Linstead - Always

Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The right thing

"Your whole world has been transformed. You realize that the ground beneath you has changed. Things are uncertain. And there is no turning back. The world around you is different now. Unrecognizable and there is nothing you can do about it. You are stuck. The future is in front of you. And you're not sure you like what you see. Like I said, I'm not a big fan of change."

- Grey's Anatomy

After Patrick O'Neil leaves the room, Erin enters. She caught the end of the conversation and glared at Hank. She puts her hand on her hip and runs her tongue between her lips and bites the bottom one as they both process the information.

Ian followed, but out of respect for their privacy he kept his distance, he didn't know what it was so he went back to work.

After a long time standing still and processing, it was Erin who broke the silence, which didn't do much good.

- Hank...

- I need to be alone. - He says.

- But...

- I need to be alone, Erin. - Voight says and knowing that she wouldn't have much else to do, she decides to leave.

It was already late and past the time she had promised Kim that she would pick up her daughter, he felt guilty for not letting her know, but when he picked up the cell phone he saw the message from both Kim and Jay.

Notification

Kim: I called Jay to find out about you and he said he would come by and pick you up.

Jay: Hope you don't mind, I picked up Charlotte from Kim's house, figured she was busy with Voight.

Jay: I just picked her up. Let's go to the hospital and wait for you.

(Photo of Charlotte grimacing in her car seat)

Jay: Let's buy food, don't leave without letting us know.

Jay: We got burritos, hope you're in the mood for burritos, Charlotte said you love them.

(Photo of them eating burritos in the car)

Jay: Car burrito day!

Erin left Voight's room, worried about what she heard and frustrated with him for always leaving her in the dark. It was like nothing ever changed with that man. She was irritated and just picked up her cell phone to call Kim. She hadn't imagined that a string of text messages and pictures would be something that would take her stress away in a minute. She smiled and soon hurried to meet them, mainly because if Jay sent one more message she would be sad, because she was already jealous that they were having fun together. Erin walked through the door to the hospital and hit send Jay a message.

- Where are you? I've just left. -EL

Once the message arrives, she gets the reply with Jay flashing his headlight, he was right in front of her, not too far away. She smiles and walks towards his car. When she arrives, she opens the passenger door to find her daughter sitting in front with a super paper that she imagines is the burrito itself, on her legs, so she could eat without making a mess.