Hope in Our Hearts by Lydia Proffitt

Chapter Twenty-Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

That's when the real work begins, to find hope where there seems to be absolutely none at all.

-Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy

A week later, Jason found himself in bed with all his children snuggled up next to him. He didn't mind their little sleepover because he felt like they replaced the emptiness in the bed of where Lucy should have been. The kids had all piled in, and Jason was able to read them all a story––something he hadn't done in a long time. Kale and Meg were asleep early, and Caleb stayed awake talking to Jason about anything and everything. He was late into the night when Caleb and Jason both fell asleep.

Jason woke up in the middle of the night when Caleb rolled over and hit him in the face. Jason was a little disoriented at first, but soon recalled the events that led to the kids being in the bed. Jason chuckled. They took up the entire bed, and it reminded him of how Lucy thought the entire bed was hers too.

Jason gave his eyes a second to prepare themselves for the light of his phone before he clicked it on. He read March 25th and that it was 2:36 a.m. Jason shifted Caleb's arm off of him and got up to use the bathroom. When he stepped into the bathroom, he could feel the cold tile beneath his feet. His eyes were half closed since the bright lights of the bathroom were blinding and he was so tired.

As Jason walked back to the bed, he could see his phone was lighting up and vibrating on the night-stand. He slowly walked over towards it, unplugging it, and walking into the hallway so he wouldn't awaken his kids. He answered the phone without looking at the caller ID thinking it was probably a wrong number at this late hour.

"Hello," Jason said, followed by a yawn.

"I'm calling for Jason Mercer," a female voice said, a little hurriedly.

"This is he," Jason said, trying to place the voice.

"Jason, it's Kinsley, get to the hospital now. Lucy's in trouble."

The nurse, who Jason went to school with, dropped her professional act immediately. She shifted from being a nurse to a friend. Jason lowered his phone. Kinsley was still talking into the phone, but Jason had ceased to listen. He put it in his back pocket without hanging it up. His body had jolted to life, and he was no longer tired as rushed back into his bedroom to wake the kids.
"Kids get up!" Jason said, shaking Caleb awake. "Up. Up. Up."

Jason was trying not to panic because the last thing he wanted to do was scare the kids. However, he couldn't control how scarred his voice sounded. He was terrified. His worst nightmare had come true and his mind immediately was picturing the worst. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest he thought even the kids could hear it beating. Jason moved to his closet and slipped on his tennis shoes without socks trying to get to Lucy as quickly as possible.

Jason was moving around the house looking for things to grab, but he wasn't finding anything. He did not know what he was supposed to do, but he knew he had to load up the kids and get to Lucy.

Caleb jumped out of the bed immediately and began helping in any way he could. Caleb had pre-packed his siblings overnight bags in case something was to occur. He remembered that's what they did in case Chloe was born in the middle of the night, and he thought it would help in this situation too. He was always prepared.

Jason grabbed Kale and Meg and was packing them to the car with them still in their pajamas. Kale was groggy, but he was still able to buckle himself in and complain about being woke up. Jason was trying to buckle Meg into her car seat, but he couldn't get the buckle to latch. Caleb got to the car with all their bags and pushed Jason out of the way.