Devin's Daddy - Chapter 7
Matt walked through the front door, whistling. "Jeff, Devin, I'm home!" Matt called out.
"In here Matt," Amy said. Matt walked into the living room and smiled at Amy.
"What's up, Amy? Have you seen Jeff and Devin?" Matt asked.
"Well, that's why I'm here, Matt," Amy said, looking a little nervous. "To fill you in on something that happened while you were gone."
"I can't trust Jeff for a minute!" Matt groaned. "All right. What happened?"
"Well, Jeff and Devin were out back playing on the trampoline..."
"They were doing what?" Matt interrupted.
"I'm just telling you what happened," Amy said defensively. "Don't shoot the messenger, ok?"
"Ok, I'm sorry," Matt said.
"Anyway, Jeff said Devin was jumping up and down, having a ball, when he slipped and fell off. Devin told Jeff his arm hurt, so Jeff called your dad to take them to the hospital, and then he called me so I could wait here for you to get back," Amy finished her story.
Matt jumped to his feet.
"Will you drive me to the hospital?" Matt asked.
"Of course," Amy said. "You're not going to hurt Jeff over this, are you?"
"Let's just say it's a damn good thing he's already at the hospital," Matt said, looking grim.
Matt opened the front door for Amy and followed her to her car.
At The Hospital
"Will you please calm down and quit pacing around Jeff?" his father, Gil, asked him. "The boy'll be all right."
"He better be," Jeff said darkly, sitting beside his dad. "Otherwise, my life expectancy just got shortened by a lot."
"I'm sure Matt will understand it was just an accident," his dad said, trying to reassure his son.
"Why don't you try explaining to me how this could have happened Jeff," Matt said as he strode into the waiting room.
"It was an accident, Matt, honest," Jeff said, shrinking back into his seat.
Matt just glared at him.
"I was keeping an eye on him, I swear I was," Jeff said quickly. "He just missed his footing on that last jump and fell. I couldn't do anything to stop it from happening."
Matt grabbed Jeff by the front of his shirt, and yanked him to his feet.
"I said no roughhousing, and I meant it Jeff Hardy!" Matt exclaimed. "What were you thinking, letting a kid play on that thing? Didn't you think, for even a moment, that it might be dangerous?"
Matt threw Jeff away from him in disgust. Jeff slammed into the chairs, knocking them over.
"You know, that's the problem with you," Matt said, looking down at Jeff. "You never think before you do something, and because of your carelessness, my son got hurt. Are you happy now?"
"Hey, I'm more sorry than you know that Devin got hurt!" Jeff yelled, getting to his feet. "It's not like I wanted him to fall off and get hurt! Why don't you just calm down?"
Matt punched Jeff dead in the face, madder than hell.
Jeff knocked Matt to the floor, and both boys proceeded to pummel each other.
"All right now, that's about enough!" their father yelled at them.
Amy dragged Jeff off of Matt, while Gil got a good grip on Matt.
"I really hate to break this up, but which one of you is this young man's father?"
Matt looked up and saw Devin standing by an annoyed looking doctor. He quickly got to his feet and went to his son.
"Are you ok Devin?" Matt asked anxiously.
"Yeah dad, I'm ok," Devin said smiling. "Look what the doctor gave me for being good, dad!"
Devin excitedly showed Matt his new toy as the doctor cleared his throat impatiently.
Matt looked at the doctor sheepishly.
"I'm Devin's father, Matt Hardy," he said. "Thank you for taking such good care of my son. Is he going to be ok?"
"Oh, yes, boys will be boys you know," the doctor said, smiling at Devin. "It's just a sprained wrist and he's going to have some nifty bruises to show off, but nothing's broken. You can take him home now if you want."
"Thanks again," Matt said, shaking the doctor's hand.
Matt looked around him and took in the destruction he and Jeff had done to the waiting room. Jeff, Amy, and his father looked at him expectantly.
"Um, how about we take Devin home and put him down for a nap?" Matt said weakly. "While he's sleeping, I can fill you all in on everything that's happened the last couple of days."
Back At The House
"...and that's everything I know," Matt finished his tale.
Matt's dad shook his head. "That's quite a story, son," he said.
"I was going to tell you all about it when we came over this afternoon," Matt said. "I know it must be a surprise to you to find out you're a grandfather."
"Yes Matt, it's a surprise all right," his dad agreed. "But a pleasant one. I've got a grandson to spoil! That is, if he can survive Jeff's babysitting."
They all laughed as Jeff squirmed uncomfortably.
"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" Jeff whined.
"Nope!" They all chorused.
"Seriously Jeff, I am sorry about the way I lit into you back at the hospital," Matt said. "I was just worried about Devin."
"That's ok, bro," Jeff said, smiling. "I know you didn't really mean to imply I am irresponsible. Just a little wild, right?"
"Well, let's not go too far Jeff," Amy said.
Jeff shot Amy a dirty look.
"But no more playing on the trampoline in the future!" Matt said sternly.
"Ok, ok, you act like I was trying to get him killed or something," Jeff complained.
Jeff's complaints brought on another wave of laughter.
"Can we just forget about it?" Jeff asked, looking disgusted.
"Well, I have a question for you anyway, son. What are you planning on doing next?" his dad asked.
"Wait for my day in court," Matt said smugly.