Chapter 118

Richie sat in his bed, waiting for Sarah to finish up in the bathroom. He had turned on the TV in the corner of the room to occupy himself as he waited for her.

He looked up from his late night sitcom reruns when he heard the bathroom door open. Sarah walked out in her usual nighttime attire. His tshirt and a pair of pajama shorties. It might not have been the most sexy outfit but he still knew what was underneath, that's all he needed. He turned off the TV and watched as she walked over to the bed.

"I've got one more Christmas present for you." Sarah said as she pulled open her nightstand's drawer.
"One more?" He asked surprised. "Baby, you already got me lots."
She smiled as she took the small package from the drawer. "It's small but I think you might like it."
"I might?" He became more intrigued. Of course he would like anything she got him, he had liked all the other gifts she had gotten him today. He had everything he needed but Sarah always found a few more things he had to have.

Getting onto the bed, Sarah handed him the red wrapped box, then watched as he opened it.

The wrapping paper came away easily, revealing a sleek black box that didn't give away what was inside it, even when he gave it a slight shake as he flashed Sarah a curious look.

"Go on." She encouraged him to open it, now feeling a little nervous and excited at the same time at what he was going to find, not to mention his reaction.

Richie lifted the lid off of the box to peer inside. The bottom part of the box was filled with red tissue paper and he had to pull a few pieces off the top to show what they were hiding.

"Handcuffs?" He asked curiously.

Sarah just watched him, waiting for more of a reaction.

He pulled them out of the box. "You got me handcuffs?" He was sure he had handcuffs stashed away somewhere in his closet or dresser. It'd been years since he'd used them but surely they hadn't gone away on their own.

Sarah nodded, a little unsure now.

Still confused, he watched her, trying to think it over.

After second of piecing it together, he looked up at his wife, a little surprised. "You want to use the handcuffs." He finally concluded.
Sarah gave him a hopeful look. "Yeah." Everything inside her head was hoping she had been right. "I thought you'd like to." She said quickly. "I've heard the stories and it's something we've never done so I thought it was something you would want to do."

It was easy to notice giving this gift had made her anxious but if she didn't want to, she wouldn't have given them and she had heard the stories. Wait, what stories?

"You've heard stories?" He asked curiously. "What stories?"
Sarah shrugged lightly. "I've read about you and stories people like Taylor told me about you. Usually they're just trying to be snoopy but I've overheard you talking when you used to hang out with the guys." She added quickly, trying to not make a big deal out of it.
"What are the stories?" He still asked curiously. What were people talking about?
"It doesn't matter." Sarah tried to wave it off but she knew it wouldn't be that easy to do. "I know you and I've seen you. You've always been so patient and gentle with me."
"Of course, baby, I love you." Richie put the handcuffs back into the box, noticing a black blindfold underneath and moved closer to his wife.
"I know that and I love that about you but I've seen that darkness in your eyes." She watched the frown form on his face before she continued. "Sometimes when we're in bed or in the shower, you get that dark look in your eyes, they turn just a little darker brown. I know it's passion and your desire for more."

He listened intently, she was right, there had been times where he would love to dominate her. Just pick her up, carry her to bed and make wild, passionate love to her but he'd never acted on that. Knowing everything Sarah had gone through before they met, he would never do something that could even closely remind her of those times. All he wanted to do was love her and take care of her. This was something he knew going into this relationship, he had always respected how Sarah felt because of her previous relationship and he would never force her to do anything that would scare her. Did she think he expected her to be submissive to him?

"Baby-" He started but was cut off before he could even object.
"I know you wouldn't do anything that would hurt me or something I wouldn't want to."
"Then why are you giving me this?" He was confused, handcuffs would give him control over her and he knew that was too much.
"Because I trust you." Sarah said. "And if you want to use them, I want to use them with you."
He shook his head. "Baby, you don't have to do this for me. You don't need to be tied up to our bed to show me you love me back."
Sarah give him a quick smile. "I know that but listen to me. I love you and if that is what you want to do, I want you to."
"You want me to tie you up to the bed?" He asked bluntly. He'd love the idea but he would never want her to feel pressured into something just because of him.
"If you'd like to." She added.
Finally starting to understand this was her choice, he continued. "You want me to tie you to the bed and fuck you, maybe add a blindfold?"
His boldness made her feel a little shy as she answered. "It could be exciting."
"It'd be pretty fucking hot." He agreed.

Sarah felt relieved at his final reaction, glad that he understood she wanted to do this with him. Not because she was pressured into it but because it was her decision to offer it to her husband. It wouldn't be anything like what her previous sexual life had been like. Compared to that, Richie would never do something that could cause her harm in any way, she knew that. Having that trust with him, she felt ready for something new and interesting with him, knowing it was something he craved as well.

Chapter 117

Richie woke up early on the morning of the 24th, as per usual, trying his best not to disturb Sarah, he got up slowly and as quietly as he could.

Upon entering the living room, he found he wasn't the only one awake early this morning. Noah was sitting in the corner of the couch, knees propped up resting a paper notebook on his legs and a pen in hand. Richie joined him on the couch and looked over.

"What are you writing?" He asked, intrigued at this new development he hadn't seen before.
Noah shrugged as if it wasn't important. "Just thoughts."
"Like a diary?"
"I guess, sort of." Noah replied before he looked up. "One of the doctors at the hospital recommended it." He explained.
Richie clued in with that. "Ah, to write down your thoughts instead of dwelling on them and letting them take over your head."
Again, Noah shrugged.

Richie left it at that and grabbed the TV remote, it may be early but there was always something on TV to watch and if there wasn't he had enough options to make sure he could be entertained for a long while. The luxuries of technology.

Watching TV in the dimly lit living room almost made it feel like Christmas. The decorations he had set up with Ava and Sarah were cozying up the living room perfectly and the lights in the tree were shimmering brightly in the corner of the room.

It was almost 8am before they received some company in the living room. Richie looked up from the TV to see Caleb sit down in his comfy chair, giving him a slightly disapproving look as a tease.

"You're up early." He commented, knowing Caleb was quite similar to how he had been when he was 18, getting up before noon was a rarity back then.
"Probably just jet lagged." Caleb said, referring to the slightly over three hour flight he had taken from Vancouver on Saturday.
Richie frowned at his remark. "Vancouver is in the same time zone."
"Yeah, but I was still on a jet so I feel a little lagged."
The only response he had to that was to shake his head.

Not much later his stomach made itself known and he all too gladly wanted to feed it, passing the TV remote to Noah, he got up and headed to the kitchen. Soon everyone else would be up too and he had extra visitors to make food for so he better get started now.

As Sarah walked into the kitchen, carrying Daniel on her hip, the smell of breakfast instantly made her hungry. She could smell bacon and waffles, which didn't surprise her.

She walked over to her husband at the stove and reached in for a kiss when he noticed her.

"Good morning." She smiled at him. "Looks like you've been busy."
"I was a little hungry." He shrugged as if it was nothing.
Sarah looked at the set table and all the food on plates ready to be eaten. "A little?"
"I thought it would be unfair if I only made myself a waffle." He joked a little. "Mom would tell me off if I did that." Knowing it was true, he might be all grown up but that didn't stop his mom from parenting, especially when she was staying at his house.
Reaching for a mug from the cabinet by the coffee maker, Sarah agreed. "She probably would." She started making herself a cup of tea, ignoring the coffee that had been made.

Just like breakfast, the rest of the day was spent together as a family. Ava had gone to her mother's house for a few days but would be back the day after Christmas when they'd go on their last minute trip to Hawaii. With Ava at Heather's they had decided to skip their vacation as the family wouldn't be complete but after last week's events, Richie decided a family getaway might be a good idea after all. They'd celebrate New Year's in Hawaii instead.

