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Post by Markus Martins on Jul 22, 2010 0:52:09 GMT -5
Mark bit his bottom lip gently when Jared used a finger to lift Mark's chin up. Deep blue eyes met the same color orbs that he and his father shared and he nodded his head weakly. "Promise?" His voice cracked for a second, revealing a moment of weakness. Mark hadn't felt like this in a long time. Not since when Jared had to tell a seven year old Markus about Willow's death as a matter of fact. He turned his head away, clearing his throat and taking a deep, shaky breath before he turned back to Jared.
He laid a hand over Jared's knee and gave it a gentle pat. The standard form of comfort from a man. Being a man, Mark wasn't always all that open with his emotions, but they were alone right now, so he supposed he didn't have to worry about it as much, but still. "I know, Dad. I know you didn't mean for this to happen." He said gently. He wished that he hadn't been here to witness it, but then again, he would have panicked even more had he gotten a call at the cabin or on his cell phone saying that Jared had a heart attack and was hospitalized. Oh yes, that could have just created unwanted panic for Mark, so as much as he hadn't wanted to witness it, he was glad it happened that way instead of the other way around. He nodded his head weakly and gave the knee a gentle squeeze. "You don't have much choice at this point, Dad."
The very same frown that often graced Jared's face now graced Mark's face. How in the world did his dad figure that one out? "So not cool, Dad... " That really wasn't cool if you asked Mark. Lucy was a very fragile girl, and as much as Mark liked her... he just couldn't find the courage to ask her out. He was worried that he would do something and scare or hurt her. Given her past, that was a very valid reason why he hadn't asked her yet. "You know her past. I'll end up doing something stupid that'll scare her off or hurt her." Mark knew how to handle a woman with his inherited Martin charm, but Lucy was different from the other girls Mark dated in the past. As stated earlier, she was much more fragile, and Mark was afraid that he would hurt her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
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Post by Jared Martins on Jul 22, 2010 10:11:18 GMT -5
In a normal situation, Jared would have laughed at the ‘promise’ question that came from his son but this wasn’t a normal every day situation for them. He was in a hospital lying on a bed after a heart attack. “Yeah, kid, I promise.” Staring back into those familiar blue eyes, he nodded as he promised to his son. A promise meant everything to Jared, never having failed to follow through with one. Anyways, he knew how much reassurance Markus needed right then. The kid wasn’t ready to loss him just yet. Then again was any child ready to loss a parent, ever? Willow had already been taken from the both of them and through he never had much time with his mother, Jared was sure the even still effected his son as much as him. Well, maybe not as much or maybe it did…hell what did he know? “Don’t worry about me. I’m tougher than this old body looks.” Grinning, he tried to comfort his son as best he could without coming off too mushy. Jared didn’t do mushy around pretty much anyone with the expectation of Adrianna but even then he didn’t dip into his emotions a lot.
Waving off his son’s comment about him having no choice, Jared wasn’t in the mood to argue. He was too worn out physically and emotionally. Covering a yawn. he eased down farther in the bed really wishing he was back home in his own and not some hospital one. It was going to be hard sleeping without all the space to his back where he never moved to. At one point, right after Willow left, Jared had slept on the couch in the living room to avoid anything that had to deal with his deceased wife. However, with his body being so worn down and exhausted it might be possible. “We’ll argue more about what I can and can’t do tomorrow before you leave me to rot here.” It didn’t escape his mind that Markus wasn’t going to stay in the hospital past tomorrow. Jared needed his son to check on Willow Brooke and the horses and students.
Jared knew that frown on his son’s face and it caused him to burst out laughing and slap his thigh lightly. “If your mother could see that expression on your face…” She would have told their son it was going to give him wrinkles before he hit thirty as she had always told Jared. Shaking his head, he gave Markus a knowing looking. There wasn’t much that went past him on his own property. After so many years of working there and seeing the world, the old man knew ever trick in the human book. “I know her past, as do you. You won’t do anything to scare her away. It isn’t in the Martin blood to scare a woman.” Yawning once more, he refused to go to sleep until this conversation took it’s full course. Turning his head, Jared’s eyes scanned over his son’s face seeing what was conflicting with him. Over the years, he had gotten to known Lucy and knew that at times even he could scare the girl but with Markus…that girl was so comfortable around him. “Put that brain your mother gave you to use and work around Lucy’s problems. Maybe you haven’t noticed but I have… you are the only one she’s almost completely comfortable with.”
