The Boot - Next Steps (Book 2)

Chapter Sixteen

A/N: Sorry that it took so long for me to get this chapter out, I was experiencing some major writer's block. I know how delicate of a topic this is so I wanted to be sure that I wrote it in as respectful of a way as I could.

Also, I will be going on vacation soon, so I'm going to try to get a few more chapters written and set to release periodically while I'm gone. Thanks again for being so patient with me and for supporting my work. I appreciate each and every one of you.

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING!!!! ⚠️ Death, grief, child loss ⚠️

LUCY'S POV

My heart beats rapidly and drops to my stomach as my veins run cold. I can breathe, but I can't. It almost feels like my lungs are paralyzed. I blink. Then I blink again. Then again, and again, and again. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I jump to find it to be Emiliana. She looks at me with concern and empathy.

"Lucy," Emiliana gathers me up in her arms, hugging me tightly as I begin to sob.

"No," I whisper. "No, it's not true."

"I am so, so sorry for your loss," Dr. Sanchez says sadly.

I pull away slightly from Emiliana to look Dr. Sanchez in the eyes. I'm sure my face is red and puffy, my eyes almost certainly bloodshot.

"She's not gone. You're lying. Tell me you're lying!" I shout. Dr. Sanchez jumps and I immediately feel horrible. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I understand. This is a lot to process right now."

"I just- I can't-"

"Do you want me to leave and give you time to process things and I can come back later? Or do you want me here to answer any questions you may have right now?"

"I- um- uh... I think I'd- I- I'd like some- some- some time, p-p-please. So that I can organize my thoughts into something that is actually coherent. I need to figure out what questions I have and how to ask them."

"That sounds good to me. I'm going to go check in with some other patients, but I'll be around if you need me. If you can't find me, you can have a nurse page me and I'll be here as quickly as I can. Otherwise, I'll try to check back in about an hour or so."

I nod. "Thank you," Emiliana says as Dr. Sanchez gathers her things and leaves the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, the waterworks escaped, and I began to sob uncontrollably.

"No, she can't be gone," I moan.

"I'm so sorry, Lu. I can't even begin to imagine how hard this must be for you. What can I do?"

I sniffle, trying to think of something. "I- I need-" my voice breaks off into yet another sob of agony.

Emiliana calmly grabs my hand and gives it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "Yes? What do you need? Just name it, and I'll see what I can do."

"I need- I need Tim,"

"Do you want to call him?"

"No, I- I can't."

Emiliana's face contorts into an expression of pure confusion. "Why not?"

"For one thing, I can- I can barely even- I- I can- I can barely even get through- I- through a-a-a convers- conversation without- w-without s-s-sobbing. And secondly, I'm pretty sure he's mad at me."

I wouldn't have thought it possible, but somehow her face becomes even more confused. "Why the hell would Tim be mad at you?"

I shrug as I try to use my sleeve to dry my tears but to no avail as within seconds the recently wiped away tears had already been replaced by even more. "I- I don't know. Well, I do, s-sort of. We haven't been able to uh- able to have an actual conversation since we left our house this morning. I'm pretty sure that he thinks I've been purposely putting myself - and in effect our baby - in danger."

"So, you think that he's mad at you because you supposedly put both yourself and your baby in danger?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"I don't think that he's mad at you, not necessarily, anyway. I think he's hurt and upset that you were in danger and that you got hurt. I think that he is mad at the situation, not you. No, you... I think that he's worried about you, more than anything else."

"But-"

"And I think that more than anything, he'd want to be here with you right now."

"Okay," I relent. "But can you please do it? I can't bring myself to talk to him right now."

Emiliana sighs, but nods, holding her hand out. Now it's my turn to be confused.

"Wouldn't you call him on your phone?"

She narrows her eyes. "Do you really think that a highly trained police sergeant would answer a seemingly random call from an unsaved number at-" she cuts herself off, checking the time on her watch. "At 9:48 p.m.?"

I pause. I hadn't realized how much time had actually passed. So much has happened, it's felt like an endless day of torture, one thing after another, over and over and over again. I was beginning to think that this day would never end.

"I guess so," I unlock my phone and hand it to her.

"How much do you want me to say?"

"What?"

"Do you want me to tell him? Or do you want me to just say that something happened, and he needs to get here as quickly as he possibly can?"

I take a moment to think about my options. "I don't think that it's a very good idea for the news to be broken to him over the phone. I also think that he should hear the news from me rather than anybody else."

Emiliana raises a brow. "So why don't you do the call?"

"I already told you," I sigh sadly. "I don't think I can handle talking to him on the phone right now, I need a little more time to compose myself. And also, like I said, I'm about 99.99% sure that he's pissed at me right now."

"Fair enough."

Emiliana scrolls for a moment until she finds Tim's contact and presses 'call' before bringing the phone up to her ear. She wraps her free arm around me in a hug, giving me as much comfort as she could. She gently rubs circles on the surface of my shoulder with the pad of her thumb.

After about three rings, he picks up. I can't hear him, but I can tell by the slight change in Emiliana's demeanor that the phone call had started.

"Tim?" Emiliana asks.

A pause.

"It's Emiliana- wait, don't hang up. Please. I'm calling on Lucy's behalf."

Another pause.

"Yes. She's with me."

Yet another pause as she listens. Her gaze momentarily travels to my hand, or rather, my lack thereof.

"Uh... she's okay, um, for certain definitions of the word."

She waits.

"I can't really elaborate on it much further at this time but listen. Something happened with Annabeth, and we need you to get to the hospital as quickly as you can."

I zone out for the remainder of the phone call, only snapping out of it when I notice Emiliana gently shaking my shoulders. "Hey, Lu, you're okay. He's on his way. He asked me to let you know that he loves you so very much."

QOTC: What is your favourite video game?