Before Daniel's bedtime, Richie picked up one of the gifts under the Christmas tree for him to open.

"Are we allowed to open a gift too?" Caleb asked quickly.
"Sure." Richie answered, "If you're wanting matching jammies with Daniel." He passed the gift-wrapped gift to Daniel and sat down on the couch next to him and Sarah.
Caleb frowned at Richie's remark. "What if I did?"
"You don't."
"But what if I did?"

Sarah smiled as she watched her husband roll his eyes as he got up from the couch again. He wanted to watch Daniel unwrap his first Christmas gift but if Caleb really wanted to have matching pajamas, he'd gladly see his face too. He walked back over to the tree and looked through the gifts underneath it for the right one. He picked one up and gave Sarah a quick look, her nod affirmed it. As he went to sit down with Daniel again, he passed the gift to Caleb with a slight toss.

"Seriously? You got us matching pajamas?"
"You just said you wanted them."
"I was kidding." Caleb finally gave in.
"This way you'll match your little brother perfectly in the pictures tomorrow morning."
Caleb deadpanned, which was satisfying to Richie.

He finally got to watch Daniel open his gift with Sarah's help, soon enough all the gift wrap was on the floor and his first pair of adorable Christmas pajamas. Last year he had been so little they hadn't done all of his first Christmas milestones, wanting him to be a little older so he could have a sense of understanding as well.

Sarah helped her son into his new pajamas to get ready for bed, they'd watch a movie together and let Daniel fall asleep before taking him up to his room for the rest of the night.

Richie got up from the couch once again to retrieve the last gift for tonight from under the Christmas tree. Noah hadn't asked but Richie couldn't leave him be. He passed the gift to Noah, before sitting down once more, this time picking Daniel up and moving him into his lap.

Now, he watched the older boys unwrap their gifts, quite pleased with himself how he had been able to bug Caleb just a little knowing that was what Caleb had planned to do to him.

"This isn't that bad." Caleb said as he pulled away all the paper to reveal pajama bottoms that weren't too Christmassy.
"Noted for next year." Richie said happily.
Caleb looked up with worry. "Like in a good way or a bad way?"
Richie shrugged. "You'll see."
It didn't ease Caleb's mind. "But these aren't that embarrassing. Don't get the silly ones." He pleaded.
"Depends on if you're bad or good."
Caleb rolled his eyes and put the pants aside. "Whatever."
"I like them." Noah said, he had gotten the same pair of pajama pants as Caleb. "Thanks."

Both Sarah and Richie smiled, happy with Noah's response even though they knew Caleb was happy with his as well. Richie just couldn't help tease his oldest son, which had become part of their relationship.

On Christmas morning, he decided against his usual routine of getting up early on his own but stayed in bed, warm and cuddly with his wife, knowing she would appreciate that on Christmas day.

He held her close in his arms until he could feel her stir in them, he reached over and kissed her neck. "Good morning baby, merry Christmas." He whispered cheerfully, feeling excited for the day.
Sarah happily turned around in his arms to face him so she could reach up and kiss his lips tenderly, happy to wake up in his protective arms. "Merry Christmas." She wished him.
"Ready for a nice Christmas?" He asked, feeling even more excited to get the festivities started. He'd been waiting to see Daniel's face as he opened gifts, after that, he looked forward to a lovely Christmas dinner tonight.

They found Daniel still asleep in his room, comfortable in his bed with his stuffed animals. For him, it was still a little early and Sarah decided to let him sleep a little longer after all, neither of his brothers would be up yet.

Instead, she headed downstairs with her husband following her to the couch where they got comfortable and cuddled, enjoying a little bit of Christmas time on their own before everyone woke up and the craziness of gifts would start. Sarah was happy to have this half hour alone with her husband. She was grateful for any half hour she got to spend with him. So very grateful that she got to spend any time at all with this wonderful man that loved her as much as she loved him. Some days she still couldn't believe he was hers. Knowing her thoughts were cheesy, she couldn't help but think that the only gift she ever needed was him.

The living room was still dusk, the tree in the corner providing them with the only light. It created a lovely serenity this early in the morning.

Unfortunately it wasn't long before they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs and by the sounds of it, they were large feet.

To both of their surprise Caleb was the first one to join them in the living room, which broke their comfortable feeling of being together as Caleb turned the TV on straight away.

It wasn't long before the living room was filled with their mothers and two more sons.

"I think we can open presents now." Richie declared when he noticed Daniel entranced by the Christmas tree lights.

Not too much later it was hard to see where their living room floor was, it was covered in pieces of wrapping paper throw around carelessly. It gave Sarah the urge to find a garbage bag but she resisted it when she saw Daniel struggling with one of his gifts as he sat in his father's lap. Richie caught on soon enough and ripped a corner for him to continue with.

Watching their little boy open his Christmas presents in his adorable new Christmas pajamas was something that made them forget all the struggles of the past week. Their family was happy, that couldn't change.

Once all the gifts were opened and everyone happily enjoyed their new items, Richie heard his stomach growl, the chocolates and treats from a Christmas stocking were not satisfying his hunger. He moved Daniel over to Sarah's lap, then reached in for a kiss before standing up and heading to the kitchen to start breakfast for everyone. He'd keep it easy with a large stack of pancakes he could take back to the living room and everyone could help themselves he thought.

He paused a moment when he carried the large tray into the living room, Noah sat on the couch next to his grandma Abbey, notebook in hand but he wasn't writing now as Abbey talked to him about the gift she was holding. Caleb had taken Richie's chair again and was leafing through a biography Richie had gotten him. On the other couch, Joan sat with Daniel at her feet, playing together with a new toy he had gotten. He spotted Sarah watching him, giving her a quick smile, he walked into the room to put his tray of pancakes on the coffee table.

Chapter 116

Sitting in the white hospital room, Richie was glad he wasn't alone as he had been the night before. Although he had gotten some sleep at home, he still felt exhausted, the few hours of rest he was able to get wasn't going to be enough to pull him through the rest of the day.

The afternoon was slowly passing by as he watched Sarah with her son, he was happy to see her relieved and more relaxed than this morning but so did Noah. The contrast of 12 hours still amazed him. They were leisurely watching a TV show, passing the time.

It wasn't long before Daniel made himself heard, being bored in a hospital room with almost nothing to do. Ava made her usual attempts at keeping him busy with her phone but he easily lost interest again, leaving him with no other option than to cry out loud so everyone would know how he felt.

"How 'bout I take him home?" Richie suggested, the afternoon was passing slowly but dinner time was approaching as well.
Sarah looked at him, for a moment he wasn't sure what she would say but he felt relieved it wasn't anything negative. "Maybe we should all go?" Sarah suggested in return.
"We can get dinner on the way home." Richie continued even though it was still on the early side.
"That's a good idea." Sarah agreed, nodding.

They said their goodbyes to Noah for the night before returning to their cars in the hospital parking garage where they decided on Daniel driving home with his mom and Richie and Ava would go and pick up dinner on their way home. The cars being parked in different spots, they separated.

As he walked with Ava to his car, the pain in his head was getting more of a bother to him. Inside Noah's hospital room he had been able to ignore it but now outside, his headache was getting worse.

"How about you drive us home?" He asked Ava as they approached the car, pulling the keys from his front pocket.
Ava looked up from his phone. "Sure." She said, taking the keys from him and unlocking the car.

Relieved, Richie got in on the passenger's side, glad he didn't have to drive with a headache. He'd happily close his eyes for a little while and try to relax.

Not much later, Ava parked the car in the drive way, right behind Sarah's car. "Are you okay?" She asked, looking over at her dad next to her. He hadn't said a word during their drive and he did look a little off.

He waved it off, not wanting to worry Ava over a headache but as he started getting out of the car, the rest of the world started spinning, carefully he sat down again. He didn't object when Ava went ahead and walked inside.

