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Reese looks troubled after they visit Carter in recovery. Peter's child has none of his poker face; he's all emotions, some of which help him to communicate, but just in general he has none of the Benton stoicism. It's day three since Carter's surgery and judging from what he's heard and what he's read in the computerized charts, it's going as expected, at least medically.
Reese usually comes to the hospital after school on Wednesdays and he does his homework in the surgical wing's staff lounge. There's a huge difference between County and Northwestern in that respect; he doesn't worry about what Reese would see on the surgical floor here. Since Carter is actually admitted at Northwestern in the surgical ICU, he and Reese had popped by to check up on him.
Peter sits down in a chair across from his son when they finish checking in with Carter. Out of habit, Peter still signs along when he speaks to Reese.
"What's wrong?"
Reese signs back as he speaks, mostly out of habit but also because he's still a little unsure of his voice.
"Carter seems sad," Reese says.
"Sometimes Carter is sad," he answers carefully. "He's in the hospital after a major surgery."
Reese signs "duh" and rolls his eyes so epically that Peter almost believes there's some Benton DNA in there after all. Nurture over nature and all of that.
Reese frowns. "Somebody walked by with balloons and he told us that story about how nobody has ever gotten him balloons."
Peter looks at the ceiling, knowing where this is going. "What do you want us to do about that, Reese?"
They send Carter so many balloons.
On Thursday, Peter and Reese go back to Carter's recovery room and it's full of helium filled brightly colored shapes, some with messages that say absolutely nothing that have to do with surgery, like "Happy July 4th."
Carter smiles at them from the bed.
"Did you guys do this?"
"No, Carter, you were visited by the balloon fairy," Peter says sarcastically. "You wanted balloons."
"I sure did," Carter says, still smiling, but it fades. "They're going to keep me here a few extra days, which is a little bit of a disappointment. The balloons will help."
"Why? Everything seems fine medically," Peter says, perplexed, going to the door for Carter's chart.
Carter rolls his eyes and sighs, dramatic as ever. "I'll spare you the drama," he says, "the hospital social worker didn't like my plan to go home and hire a nurse to assist as necessary. They want me to speak to the mandatory therapist before I get discharged because they think I'm depressed, can you believe it?"
Peter can believe it. He scoffs. "That living plan is terrible, Carter. You're not going home to that depression brownstone. You'll stay with me and Reese."
Problem solved, in his very humble opinion.
"I wouldn't want to intrude on you and Cleo," Carter demurs, but the half smile on his face says otherwise.
It suddenly hits him very hard that though Carter still has the same sense of humor that Peter remembers, Carter is not the kid he used to be as Benton's student. Carter is not even the man he used to be the last time they were colleagues. He's gone through a lot, clearly, and the sadness gives him the gravity of somebody older. That cannot stand.
"You wouldn't be intruding," Reese interrupts, enthusiastically answering for Peter. "She's …," he searches for the word, "part-time."
Peter blinks, stunned. "Where did you hear that?"
Reese shrugs gleefully, looking a hell of a lot like Carla with those dimples, while Carter's eyebrows raise to his hairline. He's going to have to have words with Jackie if that's what she's saying, and he knows without knowing that it's exactly what she's saying about Cleo.
"It's not your business," Peter says haughtily, "but if you must know, Cleo and I work best with a little bit of space. She keeps a place in Schaumburg and that's where she's staying right now."
"I see," Carter drawls, the sentence expanding well beyond the two words and their syllables, just as gleefully as Reese.
"Part-time, that's funny," Carter chuckles, "I'll have to remember that."
Peter rolls his eyes. "Are we good on the change of plans?"
"Yes sir," Carter snarks, "but have you always been this bossy?"
"Can't complain about it if you like it," Peter points out, with the ghost of a smile.
Reese laughs. It'll be alright.