Chapter 130: Reconnection
A few moments later, Eric and Mike arrived at the hospital and headed straight toward the emergency room. When they got there, they saw a sleepy-looking Caleb sitting across from Jade, Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura, who all seemed completely wrapped up in discussing Mike’s new job. Eric caught a bit of their conversation and turned to Mike.
"Hey... you’re interning at the Stone and Friends law firm?" Eric asked, surprised.
"Oh... yeah, I just got accepted yesterday... that’s why I took three days off from classes to get ready for work," Mike answered.
"Hmm... nice. I use that law firm pretty often," Eric noted.
"Hey... you guys are back?"
Eric and Mike looked up to see Caleb waking up and standing to greet them.
"Yeah, we’re back... oh right... I have something to pass along to your wife," Eric said.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace with a gold-and-diamond treble clef pendant. Taking Caleb’s hand, he dropped the necklace into his palm. Caleb held it up to get a better look.
"Huh... this is for my wife?" Caleb asked.
"Yeah... for protection," Eric replied.
Caleb looked at Mike, who just shrugged, and then he noticed that Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura were all wearing the exact same necklace. Caleb looked back at Eric.
"Thanks, man. I’ll give it to Avery later. She’s still on duty right now, though she hung out here for a bit earlier," Caleb said.
"Awesome... sound good. I’m going to step inside for a second," Eric said.
"You got it," Caleb replied.
Eric left Caleb talking with Mike and walked over to stand in front of Jade. Naturally, Jade and the six girls stood up the moment they saw him.
"You’re back. How did it go at the police station?" Jade asked.
"Yeah... tell us, what happened?" Emma chimed in.
Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura were just as eager, waiting for Eric to speak even though they didn’t say it out loud. Eric filled them in on everything. At the station, he and Mike had laid out the timeline of events, and Mike had shown the officers the video he took right when he and Jade arrived.
As it turned out, while the officer taking their statement was listening to the story, Norman happened to be visiting the station. He spotted Eric through the window and walked right in to say hello, overlapping with Eric’s breakdown of the situation.
Apparently, Norman recognized one of the five guys currently in custody. The guy was a known drug dealer the police had been tracking for a while, a repeat offender with a record for extortion, assault, and battery. He was 23, noticeably older than the others who were only 19.
After hearing the whole story, Norman decided to step in and help. He hoped that by busting this dealer, he could crack the network and locate the supplier. He planned to visit the hospital to get statements from Ruby and Chad as soon as they woke up, and promised to keep Eric updated on the case.
When Eric finished his story, Chloe stepped forward and immediately took both of his hands in hers, her anxious expression melting into relief.
"It’s a good thing you ran into Mr. Norman. Otherwise, this would’ve dragged on forever," Chloe said.
"Yeah... it was lucky he was already there handling another case," Eric replied.
"Thank goodness. I was so worried about you," Emma said, grabbing Eric’s arm.
"You were amazing, but I was terrified because you threw the first punch, and that definitely wasn’t self-defense," Monica said, holding his other arm.
"About that, Mike already explained to them that one of the guys shoved him first, so it still qualifies as defense of others. The landlord and the security guard backed that up too," Eric said with a smile.
"But how did Chad even get mixed up with people like that?" Priya asked.
"I don’t think Chad was the one hanging out with them... Emma, do you remember the guy who was with Chad at the supermarket? The one acting like Chad’s bodyguard?" Eric asked, turning to Emma.
"Yes... he was one of the five guys in the room, the one trying to strip Ruby," Emma said, shivering as she clung to Eric’s arm.
"Right. So it wasn’t necessarily Chad who chose that crowd. It’s highly likely that bodyguard guy reeled Chad in, and Ruby just got dragged into the mess," Eric said gently.
Hearing Eric’s take, the six girls stared at him, totally confused. Jade, who had been quiet the whole time, was also studying Eric from the side. Feeling their eyes on him, Eric asked,
"What’s up?" Eric asked, puzzled.
"Nothing... it’s just that you seem a bit different somehow... you’re not placing all the blame on Chad, even though he’s clearly not a good guy either... but I don’t know, maybe it’s just my imagination," Heidi said, observing him closely.