She found Sarah in the living room, watching Daniel play from the couch. "Dad's not feeling well."
"What do you mean?" Sarah got up from the couch and headed towards the front door.
"I'm not sure." Ava shrugged. "He didn't say, just that he has a headache."
"Watch Daniel for me."

When she walked outside, Richie had gotten out of the car, he was just closing the door. "Are you okay?" Sarah asked as she walked over to meet him.
"Yeah, I've just got a headache." He said.
Sarah frowned. "Let's go inside so you can lay down and relax then." She suggested as she took his arm gently.

He didn't want her to worry over something as simple as a headache, even if it felt like the worst headache he'd ever had, but let her help him inside. At least everything had stopped spinning.

Ava looked up from where she sat on the floor with Daniel when Sarah and Richie walked in. "What's wrong?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing." Richie said quickly. "Just a headache."
Slightly shaking her head, "Can you grab an ice pack from the freezer and bring it upstairs?" Sarah asked as they started up the stairs.

Richie groaned when they walked into their bedroom, the room was bright with the afternoon sun, it hurt his eyes. Knowingly, Sarah let go of him and headed over to the window to pull the curtains closed, making sure the black out curtains darkened the room enough. When she turned around again, Richie was already sitting on the bed, rubbing his eyes. She frowned, walking back to meet him.

"Are your eyes bugging you too?" She asked carefully.
"It's blurry like if I'm not wearing contacts or glasses."
"Close your eyes then," She suggested gently. "and lay down."

He dropped his hands and followed Sarah's instructions, carefully he laid down on his pillow. The pain in his head was throbbing and getting worse, making him feel sick.

A soft knock on the door made Sarah look up to see Ava bring over the ice pack. Worry was still clear on her face.
Sarah gave her a little smile as she took the ice pack from her. "Don't worry, it's a migraine."
"Oh." Ava clued in.
"We'll make sure he gets some actual sleep and he'll be fine." Sarah assured her.

"Lay down with me?" Richie asked when he heard the door close behind Ava again.
"I am." Sarah sat on the bed next to him, reaching over to undo his jeans.

He didn't object and let Sarah help him out of his jeans, then under the sheets. Happy to feel her against him a few seconds later. He felt her arm move behind him, an instant later, the ice cold ice pack against his neck made him wince.

"It'll help."

It did feel sort of nice.

"I've never seen you have a migraine." Sarah whispered softly.
"I'm not sure if I have."
Sarah cuddled closer against him, holding the ice pack as she did. "I'm sorry you have one now. Try to sleep."

The darkness of the room had not yet alleviated the pounding pain in his head. All he could feel was the pain from his head, spreading back to his neck and shoulders as if he had just finished an intensive work out. Sarah was holding him tightly, which he appreciated but didn't relieve his pain either. The pain he felt so intensely was starting to aggravate him. The room was dark, he was laying down, it should start to get better, not continue. He could feel Sarah adjust herself behind him, he cheek resting on his shoulder blade now, her soft warm breath against him. He groaned, frustrated with the pain.

"Try to relax and sleep." Sarah reminded him.
It only made him groan in frustration again. "I can't, it hurts."
"I know. I'm sorry." Sarah sighed softly, compassionate at how he was feeling right now.

She snaked her arms over his side and reached for his chest, softly stroking the skin under his t-shirt, hoping it would relax him a little bit more so he would be able to drift off to some well needed sleep. It had been a long night in the hospital with Noah and the few hours he had gotten after that probably weren't enough, Sarah was sure of that.

When he woke up, he felt groggy, as if he had slept too little or too long. He wasn't sure if it was either of those. Sarah's arm wasn't around him anymore and he couldn't feel her behind him either. Slowly, he turned to his back. The pain in his head had reduced to more of a dull kind of headache, for which he was glad. His neck and shoulders still felt stiff but at least he could see straight again even though the room was still dark around him.

For a few moments, he just enjoyed feeling this much better than how he was feeling before he slept. A headache and some muscle stiffness like this, he could handle. Whatever that pain was earlier, he could not.

Richie knew it was getting late, it had been almost dinner time when they had gotten home and he came down with this excruciating headache. He must have slept for a few hours, he was certain of that, which would mean it was getting closer to Daniel's bedtime, which he didn't want to miss.

Slowly, he moved and sat up in the bed, making sure the rest of the room wouldn't start spinning as he got up from the bed.

"Hey, you're up." Sarah looked up from the couch where she was cuddling Daniel as Richie walked into the living room.
He nodded slowly as he walked over to join her there. "Yeah."
"Are you feeling better?" She asked, still concerned about him, especially as he was taking it slowly.
With a soft groan of relief, he sat down on the couch. "Better than before." He confirmed.
"But not entirely better?"
"No, my head still hurts but this is bearable."

Sarah lifted Daniel up out of her lap and passed him over to Richie.

"Why don't you take some painkillers?" She suggested as she got up from the couch, heading to the kitchen without waiting for an answer from him first.

After taking the painkillers his wife had brought him, Richie reclined the couch and held his son close, ready to get him to sleep.

It had been a long day but having had such a late nap, he was sure sleep wasn't going to come to him that easily tonight.

Sarah happily joined her two boys on the couch and cuddled against Richie's side as she watched Daniel drift off to sleep not that much later, it had been past his bedtime by now and she was glad he had gone to sleep so easily tonight. Happy to tell her husband so, she looked up at him next to her but found his eyes closed and heard a breathing pattern indicating he had joined Daniel in the land of dreams.

Chapter 115

Once in the car, Richie let out a deep sigh. It'd been a long night, in more than one way. As he turned the car on, the dashboard lights came on, revealing the time to him. A few minutes past 6 am. He'd been home for about 12 hours and already felt as if it had been an eternity. He had to get home before Sarah woke up and would notice something was wrong.

"Call Jon." He said to the car, feeling a tad weird to be talking to a vehicle but the technology was definitely useful as he started backing out of his parking spot.
"Calling Jon." The car responded in a robotic voice, a moment later he could hear the familiar tones.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Jon asked right away as he answered the call.
"I'm just leaving the hospital, just trying to figure out where the exit to this parkade is."
"You're driving?" Jon asked, sounding slightly surprised but a little excited as well. "Me too, just dropped everyone off for their last day of school before Christmas break. You better be using hands-free."
Richie shook his head, way to change the subject. "Same for you."
"Always, I'm a very safe driver." He chuckled for a second before turning back to their serious conversation. "So what happened?"
"They're making him stay for a few days," Richie sighed, "Noah didn't like the sound of that but it's mandatory and I think that's a good idea."
"You think so?"
"Sure, he didn't like it but they want to do a psych evaluation and I think that's probably a good thing after last night."
Jon took a moment to reply. "Yeah, I guess that would be. Figure out what happened and why."
"Exactly. I don't get why he would ever do something like that though." Richie sighed deeply again.
Jon copied him and sighed as well. "I don't think anyone ever understands. It's all in his head."
"Which is why it's good they're making him stay there."
"Mhhmm" Was all Jon mustered.
As he took the next right turn, Richie groaned. "How the fuck do I tell Sarah this?"
"I don't know. Just tell her straight forward, be blunt, I suppose. There's no point in stalling, you just have to tell her."
He groaned again, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news.
"Better from you than a receptionist at the hospital." Jon added on.
"True." Richie sighed, he knew Jon was right about that, at least the bad news would come from him instead of a stranger. He'd be able to provide more comfort than a person over the phone would.

They both went quiet as they continued their ways home.

Richie had mixed feelings when he took the highway exit, only a few more minutes and he'd be home. What was he supposed to do?

