Adopted by Phan

Chapter 70

Dan's P.O.V.

Jay was asleep, her head still resting in the crook of her elbow and a part of her hair was falling in her face, curling a little bit at the end. Once Phil was sure that she was asleep he put the book down, leaning into my shoulder.

The nurses had told us that she had gone into shock before, when she had been shown her leg, but was doing okay after she had woken up. One of the doctors had come and given us a quick talk about what was going on and what could happen to Jay in the future.

He said that Jay could possibly fall into depression or develop anxiety, and possibly fall victim to PTSD sometime in the future. Both Phil and I knew how to deal with depression and anxiety, having had them both at some time in our lives, but PTSD was something we'd never dealt with.

We knew the physical disability was going to be hard to deal with, she was going to have to have physical therapy and possibly get a prosthetic if she was able too. I looked over at Jay again, her eyes closed and breathing slowly, as if nothing had happened. Her head was lying in such a way that I couldn't see the bandages on her neck and the only evidence of the kidnapping was her black eye.

Officer Briny was still sitting in a stony silence in his chair, his eyes fixed firmly on the back of Jay's head and his forehead was still creased in worry. He had spent the past few hours on the phone with different people, trying not to yell and scream at the person on the other end and I felt for him.

I knew he was trying to get information on Jay, on her case and what was happening to whoever was currently being held in jail. He spent at least half an hour pacing around the small curtained room, trying not to yell for the sake of the other children in the room, who didn't need an angry police officer on top of whatever they were facing.

"Phil? What's the time?" My phone was charging on the opposite side of the room, the only outlet behind the bed and out of my reach. He turned on his phone.

"2 o'clock, I think Jay's been asleep for about an hour and a half but I dunno." I leaned my head down on Phil's shoulder and sighed, squeezing Phil's hand and feeling him nuzzling his nose around in my hair.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah..." Phil's voice cracked when he replied, squeezing my hand tightly. We were both exhausted and I could see black bags underneath Phil's eyes, I knew that I probably looked just as bad because of the sleepless nights.

"You two can go home for the night, you know that right?" Officer Briny was looking straight at me and Phil, his head titled to the side. I looked over at him, squinting at him in confusion.

"But I want to stay here... I'm not leaving her here alone." Phil nodded beside me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I'm not going home until Jay does." The curtain opened behind us and I swung my head around.

"In that case, we might move you lot into a private room, with an extra bed or two."

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"Dan?" I turned my head, trying not to shake the bed too much. Phil was asleep, his head resting on my lap and most of his body hidden underneath a pile of blankets, and his position hadn't changed in the last few hours.

"Yeah?" Jay was lying on her side, her toy dog clutched in her grip and a blanket covering her head as she had been sleeping for another couple of hours and had woken up in the past half an hour.

She reached one of her arms out towards me, yawning as she did so and leaning on her arm.

"Do you want your book?" Her eyes lit up and she nodded, rolling back over onto her back again and adjusting her blankets, which kept almost falling off the bed.

I leaned down and grabbed the backpack, which was sitting below the bed and I managed to grab it without knocking against Phil and waking him up. I pulled the book out and handed it to her, leaning over as far as I could so Jay could reach it without straining herself too much.

"Thanks. What's the time?" I grabbed my phone, which I had taken off charge so Phil's phone could charge in the port in the room, similar to the other room.

The room that Jay had been moved to was a private room, four walls with a window on the left hand side and a door that could be closed. There was no one else in the room other than Phil, Jay and I, as Officer Briny had disappeared somewhere else and the nurses had left us alone for a while.

"Ummm... half past 6." Jay sighed.

"Oh."

"Why? You okay?" She kicked out her non-injured leg, throwing her toy to the side.

"Sore. Tired. Hungry." She paused, turning her head away and just before she did I saw tears in the corners of her eyes. "I'm scared. I don't know what to do anymore, I don't feel like me anymore. I feel like something's disappeared, from inside me if that makes sense."

I moved Phil's head off my lap, laying it down on a pillow and slipped from the bed, padding over to Jay. She was still facing the other way, her head buried in her arm and her chest rising and falling unevenly. I knew she was crying and as I made my way around to the side of the bed I saw her toy fall to the floor so I leaned down to pick it up.

"Jay?" She lifted her head, her eyes already streaked with tears. "Please, I know this hard. You know we're here, both Phil and I and we'll do whatever we can to help."

I pushed the toy back into her hands, looking her square in the eyes.

"You'll be okay, I promise you."

"I know you can't promise me that. No one can." My heart dropped at those words. They seemed to be popping up everywhere, when things seemed hopeless and something told me they'd be important.

"I know I can't, but I'll try Jay, everyone will."