Chapter Eleven: Afterschock
About an hour and a half and three cups of coffee later, a very tired Dave practically jumped out of his skin when the phone rang. Not even taking the time to glance at the caller ID, he quickly pressed "talk."
"Detective Morin?" Dave asked hopefully.
"Yes, Mr. Seville," came the voice of the detective.
"Well, what happened? Where's Simon? Is he okay?" Dave asked, not sure what to expect, his nerves on a live wire.
"Simon is sitting next to me, and he's healthy, expect for a leg injury, which we already knew he had," Detective Morin answered, not sure how to approach the news he knew he'd have to break sooner or later.
"Oh thank God," Dave breathed, instantaneously relieved. But through the melting tension he came to realize something. "Are those sirens? Are you in a police car, or…or ambulance?"
Detective Morin sighed. "Ambulance."
"Wait, if you're not in the ambulance for Simon…" Dave trailed off, looking over to Miss Miller's sleeping form, and the weight of the truth hit him like a ton of bricks. He felt so stupid for not asking about Jeanette, for he had been so wrapped up in his own son's safety.
"Jeanette was shot by their kidnapper, who we've identified as Gervaise Duponte, after we infiltrated the building, and she's now in critical condition. When we entered, Duponte had his gun at the ready, with Simon as his target. Duponte fired, and then…and then Jeanette Miller took the shot for Simon. She must really care for your boy," Detective Morin explained, his heart growing heavy. He had never seen a kidnapping-case-gone-wrong such as this one ever in his career.
"Jeanette…" was Dave's only response. "Which hospital are you going to?" he suddenly asked, his senses slowly coming back to him.
"We're on our way to a meeting place of sorts, where Jeanette will be Air Evac'd to the St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles."
"Evac'd…?" Dave responded, perplexed.
"It's a nickname for the air ambulance. In some cases, a helicopter will act as an ambulance to get the victim- I mean, Jeanette- to a hospital much quicker than on wheels. They have better equipment to take care of her the best they can until they arrive at the hospital," Detective Morin explained as quickly as he could, since he could see the chopper waiting not too far away from them.
"Alright…can I talk to Simon?" Dave asked.
"I'm afraid not; we've just pulled up to the helicopter, and they're taking Jeanette out right now. To be honest, I'm not even sure if Simon would be capable of speaking right now, if time even allowed…he hasn't spoken a word since Jeanette was injured." Detective Morin cleared his throat, then continued. "Do you know where St. Vincent's is?" he asked.
"Yes. I'll wake up the kids and be on my way," Dave replied.
Both men said their goodbyes, and Dave pressed "end" on the phone as the detective followed a still-numb Simon out of the ambulance and into the helicopter.
Dave walked over to Miss Miller and woke her up. Upon seeing the grim look on his face, she immediately knew.
"Who?" she asked, her eyes misting.
"Jeanette is in critical condition. They're transporting her to St. Vincent's right now, and Simon as well as Detective Morin are with her," Dave replied softly.
Miss Miller broke down into tears, and began fumbling all over the place for her keys. Dave picked up his keys and said, "I'll drive. You wake up the kids while I get the car ready."
Miss Miller quietly made her way up the stairs and Dave followed, realizing he should dress in something besides pajamas. After quickly changing into jeans and a t-shirt, he went to go run down the stairs, but was stopped by the sight of Miss Miller, who stood motionless outside of the kids' bedroom door.
"Beatrice…?" Dave asked hesitantly.
"I…I can't do it David. I…I am their mother, for all intensive purposes…but how…how do you tell two young women that their sister…someone they've known all their life…could be dying? How, David?" Miss Miller faced him now, unable to stop the spilling of her tears. Dave was at a loss for words.
"I don't know, Beatrice." Dave sighed and rubbed his neck. "I…I can tell the girls…if you'd like. I know this is hard for you."
"Thank you, David. That is very kind…very kind of you. You're a good man." Miss Miller hugged Dave, and he returned the hug. He couldn't even imagine the emotional turmoil she was going through. Had it been Simon who was shot…Dave's eyes welled up with tears just thinking about it.
Dave pulled away, and told Miss Miller that she could head to the car. He took a deep breath, then reached for the door handle, fully aware with the task he just gave himself.
Upon seeing the serene, sleeping faces of the four chipmunks, it broke Dave's heart all over again to know what they'd have to hear. He gently roused each of them by shaking them on the shoulder, then flicked on the light. Alvin and Theodore moaned from their beds, and both Brittany and Eleanor instinctively rolled over in their sleeping bags on the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Dave could see Simon's neatly made bed, untouched in the corner of the boys' room.
"Fellas…c'mon fellas! Simon and Jeanette have been found!" Dave said, trying to wake them.
He used the magic words.
Brittany and Eleanor jumped right up, not even unzippering their sleeping bags. The boys pounced out of bed, and all four began hammering Dave with questions.
"They've been found?"
"Why didn't you say that sooner?"
"Where are they?"
"Are they okay?"
Dave put his hands up, immediately quieting the teens. "Yes, they've been found. They're at the hospital right now, so I need you four to get changed quickly."
"The hospital?" Eleanor asked, her mind's eye putting two and two together.