"I'm almost home." He said to Jon.
"Alright." Jon replied. "Just tell her straight up, you wouldn't want anyone to be beating around the bush if you had to get news like that."
He supposed Jon was right about that when he slowed down the car to turn into the drive way. "True."
"And you can call me again when you need to."
"I probably will." Richie said, shifting the car into park. "Guess I'll go inside and tell her."
"Call me if you need to." Jon repeated quickly, knowing their conversation was ending. "Just looking out for you man."
He let out one last sigh before agreeing. "I probably will. See ya." He heard Jon say bye before disconnecting the call and turning the car off.

This time he did the opposite and took a deep breath before getting out of the car. It was 6.30 by now, Sarah would most likely get up soon, as she did every morning to make sure everyone was on their way to school, besides that, Daniel was always an early riser when they were home. He felt exhausted.

He tried his best to be quiet as he opened the front door but as he closed it and could see into the kitchen, he realized it was useless to do so. Sarah was standing in the kitchen, dressed in her pajamas as she pressed down the lever on the toaster.

She turned around as soon as he walked into the kitchen. "There you are." She sounded relieved, leaving her toast to toast, she walked across the kitchen and wrapped her arms around him, then looked up at him. "I woke up and I couldn't find you. Where did you go?"
"I'm sorry." He just said, not wanting to tell her right away. "Are you making breakfast?"
"I was just about to start it for Noah and Ava."
Richie simply nodded and walked into the kitchen, to the island where he could sit down for a moment.
"You look tired sweetie." Sarah said as she stood in front of him, reading his face. "Were you not able to sleep?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't sleep."
"Do you want some coffee?"
He shook his head again. "No." He reached for her hands and gently pulled her a little closer. "Come sit with me for a minute." He let go so Sarah could get onto the bar stool.
She frowned as she watched him, he looked tired and exhausted but also sad. "What's wrong?" His behavior was starting to make her worried about him.
Richie took a deep breath before he started. "I couldn't sleep last night so I got up to get some snacks 'cause I was hungry, then I heard Noah down the hallway." He told his story quickly, but wanted to make sure she got all the details she would need about their son. "He finally went to sleep so I came home so I could tell you what happened." The look of shock on Sarah's face hurt him so much. He never wanted to give her any kind of bad news and this was very bad news. It hurt to be the person to tell her this. "I'm sorry." He stood up from his bar stool and pulled her into an embrace, holding her close as he could feel her start to sob.

He held her as she cried against his shoulder, before he knew it, he was sniffling himself. It had been a long and scary night and he finally felt the aftermath of it now that he had retold the entire night to his wife. As he felt Sarah pull away, he quickly reached up to wipe at his own eyes.

"I have to go see him." Sarah said urgently as she looked up at her husband.
"He's asleep." Richie reminded her. "He probably won't even wake up til noon."
"I don't care." Sarah slid off her chair and started walking out of the kitchen, toast long forgotten. "I've got to see him." She walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Sarah." He said as he followed her into the bedroom and Sarah went straight to the closet to get dressed. "We can go see him together this afternoon once he's awake."
"No." She said unyielding. "I'm going now. You need to go to sleep." She told him sternly once he had followed her into the closet. She traded her pajamas for a pair of jeans and a sweater.
He wasn't going to argue, he'd gotten the message. "Okay." He said, accepting Sarah's need. "I'll watch Daniel."
"Thank you." She quickly kissed him before heading out of the closet again.

Richie walked out of the closet, he watched Sarah walk out of the bedroom at the same time. She had to go, he knew that. He would feel the same way if he hadn't been able to be with one of their children during a crisis moment. With a sigh he sat down on the bed. He was more than ready to sleep but wasn't sure if he even could right now. Not to forget Daniel and Ava were still around.

A short knock came from the bedroom door, then squeaked as it opened. "Papa?"
He smiled when he heard her voice, it was always comforting. "Come here princess." He said, watching his daughter walk into the room, she joined him on the bed.
Her face turned to worry and question as soon as she did. "What's wrong?" She asked him.
Richie padded the bed next to him, urging her to come closer. "Come here." He pulled her into a hug once she was close enough to do so. "I don't think you're going to school." He referred to the school uniform she was already wearing, ready for the last day of school before Christmas break.

He released her from his hold as he started telling her what had happened last night, he tried to be as open as he could be and tell her everything she needed to know but also still wanted to protect her from the reality of it even though she was hardly that much younger than Noah. 16, 17 how much could their issues really differ at that age?

"We'll join Sarah later to go see him, okay?" He asked of her.
Ava nodded shortly, unsure of what else to do. "I can watch Daniel when he wakes if you want." She offered, at least she'd be helpful to her dad.
"That'd be nice." He admitted, all he wanted to do right now was sleep.
"Can I stay here?" Ava asked as she pulled away and moved over on the bed.
"Of course." He answered, some company would be nice after all.
Ava reached for the TV remote and turned it on, switching it to Netflix as soon as it turned on. "We can watch Friends since you missed it last night."
He chuckled a little and smiled. "Sure, otherwise I won't be able to follow tonight's episodes." He agreed, they had already watched every episode together before at least once. He wouldn't be watching for long now but also knew Ava just wanted to comfort him.

The room was bright when he opened his eyes, he could feel a weight on his legs and looked down to spot a black cat curled up in a ball on top of him. "Good morning Sirius." The cat looked up briefly then put its head back down. "We have to get up." He continued as if the cat would care what he said. Carefully he tried to sit up, wanting to move the cat but before he could even do so, it jumped off of his lap and walked away. "You could have slept on the bed." Richie pointed out to him.

Shaking his head, he followed the cat out of the room and sneaked into Daniel's room. When he found the boy's room empty, he continued down the hall to Ava's room. He quickly knocked  before pushing the door open and walking in. Ava sat on her bed, Daniel on the floor with some toys.

"Morning." Richie said as he walked over to the bed and sat down with Ava. "Thanks for watching Daniel."
"No problem." Ava smiled at him. "He woke up a while ago so I made him some toast and then he wanted to play."
"Thanks." He said again, glad he had been able to get some sleep. "I don't suppose Sarah has texted you or anything?" He said as he pulled his own phone from his pocket, not expecting anything.
"No."
He frowned when he didn't see anything on his phone either, a little disappointed.
"Are we going to the hospital too?" Ava asked, looking up expectantly at him.
Richie nodded quickly, if only he wasn't hungry. "We will. Let's have lunch and we'll go, okay?" He noticed how Daniel looked up at him as soon as he heard the word lunch. The boy must be hungry as well.

In the kitchen he made them a quick lunch, not wanting to take all that long. As he made the food, he sent Sarah a text asking for an update but waiting for a reply turned out to be of no use.

After lunch, he kept his word and they were off to the hospital.

Once he got out of the parked car, he opened the back door to get Daniel out of his car seat. Holding him, he headed into the hospital, Ava following him as he remembered the way to the room he had left Noah in this morning.

He was happy to see Sarah as soon as he walked into the room. Letting Daniel down from his hold, he embraced Sarah with a hug instead. Immediately he forgot about the texts she never responded to, from the change in her it was obvious compared to how worried she had been this morning. The same went for Noah, if he hadn't known, nothing seemed wrong with him at all.

That made him feel slightly worried as he joined Sarah and Noah in the TV show they were watching together. Conversation was kept fairly light and his mind wandered to the night before. The contrast between the middle of the night and twelve hours later seemed so surreal.

Last night Noah had been in serious distress and looking at him now, everything seemed fine. If he hadn't experienced the night first hand, he might not have believed it compared to how he saw Noah now.

Now, Richie realized how easy it could be to not notice the mental health issues people were going through. Had Noah consciously hidden this from him and Sarah or had they simply just not noticed what they should have? Had Noah given him plenty of signs that he didn't notice or might have waved off?

Could noticing Noah's signs, if he ever gave him any, have prevented all of this?

