Chapter 15 – The Call

Dinner passed in the comfortable ebb and flow of conversation that had become the norm among the group. As Cassie and Grace were clearing the table, they both became very still. Cassie dropped the glass she had just picked up. Luckily, Harm's reflexes were fast enough that he caught it before it hit the floor.

"Cassie, what's wrong?" Sam asked recognizing the concerned look on both their faces.

"I'm not sure," Cassie muttered

"Something though," Grace's forehead wrinkled as she looked to her mother. The room was quiet for several minutes as the tense feeling held them.

Cassie reached for her phone before it began to ring and answered it tensely. "Abigail? What?! Slow down… Tell me what happened…" She listened intently for a moment as she stood there unblinking. "We'll meet you at Hillcrest."

As soon as Sam heard the name of the hospital he was out of his seat and heading towards the front door. By the time Cassie disconnected the call everyone was on their feet. She locked eyes with Mac as she spoke. "There's been an accident. AJ was struck by a car as they were leaving the restaurant. He's alert and insisting he's fine but they're transporting him to the hospital."

Mattie had reached for Harm's hand and was squeezed it tightly.

"Go, I've got things here," George said as Cassie looked at him.

"We'll stay here with George," Nick said as he looked at Grace who nodded in silent agreement. He had instinctively moved to her side and had placed a protective hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze of reassurance.

Cassie nodded to them as she darted out the door. Had she not been so concerned for AJ and Abigail she would have taken time to think of how appreciative she was that Nick was there for Grace tonight. Nick had found a natural affinity for helping those around him recently which would come in handy. She knew he would do whatever he could to keep Grace calm and help her process until they got back.

"I'll stay here too, go," Mattie said to Harm. She was concerned for AJ, like Bud she'd come to think of him as a sort of surrogate uncle over the years, but it was Harm that she was most worried about. She knew the expression on his face well, she'd seen it so many times when she'd been in the hospital or attending physio appointments. When he was worried about something, he would shift into military mode and his face became almost blank. No matter how well he kept his composure, she could always read the emotion in his eyes; now she read the same thing she had the day she'd fallen in the rehab facility, fear and helplessness.

He squeezed her hand before running out the door after the others and sprinting down Grey House's driveway towards his own. Sam had the Jeep running by the time Harm ran past. "Lead the way, Doc," Harm called across the roof of the Charger he and Sarah had purchased when they decided to stay in Middleton. He slid into the car, started it and had it in gear before he finished fastening his seat belt.

"He's going to be fine," Harriet was saying quietly to Bud in the backseat. "You heard what Cassie said; he was alert and arguing with the medics when Abigail called. That's AJ one-oh-one." Bud looked at her and nodded but didn't answer.

The rest of the drive to the hospital was silent as Harm focused on keeping track of Sam's taillights as they navigated the town and then the highway to the hospital. He mentally cursed Sam repeatedly for driving exactly the speed limit the entire way; had he known where he was going, he would have found out precisely what the 797-horsepower SRT Hellcat Redeye engine was capable of when opened up.

As he drove Harm tried not to remember the time he'd been hit by a car when he and Mac were out jogging. All they knew was that AJ had been hit, they didn't know how severe his injuries were. It could be that the car just grazed him or bumped into him while backing up. Surely if he'd been arguing with the EMTs it hadn't been a full-on hit. Then again, like Harriet had pointed out, arguing with someone who was trying to help him was textbook AJ. Even if he was seriously injured he'd likely put up a fight and claim he could walk it off.

When they finally arrived at the hospital after the agonizingly law-abiding drive, Harm let the others out at the door, parked the car and joined them in the small waiting room that was designated for the Emergency Room. Sam had disappeared somewhere within the building by the time he got inside, but Abigail was there.

Harm's stomach twisted as he saw the smears of blood on her hands and dress; it was definitely more than just a graze. She looked like she was bordering on shock and he wondered if the medics had checked her out or if they had been too focused on AJ. He walked over to the group and gently put his hand on her shoulder. He could feel her shaking and noticed that her color was terrible. He had a feeling if they didn't get her calmed down soon she would wind up passing out.

"He's going to be okay; you know Sam is going to take amazing care of AJ," Cassie was saying in a soothing, calm voice.

"It's all my fault." Abigail's breathing was becoming erratic and shallow. "He was looking up the road and he saw the car run the light, he pushed me out of the way but he didn't have time to get out of the way and this is all my fault."

"No, Abigail, it was an accident. It's not your fault," Cassie tried to calm her.

