His face fell. “Why didn’t you tell me when we arrived?”
“I didn’t know. I swear, I only found out a couple of hours ago. No one has seen her. No one can contact her.”
“And you know for definite that she was in there?”
“She was ticked off on the VIP list.”
His eyes darkened. “Speak to the family liaison officer at the hospital. They will have the names of everyone we’ve brought in.”
Tears pricked my eyes because, amongst the injured people we’d rescued, I knew there were at least fifteen dead.
“Let me know when you find her.” He gave me a nod before walking away to speak to the head of another crew and I rolled my shoulders so I could be the leader my guys needed.
“Okay, we’re off duty. Let’s get back so you can all go home and get some sleep. Tonight was a lot, so if you need to talk, then I’m here.”
“Helen?” Jimmy asked.
I pursed my lips so the emotion raging inside me didn’t show as I shook my head in reply. “I’m going to the hospital to look for her.”
“We’ll keep everything crossed.”
Chapter 35
Jax
I went straight from the club wreckage to the hospital, still in my full gear, gripping my helmet. Helen’s sons flanked me as we walked toward the temporary desk set up to deal with the families of the people involved in the incident.
“Jax Cartwright, I presume. I was told you’d be coming. I’ve searched through our records and there has been no Helen Fischer brought in. We haven't found her friends either. Some people didn’t have ID but your colleagues gave us a description of her and we have no Jane Doe’s who match in A&E, surgery, or who have been admitted to one of the wards. However…” Her voice lowered. “We have nine bodies in the morgue that are women and four have no ID.”
Callum pressed his hand to his heart and doubled over, while Jasper and Conner looked on in silence.
“And do they match her description?” I asked, desperately trying to remain professional while my chest heaved with the idea that she’d be alone down there, laid out on a cold slab.
“I don’t know. It’s too busy for me to find someone to go and check, although I’ve spoken to the morgue and they are happy for her next of kin to go and ID the bodies.”
Jasper looked horrified. “I can’t. None of us can, Jax. Fuck. I can’t do that. It’s too much.” The colour drained from his face, and I pulled him toward me, where he buried his head against my shoulder, his arms hanging limply by his side.
“Can I go for them?” I asked the woman.
“I mean, if you have their permission and you’re acting on their behalf, then I don’t see why not. I probably need to get you to sign something, but I’ll need some time to find out.”
Conner stepped forward, looking broken. “Our mum could be dead and you want us to wait to find that out while you sort the paperwork. Are you fucking kidding me?”
Jasper stood to full height and turned to his brother. “Conner, it’s not her fault.”
She held up her hands. “No, it’s fine. I understand how worried you must be. Go now, we can sort the rest out later.”
“Is there somewhere they can wait?” I twitched my head towards Helen’s sons.
“Family Room 3. It’s down the hall and—”
“I know where it is.”
Minutes later, Jasper, Conner, and Callum were sitting in the plastic seats of a sickly yellow room that I remembered all too well.
It was a small hospital, so it shouldn’t have surprised me that we ended up in the same room, but the irony was a bitter pill to swallow and I couldn’t help but wonder if the room where I was told my life would never be the same again when I was fifteen was the same room where I’d have to tell my friends that we’d lost their mum.
Chapter 36
