Ask Jake (Book One of the Whisper Series)

Twenty-Two: Live

The ER waiting room is crowded and loud. I pace the floor waiting for answers. Roxy and the others are on their way to the hospital as well as Angela, whom I called moments ago.

Why won't they let me see her, or tell me how she is doing? I need to know how she is doing.

The police said they will call her mother but I feel like I should be the one to call. I cannot imagine how scary receiving such horrible news over the phone must be.

Roxy, Mark and Kellan arrive. Roxy's wide eyes take me in and she completely breaks down. I forgot that I have blood all over the front of me. Kellan's eyes bulge, and his mouth stands open. "Please tell me that is his blood," he asks.

"No, its not. It's not his, man." I can barely speak.

He sits down in a chair and puts his head in his hands. "Do you know how she is, yet?"

"They won't tell me anything. The police are up there, though. They are calling her mom and said they will let me know as soon as they get her tests back. He hit her in the head with something," I tell him. "He got away." I say, just realizing this truth, in this moment.

I hear all three of them say, "What?"

"I beat the shit out of him! I think I dislocated my shoulder hitting him. I kicked the shit out of him, too. Ribs broke, I'm sure of it. But when the police got there, he was gone. I didn't see him leave. I was trying to free her from the ties." My voice goes small, "He had her all tied up."

Kellan stands up and says, "They are looking for him, right?"

"Yeah, of course. I called 911 when I got to his building; it's all on tape. Me beating him up and," my voice hitches in my throat, "finding her. Now, though, they won't let anyone near her."

Roxy stands and puts her hand on my back, "Adam, you need to change your clothes and to have that shoulder looked at. I'm going to talk to a nurse." She gets up and walks over to the desk.

I'm lost in thought when a nurse calls my name and asks me to follow her. She looks at the blood on my clothing and quickly looks away.

An x-ray reveals that I've bruised the bone in my shoulder and one of my knuckles is fractured. They put my arm in a sling and wrap my hand in a soft cast.

The doctor brings me a scrub shirt and asks me to change. She bags the shirt and takes it outside the room.

When I get back to the waiting room, no one is there. I search the entire floor and outside the front of the building before texting Roxy:

ME: *Where are you guys?*

ROXY: *Third floor waiting room.*

As soon as I get off the elevator, I see Angela and her husband, Bob. She see's me, looking up and down at my arm in the sling, the soft cast, and blood on my jeans. She gasps, covering her mouth and running up to me.

"You okay, Adam?" she asks, holding my arms and looking me in the eyes.

"No. I want to see her. I need to know how she is doing," I say.

"One of my good friends is an ER doctor here. He told me that she was hit in the head, really hard, and lost a lot of blood. Her brain was starting to swell, so they had to induce a coma," she says, looking down, not wanting to see my reaction.

"She's in a coma?" I almost fall down with that news. I have to find a chair and turn in a circle, escaping her grasp on my arm before taking a seat in a small orange chair. "Yes, but it was to protect her. She was drugged a lot, too. It will take a while to figure out what he gave her."