Chapter 05: Erin Waking Up!

Kelly was sitting by Erin's bed, barely awake, waiting for her to wake up. It had been a week since Erin was attacked and a week and a half since she fell into a coma. Almost everyone from district 21 and station 51 had visited Erin except for Voight.

Kelly was disappointed that Voight, hadn't shown up to see her, but the rest of the team, including Jay, Antonio, Ruzek, Al, Atwater, Burgess, and even Platt, had been there for her.

Kelly was frustrated, he really wanted to go to the district and talk some sense into Voight for not coming to visit Erin. He knew Voight was mourning his son, but he expected him to still visit Erin, who was the only one left for him.

Antonio had informed Kelly that they were investigating Erin's attack, which was Voight's excuse for not visiting. Kelly tried to shake off thoughts of Voight and hoped they would catch whoever hurt Erin.

'Come on, Erin, wake up and make everyone less worried,' he pleaded as he held her hand. Kissing her cheek, he whispered, 'Come on, beautiful, you can't sleep forever,' as he rested his head against her forehead.

"Hey, if you wake up, I'll take you wherever you want to go," Kelly promised, trying to get Erin to wake up. "I know it's been rough the past couple of weeks, but you need to open your eyes."

Maggie and Will had said Erin should wake up soon, so why was it taking her so long? Kelly felt hopeful when Erin started moving her head.

"Erin?" he asked gently, giving her space. He sat back and watched as Erin's hazel eyes stared back at him. Kelly smiled at Erin, who blinked in confusion. "Kelly?" Erin whispered hoarsely, still recovering from being out for so long.

"Hey Erin, I'm here." Kelly said, squeezing her hand, his blue eyes shining with tears. He was amazed that she listened to him and wasn't as stubborn as he thought.

"What happened? And why are you here?" Erin asked, curious about the situation. Justin had told her that Kelly sat by her side during her attack, but she couldn't recall what happened when Kelly and Casey found her.

"Do you remember what happened?" Kelly asked gently, realizing she might not remember due to being unconscious for a while. Erin furrowed her brow as she tried to recollect the events.

"Yeah, I remember bits and pieces, but not much after you and Casey arrived." Erin admitted, feeling bad for not remembering. "I'm sorry if I'm causing trouble, Kelly." She whispered.

Kelly shook his head and kissed Erin's hand, he didn't think it was her fault. 'Don't apologize, Erin,' he said soothingly as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

'But-' Erin tried to speak, but Kelly softly interrupted by placing a finger on her lips, 'Don't say anything, Erin,' he whispered, gazing into her hazel eyes. 'Let me explain what happened and jog your memory,' he whispered, and Erin nodded.

Erin gazed into Kelly's blue eyes, waiting for him to spill the beans after she got attacked. She coughed a bit to clear her throat, but luckily Kelly had a cup of water with a straw which he passed to her.

'Thanks,' Erin mumbled, easing back with a sore chest as Kelly wrapped up the story of what went down after he and Casey found her. Erin's brow furrowed as Kelly gave her a sympathetic look.

'So, Hank couldn't even drop by once?' She asked, unsure how to feel about her foster father not showing up during her two and a half weeks in the hospital. 'Just when you were brought in, and that's it,' Kelly replied with a frown as he noticed the pain in her hazel eyes.

'Why?' Erin's voice was hushed, eager to understand why the person she admired hadn't bothered to visit her.

" Why wouldn't Hank visit? Don't he even care that I'm even in here?" She asked with a frown on her face, as She heard Kelly sigh.

"Hey Erin, I'm sorry but I think Voight does care, he's just been super busy lately," Kelly said gently.

"Wait, busy with what?" Erin asked, giving Kelly a questioning look. She didn't want to hear any excuses for why Voight hadn't visited, but then she recalled the reason. She was finding it hard to believe, especially after Justin had mentioned in her dream that Voight did love her and she just needed to ask questions.

Kelly sighed and shook his head. "Voight and the team have been searching for the person who attacked you, Erin," he explained, noticing the expression on her face.

"By the way, I need to inform them that you're awake," Kelly mentioned as he stood up from his seat to call Antonio. Before heading out, he kissed Erin on the head, leaving her lost in her thoughts.

ยท Voight *

Voight was holed up in his office, buried in paperwork to distract himself from thoughts of Erin. Everyone kept pestering him about why he hadn't visited her in the hospital for the past couple of weeks, but he kept dodging the questions by claiming he was swamped with work on the cases they were stuck on and trying to track down Erin's attacker.

Every time they thought they were close to solving it, they hit a dead end and had to shift focus to another case that seemed connected to Erin's attack.

Voight couldn't shake off the similarity between Erin's case and another one they were working on where a woman was assaulted in a similar manner, though she wasn't raped but instead shot and brutally beaten. This made them second-guess if it was the same culprit behind both attacks.

The victim didn't even know what the guy looked like because he was wearing a mask, but all she could say was that he was tall, about 6 feet or a bit taller, and had dark eyes.

Voight let out a sigh as he thought about going to see Erin, or at least trying to. It's not that he doesn't want to visit his foster daughter, he's just scared of losing her. He picked up a picture hidden in his desk and glanced at it.

Running his fingers over the photo, it showed him holding a baby girl in his arms who was looking back at him. Voight closed his eyes, remembering the day he held the child. He quickly stashed the picture away when the office door opened and Antonio peeked in.

"Can I come in?" Antonio asked calmly. "Of course, come in," Voight replied, curious about why Antonio was in such a good mood, given that everyone had been frustrated and tired since Erin was attacked.

Antonio walked into the office and shut the door. 'Got some good news,' he announced as he walked over to Voight. 'Good news?' Voight asked, looking confused.

'Erin is awake,' Antonio said with a huge smile, making Voight blink in surprise.

'Are you sure?' Voight asked, not wanting to doubt his friend but needing to confirm. 'Yep, Kelly just called me,' Antonio reassured him.

'Everyone's heading to Med, so I thought you should go see her too.' Voight frowned, realizing he needed to stop avoiding the hospital and be there for Erin. 'Let's go,' he said, grabbing his coat and keys, and followed Antonio out of the office.