Once Eddie and Jamie were left alone with Emily after Nicky was released and she and Erin had brought clothes, snacks, and things for them to do while Emily slept; Eddie finally let her tears of worry and relief fall as Jamie held her in his arms. She couldn't believe that after only a few short days she loved someone so much, but she didn't want to change it for the world.
"Jamie, if we would have lost her…" She started.
"I know babe. We'd both be a mess. But she is alright. We can get her through this. She's strong and so are we. We just have to take it one step at a time."
"Eddie? Jamie?" Emily called and they wiped their eyes and went back to her.
"Is everything okay, baby?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to know where you were." Emily replied and they took her hands.
"We're right here and we're not going anywhere."
"Good. I told Nicky some of what happened. She told me about when she was abducted and how she still deals with PTSD and gave me some new ways to try and cope with it. It really helped me realize I am not the only one dealing with this. Can we maybe find a PTSD support group for teens? I think it might help a lot."
"That is a really good idea. We'll help you find the right group when you're ready." Jamie replied and Eddie nodded before glancing towards Jamie.
"I have also been through some rough situations and a few of them are similar to your traumas, you can come to me, or Jamie and we will listen and not judge. None of what happened was your fault and we want to help you as much as we can." Eddie added and Emily smiled.
"I know I can trust you both, and I do. I didn't know you had been through similar things." She replied. Eddie nodded. Emily looked to Jamie, and he nodded. He kissed them both on the head and went down to the cafeteria.
"Can I ask you a question?" She asked and Eddie nodded.
"Will it really get better or is that just something they say?"
"It will but you have to want it. You have to believe that if you work at it that it can get better. I know the hardest thing for me to cope with even to this day, is my bulimia. Jamie is a huge help with that. He understands that I will have doubts and is always there to reassure me that I am perfect in the skin I am in." Eddie said genuinely.
"I do want it. The hardest part of it all for me is that I can't really ever feel safe, except when I am with one of you guys. That is when I know nobody can get to me."
"And you are right, no one will hurt you again. Jamie and I will protect you with our lives. I had trouble with that after I was assaulted by a guy I went on a date with just two months after I became a cop. I felt ashamed for not being able to protect myself, for not being able to see the signs in him, and for letting him get inside my head. That was one of the first times Jamie helped me. We even went to arrest the guy together. He had a history of sexual assault and rape, but the charges were always dropped. I managed to testify and help put him in prison."
"Wow. That's pretty awesome that you got to do that." Emily replied.
"Yeah and knowing that he won't be able to do it to anyone else made it easier to cope with. Especially knowing that I helped to put him away." Eddie smiled softly and Emily nodded.
"I'm glad you got to do that. I know I said I didn't want to testify against my father, but what if I change my mind?"
"Then we'll talk to the ADA and Jamie and I will hold your hands every step of the way." Emily nodded and smiled.
"I think I want to do it. I want to make sure the judge and the jury know all the terrible things he did to me. I want to be a part of making sure he's never able to hurt anyone else again." Eddie nodded.
"As soon as we get you out of here then we will go and talk to the ADA on the case and get everything situated. You can do this, and we will have your back."
"Can you tell Jamie to come back now?" Eddie nodded and texted Jamie that they were done talking for now and he could come back. Jamie smiled and went back up to Emily's room.
"He's on his way back sweetheart. Why don't you rest, and I'll see if Nicky and Erin can bring us some real food for dinner tonight?"
"Can they eat with us?"
"Of course." Emily smiled.
"Okay." She replied before closing her eyes and trying to get some rest. Eddie flicked on the tv for background noise so that it would help Emily not have any nightmares.
Erin texted her back and said they would grab some Chinese and Eddie sent their order. Jamie came back and sat next to Eddie.
"How's she doing?"
"A little better. Erin and Nicky are on the way with Chinese. Emily wanted them to eat with us." He nodded.
"She's handling all of this way better than I ever could have." Eddie nodded.
"Same here." There was a soft knock at the door and Nicky and Erin walked in with their food.
"Hey, she still okay?"
"Yeah. We talked a bit."
"Good." Eddie nodded.
Emily woke up gasping. Her heart rate was accelerated, her oxygen saturation levels were lower than normal, and she was gripping her side in pain. With her monitors beeping a nurse came in to check on her.
"Em, baby what's wrong?"
"Hurts…can't breathe." Emily replied. The nurse listened to her respirations and looked concerned.
"It looks like one of her broken ribs has punctured her right lung. We'll have to get her back into surgery." The nurse said as another nurse came in with the doctor.
"But first, we'll have to reduce the pressure and reinflate her lung." The doctor added as she grabbed and empty sterile syringe from a cabinet and removed the plunger from it. She moved Emily's gown to the side and placed the needle gently into her lung and you could hear the air gush as her lung reinflated. She used medical tape and secured it in place.
Eddie kissed Emily's head and let them wheel her down to the surgical floor. They left their food and went down to the surgical waiting room.
"Is she ever going to catch a break?" Eddie asked as Erin called Frank and told him what was going on. He said that he and Henry would come back up there and sit with them. Eddie told Jamie she was going to take a walk and he nodded. He understood her need to get away and clear her head. He texted the social worker an update and she replied letting him know she was going to come and check on Emily tomorrow morning.
Eddie wandered out of the hospital to the drug store up the block. There was something she'd been meaning to do for a couple of weeks anyway. It gave her a chance to get a special treat for when Emily woke up again and clear her head too.
She found her way over to what she was looking for and grabbed two different brands. She grabbed Emily's favorite candy bar and a stuffed animal and went to pay for everything. She made it back to the hospital and went up to Emily's room. She set the bag on a side table and grabbed what she needed from it before heading into the bathroom.
She took one of each brand out to take and then set the three-minute timer on her phone. She turned them upside down and paced as she waited for the timer to go off. She got impatient and flipped them more than a minute early, but they were already positive. She put one in her pocket and the rest in her purse. She went back to the surgical waiting room and sat next to Jamie. A smile on her face.
"Better?" He asked and she nodded.
"Cleared my head a bit." He nodded and kissed her forehead. She handed him the test from her pocket.
"Are you serious?" She nodded.
"I just took 'em. I've been meaning to take one for a couple of weeks; but I kept forgetting. I just hope Emily will still want to stay with us."
"She will babe." He reassured her and slid the test into her purse before anyone else saw it. The next person they would tell would be Emily.
About forty-five minutes later the doctor walked out and told them that Emily would be okay. They were going to be moving her back to her room in about thirty minutes, once she was out of recovery. Jamie and Eddie decided that they would go ahead and go back to her room and wait for her there. The rest of them had an early morning and couldn't stay but Erin left their food with Eddie and Jamie. Emily would hopefully still be able to eat some of hers as well.
When they brought Emily back in, she was already awake and looking for them. Eddie and Jamie immediately stepped up to the bed and took her hands.
"Hey sweet girl. How're you feeling?" Eddie asked softly.
"I'm okay, I guess. I can't feel much. This morphine is doing it's job." Emily replied groggily.
"That's good. I've got a surprise for you." Eddie replied and grabbed the stuffed owl she found at the gas station and handed it to her.
"It's not exactly Hedwig but it's as close as I could find."
"Thank you. She'll be Hedwig's long-lost sister. I'll have to find a name for her."
"You're welcome baby. You get some rest. We'll be here, okay?" Emily nodded and closed her eyes. Eddie and Jamie finished eating their food and saved Emily's for later.