Jimmy, and Kim rushed up the staircase to the Pediatrics ICU. Jimmy swung up the floor, and held it open for Kim who was a few steps behind him. They were running towards Joey's room when they saw Joey's nurse.
"Kat? What's wrong?" Jimmy said as he tried to catch his breath.
"Oh no, Jesus. I thought I put in the non-emergency code when I paged you. God, I'm so sorry... " Kat said, realizing the panic she had just caused.
"He's Ok?" Kim asked.
"Yes, I'm so sorry. He's awake, and was asking for the two of you."
"He's awake?" Jimmy asked. "He's awake Kim!" Jimmy said, embracing Kim in his arms. "We can see him?"
"Yes, go ahead. The doctor is still in there with him, he can answer all your questions. I'm so sorry..." the young nurse said apologizing again.
Jimmy let go Kim, and walked towards Joey's room. When they got to the door of his room, they could hear Joey talking to the doctor.
"Are they coming?" Joey was asking the doctor.
"Hey, Champ!" Jimmy said as he walked in the door.
"Daddy, Mommy!" Joey said, his voice was quiet & weak but you could hear the excitement in his voice.
"Hi sweety," Kim said, bending down to give her a son a kiss. Her eyes filled with tears of relief, and happiness.
"What's wrong Mommy?" Joey asked.
"Nothing baby, nothing at all." Kim said, she stood there staring at her son. Despite the bruises on his small body, and bandage he's eyes were bright as ever.
"So, how's everything looking?" Jimmy said, looking at the doctor.
"Real good, honestly I wasn't expecting him to be this awake and alert till at least the afternoon. He's a tough little guy, I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing."
"That's good," Jimmy said, he looked down at his son "You sure are tough, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Joey said smiling. He wasn't sure what was going on, or why he was so tough but that didn't stop him from enjoying being told so.
"But," the doctor interrupted "even the toughest guys need their rest." He looked up at Jimmy, and Kim "15 minutes, then he needs his rest. Ok?"
"Yeah, sure doctor." Jimmy answered.
Jimmy, and Kim were standing out Joey's room talking, Joey had fallen back asleep and they didn't want to wake him with their conversation.
"I think he should come home with me," Kim said.
"Kim..."
"No, listen Jimmy. I'm not trying to take him away from you, but he's going to need to be looked after. I can take some personal time off, and stay home with him until he's fully recovered." Kim said.
"And what did you think I was going to do? Leave him with a sitter?" Jimmy said, getting defensive.
"No, it's not just that. Look, I know about this stuff. If he's ever in a fire, you can be the one to run in after him... but this, the medical stuff I know."
"For how long?" Jimmy asked.
"I don't know, a few weeks."
"Weeks?"
"We have to do what's best for Joey." Kim said.
"I know, I want what's best for him. But, I don't think all this is necessary."
"Look, Jimmy... it's not like you won't see him. You can come over anytime you want, just think about Joey for once."
"For once? What is that supposed to mean?" Jimmy asked.
"Nothing, just..."
"You know what, forget it. I don't want to talk about this now." Jimmy said.
Catherine Zambrano stepped off the elevator, with her hands full. She saw her daughter, and Jimmy standing down the hallway. She could tell by Kim's posture the conversation wasn't a light one.
"Kim?" Catherine said as she approached the two.
"Hi, Mom." Kim said, "He's awake. Well he was, but he's asleep now."
"Oh, that's great sweety. I brought some of his stuff. Some pajamas, that tape he likes to watch all the time and a change of clothes for you incase I couldn't talk you into going home and getting some rest. Oh, I couldn't find his Mr. Tuffy... I know how much he loves that bear..." Catherine said.
"It's at my place," Jimmy interrupted.
"Oh, I didn't even think of that..."
"Yeah, well that's where he lives." Jimmy said sharply, still annoyed over his conversation with Kim.
"Jimmy..." Kim said.
