The service had been quite long, with numerous people getting up to speak about how they knew Haley and how much she had meant to them. At some point, she had started to silently cry, and Aaron passed back a soft linen handkerchief without looking, as if he knew her well enough to know that she would, of course, be crying. After drying her eyes, Erin worried the cloth between her fingers, needing something to do with her hands as she listened to the pastor give his sermon on Haley's life and how her love for Jack and Elise had been self-sacrificing. The mention of her daughter caused her to choke on a sob, and David curled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his chest as she tried to keep from making a spectacle of herself.
Finally, though, the organist began to play an elegant recessional as David and the other pallbearers left their seats to take their positions along the sides of Haley's casket, and Erin pressed her lips together tightly in order not to cry louder. Attendants from the funeral home directed each row of pews to stand and follow after the family, and Erin longed for someone, anyone, from Alpha to spare her a kind look or word, but even Penelope seemed preoccupied with her own grief. Drawing in a deep breath, Erin straightened her shoulders and followed after the family out the door. A slight shudder ran down her spine as she watched David and the others prepare to place the casket into the hearse, and she turned to look at the person who had touched her back, seeing that Jessica had come up to her side and was giving her a sad smile. "Aaron wanted to know if you were ready to join us in the limousine?"
"I am, thank you." Erin tried to ignore the hiss of disapproval that came from either Emily or Jennifer as she allowed Jessica to guide her to where Aaron was waiting by the open door.
"I'll try to be gentle," he murmured as he helped her to stoop and slide into the vehicle. Thankfully, since they were the last three to get in, she didn't have to awkwardly clamber in very far, instead, knocking into Aaron as she took her place on the short bench that faced forward. Jessica slid in next to her before closing the door, and then they were under way. To her immense relief, everyone was quiet on the drive to the cemetery, since she didn't think that she would have anything to say. Jessica rested her head against Erin's as the drive went on. "You're with us," Jessica whispered as the limousine finally came to a stop.
Giving her a little nod, she watched as Jessica slipped out of the door as soon as it was opened, and then she carefully climbed out, taking hold of Jessica's outstretched hand as they waited for the others to get out. Jack and Elise held tightly to Aaron's hands as they all began to troop over to the open grave, and she found it difficult to not trip on the uneven earth, since her center of balance was thrown off by her wounded arm. Once in place, though, she accepted the white rose handed to her by one of the funerary attendants. Holding it close to her chest with her bad arm, Erin took hold of Jessica's hand once more as David came up to their side and picked up Elise, letting her snuggle close to his chest as everyone gathered around. Erin darted her eyes over to look at Penelope, seeing that she was looking at her as well, a small, sad, smile on her lips.
It seemed as if the sun would drive out the lingering cold that had seeped into her bones, but she still shivered a little when a cloud passed across the sun, stepping closer to David as she tried to control her tears. Especially since it seemed like Penelope's would be the only friendly face she saw from Alpha that afternoon. Soon, Aaron was clearing his throat and nudging Jack over to Jessica's side as he turned to face the crowd gathered. It was difficult to concentrate on Aaron's words, since she was missing Catherine and her arm was throbbing with pain, a pain she couldn't medicate because she was insistent on breastfeeding her infant, and the pain killers would interfere with her milk supply. David seemed to understand her that she was struggling, since he shifted Elise to his other hip so that he could wrap his arm around her waist in order to support her a little better.
Jessica gently touched her shoulder when Aaron had finished speaking, and she gave her a grateful smile as together they stepped forward to place their roses atop Haley's casket before stepping back to watch the others pay their final respects. "Do you want to head back to the limo now? You're weaving on your feet a little, and I would hate for you to faint," Jessica murmured kindly, and she nodded, giving her a grateful look before turning to David and leaning in to kiss his cheek.
"I'll see you at the hall?" she asked, knowing that he would most likely catch a ride back to the church before bringing their car to the venue for the supper.
"Of course. Here, take Elise with you." He handed Elise over to Jessica before jogging over to Derek's side, quickly falling into a conversation with him and Doctor Reid. A small frown marred her face before she turned to follow Jessica back to the waiting vehicle, finding the other members of Haley's family, along with Sean, already inside and waiting.
"Aaron will be along shortly with Jack, but I thought that we should give them a little time alone together. This is a hard day for all of us." Jessica's words were warm, but full of sorrow, and Erin nodded as she allowed herself to cry once more, feeling like she was finally free to do so, away from the prying eyes of her main team. "Hey, Erin, how's your arm feeling?" she asked as she allowed Elise to scramble over to Sean's side and crawl up into his lap. Erin shrugged with her good arm before letting out a long breath as she tried to find the right words.
"It's a pain I have to live with. I can't take any pain medication until after I've pumped for the evening, so that David can give Catherine a bottle when she wakes up hungry. Even then, I've asked that it be nothing stronger than Tylenol 4, since I don't want to accidentally affect Catherine. Not when she was so early."
"Who's looking out for your baby?"
She looked over at Mister Brooks and gave him a small smile. "My assistant, Helen, and her wife. They were very kind to agree to look after her while I was here today. I fought too hard to be released from the hospital in order to honor Haley's life to not be here." Haley's father had a gruff smile on his lips as he nodded in acknowledgement of her statement.
"It makes sense that Haley would be friends with you, since you have a strong personality, like she had." He looked like he wanted to say more, but had thought better of it after a short glance at Sean. Erin nodded before letting her head come to rest against the back of the seat, trying to breathe her way through a wave of pain as they waited for Aaron and Jack to appear so that they could head to the meal.