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Post by Markus Martins on Jul 22, 2010 14:39:44 GMT -5
A faint, weak smile lifted on Mark's lips at his father's words. "Yeah, but you're not the young, wiley stud you used to be either, Dad." Mark commented in a bit of a playful manner. It helped to squelch the helpless feeling he had right now. He hated feeling like this. It was like reliving Willow's death all over again just about. He laughed at Jared's remark about the frown that had crinkled over Mark's face. "Well if I remember correctly it would be something along the lines of: 'You need to stop that. It'll give you wrinkles before you're in your thirties.'" Mark gave a little grin at Jared. Mark vaguely remembered things like that. Willow used to tease Jared all the time. It's part of where Mark gets his playful personality from because Jared was usually all work and no play.
"She's not a normal woman if you haven't noticed, Dad." When he said that he was commenting about her past. She wasn't like all the other girls Mark had dated over the years. She needed time and care to fully heal from her wounds, and Mark was afraid that he would just re-open old wounds that she didn't need to have opened. He sighed and nodded his head weakly. That was true enough, but it didn't help Mark feel much better about the situation. That just meant that he had more cause to be careful about it. She trusted him. He gave her a shoulder to cry her. He listened when she was upset about something. He was there for her, and he didn't want to ruin that trust by doing something stupid that would hurt her.
"How did you know that Mom was the one?" He asked weakly, studying his father. This was a conversation that was probably long overdue, but Mark never really had a reason to ask that question until now.
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Post by Jared Martins on Jul 22, 2010 16:55:30 GMT -5
Jared gasped playfully and placed a hand over his forehead as if he was going to faint. “You sure know where to hit your old man’s ego so that it does the most damage.” Laughing he let his hand fall back down to his side while shaking his head and saying a little smugly. “Granted, I’m not young anymore, but I’d like to think of myself as a stud still.” It was a lie of course. He didn’t seem himself any better looking than any other average guy around town. But there was no better way to kill any fears then a good laugh here and there which was what both father and son needed right then. As Markus repeated Willow’s words perfectly, a stray tear slid down his cheek from the memories. For a moment there he’d seen his dead wife in the chair and not his son. There was more of his mother in his veins then Jared. His hand quickly reached up and wiped it away like it had been nothing. “Looks like she had been right.” In his mid forties, Jared knew there were more than a few wrinkles along his face from years of over working himself at Willow Brooke. His eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment while starting into space and mumbling to himself. “She was always right.”
Cutting his eyes at his son, Jared was daring his son to keep talking about Lucy like the old man didn’t know that kid’s past. It had taken a lot of work on his part to find out from both the courts and the girl herself what had happened. “Markus Jerimiah Martins, get this perfectly clear. I worked with that girl. I know her, but you were the only one she’s comfortable around. If you want her you’re going to have to fight for it.” Grumbling under his breath about youth wasted on the young, he snuggled into the bed. He understood why Markus was so worried about scaring the girl away, but sometimes a person had to stick their necks out for whatever they wanted. “If you’re too afraid to at least attempt some sort of relationship beyond friendship than that’s all you’re doomed to have. I’m not telling you to rush into bed with her, Jesus, no! Just you’re going to have to be creative about how you approach her.” Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand over his face before shrugging. “But hell, what do I know? I’m an old man in a hospital bed.”
A faint shade of red crossed over Jared’s face at the turn of conversation. It had a long time coming and at one point he hadn’t thought Markus would ever bring it up. “She turned me down the first time I asked her out.” Clearing his throat, he sat up in his bed to tell the story properly. “She called me a conceited, self centered, ill- rational, prick. Direct quote by the way.” He supposed in a way, he had been just that in high school. Well, it might have seemed that way in school when in fact he was taking care of the family farm just on the edge of town, the very same place Willow Brookes was. They two of them had known each other since elementary school and that woman had known him better than himself. “It wasn’t until I came back from my travels that she finally let me take her out.” Smirking, he rubbed his eyes remembering the day Willow had agreed to go out with him. “I think Daniel Jefferson is still pissed at me for managing to get your mother to go on a date with me.” That guy always made Jared laugh when he thought about him. It was enough to make him pause and think about where he was now a days.
