Desolation

Chapter 3

"Bye Erin", he heard Kim say, just as he followed Adam down the corridor of his new place.  Even though the two of them had just moved in, Kim decorated the whole place and it looked homely and cosy. With pictures of the two of them lining the walls. The whole team was beaming into the camera when they celebrated their new engagement at Molly's and were now forever captured in a pictureframe.

His whole body tensed up and he stopped in his tracks. Kim was talking on the phone with Erin. She contacted her. That meant that someone had her number and kept that information from him. Anger curled up in him and he wanted nothing more than to barge through the door and jank the phone out of her hands. But she already ended the call, sat down and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Hey, Jay. You good? Do you want a coffee?", Kim asked as she saw him approaching. Her shoulders were slumped down in defeat and she looked on the verge of crying.

"No thanks. We have to hurry. I don't even know why Adam isn't ready yet.", he answered, unwilling to discuss her betrayal just now. In a way he hoped that his friend would open up to him and tell him about the phone call. Maybe she just needed more time.

"Look Jay, I know you heard me there but I just can't give you her number. She barely agreed to talk to me and I could hear her surpressed anger. Let's take it slow okay?", she said, wiping away a stray tear that ran down her cheeks. Erins sudden dissapearance hadn't only affected him but the whole team and most of all Kim. Erin had been one of her closest friends, the person Kim told everything and now she couldn't even share her happiness about getting back together with Adam with her friend. Because Erin left everyone behind. 

How selfish of her. The thought angered Jay, not only because he dared critizising Erin but also because it was true. She acted selfishly and hurt everyone close to her in the process.

Jay put one hand on Kims shoulder, reassuringly.

"It's okay. I'm not mad at you," just at Erin, "but can you at least tell me how she is?" He didn't want to beg for information but he needed to know that she was okay. That she was treated well and found a new home. Even though she excluded him from that home. No matter how mad he was, her wellbeing still had priority.

Kim drew a shaky breath, trying to calm herself down before she spoke again.

"We didn't talk much but she seemed fine. I don't know Jay, I just can't shake the feeling that she is about to get into so much trouble and without friends as a safety net she is going on her downward spiral all over again. And there's nothing we can do for her." Kims voice still trembled but she pulled herself together.

"She is going to be fine. She just has to!", Jay stated, not wanting to think about the last time Erin hit rock bottom. Without the support of her team and Hank, she would have stayed there and gotten herself in even bigger trouble. Now she has no one. or at least no one he knows of.

To Jays relief, Adam rounded the corner, with a toothbrush in one hand and his gun in the other. 

"Almost ready, Jay", Adam mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste. He leaned over and kissed Kim on the cheek, recieving a light swat on the shoulder for his troubles. 

Five minutes later they were finally in his car and headed off to the scene.