"Same here... I was thinking the exact same thing. Even right now, the rest of us are still blaming Chad, even if he is in critical condition," Laura added.
"Ah... you guys are just overthinking it," Eric said, gently patting each of the six girls on the head one by one.
Eric then shifted over to stand right in front of Jade. He reached into his pocket once more, pulled out another necklace, and handed it to her. Jade was completely floored when she saw the diamond treble clef necklace in her hand. She looked up at Eric.
"What is... this?" Jade asked, lifting the necklace.
"It’s for you. Put it on. It’s for protection," Eric answered with a smile.
"Are you serious? This is for me?" Jade asked hesitantly.
"Yeah... I’m serious. I actually asked Mike for permission to give this to you on the way over. At first, I wanted him to be the one to give it to you, but he told me I should just give it to you directly. So go on, go ask Mike to put it on for you," Eric replied with a smile.
Jade looked into Eric’s eyes. This time, his gaze wasn’t as icy as usual; a flicker of warmth was beginning to show in his expression. It wasn’t quite the Eric she used to know, but it was a massive shift from the completely cold, expressionless Eric he had become. Before she could ask anything, Eric took Jade’s hand.
"Walk me inside for a minute," Eric said.
"Oh... okay," Jade replied, growing more confused by the second.
"I’m heading inside for a bit. You girls wait here, and then we’ll head home," Eric told the group.
"Okay!" the six girls answered cheerfully.
Eric turned and led Jade into the emergency room. Once inside, he asked Jade to show him to the booth where Ruby was resting. Stepping inside, Eric saw Ruby still lying motionless on the bed. Jade then relayed everything Avery had told her to Eric.
"I see," Eric muttered.
"Yeah... it’s a good thing we got there when we did... otherwise, things could’ve been disastrous," Jade replied.
"True... thank goodness nothing happened," Eric said.
Eric walked up to the side of Ruby’s bed, pulling out the very last diamond treble clef necklace. He leaned down and gently fastened the necklace around Ruby’s neck. Then, he stood back up and softly stroked Ruby’s hair. Watching him, Jade grew even more confused, but she held back her questions.
A smile crept onto her face; she was thrilled to see that her cousin’s true self was still in there somewhere, even if he was clearly much more mature and stronger than before, still carrying the same kindness, but no longer willing to just roll over and accept anything just to keep the peace.
After putting the necklace on Ruby and smoothing her hair, Eric turned back to Jade, who was standing at the foot of the bed.
"Alright then, I’m gonna head out," Eric said.
"Huh... you’re leaving?" Jade asked, snapping out of her thoughts.
"Yeah... poor girls are exhausted, they just got out of school," Eric said, gesturing toward the exit with his thumb.
"Oh... good point. Go ahead... I’ll stay and watch over Ruby until she wakes up... by the way... is it okay if I tell her that you saved her, and that the necklace she’s wearing is from you?" Jade asked, making sure she wouldn’t step on any toes.
Eric went quiet for a moment. He looked back at Ruby, who was sleeping peacefully, now wearing his necklace. Then he smiled and looked at Jade.
"Tell her if you feel like it’s necessary... but... for now, I don’t want to see her just yet... I’m not ready," Eric said with a soft smile, looking at Jade.
Jade read the expression on Eric’s face. Though his features remained firm, his gaze lacked the biting coldness from before. Jade smiled back.
"Okay... I get it. Go on home, I’ll talk to Ruby when she comes to," Jade said.
"Thanks. I’m taking off," Eric replied.
"Oh... send Mike in on your way out, will you?" Jade asked, handing Eric his car keys back.
"Got it... I’ll let him know," Eric said, taking the keys.
Eric stepped out of the booth and walked out of the ER. Out front, he approached Mike and Caleb, asking them both to head inside, and they immediately walked in. Then, he turned to the six girls.
"Let’s go home," Eric said casually.
"Oh... okay!" the six of them replied brightly.
Together, they walked down the hospital corridors toward the lobby exit, ready to head back to their apartment.