Chapter Text
Tessa put her full mug of coffee down on the coffee table, careful not to spill it onto her piles of books and course work. She eyed her buzzing phone with curiosity and suspicion. Why was Joe Moir calling her?
Scott’s mother, Alma, called her at least once a week to check in and see how her surrogate daughter was doing. Joe, on the other hand never called her. He was usually content to just receive information from his wife and to give Tessa giant bear hugs whenever he saw her. Tessa could think of only one other time he had called her. It was when she was fifteen and home for a weekend break. He’d called her house looking for her to let her know Scott had jumped out of a tree. He’d landed on his hip which had been badly bruised. Joe had made an executive decision and overruled his son’s enthusiasm for skating. Scott wouldn’t come to practice the next day.
Why was he calling now?
Tessa’s hand shook a little as she reached for her phone. In fear she swiped the screen and lifted it to her ear.
“Hi Joe. H-how are you?” She greeted him and waited.
“Tessa.” Joe grunted and cleared his throat. “Tessa, where are you?”
She looked around her in puzzlement. Had she forgotten to be somewhere? A quick glance at her open diary showed she had no other plans but to study that day.
“At home, in my apartment. Why?”
“Hmm.” She could see Joe frowning and pursing his lips together as he always did when he was serious about something. Like explaining why it wasn’t a good idea for them to jump off the couch into a pile of pillows, no matter how good they thought their balance and aim was at eight and ten years old.
“Is anyone there?” Joe asked. Tessa’s levels of worry were now hovering at the ceiling.
“No, I’m alone. What’s going on, Joe?”
“Oh. Are you sitting down? Can you sit down?” The words came out in a jumbled rush.
Tessa drew in a deep breath.
“Yes, I’m sitting on my sofa. Joe, please. What’s happened?”
“Well. It’s Scott.”
Tessa nodded and blinked back tears. She had no idea what was going on but knew it was bad. Her mind immediately flew to the worst case scenario. Words came chanting like a pleading prayer through her mind. Don’t let him be dead. Don’t let him be dead. Don’t let him be dead. Please. She remained silent and waited for Joe to continue.
“He was in an accident.” Joe drew in a deep breath. “He was driving home for the weekend. A drunk driver ran a red.”
“Oh God, Joe.” Tessa choked out. Tears fell unnoticed down her cheeks. “Is he-? Is he-?” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word.
“He’s fine.” Joe stated and then clarified. “Well, he’s not fine. He’s alive. For now. He’s in surgery.”
Tessa held a hand to her forehead and leant on her knees. The breath she’d been holding left her body, long and shaky.
“Tess?”
“Yes?”
“Can you come?” Hesitation filled his voice and he rushed to explain. “It’s okay if you’re busy with school and you can’t, that’s fine. It’s just, Alma. She needs you.”
Tessa nodded and wiped the tears away from her eyes in determination.
“Yes, yes, of course. Of course, I’ll come.”
Joe gave her the details of the hospital.
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Bye, Joe.”
She put the now eerily silent phone back on the coffee table and looked around. Her hands bunched into her top and ran down her hips. What did she need? Far too many thoughts flew through her mind. Tessa tried to push past them and think practically. She grabbed one of her larger bags and started to throw clothes, toiletries, make up, and books inside it.
She didn’t want to have to come back for something pointless so mid-flight she stopped next to her sofa and closed her eyes. She made herself calm down and breathe, one-two in, hold, one-two out. She opened her eyes and looked at her bag. She counted out the items she needed. Phone, purse, keys, extra clothes, oh! Tessa lunged for the papers she’d been working on. She shuffled them into a second bag along with her laptop and power cable. She couldn’t take the books with her but hopefully she wouldn’t need them. They were due back at the college library the next day. She would have to ask someone to deliver them for her.
Actually, no. She could take the books back herself. The library had an afterhours chute. Just to be sure she had all she needed in way of references she quickly took photos of the books and the relevant pages.
A whole hour later Tessa was finally belted into her car and flying down the road towards the college library. She pulled over alongside the curb and scrambled out. Her arms were full of the books which had been so helpful four hours ago and now were an incredible annoyance. She quickly stomped over to the chute and shoved them in. She couldn’t believe she was actually at a library delivering books in the middle of the night when Scott was lying in danger. She had to get to him.
In gratefulness to be at least headed in the right direction, she pulled away from the curb and onto the empty road. That was one thing about driving in the dead of night. There was only one or two other cars to worry about.
She didn’t think of much at all in the two hour drive that seemed to take an eternity. The only thing spinning around her mind was Scott. Was he okay? Was he out of surgery? Where was he hurt? Oh, God, would he be okay? Please, please. What would he look like? Her mind was conjuring up the scariest images it could. Scott covered in blood. Scott in pain. Scott with his body and limbs bent at terrifying angles. Scott.
