turned back to emotionless before he nodded and looked away.

+++

The result of the operation came out on Saturday morning at 8 a.m., after almost eleven hours of surgery. The knife had apparently hit a hollow organ, her intestine, so it was not too dire but it had also slightly punctured her right kidney — hence the complication. Gray had offered one of his kidneys immediately, but the doctor had chuckled and said that it was not necessary.

Jake was not really listening to the conversation between the doctor and her family intently — he didn't really want to impose on the McHalens. He was just glad that Winter, though still unconscious, was now stable and will be okay.

To be completely honest, Jake was more glad of this fact because of Rohan. Ever since Lennox received the phone call from Rose Millers at midnight, Rohan had been calm, too calm, that Jacob was just waiting for the bomb with this unknown timer to explode and for Rohan to crack. Jake was just thankful that nothing had happened with Rohan so far. Yet.

Rohan was also extremely quiet. He hadn't eaten nor drank and he hadn't moved from his spot standing next to Jonah with his arms crossed and expression ever flat. Only when the doctor came out and gave his announcement that his stone grip on his arms seemed to have relaxed a fraction, but otherwise Jacob was still on stand by in case Rohan broke down and the other Rohan came out.

Other than the news about Winter's surgery finishing though, the other exciting occurrence that happened was about two hours later, when most of Winter's group of friends were going down to the hospital's cafeteria to get breakfast, and he thought that some famous person was getting admitted to the hospital just because of the amount of uniformed guards that were rushing in, but it turned out that it had been Winter's mom.

Jake's own father had never been one to like the constant attention of bodyguards, and he didn't really remember much about his mother, though he supposed that if she was still alive, she as the wife and co-owner of a billion dollar company would also be followed around by bodyguards such as this.

Winter's mother's arrival also gave Jacob an atmosphere like the arrival of the pope — she was tall, and really elegant and looked calm despite her daughter's situation, and as she came she was immediately greeted and tend to by hospital staffs, Winter's friends, and Jonah's parents. But Mrs McHalen didn't talk much to them, and she was now talking in a very low voice on one of the seats next to Caleb McHalen and Mr and Mrs Ford.

Though there was another stranger Jacob didn't recognise who was now talking to Winter's friends. He was a tall man who looked to be in his mid twenties with curly hair and a very charismatic gait but laughed too much, Jacob thought (considering the current situation), but Winter's friends and dear God even Lennox seemed to like him very much. From Seth he had learned that the person was Winter's cousin Elijah, who was ten years older than Winter, and had been working for Winter's father for as long as they all remembered.

About half an hour later, after the rest of Winter's group of friends returned from breakfast and greeted her mother, another interesting thing happened that caught Jake's attention:

Gray McHalen, who he had just noticed had been suspiciously missing for the past six hours since the Garrisons arrived, finally came. And after exchanging long hugs with his mom, their quiet conversation immediately attracted the attention of the room when Gray's voice boomed as an angry yell.

"His daughter almost died and he couldn't even skip a business meeting for it? What, is he even our father? Even Elijah came."

Caleb hushed him in a warning tone. "Gray."

With his brother's silent glare of rebuke, Gray tsk-ed and walked away annoyedly, followed by Elijah trailing him with a chorus of jokes to try and cheer him up.

Caleb sighed and apologised to his mom. "Ten years ago he wouldn't leave her side. Now he wouldn't even see her."

"He feels guilty."

It always wondered him how his mother could always know everything, Caleb thought, because his mother didn't even know the whole story, yet she knew.

He smiled sadly at her, and in return his mother smiled back softly at him and said, in that amicable tone of hers, "You talk to him. He only listens to you."

And because it was his mother, and because he knew she was right, Caleb left.

With her sons and nephew gone and Jonah talking to his parents on another corner, Rohan was now the only one left with her who was still standing right in front of the ICU door leading to Winter.

"Hello," she smiled at him, and at that the red haired boy seemed to notice for the first time that she was there, next to him, because his eyes widened from their previous blank stare and he turned almost too quickly to look at her. "Are you Winter's friend?"

Rohan blinked. She could almost see the wheels in his brain turning as he made the conclusion, because after a while his surprised expression immediately turned into a polite half-smile as he offered her his hand. "Mrs McHalen. Pardon me for my rudeness. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rohan Garrison."

"Ah." Anne McHalen had only heard that name once before, when a famous magazine gossiped him to be 'engaged in an arranged marriage' to her daughter a few months ago. Looking at his worried face now, she thought maybe the gossip might have a basis after all. "Are you good friends with my daughter?"

"I am." The way he answered the question almost too quickly made his eyes widened a fraction. "At the very least, I hope that Winter would think of me as a good friend, too. Your daughter is a really amazing woman."

It was Anne's turn to blink, and her smile widened slightly at that. "I'm glad you think that way."

She regretted sending Caleb away to talk to Gray, because now, it seemed she needed to talk to him more about what was going on with her daughter and this handsome, youngest heir of the Garrison Group.

It seemed she had been away from her children for too long.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: A bit late this week, I know. But still tell me what you think ;)