For The Love Of A Child
Chapter Eleven- The Talk
Jaden screamed and dropped the gun. A loud bang had gone off but yet nothing had happened. Jaden fell over onto the roof and scrambled to get up.
'What's going on?' Jaden thought to herself. 'I had the gun pointed straight at my head I should be dead now.'
Peter Riggs and Lu Delgado who had heard the BANG rushed up to the roof to see what had happened. To their surprise they found Jaden there holding a gun.
"Jaden honey put down the gun." Lu said in a soft tone.
"I killed my baby Lu. I killed him!"
"Honey put down the gun and we can talk." Peter said
"I'm so scared Mom! Don't come near me!" Jaden warned when she saw Lu get ready to move towards her.
"Sweetheart whatever your feeling right now we can work through it."
"Talking is not going to bring my baby boy back!" Jaden pointed out.
"Sweetie your young you have plenty of time to have children."
"Jaden Hon slowly put down the gun. Come and talk to us." Peter reasoned.
Lu slowly moved closer to Jaden.
"Jaden we need to talk about this. Killing yourself won't bring your baby back." Lu reasoned with the fourteen year old girl.
"Lu don't you understand?"
"Understand what Jay Jay?"
"My baby died because of me. I'm the one who chose to have the operation. I'm the one who paid the money. That makes me a murder."
"Your not a murder Jaden! You did what you had to do. That's all in the past now." Lu said cautiously. Then she remembered what her two daughters were saying in the car.
"Jaden please come away form the ledge." Peter asked in a kind firm tone.
Jaden, who had still not put down the gun, was standing perfectly still waiting to see what Lu was going to do next.
"Jaden I love you. The kids love you. They love you so much that they tried to warn me that something was going to happen to you."
"How did they know?" Jaden shot in a nasty tone.
"I honestly don't know. All they said is that Sissy was really sad and that something bad was going to happen."
Lu walked closer and closer to Jaden talking to her calmly all the way.
"Mom don't come any closer!" Jaden warned again as she pointed the gun to her own head and looked harshly at Lu.
"OK, OK ! I'm backing up slowly." Lu said as she held her hands up surrendering.
"Jaden this is not the way to go. How would the little ones feel if they woke up in the morning and their big sister was dead?" Peter questioned.
"I don't want to hurt them. That's why I have to die. Everyone I get close to someone I get hurt. I loved my baby with all of my heart and then I had to do what I had to do."
"Sweetie you can love Allison and Brittany. Their not going anywhere. It's not the same thing as if you had to raise a child on your own. Their my babies and I have to raise them. You're their big sister. All you have to do is love them." Lu began to slowly creep towards Jaden again. But then she changed her mind and backed up. Out of the corner of her eye she had seen Peter give her the signal to distract Jaden.
"Honey tell me about what happened."
"What are you talking about?" Jaden asked . Her focus was now entirely on Lu.
"Tell me what happened to your baby. I know you didn't really do all of that yourself. You must have had some help somewhere along the way."
"No I didn't I did it on my own."
"Jaden honey your not telling the truth. I'm a mother I can tell."
"Daddy did it." Jaden said in a tone so quiet that Lu couldn't hear her.
"What sweetie?"
"Daddy did it!" Jaden spoke up more loudly.
"Your daddy did what sweetheart?"
"He brought me to the New York's branch of RWHC. He held me down while a guy doctor he knew went in and did the abortion. He wouldn't let them sedate me."
"Jaden honey I'm sorry I didn't know." Peter was now right behind Jaden, and Lu signaled with her eyes for him to wait.
"He made me go through all that pain and then he forced me to look at what my baby would have been." Jaden was now crying and Peter grabbed her from behind in one swift movement. A gun shot went off and Jaden screamed. Peter screamed for Lu to come and help him.
Lu ran over and took the gun from Jaden. Then once Jaden had used up all of her energy thrashing around Peter let her go and she sunk down to the ground. Using the wall of the ledge to support her.
Lu walked over to Jaden and squatted down next to her. Putting her long arms around the fourteen year old in a tight hug.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Jaden cried over and over again. Lu knew that she was talking more to herself than she was to Lu or Peter.
"We'll be fine Peter. Could you please go and check on the children?"
"Sure." Peter said as he walked back down the indoor stairs closing the door behind him. Lu scooted closer to Jaden and let the weight of her body fall against her own.
"Sweetie I know it must be hard, but you've got to stop doing this to yourself." Lu explained in a tone not to friendly.
"How will I ever get over what I did?"
"We can work together to help you, as a team."
"I guess but what good will that do?"
"Promise me you'll come and talk to me when you feel this way."
"I promise Lu."
"Ok. Sweetie Well the thing is …I know what it feels like to be raped and then to become pregnant. It's a horrible feeling. And it makes it even worse if your being threatened. But no matter what happened you will always have people here that love you and support you. That's why I got you out of there. Because I love you like you were my own daughter and I couldn't stand to see what those people were doing to you."
