Christian and Ana arrive at the hospital and rush through the halls until they reach the emergency room. Ana is careful as she runs in a dress and no panties. She takes care to keep her dress down with both hands as she struggles to keep up with her quick husband. When they arrive Christian reams out the lady at the desk for not having any information. Ana stands next to him and tries to catch her breath. She does not like when her husband yells at anyone like this, but she doesn't stop him. They need to find out what is going on.
"What do you mean you don't know? Find out!" Christian demands as he pounds his fist on the counter. His outburst makes the receptionist flinch and she makes quick work of her keyboard again to see if she can find any information. When she isn't successful she picks up the phone and dials Dr Grace Trevelyan Grey.
"Your mother's on her way down" she says without looking at the pair.
Christian leaves go of the counter and runs both hands through his hair. When he looks in the other direction his eyes are fixed on a young man he's seen before. When Christian recalls who the person is he nearly flies off the handle. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He starts to rush toward him, but he is stopped by Ana.
"No, Christian. This isn't helping" she says to him softly. She looks over and sees the young man. He has blood on him, but he doesn't appear to be hurt. It must be somebody else's blood. It could be Phoebe's. She starts to feel sick at the thought and uses her husband to support her weight. He holds her and continues to glare at the boy. "Who is that, Christian?"
"That's Caleb Braxton" he says through gritted teeth.
Ana gasps. "Harold's son?"
Christian nods in confirmation. Their moment is interrupted when Grace arrives. She puts her hand on Christian's shoulder and he immediately turns around. "Mom, what happened?" There is a police officer with them as well, but Christian's focus is on his mother. His wide and worried eyes burn into hers.
"There was a really bad car accident down town. The police are investigating to find out what happened." She starts to explain. "Phoebe was a passenger in one of the cars, and she suffered a head injury."
"Mom, is she…."
"She's stable" Grace interrupts him. "Her vitals are good, but we won't know anything more until she is awake."
Christian pales. "You mean, you won't know if there is any damage to her brain, is what you are saying." He speaks slowly as the words start to sink in.
Grace nods. "That's right"
"What about, the driver. Was it Teddy?" Ana asks nervously.
"No, actually the driver was someone else. Jay Thompson"
Christian's face turns red. He is furious. "What the fuck was she doing with that kid?"
"Christian, calm down" Ana says as she rubs her hand up and down his chest. "What happened to him?"
Grace sighs and blinks her eyes closed. "He died at the scene. Officers were sent to his home to inform the family."
Christian and Ana both struggle with everything they are hearing. Their daughter was in a serious car accident. She has a head injury, and they are yet to find out the extent of that damage. She was in a car with a boy that tried to take advantage of her, and now he is dead. Will they ever find out why she was in the car with Jay?
"There's something else" Grace starts, and she has their attention again. "Teddy was in the other car, but he's okay. A doctor is stitching up a cut on his head. But his girlfriend isn't doing so well."
"When can we see our kids?" Christian asks before she can tell them more.
"You can see Phoebe now, right this way."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Grace leads Christian and Ana into a room in the ICU where Phoebe has been settled. She has a breathing tube down her throat. She also has a few thin tubes hooked up to her. Ana reaches for Christian's hand and he takes it as they take in the site of their injured daughter. "Can she hear us?" Ana asks softly.
Grace nods and gives her an apologetic smile. "It's possible"
Christian cannot take his eyes off of his daughter. He continues to stare at her from the door way. Ana leaves go of his hand and walks into the room. She sits in the chair next to Phoebe's bed and gently takes hold of her hand that is free of tubes. Tears drip down her face as she is faced with this latest tragedy.
Christian is frozen in his spot. Grace watches as Ana talks to Phoebe, telling her that everything is going to be alright. After Ana is finished she stands and plants a gentle kiss on Phoebe's forehead. "Your turn" she says to her husband, but he doesn't move.
"It's okay Christian, go on" Grace gives him a verbal push.
