Nostalgia [McKelan]
Jan 1, 2015 23:03:02 GMT -5
Post by Artemis on Jan 1, 2015 23:03:02 GMT -5
Nolan never complained when Brody came home. Any parent that gave half a damn about their child looked forward to seeing them again when their baby bird returned to the nest; in Nolan and McKenna's case, though, those visits tended to be fewer and further between. The Peacekeepers kept Brody fairly busy, and though their son did his best to visit every month, duty and deployment took precedence and often turned those periods into four, five, six months.
When Nolan had last seen Brody, he had mentioned planning on taking some leave to come and visit them in the winter, hopefully for New Years.
Until a Peacekeeper had shown up at the quarry to tell him Brody was in the hospital, critically wounded and struggling for his life.
Even now that the danger had passed, and their son was safe and deep in a drug-induced sleep in his room, Nolan still couldn't stop himself from replaying that moment over and over again in his mind. The best he could imaging describing it was that the ground had caved in from under him as the sky came crashing down, all at the same time.
He'd known when Brody had graduated from the Academy that being a Peacekeeper carried a certain amount of risk; there were an infinite number of ways that he could be hurt or killed in the line of duty. But the idea seemed so far removed from them; sure, those things happened, but it would never happen to their son. Brody was so strong and responsible and seemingly invincible, nothing would ever happen to him.
Until it did.
Brody was alive, and he was home, but it was incredibly bittersweet. He was restless when he slept, often awaking in a cold sweat with a strangled yell, clutching at the heavy bandages covering the still raw surgical scars on his abdomen and searching frantically for an enemy that only lived in his memory. When he was awake, Brody jumped at any sudden sound, watching the occupants of the house like a hawk as their footsteps followed them around on the hardwood floors. The only time he seemed fully at ease was when his mother or father were within arm's reach...
To say nothing of how he clenched his eyes shut when either Nolan or McKenna changed the bandages over his scars; Brody couldn't bear to look at them.
Nolan had just finished doing exactly that, with the receiver half of a baby monitor in his hand; initially, Brody had rolled his eyes when his father had set it up ("I know I just came home from the hospital, but I'm not a child, Dad."), but after the first time he'd jolted awake from his nightmares to find Nolan beside him smoothing his hair back and gripping his hand, Brody had made no further comment.
The only noise coming in over the radio was the sound of his even breathing, audible over the crackling fire Nolan had started in the hearth a few hours ago when the sun started to go down. McKenna was already there, no worse for wear than Nolan, though the last couple of weeks showed plainly on her face.
Neither of them had fully gotten over how close they'd come to realizing every parent's most primal fear.
Nolan sat beside her, setting the baby monitor on the table in front of the couch and putting his arm around his wife.
"Hanging in there, hon?"
When Nolan had last seen Brody, he had mentioned planning on taking some leave to come and visit them in the winter, hopefully for New Years.
Until a Peacekeeper had shown up at the quarry to tell him Brody was in the hospital, critically wounded and struggling for his life.
Even now that the danger had passed, and their son was safe and deep in a drug-induced sleep in his room, Nolan still couldn't stop himself from replaying that moment over and over again in his mind. The best he could imaging describing it was that the ground had caved in from under him as the sky came crashing down, all at the same time.
He'd known when Brody had graduated from the Academy that being a Peacekeeper carried a certain amount of risk; there were an infinite number of ways that he could be hurt or killed in the line of duty. But the idea seemed so far removed from them; sure, those things happened, but it would never happen to their son. Brody was so strong and responsible and seemingly invincible, nothing would ever happen to him.
Until it did.
Brody was alive, and he was home, but it was incredibly bittersweet. He was restless when he slept, often awaking in a cold sweat with a strangled yell, clutching at the heavy bandages covering the still raw surgical scars on his abdomen and searching frantically for an enemy that only lived in his memory. When he was awake, Brody jumped at any sudden sound, watching the occupants of the house like a hawk as their footsteps followed them around on the hardwood floors. The only time he seemed fully at ease was when his mother or father were within arm's reach...
To say nothing of how he clenched his eyes shut when either Nolan or McKenna changed the bandages over his scars; Brody couldn't bear to look at them.
Nolan had just finished doing exactly that, with the receiver half of a baby monitor in his hand; initially, Brody had rolled his eyes when his father had set it up ("I know I just came home from the hospital, but I'm not a child, Dad."), but after the first time he'd jolted awake from his nightmares to find Nolan beside him smoothing his hair back and gripping his hand, Brody had made no further comment.
The only noise coming in over the radio was the sound of his even breathing, audible over the crackling fire Nolan had started in the hearth a few hours ago when the sun started to go down. McKenna was already there, no worse for wear than Nolan, though the last couple of weeks showed plainly on her face.
Neither of them had fully gotten over how close they'd come to realizing every parent's most primal fear.
Nolan sat beside her, setting the baby monitor on the table in front of the couch and putting his arm around his wife.
"Hanging in there, hon?"
ffffff - Brody O'Rourke
b60000 - McKenna O'Rourke
bb7d00 - Nolan O'Rourke
