Finding Abel

Chapter 31.

Erin

I was woken up from my slumber at the sound of my phone vibrating violently. I was still groggy when I answered the call, but once I realized that there had been an accident, I was wide awake. Wendy knew how tired I was from taking care of Abel, and she volunteered to go pick up dinner for us to eat. Henry was awake and she took him with her to calm him down with the drive. His car seat was in my car, so she decided to take my car instead of moving his seat for such a short drive.

However, as I rushed around the house trying to dress Abel, I was in full panic mode. I was doing my best not to cry and freak out, but all I could think about was Henry and how much I didn't know about his condition. I called Jax and let him know about what had happened, Roosevelt had stopped by the house to give me a ride in his cruiser and I slipped in the backseat as I held Abel in my arms.

Once we arrived to the hospital, I ran through the halls while still carrying Abel on my hip. I was so disheveled that I didn't even realize that I had put two different shoes on his feet. My heart was racing and I couldn't help feeling like my life was falling apart after seeing the other passenger being rolled into the emergency room on a gurney.

Wendy's partner was sitting in the waiting room with tears in her eyes, and she looked relieved when she saw me. We embraced each other in a hug while she sobbed. "Did you hear anything?" I asked her frantically.

She shook her head, "they won't tell me anything since I'm not family." I scoffed angrily and instructed her to hold my son while I fetched a nurse. The waiting room was lined up with all those who were injured from their own individual catastrophes and the lady at the desk was doing her best to keep everyone calm. But I wasn't calm, I don't think my body would even recognize the feeling right now.

"May I help you?" she said when I walked up to the desk. "Yes, I'm here about Henry Jackson and Wendy Case, they were involved in an accident. They were rushed here."

"Are you a relative?" the woman asked me.

"I'm Henry's mother," the woman stopped and looked at me for a moment. "Can you please get me a doctor?" I said impatiently. She jumped back into action and picked up the phone to call for a doctor. I was pacing around the waiting room as I waited for a doctor to appear. Jax had shown up a few minutes later and surveyed the scene.

"What happened?" he asked me while reaching to take Abel from Wendy's girlfriend. I felt my heart squeeze at his question and tears blurred my vision. "Wendy..." I tried to make it through my sentence but I found myself having a hard time even getting the words out.

"Wendy got into a car accident, Henry was in the car," Wendy's partner said. Jax's mouth hung open and he looked at me sympathetically. He knew that this was unbelievably hard for me, and there was nothing that he could say that would calm me down.

When the doctor showed up, I almost ambushed him with questions. "Are you his mother?" he asked me. I nodded my head vigorously, "yes, how is he?"

"Your son suffered a minor concussion at the impact of the crash. He also has some minor cuts from the loose glass that flew, but overall he will be fine."

"And Wendy?"

"Ms. Case suffered the most during the crash. Because the impact of the car happened on the driver's side, she suffers from a broken shoulder and she also had some internal bleeding that we are trying to get under control."

There were light sobs coming from Wendy's partner and I had to take a deep breath. "Is she going to be okay, can you help her?" Jax asked the doctor. The doctor took a deep breath, "right now, the best thing we can do is stop that bleeding. Once we do that, she'll be out of the woods."

"Okay thank you," Jax shook the doctor's hand while I went over to hug Wendy's girlfriend. She was hysterical at the thought of Wendy not making it out of the surgery, and I couldn't help but want a time machine at that moment. I knew it was selfish to think, but if only I could go back in time and stop Wendy from going out. Maybe then she wouldn't be on that operating table right now.

Jax sat down next to us as we waited in the waiting room for any updates on Wendy. We only stepped away when I was allowed to go see Henry. I could hear his cries as soon as I stepped into the pediatric unit. While in the waiting room I had looked up the symptoms of a child who suffered a concussion, but nothing could prepare me for how painful his cries sounded.

His face was a bright red when I saw him. He had a bandage on his forehead and another on his arm. Once the nurse noticed me, she looked at me sympathetically. "We had to put these on him to keep him from pulling at his stitches." My hand covered my mouth as I tried to keep myself from crying out. Henry reached out for me and I rushed to pick him up.

I'd never heard him cry like this, and Jax knew that it was taking a toll on me. The nurses had stepped out of the room to give us some privacy and Henry's cries turned into soft whimpers as he pawed at the bandages on his body.

"Erin?" I looked up to see Roosevelt standing in the doorway. I looked away from him when I noticed a notepad in his hands, knowing the protocol for things like this. "Dude, not right now," Jax said while still holding Abel.

"Look I wish I could turn around right now, but from the way your car was hit, I need to ask some questions," Roosevelt said.

"What do you mean?" I asked intrigued.

Roosevelt sighed, "Erin before the other driver hit Wendy, your car was rear-ended. That's what caused her to skid into the intersection."

My mouth dropped as I tried to process what Roosevelt was saying. It sounded to me like I was the one who was targeted and my son and Wendy were harmed because someone wanted to hurt me. "Now, Erin, I need you to think clearly. Who would want to hurt you?" Roosevelt looked me in the eyes, but I couldn't even focus.

Who would want to hurt me? Who hated me that much? Had Jax's work crossed passed with my life? Had my intel on Galindo landed me as a target? I wanted to exclude Jax's family from this because I couldn't imagine that they'd hate me that much to be able to drive away from a crying baby. Not knowing whether or not he was seriously hurt.

I shook my head at Roosevelt and then he looked over at Jax. Jax looked offended, "I don't know anything."

"Well someone should! Look around you Jax, look at her!" he gestured over to me and Jax could hardly look at me. "Look at the damage that's happened."

"You just find out who did this."

"I don't understand, don't you have street cameras?" I asked.

"We're trying to retrieve those now; I'll keep you posted once we have some more information," Roosevelt turned on his heel and left and Jax shut the door behind him. 

He looked at me for a moment and I could see the pain on his face. "Erin you know I'd never do that right?" I remained silent as more tears ran down my face. Jax looked hurt by my silence and walked over to me. He kneeled before me and held Henry's hand in his while his other hand rested on my knee.

"Erin, I would never do anything to hurt Henry. Ever."

"And Wendy?"

Jax sighed, "I know how much you love and care about her, hurting her would hurt you, and I'd never put you through that."

I nodded my head, "I'm sorry Jax." He gave me a reassuring smile before the doctor came in. He was being followed by Wendy's girlfriend who came to stand next to me while he told us the news.

"Ms. Case is out of surgery. We were able to stop the bleeding but she may be a little confused when she comes to. Don't worry though, that'll just be the anesthesia wearing off."

"Can we go visit her?" I asked.

"Yes, you'll be able to see her soon. But I must remind you that our visiting hours are coming to a close, so only one of you can actually stay with her."

I looked over at Wendy's girlfriend, "you want to stay? I can bring you some clothes in the morning," I offered. She nodded her head vigorously as tears fell from her eyes. She left the room with the doctor to go greet Wendy, while Jax and I stayed behind.

"You need to find out who did this Jax," I said looking over at him.

"I will, I promise."