Still Holding On (sequel to Don't Let Go)

Chapter Eleven

The next few weeks were spent meeting with lawyers to figure out what we had to do to protect Leighton. Dario kept his word and we haven't seen Leighton since that day. It was tearing Vanessa apart not knowing if he was alright or not. Who knew the system that was placed to protect people was so complicated and slow. I was ready to go beat down Dario's door and snatch Leighton out of that home but apparently that was not the way to handle things.

We dragged through our days at work and at night we sat there staring at the television waiting to hear from our lawyers on what the plan was going to be. I reached out to the lawyer who took care of Shannon and I when we were disputing custody of Addison with her father Daniel. He said our best chance was to try and get at least 50/50 custody of him because at this point Vanessa had no rights to him. Knowing that she walked away from him has been tearing her apart.

"Hey babe, how was your day?" I asked Vanessa who was sitting on the couch with her laptop in front of her.

"It was okay, how was yours?"

I lean down and give my baby a kiss.

"Good but even better now that I'm home with you."

Vanessa gave me a small weak smile. I knew she hadn't been the same since Dario had refused to allow us to see Leighton. Not only was he hurting Vanessa but there was no telling what excuses he gave Leighton to why his Mom was not around anymore. Breaks my heart to think about.

We were eating a quiet dinner when Vanessa's cell phone rung.

"Hello?" Vanessa answered unsure of who this random number was.

"Hi, is this Vanessa Allen?" I could hear a soft southern voice on the other line.

"Yes this is. Can I ask who is calling?" Vanessa sat down with concern on her face.

My stomach was starting to turn in knots. I have learned to always expect the unexpected because my life has been nothing but random chaos that doesn't happen to most people.

"Yes, this is Kara. I am a social worker at the children's hospital. We have Leighton Rodriguez here who came in just a few hours ago with some questionable injuries." I could see the stress immediately form in Vanessa's face. I could barely make out what the woman was saying but I knew it had to do with Leighton.

"Oh my gosh, is my baby okay?!" Vanessa spoke with panic in her voice.

"Yes, he is okay. They seem to be minor injuries. Although he did suffer from a broken arm, they are putting a cast on now. The reason I call is because he has been removed from his father, Dario Rodriguez's custody and we would like to know if you could come pick up your son from the Emergency room. Plus we have a few things to discuss."

"Oh yes, of course. Just give me a few minutes to get there!" Vanessa stood up looking around the room sorta confused. I stood up and immediately grabbed her purse and my car keys because I was not about to allow her to drive in this state. I didn't know what was going on but she wasn't about to go alone.

Vanessa hung up the phone and stood there for a moment just staring at the phone in her hand.

"Baby, are you okay? Is Leighton okay?" Vanessa continued to stand there with no response. "Come on baby, lets go. You can explain in the car." I grab Vanessa's jacket off the back of the couch and grabbed her hand, pulling her out the door.

Once we got in the car, I was able to get out of her that we were driving to the children's hospital. About 20 minutes into the drive Vanessa finally started talking.

"Leighton was brought in with questionable injuries including a broken arm. They are putting a cast on my baby. Somebody hurt him! They took custody from Dario because he is suspected in the foul play. I can't believe this is happening! Not to my baby boy! I didn't even protect him Logan, I knew that he was in danger and I did nothing. I let this person hurt him! I am a horrible Mom!" Vanessa started to speak with panic again.