"Sorry Catherine, thank you." Jimmy said apologizing.
"Hey, Joey's asleep isn't he? Why don't you two go home, shower and everything. I'll stay with Joey and call you if anything happens."
"No, that's ok Mom. I'm fine."
"Kim, sitting around here in dirty clothes and looking like a mess isn't going to do Joey any good. Same goes for you Jimmy, you're a mess."
"I don't have my car..." Jimmy said, trying to make up an excuse to stay.
"Take mine," Catherine offered. "Kim could go with you. Joey is going to want Mr. Tuffy when he wakes up again."
"Ok, you can shower at my place Kim. We'll be back in less then an hour." Jimmy said.
"I don't know..."
"Go!" Catherine demanded.
"You can shower first," Jimmy said as he unlocked his front door. "I'll get some more of Joey's stuff together."
"Wow, Jimmy." Kim said when he opened the door.
"What?" Jimmy asked.
"Your place... it's clean. You have a maid?"
"What, you think I got a million dollars?" Jimmy said, setting his keys on the coffee table. "Joey had a half day yesterday, so we cleaned the place up."
"Joey cleans? My Joey?" Kim asked, half joking and half shocked. "I couldn't get him to make his bed."
"Yeah, we got a whole schedule going. I even cook dinner a few times a week,"
"But here's the true test," Kim said, walking into the kitchen. "Do you have real food in the fridge?" Kim opened up the fridge. "Lunchable's Jimmy? Do you know how bad these things are? There's like six billion grams of sodium in one box."
"Knock it off Kim."
"What?"
"You came in here hoping to find this place a mess, to find some reason to prove I'm a bad father. Stupid immature Jimmy can't do anything right, that's what you want to see... isn't it?" Jimmy shouted.
"Jesus Christ Jimmy, lighten up." Kim said slamming the bathroom door. She turned on the water, letting it warm up as she undressed. She threw her dirty clothes onto the floor, and stepped underneath the flow of the water. She stood there, letting the almost scalding hot water flow down over her head & trickle down her back. She could have stayed there until the water ran cold, but she wanted to get back the hospital before Joey woke up.
She finished up her shower, and stepped out on the bathmat. She grabbed a power ranger's towel off the towel rack, and started to dry herself off. She wrapped the towel around her slender body, and wiped the stream off the mirror with her hand. She began to work the tangles in her long hair with her fingers. She stared at herself in the mirror, like she did after every shower, looking over her imperfections. Despite the bags under her eyes, and a small blemish on her chin she was pretty happy with the person looking back at her.
Jimmy had just finished packing up some of Joey's favorite things when he heard the shower go off. He looked down at his watch; only a half hour had past since they left the hospital but some reason it felt like much longer. He picked up the phone to call Catherine, but set it back down. Catherine will call if anything changes, he thought to himself. He walked over to his closet, and grab a change of clothes. He took over his filthy shirt, and tossed it into the hamper. He picked up the towel off the end of his bed, and walked towards the bathroom.
Kim was looking through the medicine cabinet for something to kill headache she was feeling coming on, when she heard a knock at the door.
"It's open," she called out.
Jimmy opened the door, "Can I get in the shower?" he asked walking in the bathroom.
"Go ahead," she said, continuing to rummage through his medicine closet.
Jimmy stood there, leaning on the door waiting for Kim to leave. He was still annoyed at her, but he couldn't help but admire her pure beauty.
"What? Since when are you shy?" Kim asked jokingly, "I need some Tylenol."
He reached over her, and into the cabinet to grab a travel size packet of pain reliever. "Here," he said handing it to her. He decided to call her on the her bluff, and began to undress.
"Jimmy!"
"What? Since when have you been so shy?" He said smiling in his boxers.
"Just get in the shower." She said, sneaking a peak when he wasn't looking.
Jimmy stepped into the shower, and pulled the frosted glass door shut. Once he was sure she couldn't see him, a smile took over his face. After all these years, he could still make her cheeks turn red. He reached for the shampoo, and worked up a lather of soap on his short dark hair.
