Hold My Hand (Sequel to Saved: Adopted by Brendon Urie)

Chapter 3

"Abby?" Brendon answered his cell phone. Abby's name came on the display.

"Who's this?" A female voice asked. It wasn't Abby. It was an adult.

"Brendon. I'm Abby's dad. This is her phone you're calling me from. Who are you? Where's my daughter?" Brendon was frantic. Someone had Abby. Someone had his daughter.

"My name is Christine Sullivan. I'm a nurse at Chicago County Hospital. Your daughter, Abby, did you say? Was hit by a car this morning. She's in pretty serious condition. You should get here as soon as you can. Have someone drive you if you can."

"I, she, I'm sorry, what?" Brendon said, frantically?

Zack, seeing how pale Brendon had gotten, and the change in the tone of his voice, grabbed the phone and directed Brendon to sit down in a nearby chair.

"Hi. This is Zack. I work with Brendon, Abby's dad. Can you tell me what happened?"

Zack listened as the nurse told him what she'd just told Brendon. Zack listened carefully, got a little more information and then took Brendon by the shoulders.

"Bren, we gotta go. I gotta get you to Abby," he said. Brendon wasn't paying attention. He just followed Zack.

Zack texted Kala to tell her what had happened then called the manager and explained what had happened. While doing so he also managed to arrange a car with a local crew member who agreed to drive them to the hospital. All of this went over Brendon's head.

Zack led him to the car and they took off for the hospital. Brendon was frantically texting. He was texting Abby's phone, he was trying to get information but Abby wasn't replying.

"She's not replying. Why isn't she replying?" He asked Zack.

"Dude, she's being taken care of. She probably can't respond to you just now. Let's get to the hospital and see what's happening first. Okay? Let's go see Abby."

Brendon wasn't paying attention, really. But he quieted down.

As soon as they pulled into the hospital, Brendon was out of the car like a shot. Zack had to run to keep up. The crew member said he'd head back but gave Zack his number and said he'd come back if they needed a ride.

Zack caught up with Brendon at the emergency department triage desk. He was berating the poor nurse.

"She's 13! You have to know where a 13 year old that got hit by a car is!" He was imploring of the nurse.

"Sir, I need you to calm down please."

"You don't understand, she's my daughter. I need to see her. You have to tell me where she is!"

"Sir, if you don't calm down, I will call security," the nurse said, frowning.

"Bren, let me," Zack whispered to Brendon. "Sorry. Hi. We're looking for his daughter Abby. We were told she was brought here. Someone called from her phone and told us she was here. She was hit by a car, apparently. He's really distraught, obviously."

"I understand. And I was trying to help him, but I wasn't understanding what he was saying. But yes. I can definitely help you two."

She looked in her computer and made a phone call.

"Dr. Greene? The father of your car accident victim is here," she said. "Yes. Okay. They're right out here."

She looked up at Brendon and Zack with a slight smile.

"Dr. Greene will be out shortly to update you."

"I need to see her. Please. I need to know if she's going to be okay!"

"Sir, I understand. They're very busy back there. Dr. Greene will be out in a few minutes and he'll let you know what is happening.

Zack managed to get Brendon to sit down. For an minute, anyway. Then he was up and pacing again.

"Zack, I, I can't. I can't go through this again. I can't lose Abby. Again." 

"Brendon, we don't know anything yet. She might just have, like, a broken leg or something."

"Then why aren't they letting me see her?" He asked. Zack couldn't answer that.

The two sat in the chairs in the waiting area, Brendon trying not to think the worst, Zack trying to stay calm for Brendon.

"I can't lose her, Zack. I can't. We were doing so well, weren't we?" Brendon asked his friend and security guard.

"Yeah. Bren. You were doing great. She's gonna be okay. You'll see. Abby's gonna be fine."

Neither knew how long they'd been sitting there. Kala was trying to keep in touch and be their liaison with the venue. Tonight's show had already been cancelled. The news networks had caught wind that someone in Brendon's camp had been in a serious accident. But no further details were given, leading Brendon's fans to think it was the singer himself who had been injured.

Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, instagram, all the big social media platforms had posts wishing Brendon well and being curious about details. Their tour manager was fielding calls and giving less information than he'd been given. Brendon's phone, thankfully on silent, was vibrating non stop with calls and texts. He didn't feel it, though.

A couple of hours after arriving a doctor came out of the emergency department, looked around and asked for "Brendon? Abby's parent?"

Zack pulled Brendon up from the chair he was sitting in, forcing Brendon to snap back to the moment.

"What? Why are we standing?"

"Because the doctor is here, and he's asking for you," Zack said.

Brendon's eyes cleared and he was clearly back in the moment. He looked around and followed Zack to the doctor, who was waiting by the doors to the treatment areas.

Without a word, he led Zack and Brendon into the treatment area and then into a smaller room off the main hallway. It looked like a small conference room or waiting room. There were only a few chairs and a small coffee table.

"Please, have a seat," the doctor said. Brendon sank into the nearest chair, terrified of what he was about to hear. Knowing he couldn't handle learning his daughter hadn't survived. Their last conversation had been a fight. And he blamed himself for it.

Kala was right. So was Abby. He hadn't put in the effort to spend time with Abby on tour. He kept saying he would when he had some time off but something kept coming up. He hadn't been fair to Abby, dragging her along on tour and then not properly preparing her for some of the long days and nights when she might not get time with him. He hadn't made a point of carving out time for her because he'd been so convinced he could handle it all.

And now he was sitting in an uncomfortable chair in an uncomfortable hospital hoping he wasn't about to learn the second worst news of his life.