Poison Tree

𝚝𝚎𝚗

~

Pat Halstead had been rushed up to the OR since he had crashed from his heart being under too much stress, so the brothers were now sat in Dylan's hospital room which was in the ICU given that she's still in critical condition. Jay had his hands over Dylan's left hand, whereas Will was still stood at the foot of her bed. She was hooked up to every machine going, there was a breathing tube down her throat too; it was an all too familiar sight. Both of them were in complete silence.

The pair jumped as wills pager went off suddenly, "it's Connor, dads out of surgery" he sighed. Jay nodded, "is he okay?" He slowly stood up, carefully resting Dylan's hand back down. Will shrugged, "he didn't say" he smiled sadly. Both of them nodded in reassurance before taking a quick glance at Dylan, "we'll be right back, dyl..." jay sighed even though she can't hear them.

                "Connor..." Will walked over to the surgeon, his brother following suit.  Connor turned around and stared at them for a while, "let's go in here" he nodded to an empty room.  The brothers followed him, already expecting the worst, and held their breaths, "given that your dads heart was under too much stress, and he went without oxygen for too long, there was nothing more we could do. I'm sorry..." he looked down.  Jay shook his head, "what's that supposed to mean?" He folded his arms.  Will slowly nodded and looked down, "he's brain dead, jay. Dads gone" he spoke shakily.  Jay couldn't bear it so he stormed out, "I'm sorry, Will" Connor smiled sadly before leaving the room as his pager went off.  Silence.

~

Will stared at his brother through the sliding glass doors of their dads hospital room, he shook his head and strolled inside, "jay man... we gotta take dad off the vent" he spoke sadly, knowing this was painful for them both, but even more painful for Dylan since she never got to say a real goodbye.  Jay huffed, "no way..." he shook his head.  "Dads gone, jay. You gotta accept that" Will tried to reason.  Jay stood up, "Dylan needs to say her goodbyes, dad can't leave without Dylan seeing him first, they're a pair" his voice nearly cracked.  Will shook his head, "jay, he's gone... we need to let him go" he added.  Jay threw his fist back and swiftly threw a regrettable punch to wills nose, it gained security's attention as jay left the room in a huff to go see Dylan but before the bigger man could intervene, Will shook it off as he clutched his bloody nose.

~

Seeing Dylan for an hour or two calmed jay down a lot, so when he was ready, he wandered back down to their dads room and sat down next to the bed. Will joined him a few seconds later, "look, I'm sorry..." he began as jay grabbed their dads hand. The brunette looked up in sadness but nodded, "for not being there, for not understanding, for not giving you space to grieve..." the red head concluded. Jay paused, "who am I kidding, man? I know he's not coming back, we can't leave him like this until dyl wakes up, just let him go" he nodded. Will frowned, "okay" he nodded sadly. Both of them knew it would destroy Dylan but it's a decision that's out of their hands, and unfortunately, it was the right call to make.

~

              Jay and Will were sat next to Dylan's bed holding both of her hands, when something clicked in wills head, "what're we gonna tell her when she wakes up?" He sighed. Jay slowly looked up, "I don't know" he admitted. Will nodded halfheartedly, "well whatever we tell her, either way she's not gonna take it very well" he rubbed his face. Jay nodded but he couldn't find the words to reply with. It's now 6:45pm and the pair had finally came to terms with the fact that their dad is gone and their little sister is in a coma, both of them unsure of wether she'll wake up never mind when.

                 After about thrifty minutes of sitting in complete silence, the only sound filling the room was the daunting sound of beeping which occasionally missed a beat when Dylan's breathing became a little chaotic, Will stood up when something caught his eye.  Jay followed his brothers every movement with his eyes, "what?" He enquired before the red head could even say anything.  Will furrowed his brows as he reached over to fiddle with the switches near Dylan's machines, "Will?" Jay huffed with impatience when the older brother didn't answer. Will shook his head, "I'm just turning up her oxygen" he turned a switch all the way up. Jay furrowed his brows as Will sat back down, "up? Isn't that a bad thing?" He sat up straighter. Will sighed, "I'm just making sure she's comfortable, okay? her breathing got a little shallow that's all" he shook his head. Jay knew his brother was dumbing down what he meant, "just tell me how it really is man, I can't handle not knowing, god. We already lost dad..." he huffed in annoyance.

                   Will slowly nodded, "her skins a little pale, more than we would like anyways" he sighed.  Jay frowned and shook his head, "okay... which means what exactly?" He shrugged.  Will looked down at Dylan who was close enough to white and taking shallow breaths, "well usually it means the extent of the injury is large, but her operation was successful, so I'm hoping it's just a reaction to all the meds" he rubbed his face. Jay rubbed his thumbs over Dylan's hand, "she's gonna be okay" he nodded doubtfully. If only he would believe himself...