The following morning, Tony felt the pain, as he tried to get out of bed. Looking at his stomach, he seen the bright red around the staples. "Claire... Claire, wake up." "What is it, Tony?" "I think I have infection in my wound. Have a look at it." As Claire lifted the dressing, she seen the same thing. "Chirst... let's get you ready. I'll take you back to the Hospital." Waking J&J, she asked them to watch Graham and Julia, while she headed over with their father to the Hospital. "Is dad okay,mom?" "He will be, Jimmy. He just has an infection in his staples. We'll be home as soon as we can. I love you, boys." "We love you too, mom." While Jimmy and James got up for the day. They checked on Julia and Graham. Finding them both still sound asleep, they headed downstairs to start their saturday chores. "Hey James, should we run the vaccume? Or wait till Julia and Graham wake." Almost as if on cue, Julia came downstairs with Graham in her arms. "Jimmy, James, where is mommy and daddy?" as she placed her brother in the playpen. "Mom had to take dad back to the Hospital, he had an infection in his staples." "Oh... is that the bacteria thing? Did I do it to daddy, by hugging him. I didn't mean to hurt daddy. I didn't." Running back upstairs, Julia slammed her door and cried. "Now what?" asked James. "You just had to tell her, didn't you. You knew she would blame herself. Especially after jumping on him yesterday." "I'm sorry, Jimmy. God, why does she have to be so dramatic all the time?" "She's not dramatic. She's tender hearted. Learn the difference, James. Take care of Graham, while I go talk to her." heading upstairs, Jimmy could hear her crying. Opening her door, he sat beside her on the bed. "Julia, can we talk." "I didn't mean to hurt daddy, Jimmy. I didn't." "I know Julia. But daddy's infection wasn't caused by you jumping on him. Sometimes a little bit of dirt, or bacteria is left inside the body where the wound is. When this happens, it grows into infection. Daddy is going to be fine. He'll be given antibiotics, and sent home. Please understand, Julia. You did nothing wrong." "Honest Jimmy? I didn't hurt daddy?" "No Julia. You didn't. Now give me a hug." Wrapping her brother in her arms, she kissed his cheek. "I love you, Jimmy." "I love you too, Julia. Now let's go have some breafast." ...................................... Over at the Hospital, Tony was taken right in. "Let's have a look, Tony." Lifting his shirt, the doctor, pressed around the wound. "Oww... easy doc. That's sensitive there." "That's quite an infection you have. I'm going to start you on an I.V drip with Clyndamycin. So you may as well get comfortable. You'll be here for a couple days." "Days? Oh no. Forget it doc. You can send me home with an I.V drip. I'm not staying here." Claire was shocked. In the seven years they had been married. Claire had no clue he was terrified of staying in Hospitals. "Come on, Tony... you have to stay. It's only a couple days. You could have told me you were afraid of staying in a Hospital. This is one hell of a way to find out. Especially after seven years of marriage." "I'm sorry, baby. I'm not scared of Hospitals. I'm concerned about my brother. With no one being there to protect you and our children. He has easy access." "I'm sorry, Tony. You have to stay in. It's important to make sure that infection doesn't spread. I promise we will have you out as soon as we can." "I said no. I'll take my chances at home. Now juice me up, then give me a script to take home." "You'll have to sign a release form." "That's fine. Just bring it, please." Once the papers were signed. They gave Anthony a double dose of antibiotics with a script and sent him home. "You are so stubborn, Indiana. Or do you have a death wish?" said Claire trying not to break. "Hey... hey... come on , baby. I'm going to be fine. Please trust in me, okay? Believe me, if I was that infected, I would stay. But I'm not. Just trust in me. I'll be fine." ................................. Meanwhile... Julia heard the knock on the door. Seeing her brothers busy vaccuming, she answered it. Looking up at the guy, she recognized him from the school. Trying to scream, he covered her mouth, and carried her to the car. "Shh... you be quiet, Julia. There is no need to scream. I'm your uncle Dominic. If you look at me closely, you will see how much your daddy and I look alike. Here, this is a picture of us, from when we were kids." Julia looked at the picture, then at her uncle. "Why are you taking me from my home. I want to go back inside." "You can honey. I'm not trying to take you, I would never do that. I just need to let you know that I'm here if you need me, okay? You can always find me at the school. It will be our secret." "I'm not suppose to know secrets. Cause I can't keep them. Mommy says it's because I forget, they are to be secrets. So you should tell me nothing, just let me go home." Back inside the house Jimmy noticed Julia was gone, and the front door was open. Dropping the vaccum, he ran outside and found her sitting on the stoop. "God Julia, you scared the hell out of me. You know not to go out by yourself." "I wasn't out by myself. Uncle Dominic took me. He sat me in his car and told me secrets." Looking around, Jimmy picked up Julia and carried her into the house. Locking the door, he sat her down. "Julia... what did Uncle Dominic say to you?" "He said it's a secret. I'm not suppose to tell." Great! Any other day Julia would tell every secret she had. Now today. Today she'd say nothing. Hearing the door unlock, Jimmy turned and seen his mom and dad. "Dad, we have a problem." Tony couldn't focus. The double dose of antibiotics had left him dazed. "I'm sorry son. Tell your mom, okay. I need to go too bed." As Tony walked upstairs. Claire looked at her son as she said... "Okay son, what seems to be the problem?"
