Unexpected 5: The Perfect Daughter

Chapter 9: It's a familiar feeling

The car came to a stop in front of the hospital. There was a buzz in the air, as many guests and personnel walked to and from.

"I'll park and then I'll meet you in the ER." Chris said. Deacon nodded and went straight to the ER, where he figured he would start by figuring out who was the patient.

"Excuse me", said Deacon when he approached the counter, "Hi, LAPD.  I'm looking for a patient that came in unconscious about an hour ago..? She was brought in by two teenagers."

A busy nurse was shuffling papers and signing hurriedly different forms. Chris had rushed in and was already standing just behind him, looking around the room to see if she could spot Lila.

"Sir, we have had three unconscious patients come in almost at the same time. I'm gonna need a little more information. Are you the father of the patient?" the nurse said, not lifting her gaze from the papers

In that moment one of the doors to the far end opened and a nurse came in. She shouted the name of a patient, and an old lady raised her hand. Chris noticed the female nurse had a couple of folders in her hand, and thought maybe she had attended to Lila's friend. She approached the nurse, and showed her the badge.

"Hi! um...LAPD. I'm here about a patient that  came in unconscious about an hour ago? Did you attend someone like that?"

The female nurse turned her gaze to Chris, as she shuffled the folders in her hand. "Officer, we've had three cases already. Which one are you referring to?"

"Um.." Chris thought, as the patient was approaching the nurse, "A girl and a boy brought the unconscious patient here. Me and my teammate are trying to figure out who it was. The girl that came in to help is his daughter."

"Officer, I can't give out information about a patient unless I have a subpoena. What I can tell you is that the two young teens that brought in the patient just left to get some coffee down at the shop."

"Thank you!" Chris said as the nurse immediately turned towards the old lady that sobbed in pain, every step she took. An old man helped her walk, but she was severely tilting sideways, in order to manage the pain.

Chris helped her in, as the nurse took her and another young man in scrubs came rushing in with a wheelchair. Once placed in the chair, Chris returned to Deacon who was still talking to the nurse behind the front counter.

"Lila's in the food shack, just outside of the  Pediatric-Infants ICU unit." she said pointing to the far left of the building

"Yeah, the nurse here says that the boy and Lila tried to help but the patient was out of it. Couldn't find out who it was because of the HIPAA Law, but at least she told me they were pumping her stomach as we speak." he paused, as they both turned towards the food place, "How do you know so much about this hospital?"

"Are you kidding? The judge has asked for a thousand tests and reports on Rubio. I feel like I can get a part time job here already!" Chris said annoyed, as Deacon looked surprised

Deacon shook his head slowly, as they went down the lonely corridor towards the sliding doors leading to the side of the building.

"Matter of fact, I'm supposed to pick up a report, coz I'm pretty sure Jim forgot. We have until tomorrow to turn it in."

"A report?"

"Yeah. Physical done a couple of days ago. A form we need from the Pediatric cardiologist and the neurologist. If you want," she said as she halted just as they reached the doors, "I could go and catch those papers, while you talk with Lila. Just wait for me here! Docs are in the second floor, so it'll just take a second."

Deacon nodded, as he spotted his daughter drinking from a plastic cup, holding it with both hands. She was physically affected for sure. As a father, he knew when his child is hurting.

Chris followed his gaze and spotted the teen immediately. She placed a hand on Deacon's shoulder, "She looks like she could use a friend...better yet, her dad! Just let her do the talking, she'll open up"

Deacon turned to Chris and took a deep breath. The officers separated as Deacon got ready for the worse.

Chris watched Deacon go, and then turned towards the elevator. As soon as the doors opened she went straight to the medical center information. She quietly approached the nurse in the front counter.

"Hi!" the nurse greeted cheerfully

"Hi!" Chris greeted with a grin,"I'm here for Dr. Kim and Dr. Cabrera?"

"Can I have the name of the patient?"

..and so she went at it again. The protocol of information of the patient, her information, and then the waiting game. She was told both doctors had received the form, but one was finishing the last page of the report.

As she waited for the document, an old man approached her. Something felt very familiar about the man, she just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

The old man sat down in the chair next to her. "Excuse me, are you an officer in SWAT?" he asked softly, almost whispering. He was wearing a black robe and a small pendant with a cross that hung down to his chest. White peppered hair, holding a children's book with both hands. 

 "Yes. Do I know you, sir?" she said turning to face the man

"No, but I certainly know you!" she said with a big grin on his face

Chris shot a quizzical look, even though she also grinned. He seemed oddly familiar. "Really?"

"Are you here because of Rubio?" he asked, still smiling

She titled her head slightly diagonally, as she tried to decipher the man. "How did you..."

"Hi Chris! I am Chaplain Adams. I get a call or two from Jimmy every week. It's finally nice to meet you in person."he paused and offered his hand for her to shake. "Do you have a minute to speak?"

"Of course!" she said shaking his hand

While Chris had a pleasant talk with Chaplain Adams, the same could not be said about Deacon's conversation with his daughter.

When he left Chris, heading towards the table where his daughter sipped from a plastic cup, he immediately noticed the teen's hands were shaking as she placed the cup to her lips. She had been staring at the ground so she hadn't noticed him approaching her.

"Hey" he said slowly, hoping not to startled her. At first she didn't even move, then when Deacon stuck his hand out and waved it in front of her face, she snapped back, jumping in the chair.

"Jesus, dad!" she complained. She even spilled some of the coffee on her pants! 

"Honey, we've been worried about you! You took off" he said approaching her. He went give her a hug, but she didn't even stand. She just moved forward a bit so her father could grab on to her as he closed up his arms together.

"I'm fine, dad!" she said annoyed

Deacon moved back, and frowned. "Lila, your grandparents and all of us have been worried sick about you. You don't just take off like that. What happened?" she asked as she shook her head, looking down at her cup

"Nothing." she said as she bit her lower lip. Deacon noticed she was getting sad because she usually bits her lower lip to not give out the quivering of wanting to cry.

"Honey? Talk to me"

"I don't know what happened." she said just before the waterworks. She just burst into tears, as she dropped the cup on the ground and went to cover her face.

She cried and sobbed for some time. All Deacon could do was hold her, console her, be there for her. It broke his heart to see his daughter in tears... filled with so much emotion. There was no worse torture than this!