Sweet Serendipity (27 page)

The line went quiet.

“I dropped him off with you. Why would he be with me?”

“His room is empty. He’s not here.”

“I’m on my way back.”

They hung up the phone and Ethan got in his car.

“I’ll drive around the neighborhood. Maybe he’s just out walking around.”

“I’ll call his friend down the street and ask if they have seen him.”

She hurried back off into the house and Ethan drove off around the block. The neighbors hadn’t seen him, but they would look around. Emily suggested that they call the police, but James spoke against it until they had to. James, Micah, and Ryan decided to try the trails in the woods.

“Kids love the woods. I know I did. Sometimes when I just needed to get away I would spend hours playing in the woods,” James said.

The guys took off and Rebecca collapsed on a bench and started to cry.

“I should have checked on him earlier. This is my fault.”

Tasha sat next to her.

“Don’t you dare say that. He’s almost eleven. He knows what he’s doing.”

She looked at her friend.

“That scares me even more because I think he’s trying to hurt himself.”

Her friends gasped. Emily spoke out.

“What does that mean? Why would a little boy want to hurt himself?”

“Jack told me he thinks Adam was cutting himself. He’s been very moody lately and short tempered. We thought it was just the divorce and a normal kid going through puberty stuff. I never thought it was a problem.”

“Oh good lord, we need to find that boy,” Tasha exclaimed.

Christine felt out of place, so she quietly began to clean up the mess. She figured it was her way of helping out. Ethan pulled in the driveway and ran to the back yard.

“I didn’t see him anywhere.”

Rebecca hung her head in her hands and cried even harder. They heard shouting from the pond area. Ethan wasted no time. He bolted off into the woods as fast as he could. Riley ran out the back door and looked at her mother.

Rebecca stood up and yelled out to Riley, “Look out for you father, he’s on his way here.”

They ran into the woods and didn’t stop until they came to the side of the pond. The view was nothing that Rebecca would ever forget. She saw all four men soaking wet and James and Ethan lying over a little limp body. James began performing CPR on her son. She ran over and collapsed on the ground.

“Adam, no.”

Ethan grabbed hold of her and held her tight. Tasha pulled out her phone and called 911. Jack ran into the clearing and watched the scene unfold. Rebecca didn’t look up at him. She kept her eyes locked on Adam.

“Please, baby, don’t leave me,” she yelled out. James kept working on Adam. Jack fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands.

The sound of sirens in the background grew louder and louder. Riley showed the paramedics where to go. James put pressure on Adam’s chest and water was finally forced out of Adam’s mouth. The paramedic dropped his bag and rolled Adam on his side to get the fluid out of his mouth.

“Give us a little room here, please.”

Everyone stepped back and let the EMTs do their job. Adam finally began coughing and Rebecca let out a cry of relief. She clung to Ethan and cried into his shoulder. Riley ran to her father and he wrapped his arm around her.

Two paramedics strapped Adam to a gurney and carried him to the ambulance. Jack and Rebecca went to get in when the EMT stopped them.

“We can only take one.” Jack stood aside and Rebecca climbed in. The sirens turned on and they were off to Jordan Hospital.

Adam was wheeled into the emergency room. He hadn’t regained consciousness while they were in the ambulance. Rebecca tried to go with Adam, but she was stopped by the EMT. She watched the metal doors close and she prayed she wouldn’t lose another child.

Jack rushed through the door with Riley beside him. They ran to Rebecca and embraced each other. Rebecca was hysterical and Riley was crying. This was bringing back far too fragile feelings from a year ago when Brian was brought in. Ethan hurried through the door and stopped when he saw Rebecca with her arm around her family. Micah walked over to him and put his hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

“That will always be her extended family, but that also includes you. Go to her, she needs you, too.”

He thanked his friend and slowly made his way over to her as she spotted him. Through her veil of tearsm she looked at him with blood shot eyes. Jack released his grip on her and she hurried into Ethan’s arms. Jack nodded to Ethan and hugged his daughter with both of his arms.

The hours seemed to drag on. A nurse brought them into a private lounge since they were taking up most of the waiting room chairs. Andrew began asking questions about where they were and why. Emily didn’t know quite how to answer him. Tasha huddled Ashlee in her arms. Both of them had stopped crying, but they sat silent. Rebecca couldn’t pace anymore, so she sat closest to the doors. Ethan held her hand to comfort her. Micah sat quietly with his eyes closed. Rebecca couldn’t tell if he was chanting or if he was praying, but she didn’t care which as long as her son pulled through.

The door to the waiting room opened and a doctor walked in with a woman standing behind her.

“Mr. and Mrs. Davis,” the doctor called out.

Jack and Rebecca stood up and approached the doctor.

“I am Dr. Ambrose. I am the one who is treating your son. If you could come with me, I’d like to speak with you.”

Jack put his arm around her lower back and helped her out the door and down the hallway. The doctor led them into the PICU and into a small conference room. He closed the door behind them.

“Please take a seat.” They did as they were told. The woman pulled out a file with some paper work. Rebecca watched her with caution.

“Mr. and Mrs. Davis this is Carol Woods. She is a social worker with the Child Protection Service.”

“Why?” Rebecca interrupted.

“If you’ll allow me to finish, Mrs. Davis, I’d appreciate it. I know how hard all of this must be on you. I assure you that it is just procedure.”