He slowly makes his way over to her bedside and sits down in the chair. Just as Ana has done, he takes his daughter's hand in his and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Hey Peanut, Daddy's here" he tells her. He reaches down and plants a kiss on the back of her hand. "Mommy and Daddy are here for you baby." He looks at her face and feels his tears escape his eyes. His daughter is lying in a hospital bed. She is hurt, and there is nothing he can do about it. He has no control. He has to rely on machines to help her.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Christian and Ana are sent out of Phoebe's room while the doctors run tests. They walk back to the ER to check on Teddy. He is there with Sawyer. Christian grimaces when he sees that Caleb is still there as well. Christian and Ana immediately embrace their son when they see him.
"Dad, I need your help" he says desperately. "Nobody will tell me what is happening with Rebecca."
"She was in the car with you?" Ana asks.
Teddy nods. He is nearly hysterical with worry. He has to work hard to keep his breathing under control. "She was hurt really bad Mom. I'm scared."
Ana takes him into her arms and holds him tight. He can no longer hold it in, and he starts to sob. Ana rubs his back and allows him to let it out. Christian glares at Caleb, who is standing in a corner watching the family. His attention is drawn back to his wife and son. He puts his hands on Teddy's back. "It's okay son"
"No, it's not okay" he roars as he leaves go of his mother and turns around to face him. "Why won't they tell me about my girlfriend?"
Christian would normally snap back at his son for talking to him that way, but he refrains from the response. He knows his son is in a bad place right now, overcome with worry for his girlfriend. He takes a deep breath in before he talks to his son calmly. "Son, I know you care for Rebecca, but you are not her family. The doctors are only going to talk to her parents. Do you know if they're here?"
"Yes, they're here. They were taken somewhere else, the ICU I think." Teddy works to compose himself, wiping his nose with his sleeve.
"We will figure it out, okay? We need to wait for her parents to talk to us." Christian dreads having to tell his son about Phoebe. But he knows he must tell him now before he hears it from someone else. "Son, there's something else you need to know" he says to him, but Teddy doesn't make eye contact. Christian gently takes his arm and leads him over to a few chairs for the three of them to sit. Sawyer stands by them. "Son, we're not just here to see you. I mean, we are grateful that you are okay, aside from a few minor bruises." Christian points to his son's forehead where he'd just received stitches.
Teddy gives his parents a confused look. "Then, why else are you here? Are you guys okay?"
Christian quickly squashes his son's worry over his parents, only to replace it with another. "No, we're both fine. I… I was talking about Phoebe." Christian looks down at his hands.
"What about her?" he asks softly.
"Son, she was in the other car."
Teddy gasps. "No. What was she doing in the other car?" He thinks about it for a moment, then turns around and eyes their body guard. "Sawyer?"
"She wasn't in the car with Sawyer" Christian interrupts him. He takes a moment to glare at Sawyer, still unaware of the events that led up to his daughter winding up in a car with Jay. "The person driving the car was Jay."
"Jay? Why? Why would she be in a car with Jay?"
"I don't know" Christian answers him unaware that Caleb has been listening and has made his way over to them.
"I can answer that"
Christian looks up and is faced with the source of the voice. He immediately becomes angry. "You stay the fuck away from my family" he growls.
"Dad, I want to see Phoebe."
Christian takes a moment to glare at Caleb before he rises and takes his son by the arm to help him up. He looks at his son and loses the glare. "Okay. I'll take you."
Once Christian and Teddy walk away, Caleb tries again with Ana. "Mrs Grey, please let me explain."
"You heard my husband" Ana says softly as Sawyer steps over to stand next to her.
"Just hear me out" Caleb says almost pleadingly. "Please, have a cup of coffee with me in the cafeteria. I will tell you what I know and then I will leave."
