This is an ongoing story. It might be a good idea to read the first four chapters first.
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CHAPTER 5
The room erupted into a whirlwind of chaos and chatter. "He needs a kidney!" Allison. "He said he doesn't want it!" Amy. "He'll die!" Melissa. "Maybe we should just let him!" Their mother.
Tom backed away from his father's hospital bed and found Danny standing behind everyone. "What did he tell you?"
Danny shook his head at Tom. "Not now."
"He doesn't want my help, now is fine," Tom insisted.
"You need to deal with your family Tom," Danny retorted. "I'll see you at home." He said the second part a little more kindly.
"They're your family too, Danny," Tom said under his breath as he watched him walk out the door. He wanted to follow him but stood rooted in place, glancing between the door and his family standing over a dying man he barely knew, arguing. When he made his decision and started for the door his mother stopped him. "Where are you going?" she demanded.
"Home, with Danny," Tom answered her kindly despite the vitriol in her voice.
"Your father is dying," his mother reminded him, as if he wasn't already aware.
Tom stared at her for a long beat. "Yes. Something he has chosen. He doesn't want my help. Why are we standing around forcing him to live if he doesn't want to?"
From behind him his father's voice broke through. "I'm going to die anyway. My entire body is broken. Who's gonna take care of me? You?" He aimed that at his ex wife. "Any of you?"
Tom turned from his mother and looked at his father. They had all been so focused on the man needing a kidney; no one had even asked what his other injuries were.
"You have insurance, that's what it's for," Tom's mother retorted.
"Cathy." He said her name with equal parts exasperation and love long gone. "What kind of life am I going to live and for how long? I'll be on dialysis. On medication. I'll need around the clock care. I'm paralyzed below the waist. I have a catheter and need oxygen pumped into my lungs just so they work. So they give me a new kidney and what, all that other stuff goes away? I won't put Tommy through a risky surgery to prolong my life for a short time."
Tom's mother sighed deeply. "Whatever." She'd had enough.
"I'll be right outside," Tom said with a gentle touch of his mother's shoulder. When he stepped out the hallway was quiet, white, sterile; a stark contrast to the chaos that he had just left. It reflected the peace he felt despite the situation. He did what he thought was right, he offered to save a man he hardly knew. He had let go of the dream of a father/son relationship long ago.
One by one his sisters joined him in the hallway. Amy was subdued. She knew their father about as much as Tom did. Melissa was a little more emotional. Allison was the one that needed most consoling. They stood gathered together in the hallway.
"He chose to leave us a long time ago," Amy said quietly.
"Aim, mom kicked him out," Melissa replied, but her attempt at standing up for the man was weak, and by the look on her face she knew it.
"After he cheated," Tom reminded them.
"Enough," Allison said, louder than she meant to, she lowered her head. "The man's dying."
Tom was about to argue when his mother stepped into the hall. Her face was streaked with tears. "He's gone," she said between sobs.
The quiet hallway suddenly became a whirlwind of action. Footsteps against the linoleum floor alerted Tom that people were running. Doctor Sullivan led a procession of nurses heading toward their father's room. "What happened?" she yelled over her shoulder as she opened the door. The steady beeping of the machines inside were now a chorus of loud alarms and alerts and the noise was unsettling.
"He just gave up," Cathy answered her question but the doctor was already inside tending to her patient.
By the time they got home from the hospital every one of them was exhausted. Tom made his way up to his room to find Danny, and possibly collapse into a long nap. When he stepped into the room it was empty. He looked around to make sure he was seeing things right, but he knew he was. Danny's bags were gone. His heart skipped. He looked around the room one more time. On a pillow on the bed he and Danny had been sharing was a piece of paper.
"I had to get back to New York. We'll talk soon. Love, Danny."
Toms stared at the words. Who the hell writes notes anymore? That was his first thought. Then he wondered what on earth Danny could need to go to New York for, it was Thanksgiving Day, there was no way he had to get back for work. He was running. Dammit Danny. Tom crushed the paper into a ball and threw it across the room. He laid his head on the pillow and was asleep within minutes.
A knock on his door pulled him out of a restless dream. He realized the house smelled amazing. God he was hungry.
"Boys," his mother's voice came through.
"Danny went back to New York," Tom said as he pulled the door open.
