DROPPING WALLS (MANXMAN) ~UNDER REVIEW~

Thomas visits his family at the hospital

The smell of hospital was unpleasant and being there for reasons never thought before didn't help Thomas' nerves. The boy constantly looked at Peter to make sure he wasn't alone, the boy always had a reassuring grin on his face.

The boys found Thomas's family in the waiting room, he stopped under the threshold and found his mother and grandmother sat together holding hands, the scene made the hand squeezing his heart tightens its hold.

Thomas' mother saw him first and got up, she crossed the distance between them so fast and put her arms around her son, holding him strongly as if to become one, she cried, the boy didn't remember ever having a moment like that with her mother, the feeling was alien to him, but he held her back. All the way to the island the boy thought he was only worried about his grandfather, but he was utterly afraid of losing either men in the hospital and he felt all of the walls he put up and used to keep strong starting to crumble. He was afraid.

Hugging his grandmother was a little more normal and comforting, she was calm, but he knew se wasn't really, they were the same, he let go of her to find his mother hugging Peter and saying a lot of things to him, the boy wasn't smiling, but he didn't seem to mind what was being said.

"Pete... thank you so much, for bringing him." Thomas's grandmother said and hugged the boy. Peter smiled and hugged her tight.

"How are they?" Asked peter after he looked at Thomas and saw that the boy wouldn't make the question.

As the two women explained the other two men situations Peter slowly got to Thomas side and tried to be a support by standing close to him.

The two involved in the accident tried to avoid a car that stopped on the road because the driver started to feel sick, the Fitz's car rolled over. Thomas's grandfather had gone under surgery and was in his room already, the man broke some ribs and had an internal bleeding, but he would be okay.

The father was a little bit different, he had several broken bones, and he was on an induced coma, the boy felt a shiver through his body, it wasn't good and he wasn't ready to lose a parent, he cared about them more than he could notice.

While they waited to his grandfather to wake and being allowed to get visitors they sat in the waiting room, Thomas' mom holding her son's hand and The Boy being observed by Peter.

The doctor came and said only one person at a time would be allowed for now, Thomas's grandmother looked at him but he shook his head, he wouldn't steal that from her. The old woman smiled and got up, she followed the doctor and the boy's mother followed because she wanted to know about her husband.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Peter and Thomas shrugged, he closed his eyes and huffed.

"I'm fucking scared, Pete, my father..." the black boy nodded.

"She never treated you like that, did she?" Thomas shook his eyes. "She never treated me like that either. She said she was glad I was part of your life. Guess tragic moments make people see things differently." The boy commented.

"Do you think she'll be different? I mean, after we leave and everything's back to normal?"

"She'll be different. You Fitz lot are a very strong family, this is the first time y'all come close to something of this magnitude, prepare yourself." Peter smiled and Thomas laughed.

"Thank you." Said Thomas and the words startled Peter, the boy looked at him confused. "For coming here with me, you didn't have to, after what I did you shouldn't come."

"Forget about it, I wanted to come. I love your family, man, and I ignored every single word you said to me at the wedding, I don't give up that easy, Tom. But I won't try to stop your happiness, do I look like a home wrecker to you? Never mind, I don't want to know your opinion of me when it comes to this." Thomas laughed and closed his eyes. Everything would be all right.

Thomas's grandfather had a purple bruise on his face, the rest of his body was covered by the hospital blanket and the old man looked content with being awake and acting his normal self, Thomas felt the easy smile his grandparents got from him every time they saw each other starting to show. The old man smiled too, weak, but it was enough.

"Hey, boy, how are you?" Thomas didn't know what to say, he held his grandfather hand and shrugged.

"You made me a little bit scared." He told the old man and his grandfather laughed.

"You look terrible."

"Didn't sleep the whole night. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, but apart from that it doesn't feel like I were involved in an accident, did Buffalo win?"

"What?"

"The game against France. Did we win?" The old man asked and Thomas realized he hadn't thought about anything related to soccer for a while.

"The game didn't happen yet... we still have four hours until the match begins." His grandfather nodded and the boy sat on the chair next to the bed. "I think they're going to win."

"Of course they'll. We're going to the World Cup and our qualification will be over the current world champions. Couldn't be any better. How is you father?"

"He is unconscious, but the doctors said he'll wake up soon. At least I hope so, that's what we do, right? We're Fitz and we are the strongest family in this world." The boy said and the old man smiled. Thomas felt that his heart was calmer now and he was breathing more evenly. "My mom hugged me for a long time. Can you believe it?" The grandfather feigned being surprised and they laughed.

"They love you. They just don't show it in the right way. They wanted you to succeed and that clouded their parenting and love." Thomas nodded to his grandfather's words.

The two of them spent the remaining of their time talking about the accident and how things were going.