The First Drop Of Rain

Chapter Fifty Nine

I practically ripped myself from the harness as I flung myself out of the jeep. Edward hadn't even gotten the car fully in park yet, but the moment my eyes hit the hospital marquee, I was in action. My phone was gripped so tight in my hand it was a miracle I hadn't rendered it to dust, and I wasn't entirely sure I hadn't broken the buckles to the harness with the speed I had undone them. Despite the rain that still pounded down from the heavens, I was running. My feet were creating small tidal waves in the water that gathered on the pavement, the splash coming up so far it splattered on my thighs. Why didn't Edward drive me closer? I thought angrily as the rain blurred my vision and mixed with the tears that had surely welled in my eyes. I finally reached the emergency room entrance and slammed through the automatic doors before they could fully open, catching my shoulder on it as I did. I could feel a burn in my knees and became vaguely aware that I had stumbled while exiting the vehicle, likely having scraped them to hell and back since I was only wearing shorts.

"Officer Derek Jacks! Where is he!?" I slammed my hands down on the desk at the entrance, my voice desperate and my hair soaked. I probably looked like a drowned rat, but that didn't matter.

"Ma'am I need you to calm down and-" I was sure the lady manning the desk was very capable of doing her job and a lovely human, but none of that mattered right now. Right now all I needed was to make sure my dad was okay.

"OFFICER JACKS!" I yelled, cutting her off and slamming my hand on the counter, the small puddle I had created was now splattered across the visitor sign in sheet as well as the nurse's face. I could feel my anxiety ramping up, and even more I could feel the ugliness of my compulsion rearing its head. It had my throat in a vice and I fought it off with every bit of my being as I spoke my next words. "GET ME OFFICER JACKS!" In two outburst shouts I had effectively given myself a migraine and ripped my throat raw, but none of that mattered. I wasn't sure if the order I had just given was going to be one of greater influence beyond the normal capacity of a human, but part of me didn't care. I hope this nurse did walk all the way to where they kept my father and took me to him with her. The only person in the world I wanted right now was my dad, nothing else and nobody else mattered.

"Oh shit." I heard a familiar voice before a figure ran up beside me. "Lisa, I'm sorry, this is Arabella." I spun to look at whoever was speaking so calmly while the entire universe shattered into a million pieces, and there Charlie was standing, his eyes wild. "I'll take her." He looped his arm around me and walked me towards the waiting area just as Edward burst in through the doors.

"Is he okay?" Edward asked, his eyebrows furrowed so low that his eyes looked black while rain dripped from his hair. He took one look at me and nodded for a second. "I will call my dad. See if he can get here soon."

"Thank you, Edward." Charlie said as he continued to pull me to the waiting area. "Ari, sit down."

"Oh god. It's bad isn't it? What happened? Why wasn't he wearing his vest? I thought he didn't have to work today, that he was just going to hang out on the reservation or something." My words came out panicked and rushed, and now I shook like a drowned rat as well. Hair had plastered itself across my face and my hat was practically glued to my head as I breathed heavily.

"Woah woah, calm down, deep breaths." Charlie eased. "He is in surgery now, he wanted to wait until you got here but the doctors wouldn't let him." Charlie's face swam in and out of my view as my eyes darted around the room, trying to make any kind of sense about what I was seeing.

"So he was awake?" My body relaxed an inch, though still very tense.

"Yes, he was wearing his vest, he picked up an extra shift today and he did a routine traffic stop. Turns out it was a drug runner making way up to Canada." Charlie was delivering the facts like I was the one he had to give a debriefing to. "The gunman fired three shots, two hit Derek's vest but the third one was just wide enough to miss the kevlar." My whole body was cold and governed in chills. Pinpricks from the top of my head down to my toes came in waves. "They couldn't tell me anything about his injuries because I'm not family, and they were still running tests as they took him down."