"Oh, god! Erin," he knelt down next to her. He dialed 911 and explained. He squeezed her hand and whispered, "Not again, please, god, don't take them from me. Please." He released her hand to back away when the paramedics arrived. He followed them down the stairs and out to the street.
"Erin, I promise, it's gonna be okay! I'll be there, I'm gonna follow the ambulance, I'm gonna be right behind you." Jay yelled, standing behind the ambulance as they shut the doors. Jay ran to his car caught up to the ambulance.
An hour after they arrived at the hospital, a doctor came out to the waiting room with news.
"So, Detective Lindsay was shot in her upper right chest, we were able to remove the bullet safely. She is stable, and in recovery, she should be ready to go home in a matter of weeks, I'd say it's a miracle, but it's just luck. The bullet barely missed the lungs and everything else for a matter of face, it went in, but didn't sever or severely injure any part of her. Unfortunately, for the baby, we had to do a c-section, but the good news is she was far enough a long that the baby should be fine. Your son is completely healthy, and will be completely fine." The doctor informed.
"Son..?" Jay looked down.
"Would you like to see him?" The doctor questioned.
"Oh, yeah. Of course. When can I see Erin?" Jay asked.
"Not right now, but we'll let ya know."
Finally, a couple hours later, Erin woke up, and they were able to go see her.
"We have to think of a name, he can't go nameless forever..."Jay smiled.
"Yeah, what do you think?" Erin interrogated.
"Andrew?"
"Nah," Erin denied.
"John?"
"No... I knew a John in high school, ugliest, weirdest guy ever." Erin rejected.
"I don't know, what do you think?" Jay asked.
"Eric?"
"Sounds dorky," Jay stated.
"Dakota? I like Dakota. And Kota for short. Ya think?" Erin questioned.
"Dakota it is, then. Now... a middle name?"
"Dakota William?"
"Nah, Dakota James?"
"Perfect! We're good at this name thing!" Erin giggled.
"Dakota James Lindsay-Halstead. Long, but perfect."
"I'm sorry for getting shot," Erin's mood changed in seconds.
"It's not your fault, but we gotta get those guys, they have to go down for this, so whatever you can tell us about them..."Jay stated.
"Yeah, they started rattling the door knob so I went to get our gun and shot one of them, he shot me then. They ran." Erin started.
"Ya know, what, why don't we just enjoy "right now" and worry about the past later, huh?" Jay asked.
"Live in the present but worry about the past in the future..." Erin laughed, "that's funniest slogan I've ever heard."
"I love you, Erin."
"Jay, I know that. I love you, too." Erin replied, Jay turned away. "What's going on?"
"There's something I have to tell you, but... it can wait." Jay stated.
"No, you brought it up, tell me now."
Jay sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Erin then Kota. "I almost lost you both in the span of hours. Seconds, really. I could've been there to protect you, I should've been there to protect you, but I wasn't. I'm so sorry for that. I didn't want to do this now, but I think that I need a little time to figure out who I am, to find me, because this isn't the me that I want to be. I think I need some space."
