The Misfits

“Jasper? Is-is he alright?" My mother stuttered. Maeve was gripping my arm so tight I thought it might break. I held my breath as the officer ran a hand through his hair again.

"They've taken him to the hospital," the cop replied. "I came to escort-"

I was gone before he finished the sentence, taking the stairs two at a time in attempt to reach Mackenzie. I ran through the hall, frantically opening doors until I found her in Miss Lucy's room. She was crying again and jumped when I opened the door.

"They found Jas. He's at the hospital," I breathed. Mackenzie was up in an instant as the three of us flew back down the stairs.

"Irene, go with Kenzie and Thalia. I'll get the rest of the kids," Aunt Lucy said. She handed my mom a few papers before Mackenzie and I were whisked out the door. I felt a nervous panic rising in my chest and I can only imagine how Mackenzie was feeling.

"Is-is he okay? Is my brother okay?" Mackenzie was asking as we ran down the front walk. We climbed in the back seat of the cop car as my mom took the passengers seat. Mackenzie was shaking and on the verge of tears. She had gone through so much and I was surprised she had kept it together for so long.

"They told me he was going into surgery," the cop replied.

Mackenzie gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. I gripped her other hand tightly and began running her back in an attempt to calm her. Surgery. That meant something bad had happened when they tried to rescue him. Was he shot? Had Mackenzie’s father hurt him?

"Why does he need surgery? What happened?" My mom interrogated, snapping me out of my thoughts. I began rubbing Mackenzie’s back again, needing something to keep me from my thoughts as I tried to listen.

"They were spotted at a local convenience store. Smith took off with your boy in the car and there was a small chase. They were driven off the road…it was a nasty accident.”

"Please tell me that bastard's dead," Mackenzie spat. I closed my eyes at her words. I had never heard her speak so harshly in my life. Even though deep down I secretly wished for the same thing.

"He's in intensive care."

I felt Mackenzie stiffen next to me and I instinctively pulled her closer. The next hour was a whirlwind. We arrived at the hospital a minute later and I helped Mackenzie out of the car. She was still shaking and had grown pale on the ride over. I knew she wouldn't be all right until she saw Jasper with her own eyes. The cop escorted us to a waiting room upstairs in intensive care where a nurse was waiting for us.

"Where's my brother?" Mackenzie asked frantically.

"Miss I need you to calm down," the nurse said, holding out a hand to block our path. "Visiting hours are-“

“He’s my brother!” Mackenzie yelled. I grabbed her arm and held her back as my mother and the officer stepped forward.

“Miss I think we can make an exception,” The officer said, pulling back his jacket to casually display his badge.

“I have all the insurance papers and medial records here. Are there any other papers we need to sign?” my mother asked effectively distracting the nurse. The officer nodded to me and headed down one of the hallways with Mackenzie and I hot on his trail.

“Jasper!” Cried Mackenzie, throwing open the door and running over to the bed.

As I stepped in my heart stopped. Jasper was unconscious with needles, tubes, and bandages covering his body. His sandy-blonde hair was matted with dried blood from the cut on his forehead. One of his eyes was swollen shut from a black eye and a split lip was also visible. Smaller cuts covered his face and arms.

There was a rhythmic beeping coming from the machines he was connected to. I took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Jasper was alive. He was here and he was alive. I patted Mackenzie on the head before taking Jasper's other hand.

"Stupid...you're so stupid," Mackenzie was whispering as she wiped tears from her eyes. "God damn it Jasper."

"He's okay Kenz," I chuckled. She nodded, still staring at her baby brother. We both looked up as my mother appeared with the cranky nurse at her side.

"He's going to be alright Kenzie," my mother smiled.

"He sustained a few injuries in the accident. We took him in for surgery on his right knee. He also suffered a few concussions." The nurse said in a bored tone. "He just got out of surgery and should be awake again within the next 30 minutes."

"Thank you," my mother and I smiled. The nurse returned it before heading back out the door and down the hall.