"The pain is so huge and fresh Lu. It feels like it will never go away."
"What happened to you is something that you will always remember, no matter what you do to try and forget. What's important is how you deal with that pain. It will begin to decrease in time. But until then you have to learn positive ways to deal with it." Lu lectured the small child in her arms.
"Please don't lecture me Mom."
"Sweetie although what happened to you is tragic. I want to help you get through it."
"I know you do." Jaden said. She knew all her mom wanted to do is help.
"This is not going to help." Lu said pulling up Jaden's sleeve intending to find the old scars form last year that she knew were still there but instead she found angry red thick cuts across the wrist. " Oh Jaden." Lu said quietly.
"He would have been one years old today." Jaden said out loud.
"Honey what have you been cutting yourself with?"
"A scrap of metal that I found in the tool shed. It's shaped like a pen."
"Honey you have to stop doing this. You could get a infection. Did you at least sterilize the metal before you cut yourself with it?"
"No!"
"Jaden please don't push me away. I love you so much. And well sweetie I know what it's like to loose a child."
"What?" Jaden asked caught off guard.
"When I was twenty-three years old I had a miscarriage and my baby girl died." Lu said as the memories flooded over her, memories that she hadn't thought of in so long. In fact nobody knew except her and Jaden.
"That means she would have been exactly my age!" Jaden exclaimed.
"Yes, yes she would." Lu said as she thought back.
"But that's different. That was an accident."
"Your right but it's still loosing a child that I loved."
Jaden and Lu stayed on that roof and talked for hours, and then after finally calming Jaden down, they walked hand in hand back down to the clinic. Lu went to the medicine cabinet and took out a shot of liquid sleeping pill.
"Here Jaden. I'm going to give you a shot to help you sleep." Lu explained.
"Ok." Jaden went over to Lu and Lu gave her the shot. Within minutes Jaden was asleep on the fold out couch in Lu's office. Lu covered her with a blanket and then went upstairs to check on her best friend.
"Did you hear anything?" She asked Kayla.
"Oh hey Lu. I was just coming to get you. She's awake and she wants to see u."
Lu walked into Dana's room and was surprised to see her sitting up and talking to one of the nurses. Like nothing in the world had happened to her.
"Hey sweetie how are you feeling huh?" Lu asked gently.
"Fine, a little tired, what happened?" Dana asked.
"What do you remember?"
"Nothing just Nick knocking me down that's all."
"A lot more happened, but you should get some rest."
"No Lu I want you to tell me."
"OK… are you sure?"
"I'm sure. What happened?"
"Well form what Kayla told me……Nick threw you down and obviously you got knocked out because he slit your wrists and your throat . It looks like he wanted to kill you."
"Did the two of you have a fight?"
"Yeah…… but I don't remember what about."
"It's OK Dana you don't have to remember. Try and get some rest OK?"
"I'll try. My children! Where are my children at? Did Nick hurt them too?"
"Your children are just fine. There asleep in your office. Kayla and Peter went to you house and collected them after they found out what happened."
"I'm so sorry."
"Sorry about what Dana?"
"I'm sorry!" Dana repeated before she fell asleep again.
What's going on around here? Lu thought to herself. First Dana gets beat up and then Jaden goes psycho on me.
Later That Evening
"Well Alexia, We'll have to do further testing in a week, but it seems that everything is in order. You can get dressed now." Lu said to the small child she was examining. Alexia Webber brought her daughter Alexis in she came in with a big bruise on her right thigh and then a few smaller bruises on her legs and arms.
"Thank you Lu. When will the lab results be in?" Alexia asked.
"They should be ready by next Friday. The labs been really backed up though and so I will let you know if their going to be any longer when you come in."
"Is she going to be OK Lu?"
"She should be fine."
"Thank you."
"Anytime sweetie."
Lu looked at the child one final time before she and her mother left Lu's office and got into the taxi that would take them home.
"Hey mom?" Jaden asked walking into Lu's office.
"Yes?"
"Brittany wants you."
"What's the matter?"
"I don't know she just woke up crying for her mommy."
"Did you check and see if her fever came back?"
"Yes Ma'am she feels warm."
"OK sweetie thank you." Lu said as she walked with Jaden back into Dana's office and felt her little girls head.
"Is she OK?"
"Well your right… she does feel a little warm. It's probably just a cold nothing to worry about." Lu gave her baby a dose of fever reducer and then held her.
"Mommy I no feel good!"
"I know baby."
"Lu they need you in the ER." Lana said poking her head into the office.
"OK thank you Lana."
"Your Welcome baby girl. "
"Jaden could you watch your sister? She should go back to sleep soon. Where's Alley at?"
"She's asleep on Dana's couch."
"OK just checking."
"Go do what you have to do Mom. The kids are fine."
"Thanks sweetie."
"Anytime."