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Today is a day off that Tim has looked forward to all week. It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did this week. Had a few foot pursuits, one ending with him falling on gravel and scuffing his arm up pretty badly. He didn’t need stitches or anything but was pretty painful nonetheless.
He also found himself and Miles in the middle of a hostage situation that ended up going on for over five hours. Tim was able to reason with the suspect in letting all other hostages go, only leaving himself. After a while, he was able to finally convince the man to walk out of there together and both were unharmed.
The Dodgers had an early game today so he had just settled onto the couch, beer in hand to watch the game. Kojo was resting comfortably on the cushion next to him, much to his dismay. The few times Lucy had been over in the last few weeks, she had allowed him onto the couch and quite frankly, Tim was too tired to even care today.
The game was a dud, so he found himself starting to doze off. He was startled when his phone started ringing. Sighing, he took his feet off of the coffee table where they rested and sat up to reach for his phone.
Unknown number… he rolls his eyes assuming it’s just another spam call and throws it back onto the table.
Almost instantly, it started ringing again. Picking it up, still was an unknown number but he decided to answer it.
“Bradford,” he gruffs.
“Hi, is this Timothy Bradford?” A woman on the other end asks.
“Yeah, that’s me. May I ask what you’re calling for?”
“I’m a nurse at St. Stephens hospital,” Tim’s heart drops thinking something happened with either Lucy or Genny. He rushes to stand up before the woman can speak any further.
“Your mother, Janice was brought here. She had your name down as an emergency contact.”
He almost drops his phone. He hasn’t heard from or about his mother in years. Didn’t even know she was in Los Angeles.
“My mother?” He barely spits out.
“Yes, sir.”
“What… what happened?” He’s still standing in the middle of his living room, Kojo standing at his feet.
“We can explain when you get here.”
He doesn’t say anything else but hangs up the phone. He has so many emotions running through him right now; hurt, confusion, sadness, worry. The only thing he knows is that he doesn’t want to face this alone.
He thinks about calling Genny, but she’s working and then has the boys to deal with. He doesn’t want to worry her unless it’s something serious. There’s really only one person he wants to be at his side.
Phone still in his hands, he goes to his contacts and finds Lucy’s name before hitting the “call” button. He knows she’s off today, she’s probably hiking or having a girls day with Celina.
“Hello?” It surprises him when she answers after the first ring.
“Hey Luce,” he says, voice shaking.
“Tim? What’s wrong?”
“…I need you.” He takes a deep breath, “I just got a call that my mom is in the hospital. My mom I haven’t seen or talked to in years.”
He can hear footsteps on the other end of the phone and keys jingling. “Where are you, Tim?” She asks.
“I’m at home. I was wondering if you’d meet me at the hospital? I don’t want to do this alone,” he feels so small saying those words but also a part of him feels relieved.
“I’m leaving now. Stephens?”
“Mhm. Thanks, Lucy.”
“I’ll see you soon.” She says sweetly before they hang up.
•••
Tim gets there first and walks up to the counter. The nurse immediately recognizes him and directs him to the room he needs to go to. He starts walking that way when he hears someone call his name. He turns and sees Lucy walking towards him.
“Hey,” she says as she gets close.
“Thanks for coming.” He says quietly.
“Of course,” her heart breaks seeing the look in his eyes, one that’s similar to the day they were standing outside of his father’s hospice room. “Come here.” She opens up her arms pulling him in for a hug. He gladly accepts.
“Are you okay?” She squeezes her arms around him even tighter.
“I am now,” he lets out a breath he’d been holding onto since he got the call.
“Come on,” she says quietly as she starts to pull away from his embrace. “Let’s go handle this.”
He doesn’t think he can say anything so he just nods his head in agreement and follows her down the hallway. They stop when they get to her room and Lucy turns to him.
“You tell me what you need, I’ll be right here.” She grabs his hands that were resting at his side and interlaces their fingers, giving both his hands a squeeze.
“I don’t even know what I need,” he shakes his head. “Maybe we should just leave. She abandoned us, so why should I show up for her?” He looks down, tears in his eyes.