Chapter 114

He had only just started pacing past the vending machine when he already felt his phone vibrate in his hand. He stopped and quickly read it, then immediately went for the call button instead of texting back.

"Two seconds." He heard before he heard rustling over the phone, footsteps and a door closing. "What's going on? I literally just got into bed."
"I'm sorry man, I need to talk to someone." Richie looked around him, the hallways were empty, a seating area across from him.
"It's the middle of the night for you, what's happening?"
He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I'm at the ER with Noah." He sighed, letting that fact sink in again, "I just don't know."
"Know what?" Jon urged, trying to get some kind of answer that would make more sense to him. "You've got to give me something here man."
Richie took a deep breath, leaning back in his chair instead. "I got up 'cause I was hungry and I heard something down the hall, then noticed his light was still on. He sometimes reads all night so I went to go tell him to go to bed but he wasn't reading." He paused to sigh again.
"What was he doing?"
He took another deep breath, gathering his thoughts to continue, or maybe it was courage. "I found him in his bathroom with razor blades. He was bleeding pretty bad so I took him to the ER cause what the fuck do I do?"
"Oh fuck man. He was cutting himself?"
Richie nodded, then realized Jon wouldn't be able to see that. "Yeah."
"Is he alright?"
"The cuts, yeah. They've stitched it up but mentally, I don't have a fucking clue." He ran his free hand over his face, frustrated and confused at what was going on.
"I'm sorry man, he's going to be alright though. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I went to get us some snacks from a vending machine when I texted you. I should probably get back to him, don't want to leave him alone for too long I guess."
"Yeah."
"Fuck man, I knew he had issues but these kind of issues?" He started to feel angry about the situation they had ended up in tonight.
"There's no way you could have know." Jon pointed out, which Richie sort of agreed to, "You weren't even there til last night."
"That's just it." The anger built inside him. "I should have been here, maybe I would have known or would have been able to do something to prevent this shit."
He could hear Jon sigh on the other end of the line. "There's nothing you could have done to prevent it. You can't stop what's in his head."
Richie groaned, he made sense. "I know."
"So don't start blaming yourself. Being home or on the road, wouldn't have changed what goes around in your kid's head."
"But I would have been here to talk to him."
"Has he talked to you now then?" Jon countered quickly.
"No."
"He wouldn't have before either then."
"I know." Richie sighed, he knew his friend was right, nothing would have changed for Noah.
"So, go back to your kid and keep me updated on what happens."
"Alright." He sighed again but he did want to get back to Noah and see how he was doing. "I'll talk to you later."
"Alright, just call or text when you need to, okay?" Jon asked to make sure.
"Okay." Richie agreed before ending the call.

He sat up in his chair, putting his phone back into his pocket, looking ahead of him he remembered the vending machine he was supposed to get snacks from. With a sigh, he stood up and walked over to pick out something to eat for the both of them.

The hallway lead him back to the ER, a larger waiting room with a lot more people and sounds going on. Immediately, he felt the stress again.

"Richie." Noah said, panic in his voice as Richie walked back into the room.
"Yeah?" He asked as he dropped the bags of chips and granola bars on the bed, before passing Noah the bottle of Sprite he got him.
Noah accepted the bottle but didn't acknowledge it. "One of the nurses just said they're looking for a room for me."
"What?" He asked confused at what Noah meant.
"She said they're looking for a room for me." Noah repeated, which wasn't very explanatory.
Richie frowned for a second before cluing in. "They want you to stay here." He concluded, feeling even more sure of it when he watched Noah starting to shiver again.
"I don't want to stay." Noah said, his teeth started to chatter towards the end of his sentence.

He frowned in thought, understanding how Noah felt but understanding the nurse even more. Perhaps a hospital would be a safer environment for Noah. He'd be taken care of and most likely have someone to talk to.

"Mr. Sambora?" He heard from behind him, he looked over his shoulder to notice the nurse wanting to speak to him. "Can we talk privately for a moment?" She asked gently.
Richie nodded, turning back to Noah, "I'll be right back. You're okay." He reminded him again as he watched Noah's worry clear on his face before following the nurse out to the hallway, where Noah wouldn't be able to hear them as easily.
"We've found Noah a room upstairs. Your insurance covers private rooms and considering Noah's situation we went along with that."
He simply nodded, he didn't know what to say to that but it seemed fair. "He doesn't want to stay though."
"I know." The nurse agreed. "A 72 hour stay in required after any kind of self harm. We'll want to do a psych evaluation and just make sure he's really okay before we let him go home."
He nodded again, it just seemed fair to him. "That's probably a good idea." He agreed even though he didn't want to disappoint Noah and make him stay here while he didn't want to. It'd be better for him in the end. "He might have a panic attack before getting to a room though." He warned the nurse before heading back to Noah.

He walked back in with Noah alone, still clutching the Diet Coke he had gotten himself earlier. Finally he opened it and drank, although he was stalling what to tell Noah as he looked at him expectantly. At least he had stopped shivering for now.

He sat at the end of the bed, making Noah frown at him with worry, catching on to what was going to happen.

"So they got you a private room upstairs so you'll be alone." His tone was firmer than he wanted it to be but he wasn't going to beat around the bush with Noah, it'd be easier to be straight with him. Although it didn't hurt any less to see Noah's reaction as tears started to well up in his eyes. "They want you to stay for three days so you can talk to a psychiatrist and make sure you're alright."
"But I don't want to. I'm fine." Noah said, the tears weren't holding back as the shivers returned.
"This isn't fine Noah." Richie said sternly as he gently turned Noah's foot to show him the bandages on his ankle. "I'll go upstairs with you and get you settled but then I'm going home and tell your mom about this." He hated it but he also understood this was for the best. He moved over on the bed and pulled his son into a hug, ignoring the crinkling sound coming from the chip bags. "You're going to sleep and when you wake up, I'll be here or your mom will be here but I've got to go home so I can tell her." He could Noah sniff loudly on his shoulder and it hurt him even more to have to leave him but he didn't let go until he noticed Noah stopped shivering.

Slowly he pulled back from the hug to face Noah, his eyes the same shade of green just like his mother's, now all red and puffy from crying. He didn't need to ask to know his panic attack had passed.

Moving upstairs went easily as an orderly came down with a wheelchair to take Noah to his hospital room. Being only 17, they walked through the children's ward which reminded Richie way too much of the last times he had spent in the hospital. It wasn't the same here as at the children's hospital but the walls were still decorated in pleasant colors and cartoon figures that many children loved.

"Is this bed at least more comfortable?" Richie tried to lighten the mood once Noah had moved to the bed and the orderly had left them alone.
Noah simply shrugged in response.

Richie pulled a chair closer to the bed, just like in the children's hospital even the walls inside the room had some decals on the wall. The room was large enough to fit a couch by the wall, he was sure many parents had stayed the night here with their child. He wouldn't be able to do so tonight.

They both looked up when they heard a knock from the door, announcing her entrance, the nurse continued on into the room. She carried a cup of water along with a smaller container.

"I got you something to help you sleep, it's up to you if you want to take it though, it's past 5 now so getting some sleep would be a good idea." The nurse said gently as she placed it all on the small table next to the bed. "You've got an alarm button if there's anything you need urgently," she pointed it out to Noah, "but it's not a toy." She told him sternly. "Get some sleep and we'll see you in the morning." She said before walking out again.