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Post by Markus Martins on Jul 22, 2010 20:57:35 GMT -5
Mark fell silent when Jared started talking about Willow. He didn't say anything because he didn't really know what to say. He noticed the glazed look in his eyes and figured he was going back to memories of Willow. Mark didn't remember as much as Jared, but he had only been seven when Willow passed away. He did remember things though. He remembered how she would chase him through the stables when he wasn't ready to go in to the house just yet most of all. That thought made him smile for a moment before he looked back over his father thoughtfully.
He flinched a little when Jared addressed him by his full name. Jared never did that unless he was upset with Mark. As a matter of fact, it had been several years since Jared addressed him in such a way. He was right though. He hated it when Jared was right, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He sighed and stared at the heart monitor for a moment thoughtfully. Lucy was a sweet girl, and he knew she had trust issues. He was afraid he would ruin that, but he couldn't just let their relationship stay at the level it was at. Mark didn't want to go jumping into bed with her. He just wanted a little companionship other than a horse, Dippy, or his dad.
He looked back to Jared as he started talking about Willow. A weak smile spread across his lips when he told Mark just what she thought of Jared before he left for his travels. He listened curiously, but none of that answered his question. He enjoyed listening though. It was nice to listen to him talk about Willow. "How did you know though, Dad? That she was the woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with" Mark looked over his father's face thoughtfully. Mark always wondered that. He knew that Jared didn't get a chance to live the rest of his life with Willow, but when you married someone and started a family in them, that was the intended plan. Get married, have kids, raise them and grow old together. That's what was supposed to happen. Not what really did happen to Jared.
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Post by Jared Martins on Jul 22, 2010 23:02:22 GMT -5
Rubbing his chin, it really took Jared awhile to put into words how he knew that Willow had been it. Now that she was gone, he had his doubts but only because Adrianna had entered his life and pulled him from his heavy depression state. Licking his lips, his eyes stared over at Markus intensely. “I didn’t know at first. She’d been the one to get away from me before I went away. That whole time she was the only one I could think of. I was consumed with her.” Maybe it had to do with how rarely he had been rejected in high school, his ego and pride had taken a beating that day. He laughed lightly thinking about his crazy dreams he’d had while gone. Too many of them, Jared would never share with his son. “I kept thinking about what a kid with her would look like; trust me that thought scared me when it first came to me.” Grinning at Markus, he patted his son’s cheek seeing so much of his mother in that friendly face. “I don’t think I could have imagined a better looking kid then you.” He laughed off the pretty sappy words before coughing slightly and relaxing back in the bed.
His mind went back to a time before Willow Brookes and before Willow had died. He went back to when Markus had first been born, at this very hospital to say the least. It had been his happiest time knowing that the two of them had created such a beautiful baby boy. “I think I really knew Willow had been it when I realized how much she loved horses as much as I did. When she was able to pull me away from my work without me feeling like I was slacking off for taking a few hours to be a normal human.” Before Willow had helped him on the ranch with just the horses, Jared had been just as consumed with his work. It was in his blood to keep pushing through pain, hunger, and anger to get the job done to keep food on the table.
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Post by Dr. Adrianna Bowen on Jul 23, 2010 9:10:07 GMT -5
Adrianna walked the halls alone as she headed towards the cafeteria. It was when she was in the hall alone that she realized this had been a really bad idea for her to offer to go get them food. Walking by the exit doors she stopped for a moment and stared, that was until a nurse asked if her something was wrong. Knocking her back to reality she continued on to the cafeteria. Looking at the food she frowned, it all looked so disgusting. The only thing that looked any edible was the pizza. Getting the coffee, the water and the pizza she paid for it and headed back towards the room. Stopping once to ask the nurse if Jared could eat anything.
