JP Cooper - In The Silence (Song for Chapter)
It's that time of the week again. I'm actually updating on time too!
Quote of the day from the amazing TV show Scorpion, said by Sylvester:
"Blood doesn't make family. Love makes family"
<3
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Chapter 42: Broken Wings
Keane's POV
"We'll meet you at the airport," Arlo said, Mum and Dad didn't look too convinced, "I'll make sure we all get there safely,"
We were finally leaving Tokyo and heading back to England, after I'd built up enough strength that would at least allow me to fly. We were taking our very own private jet, that Mum and Dad had seemed to make appear from nowhere, they had more cards in their hand than any magician out there. It was very early morning around 5am, since Mum and Dad wanted us to get out of here as soon as possible and the flight back was going to take around 12 hours, they decided leaving early would be best. I didn't mind, it wasn't like I was sleeping very well anyway.
"I don't want you detouring anywhere, not with Keane" Mum said,
"You have no say in what I do," I said, she had tears in her eyes, but Dad was the one who looked the most hurt, I'd been giving them both the cold shoulder, ever since we found out about Arlo. Who may I add is one of the most genuine and kindest guys I've ever met and I am honoured to call him my older brother.
To be honest, I shouldn't be taking my anger and hurt out on Dad, because for a start, he only found out about Arlo a year ago and Mum never told him who Arlo's real father is either. If anything, I should be siding with Dad, but at the moment, I didn't want to face either of them,
"How are you feeling babe?" Tayte asked, we were in the back of a black BMW X5, which Arlo was driving and Noah was sat shotgun:
"Lucky and blessed to have you and my brothers by my side" I replied,
"Physically though"
"I feel like I've been in a severe car crash, I feel like my body has been through a war. I feel drained Tayte and every small movement intensifies the pain," he kissed me, there were tears in his eyes and that hurt me even more,
"Tell me how to help you. Tell me what I can do for you,"
"You just being by my side, you just holding my hand, or kissing me, hugging me, takes away the pain baby, you and Noah and Arlo are my medicine" Arlo and Noah were looking at me with worried, but loving eyes in the rear view mirror,
"Little bro, we're going to get through this you know. We are all going to be by your side every step of the way. Forever, I am not letting you leave my life, not after I've just got you"
"I'm never going to get used to you calling me little brother," I said softly smiling,
"I'm sure you will, because I'm never going to get tired of saying it,"
"Whoa," Noah suddenly said, we all looked out of the window, "That view is incredible"
"A view like that eases the pain," I said.
We got to the airport just after our parents, who came hurriedly over to the car, Tayte got out and came to my side, with Noah blocking our parents. Arlo got the wheelchair out of the back of the car, I hopped out the car and into the wheelchair with the help of Tayte. I hated being so helpless, so dependent on other people. I hated being wrapped in bubble wrap by everyone, but I shouldn't complain, because I was lucky, I was lucky to be alive.
"We're going to wait in the lounge for an hour until they've got the plane ready" Mum said, nobody answered, we all just followed her. Noah made it his job to push me,
"If you crash, or make me fall out, there will be hell to pay," I said, with a twinkle in my eyes,
"I won't, I'm a pro at this, don't you worry about a thing"
...
"Wake me up when it's time to fly," I said, led on the sofa, my head was resting on Tayte's lap, my left leg was secure and raised on the sofa arm, my left arm was hugged close to my body in a black world class sling,
"I'll wake you up in 20 minutes when you have to take your tablets," Tayte said, I groaned,
"Wake me when it's all over" I mumbled.
Tayte's POV
I actually couldn't comprehend what was happening. I still couldn't believe that my angel in my arms nearly died. He did die, for a few minutes, his heart stopped. I don't think I would have been able to carry on if I'd have lost him. To look at his broken and battered body hurt me, it hurt me so bad I wanted to scream. We all had an extremely long road ahead of us and it was going to be far from easy, it was going to be a tough ride, but I was going to be there every step of the way. As I knew Noah and Arlo would be too. I don't think I'm ever going to get the image of when I found Keane led half dead, I thought; I thought he was already gone and then he spoke, and my heart dive bombed off a cliff and shot back up like a rocket.