He looked up at Noah wondering what he'd decide on but Noah stared down at his lap. "Noah?" He tried carefully, not wanting to cause any more panic attacks but he wanted Noah to go to sleep, for his own sake, to get some rest and maybe calm his mind but when Noah looked up at him, his words changed. "You know I love you, right?"
Noah nodded slowly. "Yeah." He said quietly.
"And you know I would never want you to hurt yourself, right?"
He looked away from him.
Richie didn't press it, he understood how Noah felt about what he had done now. Instead he continued, "I think if you take that," he pointed over at the side table, "it'll let your mind leave you alone so you can have a clear head and fall asleep." He could see how it sounded appealing to Noah. "I'll stay til you're asleep." He added on, hoping it would convince him.
Noah grabbed the little cup and looked at it. "I've never taken sleeping meds."
Richie leaned over in his chair, his arms resting on the bed. "Well, it's just going to let you relax. It's the same as falling asleep but you sleep better and get a much better sleep with it." He grabbed the bottle of Sprite he had bought earlier and opened it up to pass to Noah.
"Does it work fast?" Noah said after he swallowed the pill and drank his Sprite.
"It'll still take a while." Richie said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you're asleep before I go." It felt strange to be looking at a 17 year old in front of him but feeling as if he was being as gentle and careful as he would be with a 7 year old.
"Mom's going to be mad."
Richie shook his head in disbelief. "I think she's going to be anything but mad." He saw the slight relief on Noah's face, sure the medication didn't work that fast. "She's going to be worried and scared for you about what happened and what's going on."
"I'm scared." Noah whispered.
"I know." Richie sighed, grabbing his hand and it giving it a squeeze in support. "I'm here."
Slowly Noah shook his head.
"What do you mean then?" Richie asked as he scooted a little closer again, not wanting to miss it if Noah whispered again.
Noah leaned back in the bed, seeming more comfortable when he did so. "Of everything."
"You don't need to be." He kept his voice gentle, wanting Noah to feel relaxed so he would go to sleep. "I'm always going to be here to help you."

He leaned back in his chair when he didn't get a response and let out a deep, shaky sigh.

He waited a few more minutes before standing up from his chair. He quickly padded his pockets, making sure he had his phone and keys, he found the ebook in his left pocket. Remembering why he had brought it in the first place, he pulled it out and placed it on the side table, sure Noah would find it there when he needed it. He looked back at the kid and for the first time really let himself feel the pain he was feeling tonight. Disbelief was still prevalent, that something like this would happen to Noah. That Noah would feel or think anything to make him want to hurt himself. His heart hurt at the thought of what kind of pain Noah must be in but right now he looked fairly peaceful as he slept. Noticing how much he looked like Sarah, he wiped his bangs out of his eyes even though they were closed. Right now, he seemed more fragile than Richie ever thought he had been, he knew he was more fragile than he had thought. He leaned over and kissed the top of his head, the same as he did whenever he laid Daniel in his crib to sleep. With regret, he finally walked out of the room.

Chapter 113

Having Sarah sleep on his chest was exactly the homecoming he needed. The time difference from Australia was messing up his schedule with her. It was midnight and Sarah was sound asleep on his chest, he was sure everyone else was sound asleep as well but here he was, wide awake watching late night talk shows on stations that were ahead of California time. Not that late night talk shows were bad, he just preferred the Craig Ferguson show. The others just weren't the same. At least, after this there'd be two reruns of Friends and two of Two and a Half Men so he was set for at least two more hours of tv shows to watch. After that, he might have to switch to Netflix. His attention wasn't exactly invested in any of these shows and he hoped he would drift off to some sleep but so far he had not been successful of that.

Eventually the talk show ended and he needed a snack before watching Friends, his tummy grumbled and he agreed with it. Very carefully, he moved from underneath of Sarah, trying not to wake her up but also knowing that was futile.

"I'll be right back." He said as he saw her eyes open sleepily. "Go back to sleep." He said.

Quietly he walked out of the bedroom. Once in the hallway, he noticed light at the other end by the teenagers their rooms. Perhaps Noah had fallen asleep with the light on again. He started heading down the hallway when a door slammed and took the light with it. Who was awake past midnight?

Richie reached the staircase and contemplated just getting his snack from the kitchen and heading back to bed but something told him to investigate. During school vacations Noah and Ava, even Caleb turned into night owls but it was a little too soon for that. It was two more days before school let out for Christmas vacation.

He flicked on the light switch, now noticing the linen closet door open and pushed it closed before continuing down the hallway to check on who was awake in the middle of the night.

Light peeked from underneath Noah's bedroom door, he proceeded to knock on the door but didn't get an answer. Perhaps Noah had just fallen asleep with the light on.

Quietly he pushed the door open, not wanting to wake his son up. He reached into the room to switch off the light but noticed Noah's bed was empty. Richie looked straight to the bathroom, of course he'd be in there. He walked over and knocked on the door.

"Hey Noah, straight back to bed, okay?" He said. "You've got school in the morning. Don't get sucked into late night Instagram."
"I won't"

Richie walked back out of the room and closed the door behind him as he headed downstairs to get his snack so he could go and catch up with his Friends.

In the kitchen, Richie poured himself a glass of water at the sink first. He didn't realize he had been thirsty until he downed the glass. Next, he went into the pantry and looked around for what would soothe his craving. The dried fruits and fruit and veggie snacks were turned down quite easily when he found a bag of Munchies. Exactly what he needed,  variety so he didn't have to pick a snack. He grabbed the bag and pulled a bottle of water out of the flat stored on the floor where he found a black cat looking at him.

"Hi there Sirius." He stroked the cat's back. "Did I wake you up?" The cat meowed at him, as if it was responding to his question. "Well then get back to sleep man." He walked out and instructed Sirius to do the same so he could close the door behind him.

Leaving the cat behind in the kitchen, he headed back upstairs with his snacks. At the landing he looked down the hallway to make sure Noah's light was off but found the opposite to be true as he could still see the light sneak out under the door. Once again he went back down the hallway, a little frustrated Noah hadn't listened to him about going back to bed. The least he could do was be sneakier about staying up and turning off his lights. He knocked on his door a little louder this time but didn't wait for an answer and he opened the door as he wasn't pleased with Noah right now.

"Noah, it's almost one-" The room was still empty, his eyes darted over to the bathroom door that was still closed. His frustration turned to worry, their household was never spared of a cold or flu around this time of year, he put his snacks on the desk beside the bathroom. "Noah?" He knocked on the bathroom door again. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Came his answer quickly.
"Are you sure?" Richie asked again, having an uneasy feeling.
Noah didn't respond.
"Noah?" He asked again, this time more worried and more sternly. "Are you okay?" The longer it took Noah to answer, the more worried Richie became.
Finally, after what seemed like minutes. "I need help."

In the same second Richie turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. His mind hadn't processed what he could possibly find but he had to help Noah out regardless of what it was he needed.

As he saw Noah sit on the bathroom floor, leaning back against the shower stall holding his foot in a bloodied towel his heart sank and his mind stopped. Noah was shivering with tears in his eyes. The broken razor with it's blades on the tiled floor were enough to piece it all together.

He gathered his mind back together; right now Noah was safe from himself, but he needed to stop that bleeding.

Richie kneeled down in front of Noah and reached for the towel. Noah let go of it so Richie could lift it.

"You're okay." He had meant to ask him but it came out as a statement.
Noah nodded shortly and leaned back against the shower's glass walls as Richie finally lifted the towel.

He covered it back up almost instantly, the cut was bleeding profusely.
"Keep putting pressure on it." He instructed Noah, who grabbed his ankle tightly again.

Richie reached over to the cabinet under the sink and opened the doors to look through the stock of toiletries before reaching the back of the cabinet.

"Luckily your mom thought of putting a first aid kit in every single fucking bathroom in this house."

He pulled the small box out and opened it, finding everything he needed to help Noah out.

Richie took out some sterile gauze pads and medical tape. He reached for Noah's towel again who let go of it once again. With a clean corner of the towel Richie tried to wipe away the blood which was almost futile. The cut was too deep to simply stop bleeding. He ripped open the first piece of gauze to cover the cut with but as he tried to tape it to Noah's skin, it had already soaked through. He added another two over top and finally a third he could tape in place securely. From the first aid kit, he retrieved a tension bandage and wrapped it over the gauze pads, applying continuous pressure. Lastly, he picked up the bloodied razor blades and put them in a gauze pad to cover the broken razor head with, then wrapped tape around it before unceremoniously throwing it in the garbage can.

