Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 44

"Wahoo!" Elliot cheered.

Mark let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, this one is down."

"But there'll be another one," Elliot said sadly.

Mark looked off to the road up ahead of them. "There's always another one." He turned back to Elliot and shrugged. "Job security."

Elliot shook his head. "People like to eat, that's my job security. I couldn't do what you do, but I'm glad that people like you, Dana and William are out there to stop criminals.

Elliot entered his mother's hospital room cautiously. Terry told Elliot that he had told Darlene about everything that had happened, so she knew Jenna was now Elliot. Still, Elliot didn't know how she was going to react to seeing him this way.

Dana helped him dye his hair back to the dirty blond it was naturally. This morning he shaved his beard and mustache entirely off for the first time in over a year. The testosterone had given his jaw more definition. The scar from the beating his father had given him before he went missing was evident on Elliot's cheekbone.

Darlene's eyes were closed as Elliot stared at his mother. She looked like she'd aged ten years over the past two and a half. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth seemed more pronounced as she lay there sleeping. There were deep, dark circles under her eyes and Elliot knew he was the cause for the sleepless nights his mother must have had.

Moving to the edge of the bed, Elliot slowly reached out and touched his mother's hand. He wanted to cry for all of the time they had lost because of his father.

Darlene's eyes fluttered, and she opened them. She jumped at the sight of the young man standing next to her bed.

"Sorry," Elliot said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Pushing herself up a little on the bed, Darlene stared at the young man, recognition slowly setting in. "Jenna?"

Elliot nodded.

Darlene put her hands to her mouth and let out a small cry.

The tears that had been burning behind Elliot's eyelids spilled forward. "I'm so sorry, Mom." And then realizing he was holding a boutique of his mother's favorite flowers, daisies, in his hand, he held them out to her. "For you."

Darlene looked from the flowers to Elliot. She took the flowers and set them on the table next to her bed, and then turned back to Elliot and opened her arms. "Come here, baby," she cried.

Elliot went to her, wrapping his arms gently around her and she pulled him to her. They held each other and cried for several minutes.

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Darlene's nurse stepped up. "I need to check her blood pressure."

"Of course," Elliot said and stepped back out of the way so the nurse could check Darlene.

When the nurse finished, she turned to Elliot. "Please try not to upset her. She is still struggling with breathing, and we don't want her to get too excited."

"So why Elliot?" Darlene asked.

"It's our street name," he said. "My full new name is Elliot Judson Cross. I'd hoped that one day Cara would see it somewhere and make the connection. We lived on Elliot Street. You have to take Cross Street to get to Judson Street where Cara lived."

Darlene laughed. "I should have known it had something to do with Cara. But I like it."

"Really?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, it has a nice ring to it." Darlene frowned. "Your father wanted to name you Michael, Jr. if you would have been a boy. I didn't want to do that, so I was glad you were a girl." Darlene studied Elliot's sad expression for a few minutes. "I'm okay with you being a boy, man, now. I'm so happy that you are alive period." She squeezed his hand tightly. "And the only thing I want is for you to be happy."

"Thank you," Elliot said leaning down to hug his mother.

"I heard Cara didn't take the news well," Darlene said.

"Yeah, it might have gone better if I hadn't stripped my shirt off in front of her so I could expose myself to my father. Although, the shocked expression on his face was priceless," Elliot said with a small grin.

"Pull up a chair," Darlene said. "And tell me everything."

Elliot did as his mother asked. He started with finding the body in the freezer and ended with shaving this morning.