What?! Why Not?
Chapter 1:A/N: Hi, this is going to be pretty short, if it's not a one-shot. It's a little random, but I hope you like it! I have more stories coming but it takes me a little while to write them up. I really hope you enjoy this! Please read and review! Thanks!
Toby sits in the passenger seat of the ambulance, anxiously fidgeting as Oz navigates the large truck through the bumper to bumper traffic.
"Hey, man. What's going on? You're acting like you've got ants in your pants." Oz points out laughing at his partner's livid returned glare.
"Nothing." He replies quietly, staring out the window.
Oz gives him a look. 'C'mon man, don't you lie to me.' He thinks. Oz's thought in Toby's mind is the last thing the telepath needs in his head. Toby feels a massive migraine forming, pushing against his eyes.
"Ughh," he groans softly as he lays his head against the window.
"Tob, what's wrong, man?"
"Just, a migraine." He responds refusing to look into his partner's concerned face.
He's simply trying to push all of the voices out of his head. His eyes start to close from the sheer exhaustion and anxiousness of everything. Oz keeps glancing at his young friend, he's not sure if he's passed out, sleeping, or still awake but he lets Toby continue doing whatever he's doing. A half hour passes and they arrive at the hospital, parking in the ambulance bay not having anything else to do or anywhere else to go. The sun has set but leaves Toronto bathed in pale orange and purple light. Toby's head is still resting against the window and Oz reaches across the seat to gently shake his shoulder.
"Hey Toby? You with me?" he asks not receiving a response. He shakes his friend's shoulder harder and calls a bit louder and more urgently. "Toby, c'mon man. Wake up! You're scaring me."
"Mmmmhmmn." Toby moans, beginning to stir and opening his eyes.
"Hey, you with me now?"
"What?" Toby asks groggily.
"Are you with me, man?" Oz repeats.
"Huh? Yeah, I guess so."
"What happened? You were here and then you were, gone."
"Sorry. I just had this really bad migraine. I think I just fell asleep." Toby says softly, obviously still tired and slightly incoherent.
"I think you're sick and you passed out." Oz suggests firmly, trying to feel his partner's forehead.
Toby flinches away and climbs out of the truck. Although he attempts to conceal it, Oz can still see that his friend is unsteady on his feet and appears to be dizzy and light-headed.
'You're sick and you just don't want to admit it.' Oz thinks, trying to fire Toby up.
"No I'm not!" he rebukes. "Cut it out, Oz. I'm exhausted! And yeah, maybe I did pass out! I don't know! Just lay off!" he shouts, suddenly snapping.
Oz makes a 'yikes!' face before choosing his next words of wisdom. "I just want you to take it easy, man. That's all." He says calmly.
Toby sighs and feels awful for yelling at Oz. "I'm sorry, man. I'm just – really tired and I shouldn't have snapped at you. You were just trying to help. I appreciate it, really, but I can take care of myself."
"Right. Of course you can." Oz says feeling a bit hurt that Toby would just blow him off like that but he does everything he can to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Hey, you and Liv have plans tonight?" he asks changing the subject, saving them from a silent walk into the building.
"Yeah, I'm taking her out for dinner. She needs to get away from the work place more often."
"Ha, so do you."
Both men laugh at the irony of their words. They continue to chat about relationships: how Toby's is working and how Oz can hardly even get a girlfriend, much less keep her. They pass Olivia in the hallway and Toby stops her for a second.
"Hey, can I talk to you later?" he asks, his eyes searching her face.
"Yeah sure. I'm just sort of busy right now." She says motioning to her clipboard. 'I have to check on Robert, change that little boy's bandage, oh, I have to call Susan Drymen to confirm that appointment.'
"Right. Of course." Toby answers nodding, reading her busy thoughts. "Later; if you have time."
"Later." She promises, quickly kissing him before continuing on her rounds.
When Toby turns back around, he finds Oz smirking at him. "What?" he asks.
Oz chuckles and replies with a simple, "Nothing."