Taking off her coat, Claire waited for her son to begin. "It seems Dominic came here while you were at the Hospital with dad. He took Julia out of the house, into his car. He told her secrets. Secrets that she won't tell us." Claire panicked. "Just how the hell did he get her out of the house?" "She won't tell. She says it's a secret." Sitting down in front of her daughter, she said... "Julia, please tell mommy how Dominic got you out of the house?" "I can't mom. It's a secret. You told me I needed to learn not to tell. So I can't tell, now." "Listen Julia. This isn't a secret that you should keep. When someone takes you from your home it's not a secret. It's called kinapping. Now I'm going to ask you again. How did he get you out of the house?" "He covered my mouth and carried me. Then he sat me in his car. I cried and told him I wanted to go back in the house. Then he told me not to be scared. That he would never take me away, cause he's my uncle and he loves me. He just wanted me to know that if I need him, I can find him at the school. Then he sat me down on the stair and left." "I want you to listen to me carefully. You are not to talk to Dominic. Not even at school. If he tries to talk to you, let your teacher know. Mommy will call the school in the morning and make sure they understand that Dominic isn't to be near you. Understand sweetheart?" "But why mommy, he seems really nice?" "Just do it for daddy sweetheart, okay. Promise me you will do it for, daddy." "Okay mommy. I won't talk to him. I promise." Claire knew Julia was easily influenced. Which was why she would call the school, informing them of the situation with Dominic Staton. "Mommy, can I go see daddy?" "Of course. Just don't jump on him, okay?" "I won't mommy, I promise. Once Julia was upstairs. Claire talked to Jimmy and James. "I want you and your brother to have some friends follow Julia around. See if they will talk with their brothers and sisters who are around Julia's age. We really need to make sure Julia stays safe. She's to trusting. My concerns for her will not rest till we figure out what Dominic's plans are." "What are you going to do mom? I mean besides call the school." "I'm going to have your uncle Donnie get a restrainer order put on Dominic. This way he will no longer be able to work at the school. Especially with having to stay so many feet away from your sister. It was to easy for him today. He managed to grab her from her own home. Which makes it twice as easy to take her from school." Heading to the phone, Claire called the school. ................................. Upstairs Julia seen her daddy sleeping. Crawling up beside him, she stroked his sweaty hair, waking him. "Daddy... how are you feeling?" "I'm okay, baby. Why are you looking so sad?" "Two reasons daddy. One is mommy yelled at me for talking to uncle Dominic and..." "What was that Julia? he interrupted. "Mommy is mad because I talked to uncle Dominic. He came to the house and carried me to his car. He told me he loved me, and that I could talk to him whenever I want." "Claire... Claire..." Tony yelled. Running up the stairs Claire seen Tony trying to get out of bed. "Tony, get back down there. Where do you think, you are going?" "To see my brother. How dare he try and kidnap our daughter." "Okay... for one thing, calm down. For the second thing, I've already talked with uncle Donnie. He's going to warn Dominic, to stay away from the kids. He's also giving him a restraining order. I also called the school and informed them of the situation. Don will be forwarding a copy to them, also. Which means Dominic will be transferred to another school." Tony layed back and sighed. "It's going to be okay, daddy. I promise not to talk too him anymore. Just lay back and rest. I will bring you some juice. I love you, daddy." Running downstairs to get the juice. Claire sat down beside her husband. "Are you going to be okay, Tony?" "She's my only baby girl Claire. I would kill him to protect her. I would die for any one of our children. But Julia is my little miracle, Claire. I won't hesitate to kill." "I know that, Tony. But I promise you. Julia will be well protected at school. Jimmy and James are going to have their friends, watch every move she makes. No matter where she goes, she won't be alone. So try and relax, okay. You need to heal." Kissing him passionately, Julia came back in with the juice. "Here you go daddy. It's orange." Hopping back up on the bed, she laid down in her daddy's arms. Wrapping her closer, he kissed her pretty curls. "I love you, Julia." "I love you too, daddy. Billions and billions." Snuggling down, she had closed her eyes and said... "sleep now daddy. I'm right here with you." Smiling from the door, Claire headed back dowstairs.
