Shaken

Chapter 9- Together

It had been hours since Jay and Erin had watched their daughter wheeled into surgery. The waiting room that had only hours ago been overflowing with chaos and friends and family now sat empty and desolate. That is, all except for Jay and Erin.

Jay sat awake staring at the clock on the wall as Erin slept beside him. He glanced down at her, comforted by the sound of her gentle snoring. As terrible as this day had been Jay was so grateful for the calming presence she had been for him. He hugged his wife closer to him, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

Suddenly the door to the OR hallway swung open, disrupting the still silence in the room. It startled Jay who quickly sat up straighter in his chair.

Jay glanced over to see Conner Rhodes approaching them. He could make out dark stains on the surgeon's scrubs. Blood. Was that Pipers blood? He studied the surgeon's face for a few moments, trying to get a read on what kind of news they would be hearing. Jay felt increasingly more anxious, He could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he gently shook Erin awake.

Erin sat up quickly, she knew he wouldn't wake her up unless something important was happening. She grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly as Conner began to speak.

"Well it was extremely touch and go, with a few unexpected complications and unfortunately we were unsuccessful at repairing Piper's right kidney, you've got a fighter and by some act of God she managed to pull through. She's alright."

Relief flooded through Jay's body as he heard the words exit Conner's mouth.

"She's ok." Erin said quietly, turning to Jay with a relieved smile. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Jay embraced his wife in a hug, suddenly everything felt okay again. "Can we go see her? " Erin asked, briefly pulling away from Jay's warm embrace.

Conner nodded "We moved her up to the PICU a little while ago, I'll take you to her."

Jay quickly gathered up the bag of trash left over from the lunch Hailey had brought them as Erin scooped up their coats.

"Alright let's go." Conner said.

.......................

As they approached the entrance to the room Jay was starting to feel incredibly anxious. He wanted nothing more than to rush in there and hold his little girl as tight as he possibly could, but part of him was reluctant. He wasn't sure he could take it. The thought of seeing his daughter hooked up to all those machines, in pain, nearly brought tears to his eyes. This big strong man who's seen his closest friends die in war and at the hands of criminals, this man who saw violence and heartbreak on the job every single day, can't even manage to hold it together for the sake of his own daughter. Not to mention, what would he even say to her when she woke up? What words could possibly comfort her from the tragedy she just experienced. How would he and Erin explain that to her that she's never going to see many of the people she once knew ever again?

Erin could see the worried look on her husband's face, a look she was sure that was mirrored on her own face. She grabbed Jay's hand and squeezed tightly.

Before they entered the room they each took a deep breath, pulling themselves together in the final moments before they saw her. They were in this together, and together they were going to get through this.

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(A/N)

Hey :)! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Sorry for delaying it so much, I haven't been in a good place mentally for a while due to some things in my personal life, which made it pretty difficult to find the energy and the time to write. And I know my prolonged broken promises of posting must've been frustrating, so I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart apologize and thank you all for being so so patient with me

As always suggestions/comments/feedback are always appreciated and highly encouraged. Hearing what you guys think is my favorite part of all this <3

Thank you so much for taking the time to enjoy my work, as always I love you guys ♥️, Stay safe out there 😷!

(P.S. sorry for how short this chapter is, I promise the next one will be longer :) )