"C'mon, what is it?" Toby presses.
"When are you – you know, going to pop the question? You guys have been dating for what? Three, four years?" Oz asks.
"Three years, five months, two weeks and four and a half days." Toby answers.
"Whoa, somebody's got a little too much time on their hands."
"I just like keeping track." Toby replies with a mysterious glint in his eyes.
'Yeah, sure you do.' Oz thinks. 'You have something more than just taking her to dinner don't you?'
His friend smiles but does not reply.
"Our shift just ended, I guess you're good here then?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Tell me how your "date" goes." Oz states smirking, walking towards the ambulance bay to drive the truck back to the station where his car is parked.
"Yeah, yeah, I will." Toby says fully prepared to not tell him how it goes. He's nearly too scared to think about it now.
Eight o'clock rolls into nine and Toby busies himself where he can, lending an extra hand to some of the medics bringing patients in. Olivia is supposed to be finished with her shift at nine forty-five tonight. It's a little past the dinner rush, but they're both used to eating late since their shifts can be at absurd times during the night. At nine thirty, Toby can barely stand himself. He's so nervous that the panicked thoughts of the hurt people around him don't even make it into his head. He starts to wander the halls, feeling out of place in his civilian clothes in the midst of all the nurses' and doctors' scrubs. He finds Liv in a small room, leaning up against the wall, just taking a five minute break. He hesitantly knocks on the open door while five other nurses buzz past him. Liv's head shoots up when she hears the gentle knocking but she smiles when she sees Toby's face.
"Can I come in?" he asks.
"Yeah, sure. I'm just on a five minute break right now." 'It's been crazy around here and I don't want to think about tonight. I should really just go home. I'll make it up to Toby later.' She thinks.
Toby's face falls as he accidently hears her thoughts. He normally tries to block them out, not wanting to invade her privacy. He tries to look normal again, as if he hadn't heard her thoughts. She sounded so cavalier, like he was just some sort of side thought and of so little importance that she can just 'make it up to him' any time she wants to do so. She notices the change in her boyfriend's face and realizes that he had heard her.
"Toby, I'm sorry. You know I didn't - " she starts.
"It's fine. You've had a long day. Maybe we can make it up next week." He answers empathetically. He knows how hard she's been working and she deserves a break. Just a night to her own.
Olivia's face expresses deep thinking, pondering why they cannot make it up until next week. This is just Tuesday. Then she remembers that Toby has to work every single night this week during the nine pm to five am shift and he'll be too tired to go out anywhere during the day, no matter how much he wants too.
"Toby, we can go tonight. Really, sweetie. I don't have to come in tomorrow until three pm. We'll have plenty of time to be together." She replies decisively.
Three nurses come into the break room and beginning chatting to themselves quietly and Toby knows it's time to make his move. He drops down onto one knee and pulls a ring box out of jean's pocket. Olivia gasps when he open the box to reveal a beautiful emerald ring.
"Olivia Fawcett. Will you marry me?" he asks all smiles.
The small group of nurses that are also on a break all start 'aw'-ing but Olivia is paralyzed.
"Uh," is all she manages. She blinks a few times and Toby is starting to wonder if something is wrong. "No! No, Toby, I – I can't marry you." She exclaims.
His face drops and his ice blue eyes stare at her in disbelief and shock. "What?! Why not?" he asks almost close to tears. "Is it something I said? Do you not like the ring? We can go back and pick out another one. Is it because I don't have a car? I have a license; I can go out and buy a used one right now. I'll get another job if you don't think we'll make enough money." Toby fires off desperately, just completely not understanding.
"No, no, it's, it's not any of that." She stammers.
"So what is it? Why do you keep saying no?"
"I love you, Toby. I – I, do. Just, not like that." She says. "I just can't marry you. We're – We're too different. You're, special and, and I don't know if I can handle that for the rest of my life."
"I can change!" He cries out. "I'm on different medicine, it's making things better! It is! I promise."