"Jimmy, I need a brush"
"Bottom cabinet." He answered. The situation reminded him of how it used to be; her staring to the mirror, looking herself over as he showered. Although back then, it would have usually ended with her back in the shower with him. Without noticing, he began to imagine what it would be like if they could be that close again. 'Stop it Jimmy,' he thought to himself 'you sons in the hospital and your standing here thinking about sex.'
Kim ran the brush through her hair, and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She couldn't help but glancing over at the cloudy outline of Jimmy through the shower doors. Finally, his presence became too much for her to handle.
"Hurry up," she yelled as she left the bathroom to get dressed.
Jimmy had finished his shower, and gave his scruffy face a run over with an electric razor. He wrapped the towel around his waist, and walked to his bedroom.
Kim was in there, fully dressed now and standing in front of his closet. "Can I borrow a sweatshirt?" she asked, not waiting for a reply before she pulled one off the hanger and slipped it over her head.
"I thought your mother brought your clothes?" he asked, not that he minded. He loved the way she looked in his shirts, almost like she belonged to him.
"She did, but it's cold out." She answered. The truth was, she loved the feeling of wearing his clothes, in his large sweatshirts she felt so small, petite and in some weird way very feminine.
He pulled his white undershirt over his head, and slipped on a pair of boxers underneath the towel. He stepped into his jeans, and buttoned them up.
"I'll be waiting in the living room," Kim said as she walked out.
"Ready?" Jimmy asked, as he walked into the living room.
"Yeah," Kim answered standing up.
Jimmy turned off the radio, and grabbed the bag he had packed before heading out the door.
They drove about three blocks before running into bad traffic. They sat there at first, both completely silent. The only noise came from the radio station, and the random idiot who thought honking their horn would make traffic magically move forward.
"Jimmy," Kim started to say.
"Yeah?"
"About before, you know I was only kidding. You're not a bad father. As much as I wanted to believe it at times... you're a good father and Joey adores you."
"Thanks," Jimmy said. "And Kim, I never thought you were a bad mother. That's not why I... uh..." he tripped over his words, trying to find a way to say sue for custody, without sounding so harsh.
"I know," Kim answered before he could finish the sentence.
"Are you still mad?" Jimmy asked.
"I was for awhile, but I think things are good now. Joey's happy," Kim answered. Truth once, sometimes when she thought about it she still got angry. But, part of her understood. It was never about her, it was about Joey.
"I went to my lawyer last week," Jimmy said. "I wanted to make sure if anything happens to me, you wouldn't lose him. That's why I did it at first, I was afraid if something happened to me, and you weren't better... well, I just didn't want Joey to go through that."
"Well, I'm better now."
"I know. But it's not only about that. The first few weeks I had Joey; I realized I barely knew my own son. Seeing him every other weekend, I couldn't be the father I wanted to be. I couldn't be the father he deserved."
"You don't have to explain yourself to me Jimmy,"
"Yeah, I do. Because, I was thinking we should sign for joint custody. My lawyer, he says it's the best way to make sure you get Joey when I die. I don't want things to change, though. I want him with me half the week; I can't go back to being a father twice a month... I won't go back to that."
"Really?" Kim asked. She was shocked, she knew Jimmy would never shut Joey out of her life but after the ugly custody battle she never imagined he would offer to share custody.
"Yeah,"
"Are you dying or something?" Kim asked, still confused as to what brought this all on. "You keep saying, 'When I die'"
"No, I guess I just always thought I would die before you. I figure I've cheated death so many times, he has to have it out for me by now." Jimmy said.
"You're not going to die. You're going to live to be a bitter old man,"
"I hope so," Jimmy said.
"Hey, look. Traffic is starting to move." Kim said.
The drove the rest of the ride in silence, Jimmy pulled into the hospital parking lot and pulled the car into the first empty spot.
