Winning His War

34

Patrick's POV

Minutes passed slower than they should. Andrew and I sat in the hospital's waiting room, trying to keep our anxieties from going ramped while also being as quiet as possible in order to not wake up Jared. We had yet to hear about his girlfriend's condition but that was the last thing on our minds at this point.

Dread and tension could be felt through out every corner of the room but as time went on people slowly began to calm down, but it could be noted that no one's hand strayed too far from the gun on their side.

When an hour passed and we were not forced to flee the building, I took it as a good sign. Jem, at the very least checked in with his friends, was safe for now and that was good enough for me. When the second hour passed I could feel myself starting to get antsy again while Andrew blinking constantly just to keep him awake.

I could blame him though. It was already midnight and after a full day of work with more work in the morning, I was pretty tired too but my need to make sure Jem was okay outweighed the need for sleep.

When the third hour passed I convinced myself Jem was making us wait out of sheer spite. Clearly the punishment he gave us earlier hadn't been enough for him and I was tempted to follow Andrew's lead on sleep when a light tap on my shoulder kept me from drifting into dreams.

I turned my head to see Jem standing there, looking a little worse for wear but other wise fine, with his index finger to his lips as he looked over at Andrew, who was completely passed out and was laying on Jared's shoulder.

I nodded and that was all Jem needed to walk away with me close on his heels.

"Are you okay," I asked as soon as we were out of earshot from Andrew.

"I'm fine."

"What took so long getting back?"

"It was a long drive but I've been here for a while already," he admitted, confirming my thoughts on him purposefully making us wait up for him.

"And you didn't feel the need to tell us," I asked, struggling to keep my voice down as we entered the living room. Several people were laid sprawled out and asleep on the couch, wanting to be close to their friends in the hospital but not wanting to sleep in uncomfortable chairs. "This might be hard for you to comprehend but some of us get worried when people we like disappear for several hours at a time. We've been worrying about you for hours! What could you have possibly been doing that would take that long?"

"Planning," he said simply as he approached the door to his side of the house.

"And you couldn't stop for three seconds just to let us know you weren't dead?"

"I needed Andrew asleep before I did anything else. This isn't the kind of thing you talk to sweet little therapists about," he said a bit too harshly as he pushed his door open. He didn't bother saying another word as he walked down the hallway to get to his office.

"Where's the other one," Devon asked the second we walked in.

"Asleep."

"So go wake him up," Barrett demanded.

"He's exhausted, let him be," Jem brushed off as he sat behind his desk casually.

"Bullshit," Devon scoffed.

"You just don't another voice of reason to dismiss this plan of yours," Barrett agreed.

"You're not wrong."

"And you're not going through with it," Devon said. His voice left no room for argument. It was rough and final but Jem didn't seem to care.

"That's not for you to decide," he said with a small shrug as if he couldn't care less about his friend's opinion.

"What plan," I asked before I had a chance to stop myself. "Why would you need a plan anyway? Devon said it was just an attack. Don't you just need to know who did it and get one with it?"