He pulled out a file and put his reading glasses on.

“Your son, Adam, is ten and three quarters, correct?”

“Yes,” Jack responded.

“How is he, doctor?” Rebecca demanded to know.

“He is on a ventilator right now. We are administering oxygen to him. He has not regained consciousness yet. We were able to aspirate most of the fluid from his lungs, but now we need to monitor him for any lung injury. Until he gains consciousness, we won’t know if there is any neurological injury.”

Rebecca gasped.

“Will he wake up?”

“There is no reason to indicate otherwise. We are treating him with Dexamethasone, Gentamicin, Ampicillin, and Morphine. We are hoping pneumonia will not set in, but we should know within the first twelve hours. We brought you in here because we noticed some marks on Adam’s body.”

Jack flinched and grabbed Rebecca’s knee. She looked over at him and held his hand, too.

“Are you aware that your son has cut marks on his upper and inner thighs?”

Rebecca thought she was going to be sick.

“Judging by your face, I take that as a no,” he continued. “He has some faded marks on his inner arms, too. Has your son tried to commit suicide before?”

Rebecca felt as if she had been punched in the chest.

“No!” She yelled. “He’s just a boy. Why would he even try?”

“We called over to his pediatrician for his records and it says here that you suffered a loss in your family not too long ago.”

“And?” Jack said.

“When someone witnesses a traumatic event such as a sibling dying, it can cause emotional issues.”

“Wouldn’t we have noticed it before now?” Rebecca asked. “What has this got to do with today?” She asked.

“Today was not an accident. He has rope burn around his stomach which indicates that he tied a rope around himself. I believe he tried to drown himself. You have to understand that when someone tries to hurt themselves or someone else I have to get Child Protective Services involved.”

Rebecca could feel blood drain from her face. Her world was turning black around her and she fainted.

When she came to she was lying on a bed in a private room. Ethan was sitting beside her with his head down.

“Ethan?” She said groggily.

He raised his head and gave her a small smile.

“You gave us a scare.”

“Where is Jack? How is Adam?”

“He is in Adam’s room. There is no change yet.”

She sat up and placed her legs on the floor.

“I’m not admitted, am I?”

He made a small sound of amusement.

“No, sweetie. You just fainted.”

“I want to see Adam.”

He took her hand and helped her up. Her head spun a little, but she closed her eyes and shook it off. Ethan put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him for support.

“They think he tried to kill himself. He’s not even eleven and they think he tried to commit suicide.”

Ethan didn’t say anything. He felt it wasn’t his place. He just comforted her and walked with her to Adam’s room. He let her go and gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“You go on and spend some time with your family. I will go and get all of you something to eat. I have a feeling it is going to be a long night.”

She thanked him and walked into the room. Riley ran to her and grabbed hold. “I’m so scared mom. This is Brian all over again.”

“Shhh sweetie, no it’s not. Adam will be alright.” She took a seat on the opposite side of Jack so that Adam was surrounded by his family. She took hold of his hand and prayed for him.

Ethan entered the waiting room. Emily was holding Layla in her hands. “Thank god is she alright?”

He nodded. “She’s in with her family now. There is still no change. The doctor said the next few hours are the critical hours.”

“Well I guess it’s going to be a long night.” Emily said.

Tasha was holding Andrew as he was asleep on her shoulder. “Sweetie you have two young babies. Go home. We’ll let you know what happens.

“I’m not leaving. If something happens to that boy, I want to be here.” She snapped.

“Well, at least let Ashlee take them home, she can watch out for them.”

“Mom I don’t want to leave. He’s my family too. Besides Riley is my best friend. I’m not going anywhere.”

Emily snapped her head back and forth. “See. I guess we all deal.”

Ethan leaned over the table and found a pen. He ripped the cover off of a magazine and looked up at everyone. “Alrighty then, I am going to go get some food. We all need to eat. So what should we get?”

No one spoke.

“We have to eat even if we don’t want to,” he told them.

Micah spoke, “Why don’t we just go and run and get some pizzas. That’s easy and it can sit out for a while. I’ll go with you.”

James stood up. “I’ll tag along too. I’ll go and get the blankets and the portable play pen from the car.”

Once they were all in agreement the guys left. Christine left a message on Ethan’s voicemail letting him know that she and Ryan cleaned up Rebecca’s house after everyone left. They locked up and turned on the outside lights. Ethan was grateful for his friends. He didn’t want Rebecca to have to worry about going home and having to deal with all the food and mess. He sent a text to her and thanked her. She immediately sent one back and asked him to text when Adam woke up.

Ethan gently knocked on the door and stood in the doorway of Adam’s room. Jack looked up, and Ethan nodded to him.

“We got some pizza and soda. Why don’t you guys come and get something to eat?”

“I’m not hungry and I’m not leaving my son.” Rebecca snapped.

Riley looked at her with a worried expression and then put her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “You should eat, mom. We didn’t have a chance to eat earlier, so we should eat now.”

“I want to be here when he opens his eyes. I need him to open his eyes.”

Jack lifted her elbow up. “You won’t be any good to him if you make yourself sick Becky. Ethan is right, we need to eat something.”

She pulled her arm back, “then you go. I’m not leaving his side. I wasn’t there for Brian, I’ll be damned if I’m not for Adam.”