A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed or sent me messages. I am so glad you are liking this story. I hope this story continues to deliver.
As always, I want to thank blossom-of-snow for the wonderful editing she did on this story.
There were words that no parent ever wanted to hear. Sharon had delivered plenty of them during her career. It always hurt her a little bit to notify a family of their loved ones' deaths or severe injuries, but unlike those victims, she always went home at the end of the day. It was just an unpleasant part of the job; it had to be done at some point, and could not be avoided.
Tonight her luck had run out. Until she arrived at the hospital, presumably to work a case, Sharon had no idea that the person she was called about was related to her. It was close to midnight when she parked her car in front of St. Leo's hospital and walked towards Assistant Chief Mason, who was waiting for her at the entrance.
"Commander Raydor," he greeted her.
"What am I investigating tonight?" Sharon asked.
Chief Mason motioned towards a bench right outside the hospital door, and Sharon followed him there. She barely caught the small movement Mason made towards Andy, motioning for him to join them.
"Commander, Lieutenant," he started. "There's been an incident."
Sharon's heart began racing in her chest. She knew those words too well, and she understood what it meant.
"Your daughter has been attacked," Mason said.
"Rainie?" Sharon's voice shook.
Chief Mason nodded and explained what had happened and assured Sharon that the LAPD was already working on finding the perpetrators. After he left, Sharon and Andy went into the ER to check on Rainie's condition.
"Sharon!" Heather called to her from a bed in the ER. A nurse was standing next to her and suturing a bloody cut above the girl's eyebrow. Heather's cheek was scratched, and a bruise blackened her skin. Her face was streaked with tears.
"Heather, where's Rainie?" Sharon asked.
"They took her to surgery, and they won't tell me anything because I'm not her family," Heather said. The nurse finished the last suture, covered it with a bandage and went to get her some painkillers.
"What happened?"
"We were taking a shortcut, and we were holding hands, and out of nowhere, a group of guys who were sitting on an emergency staircase blocked our path and started calling us 'dykes'. We tried to run, but they became violent, and –" Heather took a deep breath. "One of them hit me and I fell and hit my head. And he started kicking my stomach. And then Rainie pulled her pepper spray and told me to run. I didn't realize that she wasn't behind me until I passed the second block. She stayed back so that I could run away, and now they're not letting me see her, and I don't know what's going on, and…" Heather began sobbing uncontrollably and Sharon wrapped her arms around the weeping girl.
"Sshhh, it's gonna be fine," Sharon said. "I'll go talk to the doctor and I'll let you know how she's doing." She turned to Andy, who looked every bit as livid as she felt. "Sit with her while I go find out what's going on with Rainie," she whispered.
Sharon walked to the nurse station and asked about Rainie. The nurse assigned to Rainie looked at her chart. "She's undergoing emergency surgery," she said. "The OR and waiting rooms are on the second floor. The doctor will come and talk to you once she's out of surgery."
Sharon returned to Heather's bed to update her and Andy. She wasn't sure how bad Rainie's condition was, and an emergency surgery didn't necessarily mean that Rainie wouldn't make a full recovery very quickly. As terrified as she was of everything that could go wrong, Sharon decided that remaining calm was the best in this situation.
"Look, why don't you stay here with Heather until they decide if they're admitting or releasing her, and I'll go and wait for news about Rainie?" Sharon asked.
"You're sure that you'll be okay on your own?" Andy asked.
Sharon nodded without conviction before turning to Heather, who was calmer now. "Heather, did you call your parents?"
"No, I'm not hurt that bad," she said. "And I don't think they'll admit me, so I don't want to alarm them if it's unnecessary."
Sharon nodded and informed Andy and Heather that she would update them as soon as there was news about Rainie. She made her way to the packed waiting room on the second floor and gave Rainie's name to the clerk who was sitting behind a desk.
"Let's see," the young clerk said. "Rainie Tamsin Beck…" He typed the name on his keyboard. "She arrived here from the trauma unit and went into surgery. Dr. Silverstein is operating on her, but I'm afraid that's all I know. Feel free to take a seat, and I'll let you know as soon as there's anything new."
