Page 55 of Dr. Brandt

“I’m fine. Thanks, Collin,” I answered. I knelt by Jackson’s side where Cam sat protectively near his son, watching him as he lay next to the table where we ate fish and chips moments ago.

“Hey, kiddo.” I smiled at Jackson, seeing his eyes in a daze. “Whatever am I going to do with you?” I asked, running my fingers through his thick black, wavy hair, and smiling at his bashful grin.

Jackson shrugged and grabbed the water, sipping it slowly, then shook his head. He looked up at Cameron, who was on his knees directly across from where I knelt.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“You should be,” Cam answered, smiling, and trying to act annoyed all at once. “I was in the middle of a good story when, apparently, you weren’t getting enough attention and pulled this shit,” he winked and finished with an adorable smile. “You know, if you wanted to get that hot girl’s attention across the room, you could’ve just smiled at her. You know your dashing eyes would’ve done the trick, right?”

“Nah,” Jacks smiled and took another sip of water, “I’m good.”

He was still a bit out of it, which was expected after an episode.

“Ha,” Jake said, joining our little party on the floor of the fancy restaurant, “damn fine move. I was wondering if Cam here would ever stop talking about that ridiculous chopper ride up here. How you doing, kid?”

“I have a pretty bad headache. Sorta ready to go now,” Jacks answered.

“Good idea. I’ll go get the car,” I answered.

“Absolutely not,” Cam said, looking over at Jake, “Can you, Col, or Jim get the Tesla? We’ll wait for you in front of the restaurant.”

“I’ve got it. Keys?” Collin said, stepping toward us and holding out his hand. “Where are you parked?”

“In the parking garage by the Cannery Row bridge,” Cam said as the men moved around, clearing a pathway for us to take the side exit of the restaurant.

“Jim’s outside with the kids. Addy got a little concerned about Jacks and started crying,” Ash said as we moved through the restaurant.

People couldn’t stop staring at us. It was like we were walking a corpse out of the place. I tried not to glance around because seeing all those eyes would only piss me off, even though, I suppose, it was a normal reaction after witnessing a medical emergency. Unfortunately, some people weren’t exactly empathetic, and I had to avoid saying something to those people so as not to embarrass my poor son further.

This was normal, though; this was life since these seizures started again. The interesting part would be the next, though. Warren and I had lost a few friends over Jackson’s public episodes—good fucking riddance. But worse than Warren’s friends being embarrassed by them, Warren was too, and there was no hiding it, no matter how hard he tried. It wasn’t easy to deal with, that’s for sure, but this wasn’t Jackson’s fault. He didn’t ask for this shit, and he was the one who was affected by it the most.

This was the part where I waited for the shock and horror to die down and watched how Cam’s friends started casting side glances at the mention of having Jacks in public with them. Whale watching was tomorrow, and since little Addison was a bit traumatized about what’d happened to her buddy, whom she’d been joking with before the seizure, she might be afraid to have him along.

Jim also seemed extremely protective of his little girl, and I was waiting for the excuses to come: Why don’t we just pass on the whale-watching excursion tomorrow? or Are you sure he should come along after that seizure yesterday? All that would start happening sooner than later. And not far behind that, Cameron would either be rightfully upset at his friends’ reactions or that we’d made a spectacle of ourselves in front of his friends.

“Is Jacks going to be okay?” Addison asked, pulling me out of the string of PTSD thoughts plaguing me in the worst way.

“He’ll be fine, sweetheart,” I said.

Then she hugged me tightly, “I’m sorry that happened to him.”

“I am too, honey,” I said, hugging her back. “He’ll be fine, though. He just needs to sleep for a while at the house.”

“Okay, I was ready to leave anyway.” She smiled and then rolled her eyes, “Don’t tell my dad, but I didn’t want to go to that one place for my birthday cake.”

My mind softened up from my defensive thoughts, expecting all of Cam’s friends to reject us after embarrassing them.

“Why not?” I chuckled. “That little bakery smells delicious.”

She shrugged. “It’s pretty good, I guess.” Then her eyes widened, “Why don’t we get the cake and bring it back home?”

“Honey, you don’t have to stop everything for us. Why don’t you get your cake and eat it at the park by the ocean? You sounded very excited about that earlier. And if you have leftovers, I’m sure your buddy Jacks will love some when you get back.”

“Nope,” she smacked her lips. “We’re going back to the house, and we'll have cake when Jacks is feeling better. It’s not fair if he misses out and we go play without him.”

I stared at her, entirely shocked that the little girl would be so considerate. Most adults would run away after witnessing a seizure like Jacks just had, but this sweet little girl wasn’t budging on the fact that she wouldn’t allow it to ruin Jackson’s day. She didn’t care that it was cutting the second part of her birthday in half.

“Okay, then, Miss Addy. Run it by your parents, though. Jacks will be asleep for a while, so why don’t you play around here for a bit, and then you can decide what you want to do,” I said.

---