"Thanks Jimmy," Kim said, getting out of the car.
"Let's go see our son," Jimmy said, shutting the car door.
"Kat? What's wrong?" Jimmy said as he tried to catch his breath.
"Oh no, Jesus. I thought I put in the non-emergency code when I paged you. God, I'm so sorry... " Kat said, realizing the panic she had just caused.
"He's Ok?" Kim asked.
"Yes, I'm so sorry. He's awake, and was asking for the two of you."
"He's awake?" Jimmy asked. "He's awake Kim!" Jimmy said, embracing Kim in his arms. "We can see him?"
"Yes, go ahead. The doctor is still in there with him, he can answer all your questions. I'm so sorry..." the young nurse said apologizing again.
Jimmy let go Kim, and walked towards Joey's room. When they got to the door of his room, they could hear Joey talking to the doctor.
"Are they coming?" Joey was asking the doctor.
"Hey, Champ!" Jimmy said as he walked in the door.
"Daddy, Mommy!" Joey said, his voice was quiet & weak but you could hear the excitement in his voice.
"Hi sweety," Kim said, bending down to give her a son a kiss. Her eyes filled with tears of relief, and happiness.
"What's wrong Mommy?" Joey asked.
"Nothing baby, nothing at all." Kim said, she stood there staring at her son. Despite the bruises on his small body, and bandage he's eyes were bright as ever.
"So, how's everything looking?" Jimmy said, looking at the doctor.
"Real good, honestly I wasn't expecting him to be this awake and alert till at least the afternoon. He's a tough little guy, I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing."
"That's good," Jimmy said, he looked down at his son "You sure are tough, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Joey said smiling. He wasn't sure what was going on, or why he was so tough but that didn't stop him from enjoying being told so.
"But," the doctor interrupted "even the toughest guys need their rest." He looked up at Jimmy, and Kim "15 minutes, then he needs his rest. Ok?"
"Yeah, sure doctor." Jimmy answered.
Jimmy, and Kim were standing out Joey's room talking, Joey had fallen back asleep and they didn't want to wake him with their conversation.
"I think he should come home with me," Kim said.
"Kim..."
"No, listen Jimmy. I'm not trying to take him away from you, but he's going to need to be looked after. I can take some personal time off, and stay home with him until he's fully recovered." Kim said.
"And what did you think I was going to do? Leave him with a sitter?" Jimmy said, getting defensive.
"No, it's not just that. Look, I know about this stuff. If he's ever in a fire, you can be the one to run in after him... but this, the medical stuff I know."
"For how long?" Jimmy asked.
"I don't know, a few weeks."
"Weeks?"
"We have to do what's best for Joey." Kim said.
"I know, I want what's best for him. But, I don't think all this is necessary."
"Look, Jimmy... it's not like you won't see him. You can come over anytime you want, just think about Joey for once."
"For once? What is that supposed to mean?" Jimmy asked.
"Nothing, just..."
"You know what, forget it. I don't want to talk about this now." Jimmy said.
Catherine Zambrano stepped off the elevator, with her hands full. She saw her daughter, and Jimmy standing down the hallway. She could tell by Kim's posture the conversation wasn't a light one.
"Kim?" Catherine said as she approached the two.
"Hi, Mom." Kim said, "He's awake. Well he was, but he's asleep now."
"Oh, that's great sweety. I brought some of his stuff. Some pajamas, that tape he likes to watch all the time and a change of clothes for you incase I couldn't talk you into going home and getting some rest. Oh, I couldn't find his Mr. Tuffy... I know how much he loves that bear..." Catherine said.
"It's at my place," Jimmy interrupted.
"Oh, I didn't even think of that..."
"Yeah, well that's where he lives." Jimmy said sharply, still annoyed over his conversation with Kim.
"Jimmy..." Kim said.
"Sorry Catherine, thank you." Jimmy said apologizing.
"Hey, Joey's asleep isn't he? Why don't you two go home, shower and everything. I'll stay with Joey and call you if anything happens."