“Tim, look at me.” She says quietly while still holding his hands.
He finally looks up at her and it breaks her heart. She knows he’s reliving his childhood and what both his father and mother made him go through.
“What do you need?” She asks him again, but there’s nothing rushed or pushy about her tone.
“Can you come in with me? I just don’t know what she’s going to say to me or what I’ll be able to say to her.”
“Of course I will,” she nods her head before pulling him in for another hug.
Before they can enter the room, a doctor walks up to them with a smile.
“I’m Dr. Marks,” he holds out his hand to give Tim a handshake.
“Tim Bradford, I’m her son. This is Lucy, my…” He stops himself, unsure on how to introduce her completely.
“His girlfriend,” she says confidently with a smile. He gives her a confused look before turning his focus back on the doctor.
“Your mother here has suffered two heart attacks,” he pauses while looking down at his notes. “She’s stable for now but will need bypass surgery. As of now it’s scheduled for later this afternoon.”
Unable to speak himself, he turns to Lucy who, of course knows exactly what he’s thinking. “What are her survival chances?”
“She’s lucky, she appears to be healthy otherwise. Of course there’s no guarantee but I think she should make a full recovery.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Tim finally says.
“Out of curiosity, do you know if your other siblings will be by before surgery?”
Confused, both Tim and Lucy turn to each other before Tim says, “I only have one sister.”
“It says in her chart that she has five children,” the man looks up at them with a shrug.
Tim mutters a swear word, one that’s so quiet even Lucy can’t hear. She can see the anger and hurt in his eyes before he quickly turns around and storms away.
She quickly thanks the doctor before turning to follow him. She can thank them for being in this hospital more times than they can count for how quickly Tim is navigating the hallways.
“Tim, wait!” She yells getting him to finally stop and turn around.
“She didn’t just leave us, she left us to start a whole new family.”
Unsure of what to say, she wraps her arms around his shoulders and pulls him in for a hug. He quickly tightens his own arms around her mid section.
“I don’t know what to say, Tim,” her words are muffled by his shirt but he can still hear her clearly. “I won’t tell you what to do or how you should feel, but maybe try to give her a chance?”
He loosens his grip so he can look into her eyes. He has tears running down her cheeks, she takes her left hand and wipes them away before putting her arm back around his neck.
“I just… I’ve been talking about her in therapy and trying to understand why she did what she did but now I get this curveball thrown at me? I really don’t know what to do here, Luce.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to have all of the answers right now. You don’t have to make up your mind on how you feel. Just know, I’ll be here every step of the way,” she reassures with a smile.
“You’re too kind to me, I don’t deserve you,” he says honestly.
“Shouldn’t I be the one to decide what I deserve?” She’s not mad, but he knows she’s talking from experience. He’s definitely learned his lesson on making decisions for her.
“You’re right. But seriously, thank you for being here.”
“No where else I’d rather be.” She says confidently.
“My girlfriend?” He inquires, raising an eyebrow.
She nods her head with a grin, “just don’t make me regret it.” She giggles, finally getting a smile out of him.
“Never. Not again,” he says confidently. And for the first time, she actually believes him.
“Okay,” he sighs. “I think I’m ready. I think I want to go see her.”
“Yeah?” She asks, he gives her a quick nod before she grabs his hand again and leads him back to her room.
•••
Once they reach the hospital room again, there are a couple other people standing outside of the room. They don’t appear to be hospital personnel.
“Tim?” A woman with blonde hair turns to him as they get up to the door leading to her room.
“Michelle?”
“Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you in ages!” The woman pulls him in for a hug.
“Lucy, this is my cousin Michelle. Michelle, this is my girlfriend Lucy.” The two women greet each other with a smile.
“Tim, Lucy, this is my husband, Brad,” Tim shakes his hand and Lucy also gives him a smile.
“What are you guys doing here?” Michelle asks with a smile.
“I got a call from the hospital. I was honestly surprised I was an emergency contact.”