"Miss Smith?" The officer said hesitantly. "If you wish, your father is down the hall."

Mackenzie froze, gripping her brother’s hand tightly.

"He's been asking for you."

My blood was boiling at the officers words. That son of a bitch broke into our home, kidnapped Jasper, and now had the nerve to ask to speak to Mackenzie? "He can go to-"

"No." Interrupted Mackenzie. "I-I want to see him."

"Are you sure Mackenzie?" My mother asked, rubbing her back gently. Mackenzie nodded.

"Do you want me to come with?" I asked. Again she nodded and the two of us stood. She kissed the top of Jasper's head before taking my hand and leading me out of the room.

We followed the officer down the hall and into another identical room. There was also an officer in here and I felt Mackenzie grip on my hand tighten as we stepped inside. She was shaking again, though I couldn't tell if it was from fear or anger.

Her father looked exactly like Jasper only with wrinkles and a beard. He turned to us as we walked in, a grotesque smile creeping into his face. "Babygirl," he rasped. "I knew you-"

"I'm not your babygirl," snapped Mackenzie. Her hands had curled into fists as she stepped towards the man she hated. "Was it not enough to take mom from me? You had to try and take Jasper too? You are sick! You killed mom. You beat Jasper. You abused me. You broke into my home. You kidnapped my brother and you actually think that after all that I would ever, ever want to see your disgusting face again?"

"Baby I'm sorry. You know I love you! I've changed! I-"

"Bull shit," she spat. I held my breath as Mackenzie took back the life her father had stolen from her. "You're going to go to prison. And you're gonna stay there for the rest of your life. Jasper's going to be fine. And we're gonna go on living our lives with out you. And if you ever come near us again…I will do what I should have done a long time ago."

With that Mackenzie turned on her heel and walked out of the room. I shot the horrible old man a glare before following her out into the hall.

"Kenz. Kenz look at me," I said, taking her arm. She immediately pulled me into a tight hug and began crying. I rubbed her back, gently shushing her. This poor girl had been through so much and I knew how hard facing her father had been. Even though he was chained to a bed, the memory of what he did and can still do was enough to petrify Mackenzie.

"I'm so proud of you Kenzie. You are so strong." I whispered. "You just took back your life from that bastard. You won. You have Jas back and you are going to go on to have the most amazing life."

I heard her let out a week laugh before hugging me even tighter. We continued to stand in the hallway, embracing each other as if our arms were what were keeping the world together. After a few minutes she stepped back and wiped her eyes. I gave her a smile, "Should we go see if Jasper woke up?"

She nodded and we once again linked arms. As we entered Jasper's room we were pulled into more hugs. Miss Lucy had arrived with the rest of the family.

"There you are!"

"They said he'll wake up soon!"

"How are you holding up Mackenzie?"

As the family bombarded Mackenzie I turned to Maeve and Elaine. They both look exhausted though they wore the biggest smiles.

"Her father's down the hall," I whispered. Their smiles disappeared instantly. "I wish you were there Mae. She swore twice and even made a death threat...you would have been proud."

Mae let out a laugh, "I am proud."

"This is going to set them back though," Elaine whispered. "It'll be like they just got here again."

"Maybe for Jasper," I agreed, remembering how broken those two were when they first came to my Aunt's house. "But I have a feeling Mackenzie will be just fine."

"He's awake!" Cried Archie. We all spun around to see Jasper move his head and let out a groan.

"Jasper!" Cried Mackenzie. She ran to his side and took his hand gently.

"Kenzie?" He breathed. Even from here I could see him relaxing at the sight of her. "You're al-alright?"

She let out a half laugh as tears filled her eyes. "Of course I'm alright."

"He said he hurt you," Jasper whispered. "He said-"

"He lied. We're safe now."

He gave a weak smile and Elaine quickly disappeared to find the nurse. I scooped up Millie for she had made a move to run to Jasper. We may consider ourselves family, but right now Jasper and Mackenzie just needed each other.