"Alright." He concluded, standing up again, reaching a hand out to help Noah up.

His mind caught up in a fraction of a second as he let his arm down again. Instead, he moved to Noah's side and knelt down. He grabbed Noah's arm to put around his shoulder, holding on to his waist with his right arm so he could pull him up as Richie stood up again as well.

With Richie's help Noah made it out of the bathroom. Richie pulled the door closed behind them, turning the lock from the outside, he didn't want anyone to accidentally walk in there.

"Where's your wallet?" He asked Noah.
"In my backpack." Noah gestured to it by his desk.

Richie grabbed the backpack, pulling the zipper open but only found books and a pen box and the ereader he had bought Noah only a few months ago. He held on to it the found another zipper to unzip and recovered a well hidden wallet to put into his pj pants' pocket, happy that the pocket was big enough to fit the ereader.

He continued to help Noah hop through the hallway to the staircase.

Looking down the stairs, Noah shook his head. He hadn't argued through the entire ordeal.

"I can't hop down the stairs. I'd trip and fall."
Richie contemplated his comment for a moment, finding truth in it. "Sit down and scoot like Daniel does?" He suggested as he helped Noah to do so.

Richie walked down the stairs and headed towards the closet where he quickly put on his shoes and found Noah's for him. From the hangers above he found a hoodie he wasn't sure of if it was Caleb's or Noah's but grabbed it anyway. Back at the staircase Noah had made his way down to the last two steps. Richie passed him the sweater and his right shoe.

"Thanks." Noah said.

From the side table by the front door, Richie grabbed his car keys then helped Noah up again and supported him to the car.

As Noah got situated in the passenger seat, Richie realized he was still carrying his left shoe and passed it to Noah. He closed the car door carefully and walked around to the driver's side where he got in. As he turned the car on, he looked at Noah to make sure he was okay. The boy was still shivering but otherwise looked fine. Richie turned up the heat and started backing out of his spot.

"Are we going to the hospital?" Noah asked softly, worry was obvious in his voice.

Richie parked at the ER entrance, as close as he could anyway.

"I can go find a wheelchair so you don't have to walk on you foot." He suggested to Noah, who only shrugged in return.

That didn't really get him an answer so Richie got out of the car and walked around to help Noah out of the vehicle. No answer must mean no he figured.

As he had done at home, he helped Noah to walk. His parking job close to the entrance definitely made it easier. Once inside, he spotted a payment machine for parking. Better pay beforehand.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glad he had his ID and credit card handy like that because he had not thought of bringing his wallet with him. He let go of Noah so he could go through the process of payment. Inserting his card as instructed, picking how long he wanted to pay for, may as well take 6 hours he figured. Hopefully it wouldn't take that long but he didn't want to come back to top this up. Then, it asked for his license plate.

"Fuck." He swore, making Noah look up at him in question. "I don't know my license plate number." Richie explained.
"7CJT834." Noah responded.
Richie frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah."

He punched in the number and letters, trusting Noah had this right. The machine processed the payment and printed out a receipt for him to take.

As he turned away from the machine, he noticed the wheelchairs across the walkway. It would be much easier than supporting Noah every time he would have to get up or walk. Instead of asking this time, he took the wheelchair and made Noah sit down in it before he proceeded to follow the signs to ER registration and triage.

Noah didn't say another word, even when they arrived at the line up for registration. There were a few people ahead of them but other than that the main waiting area didn't seem too full for this size hospital.

About ten minutes later they were next.

A triage nurse waved them through the doors to a smaller private area.

"He can come in alone." The nurse said when Richie pushed the wheelchair in.
He looked down at Noah, noticing how his facial expression had changed. "He's under 18, I'm staying with him."
"Alright." The nurse said as she sat down at her computer to take Noah's information.
Richie pulled his son's wallet from his baggy pj pants pocket and found his learner's permit and his health insurance card to pass over to the nurse.
She copied his information into the computer, then turned to Noah. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Noah looked up at Richie for reassurance or maybe he was just scared. "Go ahead. You can tell her." Richie told him. "You're okay." He reminded his son, trying to help him find some confidence.
Noah looked back at the nurse, then looked down at his lap. "I cut myself."
The nurse spoke as she typed. "What did you cut yourself with?"
"A razor."
"Okay." The nurse confirmed before she asked a few more questions. "We'll take your temperature and blood pressure." She said next as she started rolling on her chair to get her equipment. She used her no touch thermometer, wrote down the results and then picked up the sphygmomanometer and unwrapped the velcro strap to put around Noah's arm.

Richie stood next to Noah, watching it all happen. There wasn't much else he could do right now for Noah anyway. Richie knew that like a lot of children his age, including his sister, Noah had anxiety issues. He just had to make sure Noah made it through this with as few panic attacks as possible.

He watched as the nurse started applying the pressure to measure his blood pressure, at the same time he saw Noah's face lose color and his eyes roll back in his head. "Noah." He said, reaching out to grab him by the arm before he would slip out of his seat.

Richie held him in place, making sure Noah was steady. It didn't take long before Noah blinked his eyes a couple times and color returned to his face. "Alright there?" Richie asked him carefully.
"Yeah." Noah said slowly. "What happened?" He asked confused.
"You fainted buddy. Are you feeling okay now?"
"I think so."
The nurse interjected her own question. "Has he ever fainted before?" She asked Richie.
"I don't think so." He said, looking at Noah who slowly shook his head.

The nurse went back to typing on her computer, then stood up. "We've got a bed ready to check your cut out." She put a hospital bracelet around Noah's wrist before instructing another nurse to take him to the bed she had just assigned him.

Again, Richie wheeled Noah, this time following the nurse that guided them. He felt a little out of sorts not knowing Noah's medical history but how was he supposed to know everything about his son he had only known for a few years and had always seemed healthy. Maybe he should inform Sarah after all. She would be better at this.

He sat with Noah, waiting patiently. His stomach growled at him, still wanting the snacks he had grabbed earlier but never got to eat. In the bed Noah looked very bored as well. After the nurse had left them, they had not seen anyone else.

"You okay?" He asked Noah, unsure of how else to start a conversation in this tense situation.
"Yeah, just bored."
"Oh." Richie remembered what he found earlier. He moved in his chair so he could retrieve Noah's ebook from his pocket. "Here" He passed it over. "I thought you'd like this."
Noah's face did slightly light up. "Thanks." He said.
"How about, I go and find us some snacks and maybe you can find us a book to listen to or whatever book you're reading now, you'll just have to catch me up."
"Okay." Noah said.

"I won't be long."

Richie got up from his chair next to Noah's bed and walked out of the room. Once in the hallway, he pulled out his iPhone and sent off a text. 

Chapter 112

Packing up his suitcases that morning felt somewhat like a bittersweet moment. He was happy to finally go home and looked forward to time off with his family again but being on the road had also been a lot of fun. Last summer he might not have thought so but he was glad he had made the decision to go back on tour. There were a lot of family moments he knew he missed out on but there were great memories on tour as well. He had a good time with his friends, now he was ready to go home and have an even greater time as they celebrated Christmas and the end of the year.

"Are you ready for this one?" He asked Jon as he followed him on the stairs to the plane cabin.
Jon's groan made him chuckle. "How many hours is this one?"
"This one, 13 hours." Richie reminded him, loving it when Jon groaned again. "Then 6 more hours after that." He added on.

They found their seats and got comfortable for the long haul.

