Life Is A Rollercoaster
Brianna was waiting for him near the food truck by the time Drew managed to get away from Dana Carpenter's gushing gratitude. Mollie had a watchful eye on the teenager but didn't bother to restrain her when Brianna charged towards her father. "Breakfast is on me," said the domineering head nurse before Drew could argue. "The price of some breakfast burritos is nothing compared to how stressed this girl has been all night."
Drew shot her a grateful smile, but couldn't speak because Brianna was squeezing him so hard. "Bri…honey, are you trying to choke me?" he gasped, stroking her back soothingly to make her let go. "What is this about?"
The thirteen-year-old stepped back reluctantly and grimaced up at him; "Sorry." She sighed; "It's like I said, the stuff they showed on TV from the disaster at that amusement park was seriously freaky. Are you sure you're not mad I lied about my chest hurting to come down here a few hours ago?"
Mollie's dark eyes were sympathetic as she and Jocelyn deposited two trays on a free table for Drew and his daughter. "Thanks, ladies," said Drew, his gaze never leaving Brianna's desperately worried expression. "Sweetie, I already told you I'm not mad this time," he reminded her. "That doesn't mean you should make a habit of it, but I understand that our jobs can be scary a lot of the time."
"Daddy went straight back to the park after dropping me off with Mollie too," said Brianna softly. "I know I was supposed to go to sleep, but I just couldn't relax knowing you were both out there in the craziness." She paused to peel back the paper wrapped around her breakfast burrito. "Did your patient survive?"
"She'll make a full recovery," said Drew reassuringly. He watched her nibble at her breakfast for a moment, noticing that her fingers were still trembling. "Did you manage to convince Mollie to read you some Narnia tonight?"
"A little…I don't think it was a good enough distraction this time," Brianna confessed. "Magic's not real, you know. In real life, rollercoasters break down, and cars crash and people get hurt."
Drew grimaced at her serious voice but reached into the bag on his lap when she wasn't looking. "Oh really?" He pulled out a little box with a flourish, pretending it had emerged out of thin air. "If magic's not real, what do you call that?"
"A detour to the gift shop?" Brianna suggested with a giggle, pulling out a neon pink flip phone from the box. "I already have a phone…one that was made in this decade at least," she said, examining the old-fashioned cell phone in amusement.
"I know." Drew smiled at her, glad the gift had distracted her from her fears. "This phone is actually for me. Behold the Dad Phone, nobody except you will have this number. See the front cover of Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe for further proof. So the next time you're worried or anxious…or even excited about absolutely anything, you can call me. And I promise you; I will answer that call…unless I'm hanging from a rollercoaster or something crazy like that."
"You don't make a habit of hanging from rollercoasters, okay?" Brianna shifted her chair enough for her to lean around the table and hug him tightly. "Thanks, Dad."
"I'll try." Drew laughed; "Not even Rick has this number, you know. It'll be our thing, what do you think?"
"I take back the insult," said his daughter, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "This phone is epic."
"Good girl." Drew reached across the table to hold her hand, finally no longer shaking with raging anxiety. "I love you, Bri. You're never going to lose Rick or me, I promise."
"I love you too, Dad." The teenager's fingers clasped around his hand; visibly reassured by his steady and caring presence. Jordan's voice broke into their little bubble then, congratulating her co-workers for surviving a tumultuous seventy-two hours as the family they were. Drew and Brianna both smiled at her when she raised her glass to everyone and gracefully hopped down from the bench she'd been standing on to survey the gathering. Drew was close to feeling like the luckiest man alive to be here, with a job he loved secure and his daughter and doting husband's affectionate hugs waiting for him at home. Then Jordan's voice raised above the hum of all his colleagues coming off the night shift, sounding more choked and broken than it had mere minutes ago.
"Everybody, I've got some news here that you all might want to hear. At 9:37 last night, Dr. Christopher Zia and his daughter Lynn were in a head-on collision with a drunk driver on the Pacific Coast Highway."
"Topher?" Brianna's shocked whisper tore through the numb horror Jordan's words had ignited in Drew.
His grasp on her hand tightened as he forced himself to concentrate on what Jordan was saying. "A chopper flew them to San Francisco General, but…there were no survivors."
As he watched Jordan break down, Drew's gaze swept the circle of the rest of the night shift staff. Shannon and Paul stood near the hospital entrance holding each other up with matching horrified expressions, Jocelyn had her face pressed against Mollie's shoulder in denial, and even the stoic head nurse had tears glistening in her hazel eyes. Drew glanced at his daughter for a fleeting second, and the sorrow on her face shattered his heart like no other reaction could have. Quickly he stood up and pressed a kiss to her forehead; "I'll be right back, honey."
Drew moved past Julian Cummings, who looked shaken and upset for the first time since Drew had known him. He came to a halt at Jordan's side; she was now holding the cell phone that had delivered the heartbreaking text limply in her grasp. "Has anyone told you what a great job you did getting this family back together?"
Jordan shook her head, stifling sobs behind a trembling hand. "Topher is family," she whimpered. "How could this happen? He was out there taking Lynn on a prospective college tour, and now they're just…gone!"
"I remember last year when Topher refused to let that drunk driver who killed a man have morphine. This whole thing is just unbelievable." Only when Drew gently slid an arm around Jordan's shoulders did he realize she hadn't been listening. "What's on your mind, J?"
"How on earth am I going to tell T.C?" she asked as if the heartbreaking truth of the situation was only now beginning to sink in. "It was bad enough when he wasn't here when I lost the baby. We're talking about Topher here! Oh God…," her hysterical rant dissolved into exhausted tears. All the elation of keeping their family together had vanished in the time it took for one life-changing text to arrive.
"We'll find a way," Drew promised soothingly. "Jordan, you don't have to figure out something that huge on your own, do you hear me? It's like you said, we're family here, and we stick together."
He didn't notice that Brianna had slunk over to them until her hand was touching Jordan's back. "Dr. Jordan, would an extra hug help? I know my Dad gives really, really good ones but this is kind of huge and horrible."
"It is," Jordan agreed, taking a deep breath to stop the tears flowing. Then she turned and lifted the thirteen-year-old into her arms, squeezing her hard. "Thanks, Bri, you are a very special girl, you know that?"
"See, Dad?" Brianna hugged Jordan tightly for a moment, turning to her father when she was back on the ground. "I told you magic doesn't exist, people just die for no reason all the time."
Drew frowned, the agony he felt mirrored in Jordan's eyes, and gave Brianna another clingy hug as he tried not to think about Lynn Zia and the future she would never have. "I'm gonna call Rick to pick this one up," he said, nodding decisively at Brianna; "and then we'll call T.C together, okay?"
The relief and gratitude shone through the misery on Jordan's face. "I don't know what to say," she breathed; "That's a huge help, you are a rock star."
"No, I'm not. We're family like you said," said Drew simply. "T.C and Topher and you, Kenny and Mollie, Paul and Shannon and everybody else…this is how we do things here. Teamwork and supporting each other is why San Antonio Memorial survived the corporate drama recently and how we'll get through this. We are a family, and we always will be."
A/N A heartbreaking story was bound to happen when the show freaking killed Topher, Drew and Bri are giving me life this season! xx