"Tayte," I zoned back into reality and looked up, "Are you okay?" Noah asked me, I shook my head,
"No Noah, I'm not," I replied truthfully,
"Me neither," he replied, "But...I know I will be, I know we all will be. This is our hardest challenge yet, but we are strong and we have the ability to conquer anything thrown at us"
"You are so right" I said, and he was. We were all going to be okay!
"Keane needs to take his tablets before we fly" Arlo said softly. Looking at him, I didn't have the heart to wake him, but I knew it was for his own good. His eyes opened and he looked up at me and smiled.
That smiled gave me strength.
<<<
The plane was very luxurious, so none of us had to worry about anything. We all soon settled down and by the time we'd taken off, were all comfortable and chatting away. We were served breakfast, salmon with scrambled eggs,
dusted with chives, served on ciabatta.
"This food is A-mazing," Noah said, finishing off Keane's.
"I agree," I answered,
"Bud...what hurts?" Arlo asked Keane,
"What doesn't?" he replied with a smile,
"Is everything okay boys?" Rhina asked,
"I have a headache," Keane responded and I was shocked he just came right out with it, I think we all were.
"Well I suggest you try and get some sleep,"
"Best news I've heard all day," he softly responded. I helped Keane get into a comfy position in one of the chairs, "Thank you"
"You don't ever have to thank me," I told him. I covered him with a blanket, "I love you,"
"I love you too" I kissed his forehead and he shut his eyes.
"I'm glad you're going to be with us Arlo," I then said,
"I'm going nowhere, I'm going to help my little brother through this. We are all going too," he said quietly.
"We're going to go to London Bridge Hospital as soon as we land, stay there and in London for as long as Keane needs to recover. There is no longer a threat in London, it's been neutralised."
"So Galviao is where?"
"Nowhere near London," Rhina replied, but she couldn't look at me,
"Is Arii meeting us there?" Noah asked,
"No, she doesn't know anything," Joey said,
"Are you going to tell her?" Arlo asked, "Are you going to tell me about my father Mum?" we all looked from Arlo to Rhina,
"Can we not do this now?"
"I have a right to know"
"And you will, in time,"
"Dad, how do you feel about all this?" Noah asked,
"Noah," Rhina warned,
"I wasn't with your Mum when she had Arlo and I didn't know anything about him until a year ago. Arlo, if I would have known. I would have taken you in as my own,"
"That is hard to hear, but it also makes me very happy. Thank you Joey,"
"Don't make me out to be the bad guy" Rhina said, "Don't you do that," she stood up and walked passed the sleeping Keane and into the next small section. Silence occurred for a few minutes and then Arlo said,
"I'll go" and he went after her, not before kissing Keane on the forehead.
"I didn't mean...that question wasn't meant too..."
"She knows Noah. Don't let it get to you," I took his hand, "We'll all be okay. I promise," Joey said,
"I hope so," Noah said, I hugged him.
"I know so" I whispered. Joey then suggested we got some sleep and that when we woke up, things would be better.
"Can I sleep with you?" Noah asked me softly, I was about to lie next to Keane, but I knew that Noah needed me more right now,
"Of course kiddo, come here" we laid together on the opposite chair to Keane, I pulled the blanket up over us,
"I love you Tayte. I am so glad that you're in my life," he whispered,
"I love you too bud. I feel the same,"
<<<
"I love you both so much," Keane's voice said softly, waking us up, we looked at him and he carefully sat up,
"How are you feeling?" I asked getting up,
"You look a bit better," Noah said, he smiled and it warmed my heart,
"I'm not in pain right now," he replied and then, "Where's Arlo?"
"Still speaking with your Mum I assume. I'm not even sure how long we've been asleep," Tayte answered,
"We slept for around 3 and bit hours," Noah said, it honestly felt like longer.
