Hills & Valleys : The Sophomore Sequel || Tori Kelly

Fighting Spirit

continued

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could," a doctor sadly stated. The burdened mother dropped her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. Tori and André rushed pasted the gut wrenching sight, following the sound of their sons pain.

The young mom burst into the small room to see her oldest asleep in the hospital bed and his inconsolable brother on their grandmother's lap. On sight, Jaxon pulled for Tori, rubbing his sleepy eyes in the process. "Has anyone seen him yet?" Tori asked, sitting next to Joey on the bed, stroking Jaxon's back.

"Nope," Micheal replied, as he slowly rocked Ella's car seat, knowing that would keep her asleep through her brother's tears. A sigh left Tori's lips. She did her best not cry in front of her kids, but the sight of Jaxon's knot on his forehead cracked her heart. It was bruised and had a large scratch slicing down the center. It was obvious where the corner hit first.

"It's okay, Jax. Mommy is right here. You gotta calm down, buddy." Tori whispered. A few moments later, the curtain rushed back to reveal a face that was unexpected and uninvited. "Mom? What are you doing here?" Tori growled, holding onto her son tighter.

"André," Laura muttered. The basketball player shrugged, moving behind the diagonal hospital bed to stand beside his mother.

"I texted her. She deserved to be here and you two need to make up. This is stupid and Noah doesn't deserve this. She's his mother and you're his sister." André confessed. Tori wiped her tears, holding onto Jaxon for her comfort now as well.

"She was my mother, too! But we all seem to forget that! I needed her! I had a baby unexpectedly and she left! You left me!" Tori yelled. The Murillo's decided it was best to leave the Kelly women to talk this one out alone. "Why? What did I do?" Tori cried. Laura took Micheals seat and scooted it to the bed.

"You became independent. You didn't need me anymore. You had everything figured out," Laura started. "The divorce killed me, but I didn't get a chance to grieve my loss. But once you started to show signs of independence, I knew I could leave Noah in the hands of someone who could care for him better than me. So I did. And I realize now that I should've talked to you first, but Tori..." Laura trailed off, forming her own tears. "I had to get out of there. Everything reminded me of the hell we went through and I couldn't fully parent during the hell I was dealing with."

Tori could hear the pleas for forgiveness in her mothers throat while her son was screaming against her heartbeat. She didn't want to stay mad at her mother. She wanted to move on. And while it would take some time, her kids deserved at least one Kelly grandparent if the other wasn't going to step up.

"Next time, just talk to me," was all she could get out before being attacked by her mother in a pleasant hug. Tori took a deep breath of her mothers scent in. Remembering the good times were easier that way.

"Okay, now that that's out the way, keep him awake until the doctor gets in. In case of a concussion, we want to be proactive. And he's going to hate it, but we don't have a choice. Going to sleep is too dangerous in this situation, especially because he's two and can't articulate how he feels with words," Nurse Laura said.

The rest of the family came back in and did everything they could to keep the baby boy awake in hopes that seeing a doctor would solve their issues before midnight.

10:45 PM

Hooked up to an IV, Jaxon was admitted into the hospital for observation after examination by the ER doctor. The professional was set on letting them go home, until Jaxon threw up after being in the waiting room lights for thirty seconds. The severity of his is sensitivity to light was dead give away that he needed to be admitted for at least 12 hours.