"But it is! If I had said no to going to dinner then he wouldn't have been there, he would have been at Grey House having dinner with all of you and he would be safe and he wouldn't have tried to protect me and he wouldn't be in hospital right now." Fresh tears slid down her face as she spoke.

Harm saw the last of the color drain from her face and knew what was coming next. Just as he leaned forward and put his arm behind her, she slumped, blacking out.

"Yup, I was afraid that was gonna happen," Harm muttered as he cradled her so she didn't fall. He scooped her up into his arms and walked towards the ER Admitting desk. "Need a bed here."

"Right this way, Sir," the nurse at the desk said as she led him to a small exam room just behind the desk. "What happened?"

"She blacked out. She came in with AJ Chegwidden, he was struck by a car and brought in by ambulance; she was with him when the accident happened. I think she's in shock. She was speaking rapidly, shaking, shallow breathing, then her color drained and she fainted. She didn't hit the ground though, I realized what was happening in time to catch her," Harm explained.

"Thank you, we'll take care of her and let you know when we have more information for you," the nurse said professionally but with a definite undertone of "Now get out of here and let us do our jobs."

"Thank you," Harm replied and exited back into the waiting room. Cassie looked like she was ready to jump out of her skin. "She'll be okay, I think she just passed out from hyperventilating. Uh, Cassie, I'm pretty sure if you pass out too, the nurses are going to think I'm up to something shady," he teased trying to distract her. "Deep breaths Cassie. Seriously, sit, breathe."

Mac guided Cassie into one of the chairs and sat beside her. Harm, Bud and Harriet filled in around them. It was about half an hour later when Sam came to the waiting room with AJ in tow. He had his suit jacket over his arm and one sleeve of his shirt was bloodied and torn. He looked around and realized who was missing from the group.

"Where's Abigail?" he demanded, his voice automatically taking on an authoritative tone that he'd rarely used since retiring.

"She's was in exam room 4 the last I saw her," Harm told him and saw Sam disappear behind the admitting desk. "Looked like she'd gone into shock; hyperventilating, panic, she passed out," Harm said as he stood to shake AJ's hand. "What about you, Sir?"

"Barely grazed, took a harder hit when you dumped me in the middle of the forest out of that Tomcat. There was damage on the fender and sharp spot caught me. They gave me a few stitches, a tetanus shot and enough paperwork to cover their six so I won't sue if it develops gangrene and falls off." He waved Harm off. "I'll be fine as soon as I know Abigail is okay."

Just then Cassie looked in the direction of the admitting desk and saw Sam coming around the end of the counter with Abigail. She sprung to her feet, went to her cousin and hugged her tightly.

"Harm, give AJ your jacket," Mac said quietly looking at AJ's sleeve. She moved to stand between Abigail and AJ. Both men understood that while the injury wasn't severe, the aftermath of the torn, blood-soaked fabric looked like it was. In a fluid maneuver Harm had given his jacket to AJ and Mac had taken AJ's, folding it carefully so that the torn sleeve was concealed. Just as AJ finished slipping his arms into the sleeves, Cassie stepped back from Abigail who stood looking at AJ with fear on her face.

AJ crossed the room to her and hugged her tightly. "It's okay," he whispered to her and she clung to him. "It's okay," he whispered again.

Mac nodded wordlessly at Cassie who nodded back. "Let's head home," she said quietly to Harm as she wrapped her arm around his waist. Now that they had seen for themselves that AJ wasn't seriously injured and would be okay, they were all relieved. "We'll see you in the morning," Mac told Cassie as she gave her a quick hug. "She's going to be okay," she reassured her before she, Harm, Bud and Harriet left the hospital.

Cassie and Sam moved to the other end of the waiting room to give Abigail and AJ some privacy.

"Look at me, please," AJ said quietly after a minute as he leaned a few inches away from her, "Abbi."

She looked up and met his eyes. Hers were red from crying and every instinct in him was screaming to find some way to ease her fear.

"I'm absolutely fine. I got a cut on my arm, Sam patched me up, I'm going to be right as rain in a couple of days." When she looked down he gently put his fingers below her chin. "Hey," he waited until she looked back up at him. "This was not your fault."

"If you hadn't pushed me out of the way…" Her voice faltered as she spoke.

"If I hadn't pushed you out of the way you could have been seriously hurt and I would be sick with worry right now. If I had been just a little quicker I would have been able to clear the lane and not get clipped. There are a million different scenarios that could have happened. Now what do you say we get you home. You look like you need a hot shower, some comfortable pajamas, and a mug of that chi tea that Cassie keeps attempting to convince me to try."

"It's chai," she corrected him quietly.

"I know it is." He smiled teasingly down at her. "Let's go home."