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Tim finishes wiping down the counter, giving the area one last glance before wringing out the rag and hanging it over the sink. He glances at Lucy, still sound asleep on the couch. He had moved her to lay flat, took off her shoes and covered her with a blanket. He is glad that she is getting some sleep, night shift is not for the weak, he knows how difficult the adjustment can be. And even though he’s a little disappointed that she hadn’t heard his emotional speech he knows there will be other times to talk to her, and he is done running from the conversation she deserves.
He gives the apartment one last sweep with his eyes before he gathers his things and heads for the door. Tim steps into the hallway, turns to lock the door behind him and then walks towards the elevator. As he gets into his truck he decides once he gets home he will send Lucy a text letting her know the food is all in the fridge and making sure their Wednesday night plans are still on.
*******
Lucy wakes up to the shrill ringing of her phone. She’s laying on her couch, a blanket over top of her and silence blanketing her apartment. It takes a minute for it all to come back to her. Tim had been here. She came home from work, exhausted and ready to collapse to find Tim standing at her island cooking for her. Cooking all of her favorite foods, and it made her heart ache at how much she missed him. Then she remembers plopping down on her couch, listening to him start to talk about their relationship but her eyes were too heavy, his voice too soothing and she drifted off to sleep.
She hears her phone ringing again, somewhere in the distance but she’s too tired to even move so she just lets it ring. It stops, and she closes her eyes to try to drift back off to sleep. But then it starts to ring again, the third time in less than five minutes and Lucy knows her sleep is over. Probably Grey, calling her back in for some major event that happened and Lucy whines because she is just so tired.
She begrudgingly gets up off the couch, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders as she does and finds her phone sitting on the counter. Lucy turns it over, and taps the screen so it lights up.
3 missed calls from St Stephen’s Hospital
Her heart plummets. 3 missed calls from the hospital. There’s only one reason the hospital would be calling her. Someone is hurt, and she’s the emergency contact. She picks up her phone to call back when it starts ringing again.
St Stephen’s Hospital
She hits the answer button immediately, trying to keep her voice steady, “Hello?”
“Hello, this is Nurse Nevin at St Stephen’s Hospital. I’m trying to reach Lucy Chen.”
Her voice shakes, “This… this is Lucy Chen.”
“Miss Chen, I have you as the emergency contact for Tim Bradford. He was brought in about thirty minutes ago. He was in a car accident.”
Lucy’s heart drops, her mind immediately going to the worst case scenario, “Is he.. is he… he’s ok right?”
The nurse sighs, “He was in pretty rough shape when they brought him in. I don’t know much more right now but I know they are working on him. I’m sure the doctors can give you more information once you get here hon.”
“Ok thank you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
The nurse says goodbye, barely registering in Lucy’s brain as she stands there, the phone still up to her ear, her mind racing.
After a few minutes she snaps out of it, slams her phone back down on the counter and rushes to her room to change. She pulls on leggings and a shirt, grabbing a sweatshirt to throw over it in case she needs it. She runs her fingers through her hair, trying to tame it a little from her nap. Then she’s grabbing her phone, her keys and rushing out the door, rushing to Tim.
******
By the time Lucy makes it through the doors of St Stephen’s she is frantic. She had spent the entire drive thinking about Tim, about what she would do if he didn’t make it. She had convinced herself that when she walked through the doors a doctor would usher her into a room and deliver her news that would change her entire life.
She scans the emergency room, desperate to find someone, anyone, who can give her information. In the corner she sees Angela, head down, typing on her phone and Lucy immediately rushes over to her.
“Angela, how is he? Have you heard anything?”
Angela stands to meet her and shakes her head, “I don’t know. I only got here about five minutes ago, the nurse said he is in surgery. Smitty responded to the crash, immediately called Grey and I happened to be in his office when he got the call so I rushed over.”
”How bad was the accident? Do they think he’s going to make it?”
”Smitty said it was pretty bad, he was hit right in the drivers side, the driver blew through the red light going well above the speed limit. They had to cut him out of the car.”
Lucy gasps, her breath catching as Angela swoops forward and takes her into her arms.
“It’s gonna be ok Lucy. He’s a fighter. He’s strong. He’s not gonna give up.”