"Oh." She didn't know what else to say. "Well, dinner's ready."
Tom followed his mother down the stairs. As they stepped into the dining room a table full of kids, his siblings and their significant others and all the Thanksgiving foods he'd grown up loving greeted him. There was really only one thing missing, Danny.
"Where's Uncle Danny?" Allison's oldest daughter asked when everyone was seated.
"He had to go back to New York honey," Cathy answered her with a gentle tone. The air in the room suddenly went still.
"This food looks amazing, we should eat," Tom put on the happiest voice he could muster and grabbed a plate of potatoes from the center.
"Let's all say something we're thankful for," Melissa's youngest son suggested just as Cathy suggested they start on dessert. The air in the room went still again. "I'll start," he said cheerily. "I am thankful for apple pie and vanilla ice cream."
The family laughed, as one. Leave it to the innocence of children to diffuse the intensity of the day. Tom thought. He tried his best to listen to each person tell the table what they were thankful for, but his mind was wandering all over. What could he possibly say he's thankful for today? When it was his turn he smiled slightly and confessed "I'm thankful for DNA tests and trains."
"What's a DNA test?" Tom heard the kids ask. "Trains?" He heard someone say. But he had already stood up from the table and taken his plate to the kitchen. When he turned to exit he ran into his mother who had stepped inside unnoticed.
"Going somewhere?" she asked, but she knew the answer.
"New York," Tom answered. He had the good sense not to follow it up with a snarky comment.
"Is that a good idea?"
Tom looked at her and cocked his head to the side. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"He left for a reason Tommy, maybe you should just let him be," she busied herself with clearing food off dishes and into a trash can. "Maybe it's what's best for you, right now."
Tom shook his head and brushed past his mother. He took the stairs two at a time, shoved a few things into a bag and checked the train schedule from Boston to New York. He was happy to find a train leaving in two hours. He grabbed his laptop, his bag and his jacket and ran back down the stairs almost falling as he did.
The family had gathered in the living room to watch Christmas movies, despite it being a month away. Tom went to Amy and kneeled down next to her. "Aim, will you take me to the train station?"
He knew if anyone was going to be on his side it would be Amy. She was closest in age and the one he trusted more than anyone, aside from Danny. Luckily she was looking for a way to get out of the house for a bit and agreed without so much as asking him why and where she was going.
In the car all she asked was if he was sure of what he was doing. He wasn't, but he promised her he was doing the right thing.
Despite having chosen the quiet car for his four hour train ride from Boston to New York City Tom found himself listening to a man whose business transaction was going very poorly. There were several other passengers in the car with them who were somehow managing to sleep through this heated exchange. Or what Tom assumed was a two-sided call; he couldn't hear the other person at all. For all he knew the man was screaming into a phone with no one on the other end of it. He smiled to himself, turned up his music, closed his eyes and tuned out the man's voice.
He ran the conversation he was intending to have with Danny over in his head. He didn't want to sound desperate or accusatory. He just wanted to know why Danny had left so suddenly. He wanted to know what his father had told Danny about his own father. He wanted to know why he'd barely heard from him. He needed answers. So he was going to get them.
The walk from Grand Central Station to Danny's Manhattan apartment was chilly but soothing. Sitting for four and a half hours in an uncomfortable train seat had done a number on his back and it felt good to move his legs. It was the middle of the night and the streets were virtually empty. Tom kept his head down against the wind and headed in what he hoped was the right direction.
Danny's apartment building was much nicer than Tom expected it to be. He wasn't sure why he was surprised by that. Danny had a good job in the financial sector on Wall Street with a nice salary and potential to move up quickly. He had gone from intern to junior executive in two years.
Danny lived in a high rise apartment with a doorman and a concierge and polished floors that made Tom's sneakers squeak when he walked over the tiles. This made the bellman look up. "Can I help you?"
"Hi. My broth...boy...friend lives here," Tom stammered.
"What's your friend's name?" The bellman overlooked Tom's word struggle.
"Danny Patterson," Tom said the name and immediately wondered if that was correct. Had Danny gone back to his mother's last name? It's only been a week, he reminded himself.
"Who may I tell him is asking for him?" The bellman was all business.
"Tom," he answered.
"Do you have a last name, Tom?" The bellman asked as he picked up the receiver on his desk phone.
"Um. Patterson."
