Page 14 of Ghost of Christmas Future
Everly rolled her eyes. “Now I know what Daddy means when he talks about you being stuck on yourself.” She reached out and took Jude’s hands. “Woofie cries in his sleep for you. He begs and pleads for you to get better. I had to help stop his nightmares.”
“You can do that?” Jude knew Everly was extremely talented, but had no idea she was a dream master as well.
“There’s a lot I can do, Uncle Jude. But there’s one thing I can’t do, at least not yet, and that’s heal people. Only you can do that.”
“Do you know what the doctors are saying about me?” Jude asked. He’d heard bits and pieces, but not the full story.
“I do. They said your brain swelling is getting better. For now you don’t need an operation. The doctors were going to cut your head open. I don’t know how they do that, maybe witha nutcracker? But you need to keep getting better. Do you understand?”
Jude nodded. He managed a smile at the thought of brain surgeons using a nutcracker on his skull.
“In a day or two, your doctor is going to take you off the breathing machine. Your lungs have gotten used to the machine doing all the work for them, so you’re going to have to start breathing again on your own. Bad things happen to people who are on those machines for too long. It’s gonna be hard work, Uncle Jude. I’ve been listening to the nurses thoughts and they all keep saying what a long road ahead you’ve gotifyou survive. When I heard that mean, skinny witch say that, I was mad. I yelled at her and told her how strong you are. How hard you would fight to come back to us. Don’t make me look like a liar! I believe in you. We’ve got so many adventures ahead of us. I don’t want to do them alone. I need you to dance with me on my wedding day and be there when my babies are born.”
Jude could picture Everly’s wedding day in his mind’s eye. He could also picture the amount of shit he, Ronan, and Fitz would give her poor groom to make sure the man would do right by Everly and the family they’d build together.
“Fight hard, Uncle Jude. Uncle Cope, Woofie, and Lizbet need you to come home. So does my Daddy. I heard him praying last night. For you. You’re my person, so cut the shit and get better. Got it?”
Jude snorted. “Got it, little miss. I promise, I’ll fight my hardest.”
“I’ve gotta go, but Bertha will be back soon so you’re not all alone.” Everly rushed into Jude’s arms. “I love you more than peanut butter.”
“Yeah, well I love you more than jelly!” Jude hugged his niece until she disappeared. He watched as Running Eagle scooped her off the bed and brought her out into the hallway where he knew the others were waiting. He’d seen how hard it was for Everly to make herself visible to him. If she could fight that hard for him, surely he could fight that hard for himself.
Jude thought back to the day Everly was born in the middle of a blizzard. He’d been in the SUV with Ronan, Ten, Kaye, and Emilyn, Everly’s mother. He’d sat beside the mother-to-be holding her hand and telling her how strong she was.
When they’d finally reached the hospital, Jude had stayed in the maternity ward waiting area along with Kaye. After what seemed like forever, Ronan poked his head out the door and motioned Jude into the room. The second he walked into the room, Tennyson handed him Everly. She was so tiny. He remembered being absolutely awestruck by the infant. Her dark eyes had been wide open and staring into Jude’s as if she could see all the goodness inside of him. He’d vowed then and there to always be Everly’s person. He couldn’t let his niece down.
Jude would fight with everything he had to come back to his family. He needed them as much as they needed him.
10
Cope
Cope sat at the dining room table getting ready to wrap Christmas presents. Tennyson was brewing a pot of tea, while Ronan munched on cookies one of the neighbors had dropped off earlier. Everyone was rooting for Jude, she’d said. Cope believed her. For as much of a pain in the ass Jude could be, he was also kind and generous to his neighbors. He might bitch and moan about shoveling snow from their sidewalks, but he’d help Mrs. Blumenthal without needing to be asked. Jude was the first to volunteer to help with block parties, school events, and whenever Ronan needed a hand in his yard.