Liv just shakes her head 'no' slowly. 'You're an idiot! How dare you come to my workplace and try to propose to me when you should know that I don't love you like that! You're a telepath, and I'm not and it's weird! You know what I'm thinking all the time so how dare you not invade my mind to actually figure out what I'm thinking to spare you from getting hurt and embarrassing me in front of my colleagues! I love Todd and you know that! You can't change anything Toby Logan and I wish you'd just go away. Get out of my life! I don't need you and you certainly don't need me.' She thinks angrily.
Toby's icy eyes turn stormy and cold though she can clearly see the true hurt deep down. He snaps the box close and lets it fall to the floor as he stands slowly. The nurses behind Olivia are silent and shocked at the doctor's reaction to this attractive man proposing to her. He looks her in the eye and as he begins to speak, Liv can hear the pain in his voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt that way." He says quietly and in that moment, Olivia knows that her boyfriend hadn't been invading her mind, just because she asked him not too and that his words are genuine and full of sorrow. He didn't know that was how she felt and still feels.
He slowly turns and walks out of the room. She stares at his back for a moment before running out into the hall.
"Toby!" She shouts but he's down the hall and nearly out of the door. "Toby please!" She yells but she hears the exterior door slam shut and knows that he left the building. She sighs and closes her eyes, wanting it to all just go away.
Toby steps outside into the frigid night air. He calmly walks out of the parking lot and into a side street before he just starts running. Maybe if he runs far enough away he won't hear Liv's harsh thoughts repeat over and over again in his head. He loses track for the length of time he has been running. Toby is drenched in sweat and is starting to shake. He's gasping for air but he wants to keep running. Maybe he run into the country or into a neighboring town and start his life over. A whole new town where no one knows about his gift and no one sees him as anything else that a paramedic. Maybe he can take a job as a journalist or something. He doesn't want to think about it anymore and keeps running until he thinks he's going to go into cardiac arrest. Toby simply slows his run down to a fast walk and paces out the city's grid, attempting to figure out the smartest way to leave Toronto without having a car. Hitch-hiking is a bit too dangerous for his liking and walking the whole way to some remote town outside of the city isn't exactly favourable either.
"I can't believe it." He mutters. "I can't believe she would just say 'no'! Am I really that bad of a person?" He slows down even more and suddenly finds himself collapsed on the side of a deserted back alley sobbing his heart out. A few thoughts race through his mind, contemplating suicide. "What good would it do to kill myself? Oz would just be mad and Liv would have a pity party and feel bad for not wanting me. Why doesn't anyone want me?! What have I done so no one loves me? I can't do this anymore! God, help me!" He cries suddenly.
Everything turns quiet and peaceful. No thoughts float through his head, Liv's voice isn't ringing in his ears, everything is just perfectly quiet. Toby sits up straighter and leans against the side of the abandoned building behind him looking up at the barely visible stars. A bright flash streaks through the black night sky causing Toby's breath to catch in his throat with awe. He stands, feeling renewed and begins to walk calmly down the alley. He rounds the corner and pauses, hearing a loud roar that is seemingly following him. Briefly, he spots bright headlights. He glances at the end of the alley, fervently trying to find a place to run to, but a nine foot barbed wire fence stands tall, blocking Toby's path and any other hope for escape. The roar grows louder and louder. The headlights round the corner and come straight for Toby. The jacked up Chevy truck is almost upon Toby who stands quite paralyzed with fear.
"God, I don't want to die now! I don't want to die!" he whispers in terror.
The huge truck speeds up, heading on a collision course straight for Toby. The paramedic closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and swallows a split second before he feels an incredible blow to his whole body, throwing him, and then nothing.
A/N: Hehehehehe! Cliffy or cliffy? I know, I'm evil! So obviously there will be another chapter following this, I'm not just going to leave you hanging , and that'll probably be it for this story. Thanks so much for reading this chapter! Please review! I love to hear what you think! #PeaceoutGreasers! It's an Outsider thing…