Walking back into the room she was relieved to see they seemed to have stopped talking for a moment. Setting everything down on a table that was in the room she grabbed a cup and opened up the water bottle pouring it into a cup. Looking over at Markus, "The only decent piece of food they had was pizza" she shrugged a bit. She didn't really care if he didn't eat it, she wouldn't blame him hospital food was apparently not good. Moving over she set on the edge of Jared's bed and handed him the glass of water.
Her eyes watched him for a moment, glad to see he seemed to be looking a little better. She didn't know what he would do without him, she couldn't handle another loss in her life especially not Jared. However, for now she was in brighter spirits, she was proud of herself for being able to walk around the hospital without having a huge mental breakdown. After Jared took his water she went and handed Markus his coffee and took her own. Standing at the end of the bed again, although this time not because she was nervous, she looked at Markus, "I can deal with the horses and such tomorrow morning if you want to stay here with Jared." she offered. She had no problem making sure everything was in order if Markus wanted to spend the night with Jared.
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Post by Markus Martins on Jul 23, 2010 16:31:31 GMT -5
Mark smiled, leaning on the bed as he listened to his dad talk about Willow. Mark wished he could have gotten to know his mother better. He was only a little boy when she died. He didn't really get much time to spend with her like his dad did. Mark only really remembered maybe four of those seven years. Jared had many more memories than Mark did. He sighed tiredly and laid his head in Jared's lap as he listened to him talk about Willow. Mark was going to have to take a ride up to her grave and "talk" with her soon.
His head lifted when he heard Adrianna come in. He gave a weak nod as she told him that all she found was pizza. "That's fine." He said gently as he took one of the pizza slices. "Don't suppose anyone said when they would bring him some food, did they?" He asked gently as he eyed the pizza. Certainly not the lasagna they had been looking foreward to. But it was food, and Mark was starving. Yes he had a salad, but to a man that wasn't exactly a filling meal.
He looked to Jared after a moment as Adrianna handed him the cup of water. He imagined they were neglectful of bringing water and food because of Jared's fowl behavior, which was understandable. Jared could be very scary when he was in a fowl mood. He was looking better now that he calmed down and relaxed a little. Getting his mind off the heart attack and the fact that he was stuck here did Jared a little good, Mark thought. He looked to Adrianna when she handed him his coffee. He gave a soft thanks and took a sip of it before he looked to Jared thoughtfully. "Yeah... I'd appreciate that, Doc." He said softly as he looked to Adrianna, sipping at the coffee. "You'll want to make sure you send a stable hand or someone one else to Bobbi's to get the feed we ordered the other day." He said, thinking over the other things he would need to do. He was going to have to cancel his civilians lesson. "Could you ask Lucy and a couple of other of the riding instructors if they would mind taking at least one of my classes?" He knew Lucy wouldn't mind taking at least one of his classes, but he wasn't sure if anyone else would be willing to.
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Post by Jared Martins on Jul 25, 2010 18:07:32 GMT -5
There wasn’t any question of the emotion that fell over Jared’s face when Markus’s head fell in his lap, shock. It had been years since his son had done anything like that. Not since Willow had been around and only a few years afterward. Not worrying about it, his hand rested lightly on top of his son’s head, gently rubbing it while smiling slightly. They really needed to spend more time together. It had been far too long since the both of them had sat down or gone for a ride or had a drink together. The tips of his fingers lightly rubbed Markus’s scalp seeing how much the boy needed sleep and a rest from all the sudden stress pressed down on him. “I remember the day you were brought home from the hospital, you mother looked up at me and said, ‘This one looks too much like me but those eyes are all your doing’.” Laughing under his breath, Jared smiled down at his son understanding that he held far too little memories of his mother. If he could have, Jared would have given anything for Markus to be able to have more time with his mother.
Hearing the door open, Jared’s hand left his son’s head as it was lifted back up to see Adrianna enter the room. They acted as if nothing had happened between then, not some bonding moment were either of them showed fear. Jared didn’t want to worry the vet or anyone for that matter… besides he didn’t believe that men should show too much emotion for fear of coming off too soft. It might have been why he came off so scary and powerful to the students and other employees.