After Everly finished talking to Jude, she’d been worn to the bone, but had been able to tell everyone what she’d told Jude and to pass along his messages to Cope and the kids. He’d spent time in the room with Wolf talking to Jude and telling him how much they all loved him. Everly had confirmed that Jude could hear what they were talking about, so he made sure that everything they spoke about in front of Jude was happy and encouraging.
He couldn’t help feeling a little bit jealous that Everly had been able to speak to Jude while Cope hadn’t. He’d tried several times to get through the barrier between them, but he couldn’t do it. After Wolf and Aurora finished visiting with Jude, Jace and Fitz had taken the kids home. They were spending the night at Fitzgibbon’s house. Cope was going to stay at his house and sleep in his own bed. At this point, he’d barely slept in two days. He needed to get a good night’s rest, if not for himself, then for the kids. They needed his strength now, more than ever.
“Okay, let’s do this. Ten, you wrap the Santa presents and I’ll do the ones from me and Jude.” Cope grabbed the special Santa wrapping paper and handed it to Tennyson. Cope went into the laundry room to grab the bags of toys he’d hidden in the linen closet.
“Do you remember the time Jude and I dressed as chickens for the dunk tank to raise money for the school?” Ronan asked.
Cope snorted. “Jude kept pressing the button to send you into the tank when little kids couldn’t hit the target.”
“That’s right,” Ronan agreed. “It took nearly a week to get the water out of my ears. I was angry at Jude, kept telling him what an asshole he was every time he dunked me. The truth was, that I had the time of my life that day.” Ronan shook his head and took a seat at the table. He grabbed a present from the stack in the bag and started to wrap it. “Why the hell couldn’t I tell Jude how much fun that day was? Why am I the asshole? He’s the best friend I’ve had in my life. The best partner. I don’t understand how I can say those words so freely now to you, but not to Jude.”
“Jude knows how you feel about him, Ronan. Don’t doubt that for a single second. After that day in the dunk tank, Jude kept saying that he couldn’t wait for next year’s carnival to see what the two of you could cook up together. Cope paused for a moment, searching for the right words to make Ronan feel better. “The two of you are more alike than either of you want to admit. You both grew up gay and fatherless. Only someone else who’d been through that could truly understand what it was like. Both of you erected walls around yourselves and very grudgingly let people in. Jude let you in long before he did the same with me. There were times when I thought I’d forever be on the outside looking in where he was concerned. Everly turned the tide. She woke Jude up to how good life could be and fromthe moment you set your daughter in his arms, Jude’s done everything he could to dive in and live the best life possible, with me, our kids, with you and Fitz, Everly, Ezra, and Aurora.”
“Jude is Aurora’s hero,” Ronan said with a grin. “He’s the one who comes up with the best ideas to help Aurora with her sensory issues. Jude ordered nitrile gloves in the smallest size available so that Aurora could play in the mud or in the garden or touch things that would normally gross her out. When Aurora is feeling overstimulated, Jude would be the one to take her into a quiet room until she was able to rejoin the group.”
“Everly said she told Jude about the road ahead and how hard he needs to fight to come home.” Ten pulled the backing off a green bow and stuck it to the present he’d finished wrapping. “She couldn’t see anything past today. I’m still not able to see anything either.”
“Same here,” Cope said. “I’ve been trying constantly and I’m getting nothing.”
“Do you think that’s because you’re burning yourself out? Plus you’re not really eating much or sleeping.”
“Says the man who has stayed up all night with Jude.” Cope grinned at Ronan. Running Eagle was going to stay with Jude tonight, so that Cope could come home and try to get a few hours of sleep. “Here’s the thing though, my gift is working like usual when it comes to everyone else but Jude. Ronan’s in the mood for chocolate pudding. The kids are begging Jace to get take out from Lobster Charlie’s and Mrs. Hickenlooper got her grandson’s telescope delivered today. She was afraid it wouldn’t come in time for Christmas.”