She let out a strangled cry and brushed the thoughts away from her mind as she brushed at her eyes. No! He’d be fine. He had to be. Oh but, what if he wasn’t?
She reached the outskirts of the London. Surprised to have reached it so soon, she glanced down at her speed. How long had she been going so far above the limit? She pulled back immediately and gave a thankful sigh that no police had seen and stopped her.
At long last she pulled into the carpark of the hospital. She turned the engine off and drew in a calming breath. She could do this. She had to be there for Alma. She had to be strong.
A quick glance at herself in the mirror revealed her red eyes and pale face. She brushed again at her eyes. She hadn’t bothered to reapply her make up after cleaning her face prior to leaving her house. It had been a good call. While she looked terrible, at least she didn’t have watery black marks around her eyes.
Grabbing her bag, she climbed out of the car and mindlessly locked it. The bitumen of the carpark gave way to a tiled walkway and finally the cold polished floor of the hospital.
It was quiet. Only a few uniformed cleaners shuffled around and the receptionist with short dark curly hair and glasses on a chain tapped on her keyboard.
Tessa walked over and stood in front of the desk. She waited a moment for the woman to notice her. After a few seconds the woman looked up and over her glasses. She raised an eyebrow at Tessa.
“Yes?”
Tessa was a little thrown by the woman’s coldness but stood straighter and asked for the necessary information.
“I’m looking for Scott Moir. Is he still in surgery?”
The woman eyed her with suspicion.
“It’s after visiting hours.” She pointed to the visiting hours sign to her right for emphasis. “And we don’t give that sort of information out to non-family members.” She looked Tessa up and down. “Are you a family member?”
Tessa was thrown. They got questions like this all the time and never knew quite how to explain their relationship. Why didn’t she have an answer now? The answer should have been so simple yet was so difficult. And it was all that was standing between her and Scott.
“Yes. No. Sort of? He’s my partner.”
The woman hummed. She considered Tessa for a moment. Then, having decided, she turned to the computer with the speed of a snail and pulled up Scott’s details.
“He’s out of surgery. He’s in the ICU. Room seven oh five.” Something concerning had flickered across the woman’s face, but Tessa didn’t want to wait to find out what had caused it.
“Thank you, so much!” She flashed the woman a big smile and walked off.
“Miss!” The woman called after her.
Tessa spun on the ball of her foot to face back at the desk.
“That way.” The woman thumbed down a different corridor to the one Tessa was heading down.
“Oh, thank you!” Tessa smiled at her again and took off down the correct corridor.
After a long and confusing search, Tessa finally stood before the door of the right room. She couldn’t see Scott through the glass window. While the bed would normally be in full view of any doctors or nurses walking past and glancing in, the people in the room blocked her view of the one person she was desperate to see.
She could see Alma sitting beside the bed. She was bent towards it, concern all over her face. Joe stood behind her, one hand rubbing her shoulder. Scott’s older brother, Danny stood, feet apart and arms folded across his chest like a sentinel at the foot of the bed. It was he who blocked her view the most. On the opposite side of the bed sat Julianne, Scott’s girlfriend. She stared at the bed and bit her lower lip. They hadn’t met yet, but Tessa recognised her from a picture Scott had once shown her.
Tessa softly tapped the door and Joe turned to see her. He marched over, yanked the door open and with a firm grip pulled her inside and into a hug.
“You made good time.” He commented and patted her shoulder.
“Tessa!” Alma’s voice was croaky as though she had been crying for too long, which she most likely had been, given the evidence of her eyes.
Joe released Tessa to Alma who hugged her around her shoulders. Tessa wound her arms about the woman’s waist and lay her chin on her shoulder. She closed her eyes and sank into the hug, she would hold on for as long as Alma needed.
Alma began to shake and cry into Tessa’s neck. Her hands alternately rubbed and gripped at Tessa’s back. Tessa smoothed her hands over her and rocked gently. The tears she’d thought were done sprang back to her eyes now she had Scott’s mother in her arms. This was becoming too real. All the drive here and searching the hospital she could push the reality away somewhat. Even though her mind had been spinning with possibilities, that’s all they had been, possibilities. There was always a part of her that felt he was fine and healthy and happy somewhere. But now, all her speculation was transforming into solid truth.
Danny moved closer to his mother and Tessa. He patted both their backs in a gruff attempt at comfort. Tessa looked up at him and gave him a small encouraging smile. She let her eyes fall away from Danny’s and froze.
Danny had moved out of the way and given her a clear line of sight to the bed. The bed and Scott. Tessa stopped rubbing Alma and stared in horror. Her strong, vibrant partner lay so still and white amongst the stark bedding.
There were wires and tubes all over him. They crawled from his body to machines that beeped. Scratches covered his face and one large bruise lay on his cheek. His hair was messy but looked like someone had tried to smooth it into place. Tessa suspected Alma. The sheets covered him up to his chin so she couldn’t see what was going on beneath, but she didn’t like the tubes that wound out from under them.
