Horrific and tragic, but not near as bad as it could have been. Those were the words used to describe the bus crash. The greyhound had collided at full speed with a train that was also traveling at top speeds. According to police reports the driver had fled the scene of the crash. He had a history of speeding and making reckless decisions. Nobody knew how he kept his job but today was the day that his poor choices had finally caught up to him. Miraculously only ten on the fifty-five passengers were killed, ten were severely injured, twenty-one had minor injuries, seven of those with minor injuries were treated and released, the other nine passengers walked away. Emily Fornell was among the critically injured but she was still a miracle. Everybody around her had been killed the four directly in front of her were killed on impact. Rescue workers thought that she was one of the dead until she convulsed in the arms of the firefighter who had pulled her from the wreckage. It was not long before a weak pulse was found and she was immediately placed into an ambulance. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was stabilized and then life flighted to Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia. Her belongings were destroyed in the fire that engulfed the bus seconds after she was pulled to safety. So she arrived to the hospital as a Jane Doe. Both of her legs were broken, along with her right shoulder and arm. She had a severe skull fracture and major internal bleeding. She was immediately rushed into surgery. While hospital staff tried desperately to determine her identity.
Mara Ingram was one of the nurses working to determine the identity of the Jane Doe brought in from the bus crash. She fought to shove back her own fears. She recalled the argument she had, had with her thirteen year old son that very morning. He was making the trip to Sacramento to stay with his dad for the rest of the summer. Always yearning for adventure he had begged her to let him ride the bus. He would not have been on that bus at least not at the time of the crash but the thought was still there. She could not imagine losing her beloved child and she ached for this girl's parents. How would they feel when she never arrived to her destination? How would those waiting for her feel? Who was she and why was she traveling to Sacramento alone?
"Mara we found the Jane Doe's ID." Josie another nurse called.
"Who is she?" Mara asked.
"Emily Fornell, she's fifteen years old, and she lives in Washington DC." Josie replied.
"Washington? That bus is departing from Pennsylvania. What is she doing in Gettysburg?" Mara asked.
"That is what we are trying to figure out." Josie replied.
"Have you called her parents yet? Have they been identified yet?" Mara asked.
"We managed to find Emily's Facebook page and her parents are Diane and Tobias Fornell or they were." Josie explained.
"Were?" Mara asked.
"According to Facebook Diane passed away in January of two-thousand fifteen. We found Tobias' phone number but he passed away just yesterday actually." Josie explained.
"So this girl was orphaned yesterday and now she was in a bus crash. Is there anybody we can call for this poor girl. She needs it." Mara explained.
"Her emergency contact is a Jethro Gibbs. We are in the process of contacting him right now." Josie explained.
"Oh I hope that he is willing to care for her." Mara gasped.
Jethro Gibbs was tired of coming up empty in his search for Emily. She had bought the bus ticket but no hits had been made on the BOLO and the phones at the bus station were continually busy. He had tried calling her but the phone went straight to voice-mail. The only of her friends he knew were Mollie and Lana and neither of them had heard a word from Emily. He felt as if he had betrayed his friend and that feeling was almost as terrible, as knowing that Emily was lost. He was lost in his thoughts when he heard his phone ring. He knew from the prefix that it was a Pennsylvania number. Perhaps this was finally the clue they had been hoping for.
"Hello?"
"Am I speaking to a Jethro Gibbs?"
"Yes who is this?"
"This Mara Ingram from Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia. You are listed as the emergency contact for an Emily Fornell."
"Yeah she is my God daughter. I am her legal guardian as of yesterday."
"I am sorry but she was involved in a serious bus crash this afternoon and is now in critical condition in the ICU."
"Critical? ICU?"
"Yes we need you to get down here as soon as possible."
"I will be there right away."
Emily hovered between life and death wishing that they would just let her die already. She was miserable and in a great deal of pain. Both physically and emotionally. She cold see her parents but she could not get to him. She could also see Gibbs but she could not get to him either. She just wasn't so upset to be separated from Gibbs. She was still furious at him for what he had done. She had never felt so cold and alone. She could hear doctors and nurses talking about her and from what she could make out. The news was not good. She was critically injured in the ICU and they were waiting for Gibbs to arrive to make decisions about her fate. She knew that meant taking her off life support or not. She hoped that he would let her go but knew that he wouldn't. It seemed to be Gibbs' goal to make her as miserable as possible and so far he was succeeding.
A/N: Will Emily survive her injuries? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.