"No, that's ok Mom. I'm fine."
"Kim, sitting around here in dirty clothes and looking like a mess isn't going to do Joey any good. Same goes for you Jimmy, you're a mess."
"I don't have my car..." Jimmy said, trying to make up an excuse to stay.
"Take mine," Catherine offered. "Kim could go with you. Joey is going to want Mr. Tuffy when he wakes up again."
"Ok, you can shower at my place Kim. We'll be back in less then an hour." Jimmy said.
"I don't know..."
"Go!" Catherine demanded.
"You can shower first," Jimmy said as he unlocked his front door. "I'll get some more of Joey's stuff together."
"Wow, Jimmy." Kim said when he opened the door.
"What?" Jimmy asked.
"Your place... it's clean. You have a maid?"
"What, you think I got a million dollars?" Jimmy said, setting his keys on the coffee table. "Joey had a half day yesterday, so we cleaned the place up."
"Joey cleans? My Joey?" Kim asked, half joking and half shocked. "I couldn't get him to make his bed."
"Yeah, we got a whole schedule going. I even cook dinner a few times a week,"
"But here's the true test," Kim said, walking into the kitchen. "Do you have real food in the fridge?" Kim opened up the fridge. "Lunchable's Jimmy? Do you know how bad these things are? There's like six billion grams of sodium in one box."
"Knock it off Kim."
"What?"
"You came in here hoping to find this place a mess, to find some reason to prove I'm a bad father. Stupid immature Jimmy can't do anything right, that's what you want to see... isn't it?" Jimmy shouted.
"Jesus Christ Jimmy, lighten up." Kim said slamming the bathroom door. She turned on the water, letting it warm up as she undressed. She threw her dirty clothes onto the floor, and stepped underneath the flow of the water. She stood there, letting the almost scalding hot water flow down over her head & trickle down her back. She could have stayed there until the water ran cold, but she wanted to get back the hospital before Joey woke up.
She finished up her shower, and stepped out on the bathmat. She grabbed a power ranger's towel off the towel rack, and started to dry herself off. She wrapped the towel around her slender body, and wiped the stream off the mirror with her hand. She began to work the tangles in her long hair with her fingers. She stared at herself in the mirror, like she did after every shower, looking over her imperfections. Despite the bags under her eyes, and a small blemish on her chin she was pretty happy with the person looking back at her.
Jimmy had just finished packing up some of Joey's favorite things when he heard the shower go off. He looked down at his watch; only a half hour had past since they left the hospital but some reason it felt like much longer. He picked up the phone to call Catherine, but set it back down. Catherine will call if anything changes, he thought to himself. He walked over to his closet, and grab a change of clothes. He took over his filthy shirt, and tossed it into the hamper. He picked up the towel off the end of his bed, and walked towards the bathroom.
Kim was looking through the medicine cabinet for something to kill headache she was feeling coming on, when she heard a knock at the door.
"It's open," she called out.
Jimmy opened the door, "Can I get in the shower?" he asked walking in the bathroom.
"Go ahead," she said, continuing to rummage through his medicine closet.
Jimmy stood there, leaning on the door waiting for Kim to leave. He was still annoyed at her, but he couldn't help but admire her pure beauty.
"What? Since when are you shy?" Kim asked jokingly, "I need some Tylenol."
He reached over her, and into the cabinet to grab a travel size packet of pain reliever. "Here," he said handing it to her. He decided to call her on the her bluff, and began to undress.
"Jimmy!"
"What? Since when have you been so shy?" He said smiling in his boxers.
"Just get in the shower." She said, sneaking a peak when he wasn't looking.
Jimmy stepped into the shower, and pulled the frosted glass door shut. Once he was sure she couldn't see him, a smile took over his face. After all these years, he could still make her cheeks turn red. He reached for the shampoo, and worked up a lather of soap on his short dark hair.