“Oh, you’re a life saver. Thank you.” Jared gave the vet a large warm smile while taking the cup from her. Trying to control himself from just jumping straight into the cup, he sipped from the water and sighed in relief. His eyes saw the coffee given to Markus and took a deep sniff of the bold smell that soon filled the room. It was like heaven and he almost wished he wasn’t so tired to have a cup, but he soon went back to drinking from the cup of water. His throat had been screaming at him to do something about the dryness and it was finally being eased. His eyes turned to Adrianna when she took a stance at the end of his bed. That wasn’t where he wanted to see her, he would have preferred her standing by his side or hell in his arms on the bed. Since Markus finally caught the hints of their secret relationship, Jared wanted her by him. Leaning over to the other side of the bed, Jared placed the cup on the side table before shaking his head. “No, no one needs to go to Bobbi’s. I picked up the feed early this morning.” After a small breakfast with Markus, he had go into town and picked up the items for a change. In fact, he’d been stalling for time to stay away from the office for a good hour or two. While Adrianna and Markus went back and forth about what needed to be do, Jared shut his eyes for a moment and sighed softly.
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Post by Dr. Adrianna Bowen on Jul 26, 2010 13:33:24 GMT -5
Adrianna looked at Markus, "The nurse said she'd bring him some jello or something." It was as if the nurse had heard her as she kind of crept into the room. She looked terrified and Adrianna felt herself choking back a bit of a laugh. Adrianna figured she would spare the nurse some pain and took the two packages of jello and a spoon from her and watched her scurry out of the room. Turning back to Jared she raised a bit of an eyebrow, "Didn't take you long to scare them." she said as a smile broke out across her face. Looking down at the jello she wondered if he would even be interested in it, "Want this?" she asked him holding it up a little bit.
As she moved towards the bed she looked at Markus and nodded, "I'll make sure I do all of that" she smiled lightly. Sitting on the edge of the bed she looked at Jared for a moment as he spoke and nodded again. Figures Jared would have already had that covered. Adrianna didn't think it would be too hard to get things working in the morning she knew Willow Brooke had amazing staff and everyone would pull together to keep things running.
Hearing Jared's sigh she looked at him for a moment, "You need some rest." she placed her hand gently on his cheek for a moment, and then letting it fall. Standing up she looked at both of them running a hand through her red hair for a moment, then looking a Markus with a bit of a smile, "I'll come relieve you tomorrow afternoon..." she laughed slightly, "Hopefully he doesn't torture you too much tonight" she smiled slightly giving Jared a gently nudge. As much as she wanted to stay, he would have Markus tonight and that would be enough, plus there was only one chair to sleep on anyways. They would have all afternoon tomorrow to talk...
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Post by Markus Martins on Jul 29, 2010 16:50:21 GMT -5
He sat back, watching his dad and Adrianna thoughtfully for a minute. He meant it when he said that he was happy Jared found someone to spend some time with that wasn't a horse or Mark. He deserved it. He just sort of wished that Adrianna and Jared didn't hide it from Mark. From everyone else was understandable because of the way gossip ran around town and the school, but telling Mark was a different thing. Mark wasn't one to spread rumors. He always did his best to avoid gossip and rumors as a matter of fact.
He nodded when Adrianna said that they would bring him jello or something. Jello. That was kind of hard to make taste bad, so maybe Jared would eat it. He looked up when someone peeked in. The poor woman looked like she was about to have her own heart attack. Mark was starting to get a pretty good idea of just what he had been putting the nurses and doctors through. He watched as Adrianna took the jello and the nurse quickly left. He looked to Jared with a smirk. "Been playing nice with the nurse staff, Dad?" He asked teasingly with a slight sarcastic punch as Adrianna offered a cup of jello and a spoon.
He looked to Adrianna, nodding his head weakly. "Thanks, Doc." Mark murmured tiredly as he studied his dad then looked back Adrianna. He chuckled weakly and looked to Jared. "I think I don't need to worry as much as the doctor and nurses do." He said gently, giving his dad a playful grin before he looked back to Adrianna with a weak immitation of his usual playful smile. That was because he was tired and worried though. It had been a long night so far, and he had a feeling it was no where near finished either.
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