At the Taylor's, Mac recieved a call from the kids school. Finding out Gary had been in a fight. He headed down to pick him up. When he arrived, he noticed the black eye and bloody nose. "Gary... what happened, son?" "I got into a fight with two older boys in my class. I just couldn't take it anymore grandpa. I'm not an orphan and my mom isn't a crazy lunitic." he cried. "Excuse me, Mr.Taylor?" "Yes, what is it?" "We need to inform ytou that Gary has been suspended for two days, for fighting." "What about the other two boys? What did they get?" "They got five. Due to the name calling, besides the fighting. We have a zero tolerence policy here. They started it, so they got the longer suspension." "That's all well and good. But he's only going to be coming back into it next week. There must be something you can do about this. My grandson is not a poor orphan kid who had a crazy mother." "We know that Mr.Taylor." "Do you? It's getting to the point where he hates coming here. So this is what we are going to do. You are going to give me my grandchildren and my sons, school records. Then I'm going to have them transfered to public school. This way they get a fresh start." "If that is what you wish, we can do that." "Good. Then please get it done. Also... please dismiss my other grandchild and son." Passing Gary a kleenex, he wiped his nose. "It's going to be okay, son. We are going to get you a fresh start in a new school. Things will be better." Wrapping his grandson in his arms. He just held him tightly against him. ................................................................... When Jessie and Alan reported to the office, they seen Gary being held by his grandfather. "Dad, what happened to Gary? Why are you here?" "I need you kids to collect your things. You won't be coming here. Your mother and I are enrolling you all in a new school." "What? But all my friends are here, dad. This isn't right. I want to stay here." Jessie didn't want to go either. She had just been asked to the dance. "Please grandpa. I don't want to leave either. This is the school we've always attended. Why the change?" Lifting Gary off his shoulder, Jessie stifled her cry. "Aww, what happened to you Gary? Who did this?" "Two boys in my class. It's nothing. I just want to go home." Taking his grandson to the car. Alan said... "What about us, dad? Can we stay?" "Just for today. You tell all your friends that you are transfering. Then I want you both home." Watching as they left the school. Alan turned to Jessie and said... "This really sucks. I can't believe we have to say goodbye to our friends. We've been coming here since kindergarden." "I'm sorry we are ruining your life, Alan. We don't mean too." Alan was shocked. He had no idea how much his niece and nephew were hurting. "You're not ruining my life, Jessie. Don't ever think that. I love you. Now let's go finish our last day here." Walking back to class, Alan realized he was going to need to watch how he phrased things, around his niece and nephew." ..................................................................... Back at home, Mac took Gary into the washroom and cleaned him up. "How is he, Mac?" "Not to bad, sweetheart. He has a nice shinner, but he'll heal." Stella seen the transfer papers on the table. "Mac... what are these for?" "I'm removing the kids from that school. Gary shouldn't have to be ridiculed everyday. They need a fresh start in a new school." "I understand that Mac. But what does that have to do with Alan? Was he happy when you told him?" "No. He wasn't impressed. But he'll make new friends." "Mac... he's had his friends since kindergarden. You just can't uproot him like that. I'm sorry, but Alan stays where he is." "She's right, grandpa. You can't take Alan from school, or my sister. Just me, okay grandpa. I want to start a new school. I want to make new friends who don't me from before." "Okay son. We will enroll you tomorrow. Now let's get you something to eat." While Gary sat down with his lunch, Stella phoned the school and informed them that Gary would be the only one leaving.