Bless the Broken Road that Lead Me Straight to You

Chapter 2

Erin sat at her desk and staring at the second hand tick away on the clock on the wall. The day was dragging. She usually loved her work, she could get lost in it for hours. She rarely counted down the time until she could leave. And her line of work was usually so unpredictable, that she rarely ever left at a reasonable hour. Even when she did, sometimes she left and she would be called back in.

She had never minded the hours. She had watched Hank work days straight with no breaks when he had a big case... weekends, holidays, it didn't matter. Originally, she had planned to go straight into the police academy after high school, to follow in Hank's footsteps. She could become a cadet at 18, and then get her full certifications when she turned 21. She wasn't sure it was exactly what she wanted, but it was a good job that would allow her to support herself. It was a good, solid plan.

The day Hank and Camille sat her down and told her they were going to pay for her to go to college, she truly couldn't believe. When they said they wanted to invest in her education, in her future, in her... she had actually cried - which was something she rarely did as a teenager, especially when she had an audience. She was a street kid and it had completely blown her away that they believed in her.

She was the luckiest girl in the world to have these foster parents, and she decided right then and there that she was going to pay it forward. She was going to dedicate her life to making sure other street kids had the same opportunities that she had. Making sure they had families who supported them, who loved them.

She lived with Hank and Camille throughout college to save money, and she worked part time to pay for as much as she could. She got her masters degree in social work three years ago, and in the past year, had finally landed her dream job in the department of child and family services for the city of Chicago. Making sure children were in safe situations, connecting children with foster families who really wanted them... it was the most rewarding job in the world.

She knew it would make Camille so proud if she had still been alive. And that thought alone got her through the toughest days.

Tough days like this one.

Deciding she needed to get out of the office and get some fresh air, she decided to go pay a home visit to a recent placement of hers. She had specific families she trusted to take in teenagers, and she felt confident in her recent placement. That being said, she checked in on all of her foster placements, and she checked in often. She was well known for that in this department... not letting things fall through the cracks.

Her superiors had been impressed by this, but they didn't know the reason... that she knew firsthand how easily children could fall through the cracks... how easily they could convince themselves that asking for help wasn't worth it... that there probably wasn't anything better for them out there anyway.

Her unique history allowed her to connect with the young people she worked with. Because she could tell them from her own experiences that, yes, there is something better out there, they just had to look for it. And that she could be trusted to work tirelessly until they found it, together.

As soon as she stepped foot outside, she felt her phone buzz in her pants pocket. She dreaded opening her phone and seeing who was on the other end, hoping it wasn't her newly dubbed ex-friend. She smiled when she saw that it wasn't, "Hey, Hank. Slow day?" She had been surprised when he hadn't pried further this morning, and she wasn't at all surprised he was checking in now.

"Hey, kid." His usual greeting, "I'm calling because I need your help on a case."

"Oh, ok." This was the first time Hank had needed her since she started at DCFS, and she mentally shifted gears, already eager to show him how well she handled her job. "What's going on?" She turned back inside, and began to walk up the stairs to her office.