"That means we still have a while to go," Keane moaned,
"We'll be there soon babe," I told him, sitting beside him. Arlo, Rhina and Joey came into the section a few minutes later,
"Keane, how are you feeling?" Joey asked,
"Good right now, is...everything okay?"
"Of course it is" Rhina smiled, looking at Arlo and then back to me, "Is anyone hungry? I will get them to serve lunch,"
"Yes we are all hungry," Noah answered,
"I will get them to prepare it for you," Rhina said, squeezing Keane's good shoulder and walking off.
"Are there any good films to watch?" Keane asked, Noah's eyes lit up,
"I'll choose us a good one to watch," he replied,
"It better be good," he told him, Noah grinned,
"Of course it will be, I'm choosing it," he sat down and began to scroll through the massive screen that he was sat in front of,
"Are you sure everything is okay?" Keane asked Arlo, "Because I'm kind of fed up with people lying to me,"
"Mum and I aren't exactly on the best of terms," Arlo answered,
"You and me both,"
"But we've had a little chat, with Joey present too, aired some feelings. No we haven't dealt with things yet and I'm still none the wiser of who my Dad is, but at the moment, our relationship is civil,"
"I am sorry," Keane said,
"You have no need to apologise, none of this is your fault okay. You have to know that,"
Keane's POV
After lunch, which was a starter of a warm mushroom bruschetta, followed by a buttermilk, tomato and asparagus risotto. The four of us settled down together, watching the film that Noah had chosen for us: Creed. I had seen all of the Rocky collection and had always meant to get around to watching Creed, but that never happened. Everyone had begun to watch the film, I took a sly glance across at the ones I loved. I knew I had a long road ahead of me. I knew I may never get back to wherever it was when I was...well, when I was healthy with a solid and un-fractured mind. Though I hadn't heard any voices since the accident and I hoped it stayed that way.
To be honest, I still hadn't really gotten my head around the fact that I am no longer the oldest, let alone the fact that I almost died, that I put my family through hell. Arii didn't even know about any of this, how was she going to take it all? I also knew that this time, it was going to be incredibly difficult, Galviao was still out there and he wasn't after anyone except me and I had a feeling, that he wasn't going to stop...until I was dead.
"Can you give your mind a rest please? For the length of the film at least?" Tayte whispered, kissing me, I smiled.
"Yes, I can do that," I was glad I decided to focus on the film, because it was so good and the feeling you get after watching a film like that is incredible. It makes you believe you can do anything. It makes me believe that I was going to get through this. That everything was going to be okay.
...
After the film I fell to sleep, but it wasn't long after I was being gently shaken awake and told that we were landing and that I also had to take some more tablets.
"Baby...we're almost in London," Tayte said softly,
"Great," I muttered, he smiled. Arlo came over with some tablets and I rolled my eyes,
"I saw that Keane," Arlo said,
"You were meant too," I answered.
"Are you going to be okay getting down the steps?" Mum asked,
"I got up them," I told her. I went down with Tayte, holding the railing with my right hand, with Tayte supporting my fucked up left side. There was a wheelchair waiting for me at the bottom that I sunk into. Mum told us we were going to the lounge whilst they bought our bags over and arranged for transport to the hospital.
Noah screamed when we entered a private lounge, Angelo was stood there, he ran and jumped into his arms, kissing him,
"Hey Keane...I'm glad you're okay," he said once Noah had let go, he squeezed my good shoulder,
"I'll get there, nice to see you back with us," I answered,
"I didn't know you were coming here," Noah said,
"I wanted to surprise you. I managed to get a few days off from work," Noah beamed,
"I'm glad you did. Oh my God, yes...Lolo, this is my eldest brother Arlo. Arlo this is my boyfriend, Angelo," they shook hands and then seemed to eye and size one another up. I'd be intrigued as to how they got on.
