The taxi ride from the airport to the hospital was never ending. Coupling that with the rush hour traffic at this time of day, both Lisa and Jack were almost at their wits' end. Lisa looked down at their clasped hands and was pretty sure she hadn't let go of Jack's hand since he had surprised her on the plane, well, except for the couple of minutes she had tried to freshen up in the airport bathroom after they'd landed. Even then, Jack had been right outside the door, and thinking about it now, she realized how much she needed him and was glad he'd ignored her bright idea of staying home and had come with her.
Lisa had no idea what they would find at the hospital; she had not been able to get any information, and that was making this even scarier than it already was. She did need Jack, and he was right; they tackled problems as a team. It had taken some time for her to figure that out, even still messing that up today, but it had not been an easy thing for her to accept over the years. It wasn't Jack; she loved him more than she would have ever imagined, but it had been mostly her, accepting that someone loved her unconditionally and was there to support her, not change her. Looking back, Dan hadn't been supportive. He'd always wanted her to change, to go with what he wanted, and to be fair, she'd almost then taken that on as the way relationships worked. Lisa has always been independent and had grown to resent Dan and his lack of support. When she and Jack had started dating, she had been careful in not letting down her guard, and it had taken years for her to start doing so. Even now, Jack had to remind her to do so, to share what was bothering her. She had gotten better over the years, but especially right after they were married, she still tried to keep things to herself, bottled up, and that had only caused tension with Jack. Working as a team was something she was still trying to remember, to give into with him, and right now, she was so glad her rock was right by her side.
"Almost there," Jack said quietly to her, leaning over and kissing the side of her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them to the downtown scenery of Toronto. She was startled when he spoke again, only because she was somewhat out of it herself. "Do you have any information about where to go once we get to the hospital?"
"No," she sighed, turning slightly to him, her eyes with tears piling up. "Ben's neighbor, Mrs. O'Brien, didn't have that information. Jack," she paused, shaking her head. She couldn't ask the question that she knew both of them were thinking. What Lisa had noticed is that Jack had not said everything would be okay, and instead, it was evident to both things could very well be a nightmare. He'd given her that reassurance a lot over the years both with business and personal issues, but tonight, neither could say that because it didn't feel like everything would be alright. Nothing else was said. Jack squeezed her hand, and she squeezed it back even tighter.
"What entrance do you want?" The driver asked them, and Lisa was grateful Jack was calm and clear to do the talking.
Jack sat slightly forward, "Main entrance, please." He turned to Lisa, "I'll grab our bags if you want to go into reception and get whatever information you can. I'll be right behind you," he nodded to her.
"Yes, right," she replied to him, nodding. "I don't even know what kind of accident they had, I mean, car, yes, but I don't know any of the details."
By now, the taxi was pulling up to the hospital entrance. Lisa was opening the door before the car came to a complete stop. Jack took care of the fare, and while he collected their bags, Lisa sprinted inside to get whatever information she could. Jack followed behind, pulling both of their checked bags. Normally, Lisa would have just taken a carry on, but she'd hastily packed and had thrown in a number of things. Jack had spent a little more time packing, collecting things of hers he spotted that she had forgotten, and without knowing the situation or how long they would be in Toronto, he'd packed a variety of things. Lisa was grateful for that, Jack running through the list of things he'd found that she'd forgotten including some of her daily medications. Luckily, Jack had been thinking enough for both of them in that moment.
"Okay, what's the story?" Jack asked her as he walked up behind her at the hospital reception desk. She frowned and looked over her shoulder at him.
"They are still trying to locate where we should go," she said, shaking her head. "Jack, I just have this feeling."
"I know," he nodded, reaching to squeeze her shoulder with his normal reassuring touch. Right now, nothing was reassuring. It took another minute, but the two then found themselves in an elevator, headed to the Intensive Care Unit.
The next several minutes were a blur, but Lisa remembered being ushered into a room and having a team of somber doctors greet them. Once it had been established they were family, they were delivered the news. The accident was all over the local news, and it wasn't a car accident, not in the sense that any of them were driving. Beth was in town visiting Ben and his wife, Lauren. The three had gone to dinner and were walking home. In the crosswalk, they had been struck by a drunk driver.
Lisa went pale and covered her mouth. Jack swallowed hard and gripped Lisa's hand even more, nodding to the team of doctors.
"What is their status?" Jack asked quietly, looking around the room. He looked to Lisa, no surprise that her complexion was now pasty white.
The exact words were a blur, but through the all-out sobs, Lisa and Jack started to process that Ben and Lauren had not made it out of the ER; both had passed away there. Beth had made it up to surgery overnight, but she'd not made it out of the operating room. Ben had taken the brunt of it, trying to shield his wife and mother, the doctors explained. Lisa was almost unconsolable, Jack trying to hold it together for her. Lisa was the closest blood relative, the only one they could contact, and even that had taken time. By the time the hospital had determined who everyone was and located the next of kin, Lisa and Jack were already on their way to Toronto.
It felt like they were in that room for hours, but in reality, it was not that long, not for this initial notification. They were told that a grief counselor and case manager would be coming in to talk to them and make further arrangements, but neither of them seemed to process much. Both were in different states of shock. Jack just shook his head, and when only one physician was still left in the room, Lisa's head snapped up, her tear-stained and reddened eyes darting around the room, first at Jack, who sat there stone-faced, and then to the doctor. Her grief was shifting between spurts of clarity and absolute silence.
"Jack," she said in a panic, her eyes darting. Lisa started to gesture wildly, even looking over to the physician who was still sitting with them. Jack tried to pull himself together and looked to his wife. "Amelia. She's with Mrs. O'Brien," and at that, she shook her head and looked to the physician as to explain, "My nephew and his wife, their daughter-she wasn't with them. That's how all this started, they didn't come for Amelia."
Both Lisa and Jack looked at each other and then across the room, almost as if the physician who had the task of waiting with them, would have any answers for them. He let out a long sigh as he briefly closed his eyes, but then, he looked to the two of them, "I am so sorry. We had no information about a daughter, just your name and number in all their phones. Your sister had you listed as an emergency contact. We knew this would be an unimaginable shock, and none of us had any information about a daughter."
"Yes, she's ahh, our niece, our great-niece. We have to get to her," Lisa teared up again, looking to Jack. He nodded, pulling their still clasped hands to his mouth and kissing them. "She's all alone, Jack. She's all alone. Her family is gone, all in just an instant."