Chapter 3

Two days later Hawke found himself along with Dom, sitting and staring at Caitlin's motionless form.

"Two days and no change," Hawke complained. "Why hasn't she regained consciousness?"

Dom plopped down on the small sofa that sat by the window of her hospital room. "Come on String," he replied. "Her body took a pretty bad jolt. The doctors believe she'll pull through but she needs time to heal. At least there was no sign of bleeding on her brain. Just give it time."

Hawke was about to respond when the doctor opened the door to the room followed by Michael and Marella.

"Michael, where have you been?" Hawke asked. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for two days now."

"I'm sorry," he replied as they approached Caitlin's bedside. "Something pressing came up."

"I examined Ms. O'Shannessy about an hour ago while you went out for lunch," the doctor stated to the group. "Her vitals are getting stronger and she's holding her own."

"When is she going to wake up?" Dom asked.

"Maybe anytime now," the doctor replied.

Hawke balked. "What do you mean maybe anytime now?"

"Just that," the doctor replied softly. "Look Mr. Hawke, I understand how you feel but the body is a very complex thing. There is only so much we can do. The rest is up to your friend."

Michael thanked the doctor as he was leaving.

"I'll be back in a bit to check on her again," he told them before shutting the door behind him.

Hawke sat down beside Dom and rested his head on his hands. "What was so pressing that you had to take care of Michael?" he asked.

Michael looked at Dom and Marella. "Well, I guess you were going to find out from Caitlin anyway so I'll fill you in," he replied.

"Fill me in on what?" he asked. "Does this have something to do with Caitlin rushing out of the hangar the other day before the accident?"

Michael sighed. "Yeah, it does," he replied. "She got an important letter from several lawyers."

"Lawyers?" asked Dom. "Is Caitlin in some kind of trouble?"

Michael wasn't sure how to proceed. He stared at Caitlin before reaching over and picking up her hand and squeezing it slightly. "It was from adoption lawyers," he replied.

"Adoption lawyers?" Hawke replied, confused. "What do adoption lawyers want with Caitlin? Is she trying to adopt a child?"

"No, Caitlin had a baby when she was sixteen," he replied bluntly. "She gave the baby up for adoption with the stipulation that if anything happened to the adoptive parents she'd be contacted with the option of taking the child back or she could help decide where the child goes next."

Hawke stood up and stared at Michael. "I can't believe she never told us about that," he replied. "That must have been hard on her. How did you know about it?"

Michael shrugged. "I did a background check when she joined the team," he replied matter of fact like. "I kept it to myself. It wasn't my secret to tell. But she figured I knew so she came to me the other day for some advice."

"So the adoptive parents died?" Dom interjected.

"Yeah, they did and now her twelve year old son wants back in her life," Michael told them. "His adoptive grandparents wanted him too and offered to take full custody. The problem is, he wanted to go to Caitlin and he's run away. That's where I've been. We've been using all of our resources to find him. We think he's heading to California though."

"Then we'll help in the search," Hawke insisted. "I can't sit here and wait anymore. I need to be doing something and I'm sure as hell not going to let anything happen to her son."

"What about the boy's father?" Dom asked as he stood up ready to follow Hawke out. "Where is he?"

Michael sighed. "That's another story," he replied. "She never named a father. It's a bit complicated. But, that's a story she'll have to tell you, not me."

"How can we help Michael?" Hawke asked. "Where have you looked?"

Michael reached in his pocket and pulled out a photo. He handed it to Hawke. "This is what he looks like," he replied. "I have people at all the bus and train stations as well as the airport but they say he's pretty resourceful. He may not get recognized. We're hoping he didn't hitchhike his way out here. It's pretty dangerous for a twelve year old to be out there on his own."

Hawke stared at the picture. "Good looking kid," he replied. "We'll follow up at the airport. I have a feeling he's got an attraction to airplanes."

"How do you know that?" asked Dom.

Hawke handed him the picture. "Look, he's wearing someone's old flight jacket."

Dom couldn't help but to smile. "Fruit doesn't fall far from the tree huh?"

Hawke couldn't help but shoot him back a sad smile.

"Does he know about Caitlin's accident?" Hawke asked Michael.

"No," replied Michael. "It happened after he ran away."

"Then he might just go to the hangar," replied Hawke. "I think that should probably be our first stop."

"Let's go," replied Dom.