Erin woke a couple hours later and spotted Nadia reading in the corner, her legs tucked underneath her as she scanned the pages. She smiled at the sight of the small girl, but soon her expression turned to a grimace as she felt pain set in. It had been a while since her last pain pills and she could definitely feel it. Her hand came up and grabbed her abdomen, causing Nadia to look up as she moved so suddenly. "Erin?" she practically threw her book down and hurried to her bedside. Erin shook her head quickly. "I'm fine. Don't worry." but she spoke through gritted teeth and the pain began to be a little too much. Nadia gave her a look. "Erin. Do you need some more meds?" She asked quietly, almost like a whisper. Nadia knew what Erin had gone through as a kid. She had gone through drug abuse as well, more recently than Erin, but she knew the girl in the bed in front of her. She would always let headaches pass, pain pass and even let wounds heal on their own before she would touch any pills. Nadia put her hand on Erin's arm softly.
"Erin. It's okay." she said. She didn't like seeing her mentor in such pain. Erin looked at the girl and saw the hurt in her eyes. Nadia looked to her as strong and as someone who could get through anything. Sure, she wasn't perfect, but she wasn't someone to give up either. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as another strike of pain shot through her abdomen, and reached down quickly and pressed the button continuously. A nurse rushed in quickly. "Everything okay?" she asked and was almost shocked by the state Erin was in. "She's in a lot of pain." Nadia said, taking Erin's hand of the button which she was still pressing. The nurse nodded and quickly got the pain meds, which she quickly put into her intravenous drip.
It took a moment before the pain began to subside, and Erin's muscles began to relax. The nurse put a hand on Erin's shoulder. "Don't let the pain get too bad before you call us. That's not gonna help your recovery, in fact it may make it worse, depending on how badly your muscles in your abdomen tense up." The nurse looked at Nadia, making sure she heard what she had said and walked out. Erin took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." she said quietly. Nadia looked at her shocked, almost angry. "What are you sorry for? Erin, you were just shot. Twice. You're gonna be in pain and you can't seem to think that you'll get through this and recover fully if you don't do what you are supposed to, and that it take the medication they tell you to when you have pain. That's what they're there for." She squeezed Erin's hand, who looked down. "I will always look up to you, Erin. We've been through similar things, but I'm not dumb enough to not take pain meds after I've been shot." Erin chuckled slightly as her friend poked fun at her. She looked up. "Thank you." Her hand came up to cup her cheek for a moment and wrap around the young girls neck, bringing her down into a hug.
She kissed her head and let go as the door opened once more. Hank walked in. "Hey." he said seeing the two sitting on the bed. "Hey Hank." Erin said, giving him a small smile. Nadia patted Erin's leg before standing. "I'm gonna go grab a coffee." She left the room, receiving a quiet 'thank you' from Voight and shut the door. Hank walked over to Erin and glanced up at the monitors before stopping at the foot of her bed. He looked around for a minute before meeting her eyes. "Hank?" she said, letting him know it was okay for him to say what's on his mind. He let out a breath. "How are you feeling?" he asked, hesitantly. Erin didn't answer, she simply tilted her head, giving him a serious look. "Hank." she said more seriously. He looked down defeated, before making his way to the side of her bed, sitting down on it.
"I knew what you were getting into when you took this job. When you told me you wanted to become a cop, I was ecstatic. I couldn't be more proud of you, Erin. But the day you graduated the academy, I dreaded this day. I knew one day it would come, but I was hoping it was when I was already gone, so I wouldn't have to see you the way I did." A single tear came to Erin's eye at the thought her father figure no longer being with her. She placed her hand on top of his, but didn't say a word, letting him finish. "Ever since I took you in, I've been able to make thing better for you. I've been able to fix it, whether it was legal or not. I did it. For you. For my kids. For my family." He looked down and for a minute Erin could've sworn she saw tears in his eyes. "But getting that horrifying call that you'd been shot... I realized that, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fix everything. I couldn't make it go away, I couldn't turn back time, I couldn't..." he trailed off. Tears were running down Erin's face as she stoked his hand.
"I can't even find the son of a bitch that did this to you, Erin." she almost looked shocked as a tear ran down his face. "I'm sorry, Erin." he looked at her and she saw tears start to fall down his face. She reached out and used the only strength to wrap her arms around him as she buried his face into her chest, trying not to cause her pain, though she didn't care. She kissed the top of his and stroked it as her father cried on her. She let her tears fall freely, not caring about anything but being with him. He was the only real father she'd ever had and she was his daughter, blood or not. They were a family. And they always will be.
Oh my god I suck at updating. Thanks for being patient. Sorry this was short, but there was a lot of Erin and Voight and I wanted to get this part up, but not drag it out too long. I feel like this part needed to be on it's own. Hope you enjoyed! don't forget to favorite and review! :)