Ana thinks it over for a moment and then looks up at Sawyer. He nods at her. Ana is conflicted since her husband wants Caleb to stay away from them. But she wants to know what happened. She won't be able to get the story from Jay or Phoebe, so Caleb is it. She decides to go along with him to the cafeteria.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Teddy sits by Phoebe's bedside and stares at her. He's not sure what to say to her. He is angry with her for being in the car with Jay, the car that crashed into his and seriously injured his girlfriend. But at the same time, Phoebe was hurt too. No matter what her reasons were for being in the car with Jay, he hates to see his sister like this. His love for his sister takes over and sorrow wins out over anger.
"Is she going to be okay, Dad?"
Christian inhales and lets out a long breath. He is standing next to Teddy with his hands in his pockets. "I don't know. Your grandmother said we need to wait for her to wake up."
"When will that be?"
Christian takes an even deeper breath in this time and lets it out. "I don't know." He is not in control of his situation. He feels lost and scared. He has no idea what is going to happen with his daughter. She could wake up and be okay, she could wake up with no memories, or she could be totally gone forever. Just the thought of that brings tears to his eyes and he quickly wipes them away. He feels that he needs to be strong for his kids right now. He needs to will his daughter to come back, and he needs to help his son cope with what is happening to his sister and his girlfriend.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Caleb and Ana sit at a table in the corner in the cafeteria so that they have privacy. Sawyer brings tea and coffee for the three of them. He sits down next to Ana and they wait for Caleb to begin.
"Mrs Grey, I really appreciate you giving me a chance to explain."
Ana takes a page out of her husband's book and portrays herself as a stiff, powerful CEO. "Caleb, don't misunderstand. All I want is an explanation of what happened to my kids today. And at the moment you seem to be the only person that can provide that information. So let's have it."
"Okay" he says before looking down at his coffee, as if collecting his thoughts. "You're not going to like what I have to say, but you need to know the truth."
Ana looks at the scared young man before her, but she doesn't change her facial expression. She is angry, she is scared, she is probably in a lot of trouble with her husband for taking this leap of faith, but she maintains her posture and waits for him to speak.
"Phoebe was at the library, and I was meeting her there."
"Why?"
"Because we've been seeing each other…. there. That's the place we knew we could spend time together without anyone finding out."
Ana feels like someone has punched her in the gut. She didn't think it was possible to feel any worse right now. "You've been seeing each other behind our backs."
"That's right" he says softly. He breaks eye contact and looks down at his coffee again. "We knew that you didn't approve of me, but we hit if off the night of the masquerade ball, and we wanted to keep in touch. We wanted to see each other. I swear to you, I never touched her. It was completely innocent. We talked and we studied together."
Ana nods, although she is completely displeased that her daughter kept this big secret from her, she knows she needs to keep listening. "Go on"
Caleb takes a deep breath in and lets it out. "I was supposed to meet her today. But when I got to the library, I saw some kid dragging her out to his car. He was covering her mouth with something. I couldn't stop him so I jumped into Sawyers car and we followed them."
"You saw the accident?"
"Yes. We were right behind them. He the light and hit the other car. I rushed to the passenger side to help Phoebe, but Sawyer here told me not to move her. He had me get into the back seat and hold her head in place in case she had a neck injury."
Ana works hard to keep the tears at bay. She takes a few seconds to let this sink in. She looks over at Sawyer and can see that he is scared too. "Mrs Grey" he starts, but Ana interrupts him.
"Don't" she shakes her head, and she has to work even harder to keep the tears from falling. "I know you did what you could for her. We said she could go into the library without security, Christian and I agreed." Ana continues to shake her head. Why did she and her husband agree to that? She thinks back to the day when Phoebe begged her parents for a little freedom from their security. They agreed that the library was probably the only safe place she could be alone without being watched. Sawyer would still be outside and she would have her cell phone with her. But that still didn't stop Jay from getting to her.
Thank you for continuing to review, favor and follow my story. I'm still having fun writing it. And yes, I think cliffhangers are fun. It's also a good lead in to the next chapter. You know the Greys will never get a break. Fifty Shades of Drama. Happy Reading!