"Jimmy, I need a brush"
"Bottom cabinet." He answered. The situation reminded him of how it used to be; her staring to the mirror, looking herself over as he showered. Although back then, it would have usually ended with her back in the shower with him. Without noticing, he began to imagine what it would be like if they could be that close again. 'Stop it Jimmy,' he thought to himself 'you sons in the hospital and your standing here thinking about sex.'
Kim ran the brush through her hair, and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She couldn't help but glancing over at the cloudy outline of Jimmy through the shower doors. Finally, his presence became too much for her to handle.
"Hurry up," she yelled as she left the bathroom to get dressed.
Jimmy had finished his shower, and gave his scruffy face a run over with an electric razor. He wrapped the towel around his waist, and walked to his bedroom.
Kim was in there, fully dressed now and standing in front of his closet. "Can I borrow a sweatshirt?" she asked, not waiting for a reply before she pulled one off the hanger and slipped it over her head.
"I thought your mother brought your clothes?" he asked, not that he minded. He loved the way she looked in his shirts, almost like she belonged to him.
"She did, but it's cold out." She answered. The truth was, she loved the feeling of wearing his clothes, in his large sweatshirts she felt so small, petite and in some weird way very feminine.
He pulled his white undershirt over his head, and slipped on a pair of boxers underneath the towel. He stepped into his jeans, and buttoned them up.
"I'll be waiting in the living room," Kim said as she walked out.
"Ready?" Jimmy asked, as he walked into the living room.
"Yeah," Kim answered standing up.
Jimmy turned off the radio, and grabbed the bag he had packed before heading out the door.
They drove about three blocks before running into bad traffic. They sat there at first, both completely silent. The only noise came from the radio station, and the random idiot who thought honking their horn would make traffic magically move forward.
"Jimmy," Kim started to say.
"Yeah?"
"About before, you know I was only kidding. You're not a bad father. As much as I wanted to believe it at times... you're a good father and Joey adores you."
"Thanks," Jimmy said. "And Kim, I never thought you were a bad mother. That's not why I... uh..." he tripped over his words, trying to find a way to say sue for custody, without sounding so harsh.
"I know," Kim answered before he could finish the sentence.
"Are you still mad?" Jimmy asked.
"I was for awhile, but I think things are good now. Joey's happy," Kim answered. Truth once, sometimes when she thought about it she still got angry. But, part of her understood. It was never about her, it was about Joey.
"I went to my lawyer last week," Jimmy said. "I wanted to make sure if anything happens to me, you wouldn't lose him. That's why I did it at first, I was afraid if something happened to me, and you weren't better... well, I just didn't want Joey to go through that."
"Well, I'm better now."
"I know. But it's not only about that. The first few weeks I had Joey; I realized I barely knew my own son. Seeing him every other weekend, I couldn't be the father I wanted to be. I couldn't be the father he deserved."
"You don't have to explain yourself to me Jimmy,"
"Yeah, I do. Because, I was thinking we should sign for joint custody. My lawyer, he says it's the best way to make sure you get Joey when I die. I don't want things to change, though. I want him with me half the week; I can't go back to being a father twice a month... I won't go back to that."
"Really?" Kim asked. She was shocked, she knew Jimmy would never shut Joey out of her life but after the ugly custody battle she never imagined he would offer to share custody.
"Yeah,"
"Are you dying or something?" Kim asked, still confused as to what brought this all on. "You keep saying, 'When I die'"
"No, I guess I just always thought I would die before you. I figure I've cheated death so many times, he has to have it out for me by now." Jimmy said.
"You're not going to die. You're going to live to be a bitter old man,"
"I hope so," Jimmy said.
"Hey, look. Traffic is starting to move." Kim said.
The drove the rest of the ride in silence, Jimmy pulled into the hospital parking lot and pulled the car into the first empty spot.
"Thanks Jimmy," Kim said, getting out of the car.
"Let's go see our son," Jimmy said, shutting the car door.