"Can I have a layover at your house?" Jon asked, not looking forward to a total of 19 hours in the air and knowing it would take much longer than that.
"That would mean you get home even later." Richie pointed out to him.
Jon sighed, not liking that idea either.
Richie shrugged his shoulders at that, it was true, and they both knew that. "Just looking out for you man."

Once in the air, he decided on the easy way out. Being able to sleep anywhere or anytime truly was a wonderful gift especially when combined with the ability to function perfectly fine on a lot less sleep as well. Knowing jet lag would throw him completely off schedule anyway, he decided to kill his time with a nice nap.

When he woke up the cabin was dark and quiet. Jon was still next to him. Tico had moved away and David sat across from him. Carefully he tried to stretch his legs, not wanting to disturb anyone but also needing to get up. Being stuck in the corner by the window, he knew that was going to be very unlikely.

Trying to find something to do, he pulled out his iPad from his bag by his feet. There had to be some sort of games on there.

"You must be bored." He heard after a while from his right. Richie looked over to see Jon watching his iPad.
"You fell asleep on me." Richie said to him.
Jon slowly sat up, getting back in a more comfortable position. "You're the one that went straight to sleep when we got into the air."
"You weren't entertaining me."

It wasn't long before everyone else woke up as well, which led to them having breakfast or lunch. It wasn't much longer now and Richie was getting more than ready to disembark this plane and not look at one for a long while.

Travelling back from Australia was always more fun than returning from Europe. This was the only time, he didn't have to get on an extra flight to make his way home. That surely was the best thing about going to Australia.

Richie was more than happy to get off the plane and leave his friends on it to continue their journey home. Thirteen hours of flight was enough for him, if the guys wanted to add on an extra six just to get home, he would let them do so by themselves.

Once in a car in the way home, he grabbed his phone and decided he needed to point that out to Jon and David. What was a friendship if he couldn't tease them a little bit?

After that, he sent Sarah a text, letting her know he would be home very soon. Then, enjoyed his drive home from the backseat of the SUV. Although he hadn't been away that long, it felt good to see all the familiar places around him.

The driver pulled up to the house. Once the car was parked, Richie opened the door and got out of the car, ready to be home. He quickly helped the driver with getting his bags out of the trunk of the SUV and started to move them to the front door. By now, Sarah had figured out he was home and he was happy to see her waiting in the door with Daniel for him.

Leaving the bags for what they were, he went over to his wife and kissed her deeply. So happy he could do so again. Twenty days had been much too long to go without a kiss. When he finally pulled back, he held his arms out for Daniel to come to him.

"You started Christmas decorating?" He asked when he was finally inside. The railings on the stairs had been decorated with colorful garland and bows.
"Not everything." Sarah said quickly. "Ava came over last night wanting to get it ready for you but we left the living room and the tree." Sarah continued, hoping that would make him feel better.
"It looks great already." He said, happy to be home in a half decorated house.

He happily spent the rest of the morning with Sarah and Daniel, playing with his son as he caught up on the last few weeks with his wife. Sharing stories when he got home was something he always enjoyed. There were many to tell and many to hear about.

After Daniel napped and the three of them were back in the living room, he started going through the boxes of Christmas decorations.

"Ava will be home soon." Sarah reminded him as he opened a box.
He looked up briefly. "I know, just looking for something."
Sarah watched him for a moment as he riffled through the box. "What are you looking for?" She finally asked, curious about what couldn't wait.
"Got it!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a small item that was wrapped in tissue paper. Carefully, he unwrapped it and placed it on the mantel piece above the fire place. "How's that?" He asked.
"Looks good." Sarah agreed, recognizing it now that he had put it down. "What about Ava?" She asked carefully, remembering last year.
He waved it off quickly. "She doesn't actually mind, just acts like she's embarrassed by it. It's cute and it reminds me of how little she was."

They both looked over when the front door opened to see Ava and Noah walk into the hallway. Ava happily dropped her bag by the staircase and headed into the living room to great her father back home.

"Missed you." She said as she hugged him tightly.

Richie loved tight hugs from his daughter and all too happily returned it, he had missed her as well.

"Are we decorating now or later?" He asked her as he let go off their hug.
"Now." Ava answered adamantly.
Richie nodded shortly, liking that idea very much. "Okay. Let's get started so we can have hot chocolate after and watch a movie."
"I'm sure we can have hot chocolate whenever we want."
He shook his head. "No, only after Christmas decorating."
"Okay." Ava slightly rolled her eyes as she followed Noah up the stairs.

Richie unstacked the boxes as he waited for them to come back, then ripped off the tape he had used last year to seal the boxes. Sarah watched him do so from the couch, happy to be watching instead of being part of the decorating for now as she kept Daniel occupied.

Not much later Ava returned to the living room, changed from her school uniform and ready to start decorating the Christmas tree and the rest of the house.

Every year he loved watching Ava being creative and turning the entire house into a picture perfect Christmas decor. Just about as good as what they'd see in the movies they'd watch for the next couple days. Richie followed the instructions she was giving him on where to place certain ornaments on the Christmas tree and helped her reach for the top branches when she was just a little too short to do so herself. Once the tree was finished, Ava continued on to the rest of the living room, taking each items as Richie unwrapped it from its tissue paper or from the box it was kept in for safekeeping.

Sarah watched them both, enjoying how Daniel exclaimed little oh's and ah's whenever he noticed something new that he liked.

"It looks great." Sarah said when it looked like they had finally finished.
"Just need the star." Ava watched as Richie took it out of its box and reached to put it on top of the Christmas tree, finishing it off. "Perfect." Ava smiled.
"I suppose it's time for hot chocolate then?" Sarah asked, getting up with Daniel in her arms.

With cups of hot chocolate in their hands, the four of them sat down on the couch in the living room. Richie had made sure the fire place was on, adding to the experience of Christmas even though it wasn't all that cold outside. He sat close to Sarah, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as he held her close against him, watching the Christmas movie Ava had picked out for them. Having his family close by like this was exactly what he needed today. Nothing would ever beat the feeling he felt when they were all together and sharing a wonderful family moment.

Their excitement for decorating and preparing for Christmas next week, had occupied them so much, they forgot about dinner until Noah came downstairs asking when dinner would be.

After dinner, Ava decided to follow Noah upstairs, as happy as she was her dad was home again, she did still want her own time. Her phone had been exploding with text and other kind of messages for the last few hours and perhaps she would take some time to reply them.

Once again, Richie happily sat down on the couch with Sarah, this time holding Daniel close and hoped the little boy would be off to sleep soon. Some time alone with Sarah was just what he'd need to finish off his lovely homecoming.

When Daniel had been sleeping in his arms for almost half an hour and Sarah's tv show ended, they decided to take him to bed and do the same for themselves. Carefully carrying Daniel to his bed, Richie tried his best not to wake him. With care he laid his son down in his crib, as always, he took his moment to watch him. The boy looked so peaceful when he slept, he cherished that.

"I'll meet you in bed?" He asked Sarah as they walked out of the bedroom, leaving Daniel's open by an inch.
Sarah smiled and reached up for a quick kiss from him. "Sounds good. I'll be waiting." She said, knowing it sounded suggestive.
Richie watched her go into their bedroom, enjoying his view before heading down the hall to say goodnight to his teenage children as per his usual at home ritual.

Having that quick chat before saying good night to Ava was something he held dear very much. It had started much the same as he did now with Daniel, making sure he was asleep before leaving him. Now he knew Ava wasn't going to sleep straight away but having those few minutes to talk and end their day always made him feel better. He knew she treasured it to, on the rare occasion that she went to bed before him, Ava would always come and find him to catch up on their day before saying good night. He loved that he had built that relationship.

After saying his good nights and stopping by Daniel one last time, he opened the door to his own room. He didn't feel anywhere near tired but after being away for almost three weeks, there was nothing he looked more forward to than sharing a bed with his beautiful wife.