Dave sighed. "As the detective tells me, Simon and Jeanette were trying to escape when their kidnapper held them at gunpoint, fired at Simon-" Dave heard the group take in an audible gasp, "-and Jeanette saved him, the bullet hitting her in the process. She's…she's lost a lot of blood," Dave finished, knowing that the honest truth would be better in the long run.
Brittany's eyes immediately became wet and Eleanor became weak in the knees. Alvin and Theodore rushed to their counterparts' side and hugged them.
"Get changed, and meet us in the van, okay? The quicker we get to the hospital, the more we will know about what is going on," Dave said sympathetically, then backed out the door and turned around to go down the stairs.
Dave ran up to the receptionist's desk in the St. Vincent Hospital's Emergency Room. She directed Dave to a corridor to their right, and Dave followed her direction with Miss Miller right on his heels, the rest of the group following.
"Simon!" Dave yelled, exuberant to see his middle son again, who was sitting on an old white chair, staring off into space. Alvin was the first to make it over to the black-clad chipmunk and hug him with all his brotherly might, and Theodore followed his eldest brother's footsteps. Although he did not speak, Simon hugged them back, and turned to hug Dave as well. The Millers each gave Simon a warm hug as well, all but the missing bespectacled one.
"Simon! It's so good to see you, safe and…almost sound," Miss Miller said, glancing at Simon's casted leg. "But I must ask…where is…where is Jeanette?"
Simon cleared his throat, and when he spoke, it sounded as if he had not said a word in days. "They've taken her in for surgery to remove the bullet. She needs several blood transfusions as well," he explained, looking down at some of the dried blood still caked under his fingernails. He shuddered.
"Excuse me, but are you Jeanette Miller's mother?" A doctor had come from behind the group, and addressed Miss Miller.
"Yes, I am. How is Jeanette doing?" Miss Miller replied. The doctor motioned for her to speak with him alone, which she obliged to.
As they waited for Miss Miller to return, Dave took the opportunity to look at his worn son. Simon looked pitifully skinnier than Dave had ever seen him, if that was even imaginable. His glasses looked a bit bent in places, and the fur on his head was ruffled and unkempt. The clothes he wore were completely black, but shone a reddish color in the light. He looked utterly exhausted, and his eyes were distant as his brothers stood quietly to either side of him in a respectful silence, worried looks adorning their faces.
In Dave's observations, he almost didn't notice Miss Miller's return. She had a sullen look about her, and Dave's heart skipped a beat.
"What did he tell you?" Dave asked in a low whisper.
"Jeanette has been stabilized, for the moment. They won't know the extent of the damage until she wakes up, if she ever does…" Miss Miller trailed off, and Dave pulled her into a sympathetic hug.
"What's going on?" A scared-sounding Simon spoke from behind them.
"Jeanette's alright for the moment, dear; just sleeping," Miss Miller said, pulling away from Dave.
"Can I see her?" Simon asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid they're only letting family in right now. She's still in intensive care," Miss Miller said wistfully to Simon. "I promise you'll be the first to know when they allow visitors in," she promised Simon, patting his shoulder.
Miss Miller motioned to Brittany and Eleanor, and they got up and followed her down the white hallway. Simon slumped into a chair, and began to cry for the first time since Monsieur Duponte had twisted his hand into fate.
Theodore and Alvin immediately rushed to their brother's side, whispering words of comfort. Before Dave could even make a step toward his sons, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Mr. Seville, I presume?" A female doctor stopped him.
"Yes."
"I need to speak to you about your son."
"Go on." Dave turned around to face the doctor, his eyebrows knitting together.
"Your son refused care earlier. The most he would allow was an x-ray and an adequate cast for his leg, which was broken but well on its way to healing. I'm worried for his mental health. How attached is he to the Miller girl?" The doctor crossed her arms.
"They're dating, and have been best friends since they were kids, so he's very attached to her. It's only natural, after what I can only imagine that they've been through," Dave replied.
"You should still try and ask that he accepts medical attention. There is a procedure that we must follow in kidnapping cases such as these; we need to do a thorough examination of him."
"Of course. I'll talk to him."
Dave walked away from the doctor, who he knew was only doing her job, but she had seemed unnecessarily cold. He shrugged off his thoughts and came to kneel in front of his still black-clad son, who was attempting to wipe his tears away.
"Hey, Simon. How's your leg feeling?" Dave asked coolly.
"Fine," Simon uncharacteristically sniffled.
"Well, the doctor says that you refused care when you first came here- why is that?" Dave's caring voice soothing Simon in a way he hadn't known since he was a small child.
"I-I-You guys weren't here yet, and…and I wanted to know…I wanted to know what was happening to Jeanette. I didn't want to leave. I couldn't," Simon explained to his father.
"I know that she would appreciate it, but I think she would be happier to know that you let yourself be taken care of too. Knowing Jeanette, she'd think it was her own fault that you weren't taken care of, since you are so worried about her. We're here now, and Jeanette is with her mother and sisters. I promise that I will come and find you the moment something happens, okay? Just please let them take care of you," Dave negotiated. After a defeated sigh, Simon slowly stood up.
For you, Jeanette, he thought to himself as Dave pulled him into a tight embrace. For you.