Chapter 7 - The Hospital Call and the Race Against Time
"Hold your fire," Jax commanded, holding up a single finger toward the police officers while pressing the phone to his ear. "Miller here. Talk to me."
"Mr. Miller? This is Dr. Evans at St. Jude’s Memorial," a rushed, breathless voice came through the speaker. "We just received Mark Vance via emergency transport from his residence. His condition has rapidly deteriorated due to an acute systemic infection linked to his wartime shrapnel injuries. He's asking for you and Dylan. You need to get here immediately."
Jax felt the blood drain from his face. All the anger he had directed at the child services investigator instantly evaporated, replaced by a cold, sickening dread.
"Is he conscious?" Jax asked, his voice cracking slightly despite his best efforts to stay tough.
"Barely," the doctor replied. "His vitals are crashing. We are prepping him for emergency surgery right now, but you have maybe twenty minutes before things become critical. Please, hurry."
Jax hung up without a word. He looked down at Dylan, whose big hazel eyes were staring up at him with absolute, heartbreaking trust. The boy had heard enough to know something terrible had happened.
"Is it Dad?" Dylan whispered, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "Is Dad okay?"
Jax knelt down, taking both of Dylan's small shoulders in his hands. He forced a steady, reassuring look onto his weathered face, though his heart was breaking inside his chest. "Your dad needs us right now, buddy. We have to go to the hospital. Right this second."
The state investigator stepped forward, her expression hardening further. "Mr. Miller, I heard enough of that conversation to know Mr. Vance is incapacitated. That makes our intervention even more urgent. The child goes into state custody while we process the medical emergency."
"Like hell he does!" Jax roared, standing up to his full height and towering over the investigator. "His father is dying on an operating table ten minutes from here! You want to put an eight-year-old kid through the trauma of a state holding facility while his father is fighting for his life? Where is your basic human decency?"
The lead officer stepped between them, his hand firmly stopping the investigator from advancing. "Ma'am... wait. Let's use some common sense here. If the father is critical, dragging the kid away right now is going to cause a public relations and ethical nightmare for our department."
"I don't care about optics, Officer! I care about protocol!" the investigator snapped, her face flushing with anger.
May you like
"Protocol can wait five minutes," Jax cut in sharply. He looked directly at the officers. "I am driving straight to St. Jude's Memorial Hospital. You can follow my car every single inch of the way with your lights on if you don't trust me. But Dylan rides with me."
---