“Tessa?” Alma asked softly. She’d felt her body still and moved around to Tessa’s side, keeping an arm about her waist.
“Yes?” Tessa asked politely. Her eyes still fixed on Scott.
“He’s going to be fine.” Alma rubbed her arm. “They’re just keeping him in the ICU overnight to keep an eye on him. It was a big operation and they just want to make sure. They say they’ll move him to a normal ward, probably tomorrow. They want him to wake up first. But he should do that in a bit.”
Tessa nodded and swallowed. Alma handed her a tissue from a nearly depleted box. Tessa accepted and held it in her hand. Her attention so fully on Scott’s face that she didn’t realise the reason Alma had given her the tissue was the tears pouring unchecked over her cheeks. Alma changed tactic and wiped at Tessa’s face herself. She took her hand and led her to the chair she’d vacated on Tessa’s arrival.
Tessa sat in unconscious obedience.
Alma reached down and drew back the bedsheets a little. Scott’s hand lay beneath. She pulled it out and placed it palm down on top of the covers at his side.
Tessa stared at the hand. So familiar, a hand she knew as well as, if not better than her own. Now it had a needle inside it, covered with tape. A long tube left the needle and travelled away from the bed. Her fingers itched to touch him. She clenched her hands in her lap.
“It’s okay. You can do it.” Alma patted her shoulder and pulled one of Tessa’s hands up to the bed.
Tessa nodded. She slide her hand towards his and then under it. His fingers, his palm. She moved her hand up until she gripped the underside of his wrist. Then slowly she moved it back down until their hands were palm to palm. She curled her hand under his and around his thumb. Her fingers stroked the inside of his wrist and the outside of his hand, as far as she could reach.
His hand, normally so strong around hers, lay boneless and weak. She cradled it and bit her bottom lip in an effort to hold back more tears.
“Hmm.” Alma patted Tessa’s arm encouragingly.
“Did they say when he would wake up?” Tessa asked
“They aren’t sure but they think by tomorrow.” The unfamiliar voice came from across the bed. Tessa looked up and met Julianne’s eyes for the first time.
Julianne was a petite girl with a sweet heart-shaped face. Her dark hair fell in perfect waves down about her shoulders. She couldn’t look more like a doll if she tried. She smiled at Tessa.
Tessa smiled back with as much strength as she could muster for a stranger in the present situation. She reached across the bed with the hand that wasn’t attached to Scott’s and said, “I’m Tessa. It’s nice to meet you.”
Julianne took her hand and said, “I’m Julianne, and likewise.”
It wasn’t the most awkward meeting she’d ever had with one of Scott’s girlfriends but it was the most horrible reason for meeting one of them. Even so, Julianne seemed nice enough. She gave Tessa a warm smile and sat back down in her chair.
There was a sharp knock and the door swung open to let in two men. The older appeared to be a doctor and the younger, a nurse.
The doctor cleared his throat. “I’m Doctor Shaw, and this is Nurse Thompson. Just here to do a couple of quick checks.”
The nurse made his way around the people in the room and over to the machines and began to press buttons Tessa wasn’t sure should be pressed, though she supposed he knew what he was doing. The doctor picked up Scott’s chart from its plastic holder on the foot of the bed.
Danny peered over the doctor’s shoulder. “What does that mean?” He pointed to a series of numbers.
Doctor Shaw eyed him with slight irritation. “It’s nothing to worry about. All perfectly normal.” He looked about noticing the number of people in the small room. “Look, I’m sorry, but you can’t all stay in here. The ICU has an open visiting hours policy but we can only have two of you in here at any one time. The rest of you need to find somewhere else to wait.”
“Well.” Joe began as Danny stepped away from the doctor. The nurse returned to the doctor’s side and scribbled a few numbers and notes on the chart.
“Everything seems to be in order.” Doctor Shaw closed the chart and let it fall back into its holder. Nurse Thompson gave everyone a warm smile which seemed to make up for the gruffness of the other man. “We’ll check in again later.”
They’d almost made it out the door when the doctor turned back and eyeballed Joe. “See you get these visitors straightened out.” Then they were gone and off to the next room.
Joe looked at each of them. “Well, who’s going to stay and who will leave for now?”
No one said anything for a moment.
“I could-“ Tessa stood, still holding Scott’s hand.
“Oh no!” Alma shook her head in alarm. “Joe!”
Joe nodded and hummed. “No, Tess. You just got here, you stay put for now.” He looked at Alma and Julianne. “Julianne, how about we three go find some coffee? Alma you take the other chair.”
Julianne nodded in agreement. She gathered her bag as she rose and headed towards Joe and Danny. Alma thanked her with a quick shoulder squeeze. The three left, debating 24 hour coffee possibilities.
Then it was quiet. Tessa and Alma sat in companionable silence on either side of Scott. Each held one of his hands while only strange soft sounds of whirring and beeping filled the void.