Reconnecting

Chapter 1

Stella's POV

I was waken up in the middle of the night by my phone ringing. I answered it, while half asleep. "Hello, is this Stella Reese," a woman said. "This is she," I mumbled. "Who is it," Venom asked sleepily. "I'm a nurse at Valley Memorial. We're calling in regards to Cody Harris." I bolted up at the mention of my son who I haven't seen or heard from. "Is he alright," I asked quickly. "We need you to come to the hospital. The police and his doctor will be able to explain in detail what is going on with Mr. Harris."

"I'll be there soon," I said and hung up. "Cody is in the hospital," I said to Venom. We were up and dressing as fast as possible. Olivia and Zatch were spending the night with friends so we didn't have to worry about them. It's been ten years. What has my baby been doing all this time?

We got to the hospital and a woman directs us where to go. There were three officers, a man in sweats with grease stains, a woman in a suit with three kids that had blood on their clothes. "I'm Stella Reese, I received a call about our son Cody Harris," I said quickly. "I'm officer Gracen and this is officer Kevin. There was a break in at your son's job when he was doing inventory check. They shot him when he stepped out of the restroom," Officer Gracen informed us.

So he wasn't mixed up in anything? Just wrong place, wrong time? "Doctors say he's going to make a full recovery but when he wakes up we need to ask him some questions," Officer Gracen said then held out his card. "This is Julia Mendez, she's with CPS." He pointed our attention to the three kids. The oldest looked to be about five years old. They all had ginger hair, most likely a trait from their mother, but they had his blue eyes. Julia held out some forms, "I need you to sign these before I turn over the kids to your care. I do recommend they see a child psychologist if they start to have nightmares over tonight's events."

"They were there," Venom asked. "I'm Cody's boss," the man in sweats said. "Ivan Cortez. On nights Cody has to do inventory, I let him have the kids in the shop to hang out in my office since their day care closes before he finishes." "It was Bella who called the police," Julia Mendez said to us, gesturing to the little girl who was about five. "It's because of them, he's alive," a doctor said while coming up to us. "Had they not called the police sooner, it would be other news we would be giving you tonight. I'm Dr. Oscar. The bullets were through and through, missing vital areas. Your son is lucky."

He talked to us more as I signed the forms. Soon the officers, Ms. Mendez, and Dr. Oscar walked away. "I know about Cody's past when he was a kid," Mr. Cortez said. "He's not the kid he told me that got kicked out."

"Do you know where he is staying," Venom asked him. He nodded and gave us his address. "His truck is still at the shop with their booster seats. I'll meet you there. You'll have to get the keys from the nurses. They have his things." Venom nodded and looked at me, "I'm gonna go get their things then come back for them. To get them cleaned up."

I nodded and he gave me a kiss before the two men walked away. I crouched down, "So what are your names?" "I'm Bella," the little girl said. "This is Mace and this is Wilson." "I'm your grandma," I said to them. "How old are you?" "I'm five," Bella said while holding up five fingers. "Mace turned four a couple days ago, and Wilson is two." I had three grand babies and I never knew.

"Let's go check on your daddy before your grandpa gets back," I said to them. The boys were nervous and I didn't know if it was because of what happened or if it was because they didn't know me. I was gonna guess it was a mix of the two. When we went in, I almost couldn't recognize him. Tattoos covered his arms and he had a scar on his left cheek under his eye. He had muscle on him though, no sign of using any drugs. When we kicked him out, he had lost weight due to the drugs he had been using.

"Is he going to be okay," Mace asked in a soft whisper. "Daddy will be fine," I assured him. "The doctor said so." At least I hope he will be fine.

My phone then began ringing. "Hey," I said when I answered. "He's living in a half way house," he said and my heart hurt. "The kids have the bedrooms and he's in the living room. It looks like a couple of the kids are on a couple medications. One is a breathing treatment for asthma and the other meds are for epilepsy." Those can't be cheap. "Baby, he's sleeping on a sleeping bag while the kids are on beds. They have a week's worth of clothes for each season while he just has two weeks that he cycles through. They've got plenty of food though which is good." Probably on food stamps, I thought. "No sign a woman lives here besides his daughter though."

"He's got cigarettes but that's it. No other drugs, not much of anything to be honest. I found some school stuff and a bullshit laptop. From the date on the last paper and the layer of dust on the book, he stopped going. I'm gonna guess he needed more hours at work."

My baby, why didn't you come home?

"Pack up their stuff and just move them home," I said to him. Cody will deal with it. "It'll take me about an hour. I'll let you know when I'm headed back," he said. "I love you." "I love you too."

I sat in the chair and Wilson climbed into my lap. I looked at Cody and my heart felt heavy. Mace and Wilson then climbed in my lap while Bella sat in the chair beside me. It was late so it didn't take them long to fall asleep. Damn it Cody. Why didn't you contact us? Why did we have to find out this way? He better be happy he's injured and I miss him so much. If not for that, I would give him the ass chewing of a life time. Wait till his siblings find out.