With nothing else to do, Sharon googled the doctor's name on her phone. Upon seeing the search result, Sharon's breath hitched. Dr. Benjamin Silverstein was the resident neurosurgeon in St. Leo's hospital, which meant that Rainie suffered a head injury.
Her phone dinged with a text from Andy, who let her know that Heather was being released and that they will join her at the waiting room once all the release forms were drawn and signed. As she put her phone back in her pocket, she heard Rainie's name called over the PA system. She got up and walked towards the clerk who guided her to a separate quiet area where the doctors spoke to patients' families. She stood there, waiting for the doctor to update her on Rainie's condition.
A moment later, a middle-aged doctor walked into the room. "I'm Dr. Silverstein," he introduced himself. "I'm head of the neurosurgery department. Are you a member of Ms. Beck's family?"
"I'm her mother," Sharon said. "Is she okay?"
"Rainie sustained a head injury, which resulted in a brain bleed. We operated on her and managed to control the bleeding, but she coded on the operation table. We stabilized her, but she is in critical condition. It's hard to know at this time if and when she will wake up, and whether or not the injury caused any permanent damage." His tone was dry and lacked compassion as if he'd operated on so many people that Rainie was just another insignificant patient who passed under his knife. "She is in the ICU, so you will be able to see her for a few minutes only at this time."
He ushered Sharon towards the nurse's station, where a young and empathetic nurse instructed her to scrub her hands and wear a sterile gown over her clothes – a practice Sharon knew from her many visits to the LA County morgue. The familiarity of it sent a shiver down her spine.
As soon as she went into the ICU, the cacophony of beeping, alarms, pumps, and the occasional moan assaulted her ears. Sharon followed the nurse to Rainie's bed that was at the far end of the room. Her knees buckled upon seeing the person that the nurse said was her daughter. With her face swollen and bruised until she was barely recognizable, Rainie was only identifiable by her ginger eyelashes that now looked like small flames flaring from a scorched ground. It reminded Sharon that even if Rainie was in a terrible condition, there was still fight left in her.
Several tubes protruded from Rainie's head, nose, mouth, and arms. Recognizing the unnerving sight, the nurse quickly explained to Sharon what all the devices and drains were and how all of them were helping Rainie stay alive, so hopefully, she would regain consciousness and return to her former self. Judging by her current appearance, it seemed almost impossible.
"Can I touch her?" Sharon asked.
The nurse hummed affirmatively.
Sharon took Rainie's pale hand in hers. The soft fingers were cold after hours of surgery. "Honey, it's mom," she said softly, barely able to withhold her tears. "I love you so much, sweetie. So you need to be strong now, okay?"
She knew it was stupid to expect a response, but she looked at her daughter's face anyway, disappointed when Rainie didn't stir. With her head in a large dressing and a ventilator in her mouth, Rainie probably couldn't move even if she tried. Sharon's insides turned with every artificial breath the machine fed into her daughter's lungs. Her eyes were stinging with unshed tears, but Rainie didn't need to know that. She needed her mother to give her strength and not fall apart.
A few minutes later, Sharon felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you have to leave now. You'll be able to see her again in two hours."
"I have to go, Rainie, but I'll come back soon," she wanted to kiss her daughter's hand but remembered that the nurses forbade it, in fear of infections. She squeezed Rainie's hand instead. "I love you. Stay strong."
Andy and Heather greeted her outside the ICU with uncertain expressions on their face.
"Rainie sustained a head injury, and the doctors don't know if or when she'll wake up." Sharon's voice was shaking, and she was trying her best not to cry.
Heather's face paled, and her bottom lip quivered. Andy looked as if he'd been struck by a lightning.
Sharon opened her arms for Heather and took Andy's hand. "We have to stay hopeful because Rainie is not the kind of person who gives up, okay?"
Hope was all she had to hang on to.
"She's not giving up, and neither do we, do you hear me?" She looked at Andy with tearful eyes, and he nodded, mumbling a broken 'yes.'
They sat back down in the waiting room, knowing that they wouldn't be able to see Rainie for a while but not daring to leave. All they could do was wait.
-TBC-