"Nice to meet you. I'm sure I'll get to know you more in the coming months," Arlo said,
"I looked forward to it," Angelo smiled,
"Can...Tayte I need the loo," I said quietly,
"Don't be embarrassed," he said softly, kissing me,
"Let me walk there,"
"No Keane...your body isn't strong enough," I pouted at him,
"Just going to the bathroom"
"Do you need any help?" Arlo asked. If I was embarrassed to ask Tayte, who I'd flaming well had sex many times with, there was no way I would let Arlo, my big brother, who we'd not long met, come with us. But if I didn't do it now, when would I?
"Sure" I said, Tayte looked at me surprised. I smiled,
"I know you're probably embarrassed, but there's no need," Arlo said.
When we re-entered the room, I said,
"I don't like being and feeling vulnerable"
"Well you're not vulnerable with either of us, with any of us and you never will be," Tayte told me.
"Is everything okay?" Mum asked,
"What do you honestly think Mum. No everything is fucking far from okay. But there is nothing I can do about that is there. I can't even storm out of here, because I can't walk and I can't wheel myself out of here either because I only have one working arm. So can everyone quit asking me if I'm okay. Because I can assure you. I am not!" I snapped. The room went silent, "I'm not apologising for my outburst either,"
"Keane"
"Don't Keane me Arlo...I'm really not in the mood," Noah came and sat on the floor in front of me, looking up at me with his big bright eyes,
"I love you," he said, "Like a lot...like so much and...do you know something else. Everyone in this room loves you also. A lot...but not as much as me. Well...besides Tayte maybe. And do you know something else. We all care about you and we will always care about you. Even when you go all Godzilla on us, even when you ignore us...push us away. And do you know why? Because that's what love is. It's unconditional," he smiled at me and raised one eyebrow,
"I hate you" I said softly, smiling,
"Lies, all lies," he grinned, standing up and kissing me. He then swanned over to Angelo who wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of his head.
"Well said son" Dad said, Mum left the room, obviously upset. Tayte sat on the arm of the sofa and pulled me towards him, Arlo sat down on the opposite sofa.
"Are Talina and Tammara here yet?" I asked. The first thing I said after my outburst,
"They are landing tomorrow morning and will come straight to see us. Talina is...she is devastated Keane...she still cannot believe what happened. There has been no other contact with Parker, but I am sure we will see him at some point," Dad answered,
Talina couldn't believe it, me neither, I thought, me neither.
"I wanted to get an ambulance to take you to the hospital, but I knew you wouldn't want that," Mum said coming into the room,
"Too right," I answered, not looking at her,
"So...I've hired two cars, one is larger and it's going to allow you to stretch out. Tayte and Arlo will go with you and we will convoy you with Noah and Angelo. It's going to probably take around an hour and 30 minutes traffic depending, you can stop if need be, but tell us beforehand," Mum said. I didn't answer. My ribs were beginning to hurt, breathing was uncomfortable,
"Sounds good Mum," Noah replied, since no one else did,
"Babe..." Tayte began,
"Yes," I replied, looking at him, I knew what he was going to say and he knew this, so instead he said,
"I love you,"
"That wasn't what you were going to say,"
"I know...but you were going to bite my head off, which you still have," I smiled,
"Yes I am in pain and no there's nothing you can do about it, oh and I love you too,"
"Paracetamol may help" Arlo handed two over,
"Thanks,"
...
We got to the cars, a black 2017 Ford Explorer and a black 2017 Ford Escape,
"I was going to hire a driver, but then thought you'd probably want the control of driving," Mum said,
"Mum, you don't have to explain, its fine," Arlo answered.
"We'll see you later," Noah said kissing my forehead, and then jumping on Tayte who hugged him back and then did the same to Arlo, who looked genuinely shocked,
"See you later," I winked with a half-smile, my ribs were on fire. Angelo squeezed my shoulder,
"Sleep is your best medicine" he told me,
"I'll be doing plenty of that," I replied,
"Let us know when you're there, we will all go in together" Dad said,
"And please tell us if you stop or if something is wrong," Mum added.