"Is-is he dead?" Jasper croaked.

"He's dead to us," whispered Mackenzie.

"But he survived?" Jasper frowned. Mackenzie nodded and I felt Millie hug me tighter. I wasn’t sure how much she actually understood of what had happened, only that it was bad. She clung to me as we stood by Jasper.

"Jasper, honey, you were hurt pretty badly," said Miss Lucy. She took his other hand and began gently running her fingers through Mackenzie's hair. "Your leg was pretty beat up...they had to perform surgery."

"Am I going to be able to play again?" He frowned, panic crossing his features. I would have laughed if it weren't for the gravity of the situation. Of course soccer is the first thing Jasper's worried about.

"After therapy you should be able to play again," she nodded. Jasper let out a sigh and turned to the rest of us.

"Why do you all look so sad?" He quizzed. "It's not like I died!"

The younger children broke into smiles and I set Millie gently down on the bed so she could see for herself that he was all right. Hugh continued to hang back and I pulled him in a side hug in attempt to comfort him. Hugh considered himself our protector if you will, since he was the oldest boy in the house. I knew that he blamed himself for Jasper being taken in the first place.

"I think this means we should have cake for dinner...in celebration of Jasper being alright," proposed Leo. Aunt Lucy shot him a glare causing us all to burst out laughing. Leo shrugged, "it was just a suggestion."

I felt Maeve wrap her arms around my waist and together we stood for a moment looking around at the scene around us. It always struck me as odd how such a random group of people with such different personalities could come to call each other family.

Suddenly, the ringing of my phone distracted me and I quickly stepped out to the hall to take the call.

"Morning beautiful," Harry's groggy voice rang through the phone. I immediately broke into a smile. "Any word yet?"

"He's alright. We're at the hospital now. We got him back Harry."

"Thank goodness! Thalia that's-wait...hold on, why are you at the hospital?"

"Jasper's okay. Apparently there was a chase. I'm imagining like a fast and furious situation, only Mr. Smith is not as good as Vin Diesel and they were run off the road. Jasper hit his head pretty good and they had to do surgery on his knee—”

“What the fuck Thalia!” cried Harry. I stifled a laugh as I imagined him running a hand through his hair in distress. “But he’s okay right?”

“Yes Harry he’s okay. He’ll have to stay off the pitch while he recovers, but he’ll live."

“And what about their…”

“Their dad is going back to prison.” I replied, my mood instantly hardening at the mention of him. “For good this time.”

I heard him breathe a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m glad it’s all over. And Jasper is okay.”

“Ditto,” I laughed. “And Harry? I’m…I’m really sorry for earlier. I just—”

“You don’t have to apologize love.”

“But I want to.” I insisted. I took a breath and ran my hand through my hair, imagining Harry was next to me instead of 3,000 miles away. “I know that you know commitment isn’t really my thing. But I also hope you know that I’m trying and that you are the greatest guy I have ever met in my whole life. I’ve never really let people in before but I want to let you in.”

“I really wish you were here right now,” he mumbled. I let out a laugh and leant against the wall, playing with my sweatshirt.

“Me too. When do you come home again?”

“Christmas.”

I let out groan which made him laugh.

“Maybe I should just come back now?” He mused. Wait, was he serious? He might actually be serious about that….

“Ha! In our dreams,” I laughed.

“You know I love you right Thalia?” He asked.

“Yeah I know,” I smirked. There was a pause before I heard him clear his throat on the other end, waiting for my reply. “I love you too Walt. So, so much."

Notes

Hi. Sorry I know you guys have been dying for an update. I tried to upload it last night but the website was being a brat and wouldn't let me! Sorz.
I'm loving all the comments though! they make my day!!
So...
Jasper is okay and everything is right in the world again!
What did you think of seeing that feisty side of Mackenzie?
Do you wish her father would have died?
Now that Thalia's back home do you think her and Harry can survive the distance?
Do you guys want more drama???

Sorry I'll stop with the questions.
k bye :)