He's Awake

He's Awake
"Uncle Pete!" I dashed into the room to envelope him into a hug, not minding the presence of Miss Nancy and a nurse.
He hugged me back, his chuckle a bit weak. "I missed you too."
I blinked my eyes, struggling back tears and swallowing emotions lodged stubbornly in my throat. "I'm so glad you're okay, uncle Pete. I...I... thought..." I couldn't even say the words out loud.
"You thought what? I'm going nowhere for a long, long time, babygirl."
My heart swelled with both gratitude and love for the man. It was the first time he would be using such an endearing term in that soft, affectionate tone. "You'd better not."
"Can't...breathe." He said, still hugging me.
"Thank you for saving my life. Thank you." I sniffled. "I owe you everything, my life included."
"I did what I'm supposed to do, Hailey. You don't have to thank me for that." He rubbed my back.
I held onto him for a few more moment.
"Save some for us, Hailey." Celine who had come with me chuckled.
I let go, finally paying attention to Miss Nancy, the nurse was long gone by this time. I hugged her. "I'm glad he's okay."
"Me too."
It's been three days and my phones have been buzzing like crazy, countless emails streaming in all from well wishers and media houses, not to mention the talk show invites I've been getting as well.
It was as though I was suddenly the belle of the ball...or in this case, the belle of America.
Mia was still in my custody, I couldn't concentrate on anything until I was certain uncle Pete was out of his comatose state.
Noah was still being taken care of properly.
"I'm so glad you're okay, uncle Pete." Celine hugged him warmly. "That was a close call. Don't you ever scare us like that again."
"What she said." I put in, wagging a warning finger at him jokingly.
He let out a short, mirthful laugh. "I'll do my best."
The door threw open and there came my son barreling towards uncle Pete. "Uncle Pete!"
"Oh." Miss Nancy raised a brow, I did too.
Despite the reminder in the past, Zion had chosen to refer to uncle Pete as dad, even when I'd finally announced to him yesterday that Jared was his real dad, he had still referred to uncle Pete as dad.
"Hey buddy!" Uncle Pete laughingly picked him up and hugged him tight. "You finally got it right."
"Mommy said you were sleeping, that's why she didn't allow me to come see you." He complained.
"Let's not be upset with mommy much, okay?" Uncle Pete cooed, ruffling my son's hair.
"Okay, daddy."
"And we're back." Miss Nancy whispered beside me.
I shook my head smiling.
"Good to see you, uncle." Jared didn't hug him as warmly as any of us had done..
He rather joined him on the bed, beaming at him. One could see the love between uncle and nephew but men would always be men, not caring for openly showing emotions much.
"Good to see you too, nephew. So what's the latest? Did the Russian authorities finally get Jerome?" He asked, his gaze shifting to me, including me in the conversation.
I nodded the same time Jared answered affirmative.
I saw uncle Pete's eyes grow sad but it quickly vanished. "It's for the best."
"You can't change him, uncle. No one can." Jared too expressed some sadness and regret. But he didn't let the emotions settle long on his face.
"Yeah, I know." Uncle Pete took a deep breath. "So how were you able to get the Russian authorities, Hailey?"
"How do you know who it was?" I asked, chuckling. "It could have been Jared."
"It could have been." He agreed with a nod. "But I know you and how brave you are. Nothing stops you once you set your mind."
My smile grew wide at his compliment. "I learnt from the best."
He eyes went a bit misty, he waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, don't make a grown man cry."
"It's okay to cry, daddy. Daddy told me that." Zion who was still on uncle Pete's laps put in confidently, pointing at Jared.
So he decided to refer to both men as 'daddy'. Too smart, my son definitely was.
The pride on Jared's face was immeasurable. "You're too smart for your own good, champ."
That had Zion giggling.
"Well, to answer your question, I had help." My gaze flitted to Jared.
Uncle Pete saw. "You got the information? How?"
Jared shrugged. "I hired help. Denise."
"How? I thought she was in prison. Wait, that reminds me. I saw her at the party but didn't have time to take note of her and why she was there because of what was happening. You got her out on bail?"
"Desperate times called for desperate measures."
Uncle Pete's forehead creased. "Was she the person you were on call with the day we both went to the location Hailey was abducted?"
"Yes." Jared answered. "She did a good job, including the confessional statement of Jerome."
"She was able to get him to talk about himself?" Uncle Pete couldn't seem to believe it.
"I guess she's good at manipulation and deception. A first rate seductress." Jared described.
I frowned. "And how would you know this?"
Celine laughed. "Someone's jealous."
"Relax, she tried it on me but it didn't work."
"That means she isn't good as you say then." I said with an air of casualness.
"She's good." Jared argued, facing me. "I just wasn't interested."
I flushed at the meaning behind his stare.
"Will you two lovebirds keep going?" Uncle Pete urged.
"Jerome said in the recording that he worked for Philip alongside Philip's son, they were friends. But Jared's father noticed this and not wanting that life for his son, confronted Philip, he also wanted to back off from the shady business as well, it didn't go well. So Philip murdered Percy. Jerome found out and confronted Philip. When the latter denied it, Jerome got his vengeance by indirectly causing Philip's son's death that same day."
"Oh wow." Was all uncle Pete could say.
"Yes. So Philip got angry and in avenging his son, framed Jerome for the death, leaving evidence to be in Jerome's prints." Jared continued.
"Did he say how?" Uncle Pete questioned.
"No. He didn't seem to want to talk about that or how he had a hand in Philip's son's death." I picked up and finished it.
"Well, we were wrong about who Jerome killed but we were right about labeling him a murderer. Martha is such a bad luck to this family." Once could see that uncle Pete wasn't happy. "Where's she by the way?"
"She's still in the house, she has no idea what is happening. The maids are tending to her." Jared replied.
It's been a while I saw Martha.
"Who do you think will happen to her now? Do you still..."
"Absolutely not, uncle. I don't see myself forgiving that woman or having her live with me. I don't wish her bad, but I'm not wishing her good either. Let her deeds speak for her."
"That's understandable." Uncle Pete nodded. "I'm hungry, who's got food?"
"Let me go get you some." Miss Nancy was already on her feet. "Anyone else hungry?"
"Yes! Me." Zion raised a hand.
Everyone chuckled, including Miss Nancy who lifted him off uncle Pete's laps. "Let's go get food for everyone."
"Okay." He settled comfortably on her hips, clinging to her shoulder.
They left and while hearty conversations flowed amongst the rest of us, including Celine, my phone pinged with notification.
Paying attention to it, I opened the message.
'I have information on President Bronx Vaughn. Come to 370 Gillary Sanz, Ridge Park Rd. There's a motel there. Knock on room 48. Come with the police. Tomorrow, seven am sharp.'