“Yeah, well I convinced her to do that last year. The three of us are on there as her kids so they’d actually give us information.”
“Must’ve been what the doctor meant when he said she had five kids,” Lucy can practically see him relax finally.
“What did you think she had three other kids you didn’t know about?” Michelle jokes but quickly sobers when she sees how tense his body gets.
“I mean, I haven’t talked to her in years. I had no idea,” he clenches his jaw. Lucy takes her hand and starts rubbing slow, small circles on his back immediately calming him.
“She hasn’t even dated, Tim. I know you probably have a lot of feelings but at least try to hear her out before you make your final judgment?”
Lucy steps in when she knows he can’t say anything. “I understand you care about her but please don’t act like Tim didn’t and still isn’t dealing with his own feelings over it all.”
Before any of them can say anything else, Dr. Marks comes out of her room and walks up to the group.
“Alright, we’ll be sending her to pre-op soon so if you’d like to get in any words with her before surgery, now would be the time.” He gives them a nod before disappearing again.
“Tim, you can go in first if you’d like,” Michelle offers looking between him and Lucy. He doesn’t say anything, rather just grabs Lucy’s hand and walks into the hospital room.
Upon entering, he sees her lying in the bed. She turns her head and offers a small smile.
“Timothy?” She asks weakly, she isn’t able to talk much but it’s enough they can hear her.
He stops only a few feet inside the door, almost like he’s afraid to get too close to her. Lucy offers him a nudge, which at first he declines but then gives a nod and moves forward slightly.
“I’m surprised you came,” Janice says before gasping for air.
“Yeah, me too.” He says honestly.
“Now isn’t exactly the time, but I want to talk Timothy. I know I owe you and Gennifer both an explanation.”
“You do.” He can see Lucy staring at him and decides to say what else is on his mind.
“You hurt me, and I’m still hurt. But it doesn’t mean there isn’t a small part of me that still cares about you and was scared to death when I got the call you were here. I want to talk, too. But I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Lucy gives his arm a squeeze and offers him a reassuring smile when he looks over at her.
“I understand. I’ll be here when you’re ready.” Janice shows a sad smile.
“I look forward to it.” He says as he finally moves forward, surprising Lucy when he walks up to her bed. He picks up her hand and gives it a squeeze with a smile before letting go.
He turns back to meet Lucy where she is now standing, a little closer to the door to give them their moment. He holds out his hand for her, which she takes and he walks them out of the door.
He keeps walking and Lucy only turns back to offer Michelle a shrug before continuing to follow him. She isn’t sure where they’re going, if they’re leaving but she’ll follow him anywhere.
Finally, she realizes they made their way up to the surgery waiting area when Tim finds them some chairs and they sit down.
She knows that was a lot for him and she definitely doesn’t want to pressure him into any conversation so she just sits there and waits until he’s ready to talk.
“That was a lot,” he admits, voice shaking.
“It was a lot. But I’m proud of you,” she says. “I can tell how much therapy is helping you.” She praises as she rubs his shoulder.
“I can, too. The old me wouldn’t have even shown up. The old me would’ve taken my frustrations out in an unhealthy way. But I’m not the old me anymore.” He says confidently.
“I for one, like this new you,” she says sweetly as she leans in to kiss his cheek. Of course, he couldn’t help but smile.
He turns in his chair so now he’s fully facing her. “Thank you for being here. Thank you for never giving up on me even when I gave you every reason to.” This time it’s his turn to reach for her hands, grasping them both in his own.
“You don’t give up on people you love, Tim. No matter how I felt or how mad I was, I always had love for you.”
“I know, and that’s what honestly kept me going when therapy got hard. You kept me going and still do. It’s still hard at times but the closer you and I have gotten, I feel a lot lighter.”
“I have that much power over you?” She decides to joke, hoping to lighten the mood even just a little.
“Oh baby, you have no idea.” He says, completely honest no hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“I love you, Tim. We’re going to get through this,” she reassures.
“With you by my side, I truly believe that. I love you too.” He leans in for a sweet, soft kiss that leaves them both smiling like idiots.