Song - Yesterday I heard the Rain - Tony Bennett & Alejandro Sanz
5:08pm
Elliot looked in his bedroom mirror as he finished tying his tie. Soon he would be meeting all of the kids for Sunday church service and dinner. As much as he loved spending time with them he had been dreading this day for weeks.
Today was Kathy's birthday. She had been killed six months ago. Elliot clenched his jaw, in anger at the thought . He would always feel guilt and responsibility for her death.
He could barely look at her picture even though he had pictures everywhere. He had them in his living room, on his phone, computer and his work desk. Every time he saw her face he was reminded how he was responsible. He was the sole reason his kids no longer had a mother.
His kids' lives were changed forever. Now everything was remembered differently. Before and after the day their mom was killed. Kathy would not be there for Eli getting his drivers license or high school graduation. She would not be there for holidays, birthdays or seeing her children get married. She would never meet any grandchildren.
How do you move on when you feel responsible?
Part of him would have taken Kathy's place if he could.
His faith had also been broken. How could God allow this? No, he would never agree there was a reason why it had to happen. She was a good person, good friend and a loving mother. She should have lived to be in her eighties. Instead she was gone. His kids needed her. He needed her.
Elliot had no idea how to be the sole parent to five children . Kathy was the teacher, role model and disciplinarian. Kathy was who the kids ran to when they got hurt or had something to celebrate. She was the one who wiped away their tears when they had broken hearts with a breakup. Kathy was the heart of their family.
Their marriage was far from perfect. He knew nothing else about being with anyone else. He loved Kathy. It wasn't the love you read in books. They weren't soulmates. They were comfortable. A few times they came close to divorce but they never did. Maybe because both were scared to start over. Elliot had been with her since he was seventeen .
Elliot's phone buzzed, interrupting his thoughts. He reached into his pants pocket grabbing his phone. Lizzie sent a text saying everyone was heading to the church now. He replied quickly with a text saying he was on his way.
6:15 pm
Elliot was parking his car in the church parking lot. He saw his five kids standing near the church front stairs. Elliot looked in the driver mirror. "Breathe" he whispered as his left hand began shaking. He could feel himself on the verge of tears as he got out of the car and walked towards his family. "Were you waiting long? We still have a few minutes before service starts." He called out as he walked towards them.
As Elliot walked closer to them the sun was blinding his eyes. He closed his eyes for a minute. When he opened his eyes a white blinding light was in front of him. He felt pain in his head and all over his body. He heard yelling and sensed commotion all around him.
"Elliot, look at me. He woke up. Call the doctor." Elliot opened his eyes and heard beeping. He closed his eyes again. He saw his kids standing on the church steps and smiled. Kathleen and Maureen were laughing at something Lizzie was saying. Eli was standing near the door on his phone. Dickie walked down the stairs towards Elliot. "'Dad, stay with us. Please."
3:17 am
Dickie rushed in the hospital doors to the front desk. "Hi, can you please tell me where my dad is? I just received a call that he was in a car accident."
The nurse held up her index finger as she mouthed one minute as she finished her phone call. "Sorry, what is your dad's name?"
"Elliot Stabler." Dickie said as tears streamed down his face. He couldn't lose his dad. He just saw him a few hours earlier.
"Yes, he was brought in around 2:30am," the nurse said as she looked up from the computer. "If you go down this hall and take a right you will see a set of doors. Go through the doors and you will see the ER reception."
Dickie ran down the hall until he reached the ER. He still had to call everyone to tell them what happened. Dickie was called first because he was his dad's emergency contact. He was the calmest in emergency situations. His mom always said she thought he would've followed his dad's footsteps and became a cop.
"I'm looking for my dad Elliot Stabler." Dickie said as he felt his heart racing. "Please tell me will he live?" Dickie said louder than he thought. He could tell by seeing a shocked reaction from the nurse and people in the reception lobby staring at him. "Sorry, my mom died six months ago. I'm scared." Dickie shuffled his feet as he looked at the ground.
"Your dad is in serious condition but he is stable. We will be moving him into the intensive care unit so we closely monitor him. He has been unconscious since he came in." The nurse said as she looked at Dickie sympathetically.
"Thank you. I need to call my family." Dickie said as he walked down the hall and sat on a chair. He got out his cell phone and dialed Maureen's number. His mind was searching desperately for what to say as the phone rang.
3:45am
Maureen arrived at the hospital. "Dickie," Maureen said as she walked quickly up to him and gave him a hug. "Any change?"
"No, change. Dad is supposed to be moved into a room in the intensive care unit soon. They will be monitoring him and he needs more tests in the morning. We can go up there now. They have rooms where families can wait."
Dickie and Maureen rode up the elevator to the ICU unit. There was an unsettling silence between them. Both were too scared to face the reality of what could happen to their dad. Maureen grabbed Dickie's hand giving it a squeeze. She teared up as the elevator doors opened. "We can do this,'' she whispered as tears fell from her face.
"Kathleen and Eli will be here around 8 am. I wanted Eli to get some sleep. He has had a really hard few weeks as it came closer to mom's birthday. He is also now showing signs of depression and his grades are failing. I need to get him into counseling so he can talk about his feelings." Maureen sighed as she walked into the family waiting room.
"Lizzie will be here this afternoon. She wasn't able to get anyone to cover her shift at work. Crappy in my opinion that her boss didn't let her take the day off. I wish she would quit and go somewhere else. They have always taken advantage of her." Dickie said as he walked to the vending machine. He selected some candy and two Cokes .
"Aww, she will be happy hearing you defend her." Maureen smirked. "We need to make a list of people we need to call later to let them know about dad." Maureen said as she opened her purse, getting her small notebook and pen.
"Yes, good idea. The more support dad has the better he will do. If only he stopped pushing all of us away. We need him just as much as he needs us. He looked awful today." Dickie took a sip of his Coke.
"I think he has been drinking every night after work so he passes out. Few times in the past few months I've seen empty bottles on the counter. Maybe on a good day he is lucky if he gets five hours of sleep. I know today after lunch he said he was going to visit mom's grave. He hasn't been there since we buried her." Maureen's hand began shaking from nervousness.
"I just pray he will be ok." Dickie bent his head down and cried.
"We have each other to lean on." Maureen leaned in as she and Dickie hugged.
4:15am
A nurse walked into the room." Are you Elliot Stabler's family?
"Yes," Maureen said as she and Dickie stood up. "Is there an update on how he is doing?"
"We have moved him into a private room. The dr. has been running tests and we are just waiting on results which were asked to be rushed. Your dad has some head trauma which is why he was moved to the intensive care unit. He is asleep now. If you follow me I will show you to his room. My name is Shelly. I am your dad's nurse and I will be here until 7am."
