After weeks of becoming reacquainted with each other, Jay and his daughter finally grew into a pattern of seeing each other, spending time together and reforming their relationship, but she was yet to spend more than 5 minutes with Erin which without either of them meaning to was making Jay seem like he had a double life.
It all changed when he got a phone call from Will, Hilary had been brought to the hospital and Charlotte was with her. Despite it being the middle of the day, Jay rushed to Chicago Med with Erin right behind him. "Hi, baby." He said pulling his little girl into a tight hug brushing the back of her head gently. He released her from his tight grip and wiped her tears away, "It's okay," Sitting her down in a seat, Jay turned to face Will who gestured for them to go somewhere private. Entering the break room, Jay could tell something was wrong. Will shook his head, "It looks like an attempted suicide, Jay she's been dead 10 minutes, I've just got on the monitor for Charlotte to say goodbye." He paled at the words; opening and closing his mouth several times as Will grasped his shoulder. Jay nodded before ripping the door open and going back into the waiting room. He sat down beside her and across from Erin as he spoke softly and quietly grabbing his daughter's shaking hands as she broke down in tears.
Erin watched on from the sideline wincing as Jay spoke. She felt awkward but couldn't just feel them alone. Will gave her a tight smile before sitting on the other side of Charlotte rubbing her back. Charlotte suddenly stood up, "I don't want to see her, if she didn't want to live with me she could've just said." She sobbed before storming out of the hospital.
Will went out to find her while Jay stood there with Erin next to him dumbfounded. Neither knew what to say to the other so they sat in silence contemplating their thoughts. "Should I go and get some stuff for Charlotte, so she doesn't have to go back to the house right now?" Erin suggested trying to help but also get away from this situation; Jay nodded absentmindedly to her suggestion before suddenly walking out the doors.
"Hey," Will spoke quietly to the teen, as they sat on a bench together he wrapped his arm around her shoulders warming her up. She barely looked up at him, as he started speaking. "She was sick and suffering and though we may not have known it or agreed with what she did, it's over now. You can't hold onto this thought that she didn't want or she didn't love because she did. And I do, and your dad does. You're not alone and she made sure you wouldn't be alone." Charlotte nodded but then shook her head "I still don't want to see, not that like that." Will nodded and stood up, as Jay came outside. "Okay." He said before reaching down and kissing her forehead. Jay sat down beside her and reached out for her hand, "Erin went to get some stuff for you and you'll move into our place." They sat in silence after that until Charlotte stood up and said "Well we should go home then." Jay smiled weakly and nodded as he led her towards his car.
Since reconnecting with Charlotte, he was so grateful that he'd decided to move into a 3 bedroom apartment particularly in this case. As they entered the apartment they saw Erin sitting on the couch with some bags, she stood up and walked towards the pair giving Charlotte a squeeze on the shoulder before kissing Jay chastely and walking out signalling that she'd call him.
Charlotte grabbed a bag and spoke quietly, "I think I might just head to bed, I'm pretty tired." Jay nodded before letting her walk down the hall. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and flopped on the couch letting out a deep breath like the wind had been taken out of him. Sitting there in silence he contemplated his thoughts before he sat there and began to cry eventually falling asleep.
He was woken early the next morning to Charlotte in the kitchen making some tea, "Morning," She spoke quietly and he could tell from her bloodshot eyes she'd been up a while crying. He stretched as he stood up and grabbed a juice from the fridge. "I'll ring your school today and see what your grandma is doing about the funeral." He was making a plan to get his mind off his thoughts and fears. Stirring her tea, she grabbed the mug and walked back down the hall to her room closing the door. Appearing strong was harder than Jay thought it would be, he couldn't break down when his daughter was barely holding on and needed him more than he had been used to lately. Seeing her door close he realised that it was just him left to raise her, make all the decisions and disciplining. He'd never really been left in charge, he would always ask Hilary her opinion and let that dictate what would happen but that was no longer.
Walking down the hall, Jay knocked on the door and poking his head through, he saw Charlotte laying there some trashy reality tv playing on the flatscreen across from her bed. Silently he crept in and laid down next to her grabbing her hand as he pulled the blanket over himself kissing her forehead. "I'm so sorry," he whispered to her which drew her attention. Looking up at him with sad eyes she nodded, "I'm sorry too." She said her voice thick with tears, "I didn't know she felt so sad all the time, but I knew she was lonely and I tried to make her happy but it didn't work." Jay shook his head wiping the tears off her cheek. "It was never your fault or your decision."
SOOOOO….What do you think? Let's get at least one review lol.