She lets Angela guide her to the chair, sitting down slowly, twisting her hands in her lap. She feels Angela’s hand rubbing up and down her back, comforting her, keeping her grounded.
“He was at my apartment this morning. When I came home from work he was there and he was making me all my favorite foods. He started to talk, talk about us, but I fell asleep. I fell asleep, so he left, then he got into an accident and now he’s fighting for his life. If I could have just stayed awake, we could have talked more, he wouldn’t have been driving home at that time and this never would have happened. This is all my fault.”
She feels the tears she had been trying desperately to keep at bay start to flow, streaking down her face as Angela wraps an arm around her and pulls her into her side.
“Lucy, listen to me, this is not your fault. You were tired. Night shift is exhausting and Tim knows that. The only person to blame here is the man who hit him, no one else. And Tim will tell you the same thing when he wakes up.”
She scoffs, “If he wakes up. We don’t even know how bad he’s injured Angela. He’s in surgery and he could.. he could die on that table.”
Angela shakes her head, “No he won’t. Because he’s not done yet Lucy. Tim Bradford finishes what he starts, and he’s not done loving you yet.”
She lets out a sob, tears falling harder from her eyes as she sinks into Angela’s embrace, finally letting her emotions spill out. Angela doesn’t speak, just holds her tight, letting her cry.
*******
A few hours later the doors open, a tired looking doctor coming through them, his surgical cap still on, his lips pressed into a thin line.
He looks around the waiting room, “Family of Tim Bradford?”
Lucy scrambles to her feet, rushing towards him, “Me. That's me. I’m Lucy Chen. I’m his.. his.. I’m his emergency contact.
He looks down at the file in his hands before looking back up at her, a sympathetic smile on his face and Lucy prepares herself. This is it. He’s about to tell her that Tim is gone, she’s delivered bad news before, she knows how it goes.
“Mr. Bradford survived the surgery,” he starts.
Lucy’s head snaps up, “He what? He’s alive?”
He nods, “Yes Miss Chen. He’s alive. It was touch and go for a while. He had a lot of internal injuries, a lot of bleeding, a collapsed lung and we had to remove a portion of his spleen. His left arm is broken, he has a sprained ankle and stitches in his head from where he hit the steering wheel. He’s very lucky.”
“So he’s going to be ok?”
”The next 24-48 hours are critical. We are monitoring him, his body went through a lot and there are still some risks that we are keeping an eye on. But he’s strong and we are hopeful he will make a full recovery. He’s being moved to a room right now, a nurse will come out to get you when he’s ready for visitors.”
He turns and walks away, Lucy barely registers Angela saying “thank you” as her mind spins. Tim’s alive. He’s ok. She feels like she can breathe again, even though she knows he’s not completely out of the woods yet.
About fifteen minutes later a nurse comes out and leads them through the hallways of the hospital until they come to stop outside a door of the ICU.
”You can go on in. He’s still out but go sit with him, let him know you’re here.”
”When will he wake up?” Lucy hears Angela ask as she stares at the door.
“That's up to him. Some patients wake up in a few hours, some take longer. His body has been through a lot and needs rest. So we just have to wait and see.”
The nurse walks off, leaving Angela and Lucy standing outside Tim’s room alone. Angela looks at her, Lucy gives her a slight nod then she pushes the door open, stepping aside to let Lucy walk by first.
Lucy steps in, a small gasp escaping her mouth as she takes in the sight of Tim laying in the hospital bed. His eyes closed, his forehead covered with a bandage where they had to do stitches. She can see scratches all over one arm, the other hidden away under a cast. He’s pale, but Lucy focuses on the rise and fall of his chest, the steady rhythm of his heart monitor telling her he’s still here.
Angela shuffles around her, Lucy watches her place a kiss to Tim’s forehead, murmur something to his sleeping form before she turns back to Lucy.
“I just wanted to see him real quick, but I am going to head home. I know he’s in good hands with you. But Lucy, call me if anything changes, and call me if you need anything. I’ll come back in the morning, bring you some breakfast, and a change of clothes if you want. Just let me know.”
