RIVER (An Eminem FanFiction)

Chapter 28

October 24th 2023
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Hailie's POV

"Hailie, we have a problem"...

"Oh, what is it? Have the police decided to pursue dads case with or without Sophia awake?" It was the only thing I could think of that made sense.

"No but it is about your dad. Hai, I know you're not on the best of terms right now but I'm gonna say sorry in advance before I tell you this. I found him unconscious about half an hour ago, he'd slit his wrists."

I feel myself tense, worry flooding me.

"Wh-what?" I said rooted to the ground, unmoving, trying to process what I was being told.

"We're on our way to the DMC right now. I'll come find you once we're here. Do you want me to call and tell anyone?"

"Call everyone please. Is he going to be ok?"

"I'll let them know. I'm not sure kid, we'll wait and see what the doctors say."

I hang up, feeling the tears begin to flow.

Soph and Dad in hospital. How the fuck do I tell Ava that? I haven't even been able to tell her about Soph properly yet.

I shouldn't have kicked him out yesterday. This is all my fault, I should know how he self destructs and now I have to deal with the guilt and consequences.

"Hailie? Sweetie, what's wrong?" Jackie puts her arm around me.

"My da-dad." I say as my crying gets heavier. I can sense both Jackie and James tense, they know what he did and probably feel uncomfortable trying to know how to react.

"What about your dad?" James asks from Soph's bedside.

"He sl-slit his wrists. It's all my fault, Ava's got nobody. I'm gonna lose my dad." I sob and bury my head into Jackie's shoulder as my tears flow harder.

I hear James scramble for something and then it dawns on me that Sophia's machine's are beeping faster.

"CAN SOMEBODY PAGE DR WEBB?" I hear James shout into the corridor and lift my head as Jackie lets go of me and runs towards Soph's bed.

"What's happening?" I ask frantically as Tanya comes into the room. My nerves are somewhat calmed when I see she isn't running, it can't be that bad then?

I'm unable to see Soph as the three of them crowd her and making it even worse, I can't see anyone's faces to gauge their emotions.

"What's happening?" I ask again and James finally looks up at me.

"Hailie, come over here for a minute, please." He says and I think I can see a smile tug at his lips through my teary eyes.

I reluctantly walk over to where Soph's bed is and Tanya steps a little to the side, allowing me to take my usual place where I've spoken to her the past two days.

Something feels different about approaching the bed this time, I don't know what but something is different.

As I move from behind Tanya and Soph comes into view I see the two dark blue eyes that I've longed to see these past seven days staring back at me.

"Sophia!" I shout as my tears start up again and I dive towards her bed to taks her hand, being cautious of the wires and machines.

"I'd like to take the ventilator tube out Miss Whitely. Is that ok?" Soph weakly nods, barely noticeable.

I keep holding her hand but turn away, I already know my weak stomach couldn't cope with watching them pull the tube out.

I hear her cough a little and tuen to see Jackie helping her drink a little water.

Tanya walks me away from Soph's bed to talk.

"Firstly, this is great news that she's awake. Secondly, I just heard word that your dad is on his way here, I'm so sorry." She says and reaches to touch my arm. "She'll be a little dazed probably until tomorrow. We'll give her some medication to help her sleep and when she wakes tomorrow hopefully she'll be a little more alert, we can assess any long-term issues she may have and most likely the police will try and talk with her if we deem that she is stable enough."

"Thank you." I smile at her and make my way over to Sophia, taking her hand once more and noticing she's drifted back off to sleep.

After the longest week of my life, thank God she's woken up...

A/N - next chapter will be about Marshall. Hopefully it'll be up tomorrow.

As always, any feedback or suggestions are welcome.

~ Im 💕