Chapter Text
It has been a pretty slow day at The Claw so far, mid-November is sluggish in general so it was no surprise that they hadn’t had many customers. Ace was leaning against the counter while he waited for more dishes to wash when he heard his phone ring. He excused himself and headed to the locker room before he answered. “Ace’s phone, this is Ace. What’s up Mr. D?” He greeted cheerfully, he was always happy to see Carson’s caller ID pop up because the conversation was guaranteed to be about Nancy.
“Ace, there’s been a crash. It’s Nancy, she’s in the hospital,” Carson explained on the other end his voice was clearly strained from trying to hold himself together. Ryan’s panicked rambling could be heard in the background.
Ace swore his heart stopped. It was like the entire world had just faded into static, crumpled around him into nothing. No. No, this could be. Not Nancy. He regained control of his racing thoughts and reminded himself how to breathe before he answered. “We’ll be right there,” was all that he managed to reply as the shock wore off and turned into anxiety. He vaguely registered the sound of Carson hanging up on the other end, but that didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered beside getting to Nancy as soon as possible.
He was halfway across the kitchen before he even realized he was moving. He exited into the diner and beelined straight for George’s office. He barged in without hesitation, he heard what sounded like George complaining but she stopped when she saw the look on her face.
“Ace? What’s wrong? You never look this scared.”
“Nancy’s in the hospital.”
Everything after that moment faded into a blur as everyone quickly closed up The Claw before leaving. Ace had already left the parking lot before Nick could ask who was riding with who.
It took him three minutes to make the seven minute drive to the hospital. He rushed through the automatic doors so fast he nearly slipped on the freshly waxed linoleum. He regained his balance and found Carson and Ryan in the waiting room. He approached them hastily, turning to Carson since Ryan was currently pacing a hole in the floor. “What happened? How is she? Where is she? Who did this to her? Was it Gil?” Ace rambled off questions in one jagged breath, still far from calming down since Carson had called him with the news.
“Ace slow down, take a breath. She’s alive but currently unconscious. She was waiting at a four way stop when an out of control car rammed into her from the side. The car was reported stolen a couple of days ago so the driver is still unknown. That’s all we know right now. We’ll know more when she comes to,” Carson stated, his tone even and kind as he tried to help the young man he had grown to appreciate over the time he had been there for Nancy.
“How are you so calm right now?” Ace asked as he listened to Carson.
“I’m a lawyer, it’s my job to get the facts. Plus, even as stressed and worried as I am, someone has to be here for you lot. Speaking of, where’s the rest of the group?”
“On their way in Nick’s truck. George had us close early, declaring a family emergency. I-uh-may have broken several traffic laws to get here.”
“That’s not important right now. What is important is that you’re here and will be there for her when she wakes up.”
“Right, do the doctors know when that will be yet?”
“No, not yet but she’s stable and they expect her to make a full recovery. It’s just going to take her a little while to process the trauma and sleep is the best way for her brain to sort everything out.”
“Okay, going to take her time to heal,” Ace repeated back, more for his own sanity than Carson’s. “I can deal with that. I’ll wait forever as long as she’s okay.”
“Let’s sit down. You’re looking pale, don’t want you to pass out,” Carson suggested, he guided Ace over to nearby chairs and sat down next to him so he would know he wasn’t alone. Carson was aware of how much the situation must scare Ace from the knowledge that McGinnis shared during Ace’s car crash. The young man was terrified of them and the damage they could do to the people he loved. That trauma based fear was written all over his face as he stared at the nearest wall and anxiously tapped his foot.
“Mr. D?” He asked, his voice small and fragile like a scared child. “This is going to sound selfish and I’m sorry, but I can’t lose her. I know she’s your daughter and you should be the most concerned over this, you have every right to be mad but it’s true. I can’t lose her Mr. D. It’s come real close before, and there were times I was afraid she wasn’t going to pull though. But those were always mysteries for her to solve, puzzle pieces to fit together where only she could see the picture. Supernatural or not it’s always been a case for her to figure out. This was most likely an accident, and I know too well there’s nothing to be done about those. There won’t be a crew meeting for her to point out clues or make our next course of action, it will just be something we have to learn to move on from and I’m really bad at that.”
Carson couldn’t stand to see Ace so terrified, hardly anything ever seemed to phase him so seeing him so scared was worrying. Nancy might be the one in the hospital, but at that moment Ace was the one in need of help. “I’m not mad, if anything I’m glad that you care as much for her as you do. You’re a good kid Ace, and I know that. I know that you mean a lot to Nancy and she means a lot to you. I’m grateful that she has such an amazing group to be there for her and support her through whatever she decides to do. I don’t think you’re being selfish, it’s hard to sit helplessly when you know someone you love is hurting. But just like you assured me, Nancy is tough. She’ll pull through just fine and will yell at all of us for hovering over her.”
“Never thought I’d be looking forward to hearing Nancy complain,” Ace joked, although they both knew the humor was forced. He was about to say something else before he heard someone call his name and turned to see the rest of the crew rush over.
“Ace! Don’t scare us like that!” Bess chided him before she sat next to him. She glanced at Ryan before she turned to Carson. “Clearly things are bad, do you know what happened?”
“Sorry we’re late Mr. Drew,” George apologized as she and Nick sat on Carson’s other side.
Carson began to catch the others up on what he was previously telling Ace, glad that all of Nancy’s friends would be right here when she woke up.
Some time had passed before they got an update on her condition. Ryan had finally calmed down enough to stay in one place although he still refused to sit down.
“Mr. Drew? Mr. Hudson?” A doctor inquired as she approached the two men, all eyes immediately fell on her.
“Yes? Is everything alright doctor?” Carson replied as he stood up, Ryan still hadn’t trusted himself enough to speak.
“We have an update on your daughter’s condition.”
“How is she?”
“She is starting to stir, we think she will regain consciousness shortly. Anyone who wishes to see her is now permitted to do so. It may still be another few hours yet, but she’ll be alright.”
“Thank you doctor, glad to hear it.”
The moment the doctor turned to leave Bess tackled George in a relieved hug. “She’s okay! Or at least she is going to be, isn’t that great!”
“Get off of me.”
“Sorry.”
Ace felt like he could finally think clearly for the first time in hours. He wanted to see her immediately, he didn’t care if she wasn’t awake yet. He had so much that he wanted to tell her! How much he cared for her! How grateful he was that she’s okay! How much he loved her! Wait a minute, where’d that last one come from? Well he supposed it wasn’t that big of a deal, friends do say they love each other. But this feeling wasn’t the same, this one only happened when Nancy was involved. What could it- oh.
It was Nick who spoke into existence the question they were all thinking. “Can we go see her?”