"We will Rhina," Tayte said as we all got into the cars, we put the front passenger seat down, which then made a long bed type space, so I sat down and strapped in with my legs stretched out in front of me, Arlo was driving and Tayte was sat next to me. I groaned around 10 minutes into the journey, and then began to cough which made the pain even worse, Tayte looked at me, his eyes full of concern.
"Sorry, ignore me,"
"That's not possible Keane, you are in pain, and that means so are we," Arlo said,
"It's just my ribs and the cough, my chest...I'm sure the painkillers will kick in soon," Tayte unclipped his seatbelt, "What are you doing?" he moved into the middle seat next to me and re clipped his seatbelt.
"Making you as comfortable as I can..." I smiled, "You and I always say we take away each other's pain,"
"That's because it's true," I whispered.
Arlo's POV
My little brother. It still sounds so strange to me.
I remember the day clearly when Mum told me I had 3 younger siblings. I was 16 years old, Mum had come over for a few days to see me and take me out. I hadn't seen her for over 4 months, so I was really happy she was here. I knew she was busy and had a very important job, but she had never told me what that job was. One the day, she picked me up from boarding school and signed me out for 3 days, which I was surprised she had no trouble doing so. We spent the day in the mall, chilling on the beach and then we went to a posh restaurant at 8pm that evening. I could tell Mum was nervous and on edge, but I obviously had no idea why.
"You're old enough for me to tell you now..." she began and I placed my drink down, looking at her intently, wondering what the hell she was going to say. For a minute I thought she was going to tell me about my Dad. "You have two younger brothers and a younger sister,"
I was shocked to say the least, she told me their names and their ages. It was then when I realised that Mum had another family, a family that she lived with. She then told me that she was a spy, which was why she sent me away, why she couldn't see me as much as she wanted too. She then went on to tell me that none of her children knew about any of this except for myself. A lot of words were exchanged that evening, she knew I felt rejected and unwanted, but reassured me that, that isn't the case.
I just did not realise that it was going to be 11 years later that I would properly meet them. And Joey, who would have happily taken me in. The fact he would have done that and Mum didn't even put it to him, does hurt me, but I guess she had her reasons.
"Arlo," Tayte's voice came into my hearing, "You zoned out on me,"
"Sorry...is Keane okay?"
"He's asleep...which means he is not in pain,"
"Good"
We drove on in silence for around 20 minutes and then Tayte said,
"I know you didn't have any parents growing up, you may have anger towards Keane, Noah and Arii but..."
"I'm not angry at them. I never have been and I never will be. For the first 3 years of my life I had a wonderful Mum. Then yes, I was shipped off to boarding school, but I still saw Mum, and I had other people in my life that I looked up too"
"They had parents for longer than you and I know that...but I think you were better off, they have been mentally scarred, they almost fell apart. If it wasn't for Keane stepping up...I don't know where we'd all be today,"
"I wish you were there to help us through it all," Keane muttered, "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve being left"
"Keane...please don't apologise...none of what happened had anything to do with you, Noah or Arii okay. Everything happens for a reason and all that matters is we're all together now and hopefully we'll stay in one another's life,"
"I love you Arlo," Keane mumbled and my heart swelled,
"I love you too Bud," I said with a grin on my face, slowing down as we hit traffic,
"You know..." Tayte began, but was interrupted as his phone began ringing, "Hello...Oh hey bud! Yes we are stuck in traffic...uh huh...okay, we'll see you there...he's fine, he's asleep. I will do bud...yes...bye...I love you too," I span around, it wasn't as if the cars ahead of me looked to be moving anytime soon. "That was Noah, they are also stuck in traffic and suggest we get off at the next service station to have some food and wait it out,"
"Okay, next service station"
<<<
On wards and Upwards
Oh my poor baby!
Unedited (I am sorry)
Next update: Next week (only 2 to go :( It's so sad)
Thank you for reading
Much love
GTRx