Hi everyone, sorry its been so long since the last update I took a break a little longer than I wanted after Christmas but I had major writers block!! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!
As soon as Dani saw Kim and Adam come around the corner of the hall, turning towards where her and Rae were sitting she felt instant relief. "One sec Rae." She said reassuringly to her new friend, putting a hand on her shoulder and then walking quickly towards her parents "Mom, Dad!"
"Dani!" Kim said just as relieved and instantly wrapped her daughter in a hug and kissed her forehead.
"I'm okay Mom. I'm okay." Dani said still a little shell shocked.
"Did he hurt you?" Kim asked.
"Not really, he just shook us up a little that's all." Dani said not wanting to cause any drama.
"Son of a bitch..." Adam mumbled under his breath his hand on Dani's shoulder.
"Adam." Kim said trying to get him to calm down.
"It's alright Dad." Dani said out of her hug from Kim looking at her Dad who looked frustrated. She smiled slightly and Adam couldn't help but smile back the frustration leaving his face.
"Is that Rae?" Kim asked looking towards the smaller girl sat playing with the checkers board in the corner.
"Yeah, she doesn't talk much though it's got worse since we got out she's hardly said a word." Kim nodded in response and walked over to Rae, kneeling down in front of her to be at her sat down level.
Adam sighed grateful that they had found their daughter and gently pulled her into a hug. He looked at her again and noticed she was a little uneasy and pale "You ok kid? What hurts? You look real pale."
"He just twisted my arm a little, that's all I'm ok Dad, really." Dani said and Adam looked her in the eyes and then caught sight of a bruise on her forehead. He moved the hair off of her face gently with his hand to have a look at it.
"You hit your head?" Adam asked in genuine concern.
Dani sighed knowing that she wasn't going to get away with trying to cover it up. "Yeah, but its ok it doesn't even hurt that much. I was fighting with the guy and he pushed me into the wall of the van...its just the shock Dad I'm alright."
"Alright sit down for a second." Adam said and directed his daughter to a nearby chair.
Adam turned around to see Kim and Rae who were walking towards him, Kim holding Rae's hand.
"Rae's coming back with us. Her Mom's been called she's gonna come pick her up from the 21st." Kim explained and Rae stayed quiet and just smiled shyly.
"Hey Rae I'm Adam, I'm Dani's Dad and a cop in Chicago. Don't worry we're gonna keep you safe now."Adam reassured in a soft tone, giving the smaller girl a reassuring smile.
Rae nodded and followed them out, Adam had his arm around Dani checking on her as they walked out.
"You ok honey?" Kim asked Dani as they all walked towards the car.
"We're taking her to med on the way back I think they both need to be checked out." Adam said as they reached the parking lot and got into the car.
"Dad that's completely unnecessary we're fine I promise." Dani argued squinting her eyes in exhaustion.
"I'm not arguing Dani you hit your head and Rae was in that van for fair amount of time before you guys escaped." Adam added making sure everyone was in with seatbelts secured before he drove away.
Dani just sighed and leant against the car door. She looked out the window as her Father drove the car out of the lot and back onto the highway. She threw the occasional reassuring smile Rae's way to make sure she was alright, but eventually she fell asleep.
"Did Rae say how it all started, what happened?" Kim asked towards the end of the journey and Dani shook her head a little in response.
"She mentioned it to me once after we escaped and didn't really explain what had happened. She just said that he was her Uncle that was it. We nearly home Dad?"
"Almost honey, not long now." He said calmly continuing his drive after being held up in traffic as they approached the edge of Chicago.
"You're head hurting sweetie?"
"I'm ok Mom, it's alright."
Kim smiled reassuringly recognising her daughters bravery, sometimes she was a little too brave and didn't let them know when something was really bothering her.
"Alright I'll get Rae, let's head in." Adam said as they parked outside of med.
Kim walked in beside Dani who looked exhausted and in shock which hadn't hit her straight away but definitely had now.
"Hey Jay called, told me what happened are you ok Dani?" Will said meeting them at the door.
Dani just nodded with slight smile, she was so tired and her heart was racing from trying to stay awake and what she had gone through.
"Honey are you alright?" Kim asked again.
"Its alright Mom, I'm ok, really." Dani said looking really pale.
"I don't know kid, don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look so good you mind if we head in and i check you over, make sure you're ok." Will asked.
"You need a wheelchair?" April said coming out of the entrance with a wheelchair after seeing Dani a little unsteady from a distance.
"I'm good, I can walk." Dani said trying to brush it off and then almost collapsing when she tried. Luckily, she fell towards Will who caught her before she hit the ground and helped her into the chair.
"Will what's wrong with me?" Dani said feeling a little helpless and struggling to catch her breath.
"Honey what's wrong? Will I don't think she can breathe!" Kim said alarmed at what was happening.
Will was already around the front of the wheel chair crouching down to her level to check on her.
"It's alright Kim I got her." He reassured and put his hand on her wrist to measure her pulse. "Dani, hey look at me kiddo right here, right here nothing else to worry about just look me in the eyes alright?" He comforted and Dani did as he had said, looking at him in the eyes. "You're pale, clammy, you're struggling to take a breath, you're a little unsteady and drowsy. Now I'm still gonna order a head CT just to be sure but I think this is just the shock ok? I need you to take a couple of deep breaths for me alright? Just copy what I do." Will said and demonstrated a few breaths to take.
"There you go, you're good, you're ok let's get you settled." Will said when Dani's breathing evened out again.
With Dani more calm they moved her out of the chair onto a gurney/bed. Will ordered a head CT to ensure there was no bleeds in the brain or any damage caused by her injury.
"All clear." He said walking in to Dani's room with the CT results.
"It's likely that what you were experiencing was just a nasty mix of shock and exhaustion. You've got a mild concussion but no permenant damage or bleeds to worry about. We'll keep you under observation for an hour or two and then I'm happy to let you go so long as your Mom and Dad can keep an eye on you." Will said walking into the room just as Kim had gone to check in on Adam and Rae.
Rae had woken up and was giving her statement to the Chicago Cops. They had found her Mom who was coming up from Springfield so Adam and Kim had to make sure she was ok before she left.
"That won't be a problem." Dani joked knowing how much her parents had been keeping an eye on her lately. "I cause them so much trouble." Dani said feeling a lot of guilt about what had happened.
"Hey." Will said using his stephescope to check her breath sounds. "This isn't your fault, you get that, right?" He reassured moving to her wrist to check her pulse.
"He came after me at school. I should have noticed him sooner and called the cops." Dani said thinking about the couple of kids at school that hadn't made it.
"You did a good thing Dani. You got yourself out. Now that little girl out there she's gonna be safe and back with her Mom soon, and you're safe too. What that guy did that's not on you." Will said and patted her on the shoulder as he left. "I'll get April to bring you in a support bandage for that arm it's just a sprain. You're all good. I think there's someone that wants to see you." Will said with a smile.
Seconds later Tommy came through on crutches and smiled at Dani in relief dropping his crutches once he had got to the bed and throwing his arms around her in a strong, warm embrace. They couldn't say anything for a while, but they knew exactly what each other were feeling so it didn't matter.
Thanks for reading I'll update again soon! :)