Lucy nods, her arms coming up to wrap around Angela as she pulls her in for a hug, “Thank you. Thank you for being here for me, and for him.”
”Always. Now go sit with him. Tell him how you feel, don’t be afraid.”
With those parting words she sweeps out of the room, leaving Lucy rooted to her spot at the end of Tim’s bed, just staring at him.
She moves over to him slowly, pulling the chair closer to his bedside as she falls into it. Then she cautiously picks up his hand that is laying on the bed and laces their fingers together, her thumb rubbing back and forth.
She sits there, staring at him, cataloging his face, every scratch, every injury. She thinks about how close she came to losing him, how she could still lose him. Thinks about how much time they have wasted because she’s been afraid, afraid to give him her heart again after he shattered it. But the truth is he’s always had it, even after he left her standing in that parking lot, he took her heart with him. Ever since the breakup Lucy has felt like she’s floating, just drifting through life. The only time she feels centered, feels grounded, is when she’s with him. Whether it’s some silly bet about their rookies at work, in a hotel room on Valentines, almost burning to death under a fire blanket, every little moment is made better because of him. Because he’s there. He keeps showing up for her, showing her that he’s trying, that he’s changed, that he will never hurt her again.
Lucy lets out a shaky breath, “Tim, I’m here baby. I’m right here and I’m not leaving, not until you open those beautiful blue eyes. The doctors told me to talk to you, and I don’t know if you can hear me but I’m gonna talk anyway. I’m used to just talking away while you sit there silent so this is really no different.”
“I love you. I love you so much. I’m so tired of pretending I don’t anymore, tired of pretending that you aren’t still the most important person in my life, because you are. I want it all with you. I want to build our life together, I want those grandkids we talked about on our second first date. We’ve wasted so much time, and I don’t want to waste anymore. I don’t want to spend another minute without you. And I think when you wake up we should move in together, let's take that next step, let's go all in.”
She leans forward, placing her head onto their joined hands as she closes her eyes, hoping, and praying to whoever is listening that he wakes up so they can start their life together.
*******
Tim blinks his eyes open, the harsh lights and the beeping telling him he’s in the hospital. His whole body aches, like he just went ten rounds in a boxing ring. He feels a weight on his arm and his eyes move down, landing on a head of curly brown hair. A small smile comes across his face when he realizes it's Lucy, her soft breathing telling him she’s asleep even if he can’t see her face.
He adjusts a little in the bed, twitching his arm underneath her, and he feels her start to stir. As she slowly raises her head her beautiful brown eyes meet his blue ones and he watches as hers instantly fill with tears.
She jumps up from the chair, launching herself on top of him, pressing her face into his neck as he brings his good arm up to wrap around her.
He hears her whispering into his neck, “You’re awake. Thank you. Thank you for coming back to me.”
He presses a kiss to the side of her head, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”
She pulls back, cupping his face with her hands as she stares into his eyes, “I love you. I love you so much. And I’m tired of being afraid, no more being afraid. We are doing this. All in.”
Tim smiles, “I love you too. No more being afraid. No more running. All in.”
She leans forward, gently presses her lips to his and in that instant it feels like coming home. Like everything is finally sliding into place, and that everything is going to be ok.
She climbs fully on the bed, Tim’s arm coming up to circle her as she snuggles into his chest, listening to his heartbeat, strong and steady beneath her.
They lay there in silence for a few minutes before Tim remembers something, “I vaguely remember hearing you talking while I was out. Did you say we should move in together?”
She buries her face into his chest, “I may have said that. But we don’t have to talk about that now. We can discuss that after you’ve healed.”
He starts to laugh and Lucy pulls her head off his chest to look at him, “What is so funny?”
“It’s just.. if you remember I started to talk about us before you fell asleep. And I said the same thing, that I think we should move in together. We should take that next step.”
She laughs, “Figures we’d both be unconscious during life altering moments.”
Tim’s laugh fills the room, his arm tightening around her as she lets her head fall back to his chest. He presses a kiss to the top of her head, “We got there in the end. That’s all that really matters.”
She murmurs her agreement into his chest as Tim closes his eyes.
Surrounded by her scent.
By her love.
And the hope of the future they are going to build.
Together.