Title: Friday Night Lies Chapter 2
Author: Romantique
Email: dolph1n
Classification: Eric/Tami
Rating: T for course language.
Summary: When the entire town of Dillon closes up Friday nights to watch their beloved Panthers, who watches their vacant homes and businesses?
Disclaimer: Friday Night Lights fan fiction occurs at the end of Season 3.
Legal: These characters do not belong to me. I'm just a fan and have not made a dime. Please email me to obtain permission to post.
Late Friday Night
Midland Medical Center
Emergency Room
Julie and Matt sat in the Emergency Room waiting area with Gracie, as instructed by the nursing staff. They had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity. Julie hadn't seen nor heard from her Mom since she left with her Dad in the ambulance. The only information they had was that Eric was listed in critical condition. Not knowing what was going on was getting to Julie. It was getting to Matt, too.
Word quickly began to spread around the team about what had happened to their coach. Landry Clarke and Tyra Collette were the first of Julie's and Matt's friends to arrive at the hospital. Tyra gave Julie a long hug. The sight of seeing her friend so distraught over her Dad made Tyra, who was typically very strong and stoic, cry. Matt seemed relieved when they arrived. Tyra was not only good morale support for Julie, but she and Landry could also help them keep an eye on Gracie who was sleeping on the sofa next to Matt.
"Tim Riggins and Lila Garrity are right behind us," Landry told Matt and Julie. "Everyone is really upset to hear about what happened to Coach Taylor."
Within the hour, Riggins, Lila, and Mac Macgill also arrived. For Julie, telling or even hearing the story about what happened over and over was like reliving the trauma all over again. To spare his girlfriend, Matt put Landry in charge of updating each new arrival at the hospital.
Dillon's number one Panther Booster, Buddy Garrity, was the next to arrive. "Hey, Matt," Buddy motioned. Matt was soon joined by Mac, Riggins, and Landry. "I just left Eric's house and spoke to the police there at the scene. I want you to tell Tami and Julie that their house has been sealed off as a crime scene. The police detectives will be back in the morning in the daylight to begin their investigation. I want the Taylors to know they're welcome to stay at my home for as long as they need."
Matt, who was typically unsure of himself, rose to the occasion tonight. "Thanks, Mr. Garrity. I'll make sure they know. That's very nice to open your home, though I doubt Julie or Mrs. Taylor will leave the hospital until they know Coach is gonna be okay." Then, he continued, "I think it's a great for you to keep in touch with the police. I'll take care of Julie as much as I can while Mrs. Taylor is takin' care of Coach. And I'll help Julie take care of Gracie."
Mac joined in on the discussion and added, "Is it true their house was ransacked? As soon as the police are finished with their investigation, we could get the team together. With some direction from either Tami or Julie and some muscle power from the guys, we could get their house cleaned up and back in shape in no time."
Buddy concurred, "Yeah, that's a great idea, Mac. And the Boosters and the church can help them replace some of the items that were damaged or stolen."
Landry reminded them that his Dad, the county Sheriff, could help. The Sheriff could arrange for a security evaluation of the house to see what they could do to make the Taylor home more secure. Riggins, who had been quiet all this time, said that someone needed to give him something to do soon before he took off to find the S.O.B.s who did this to Coach.
Matt excused himself when he saw Julie discreetly wave him over. She led him by the arm to follow a nurse's aid who led them to her mother. Tami's beautiful face looked like it had aged ten years that night. She cried all her makeup off which was replaced with worry under harsh florescent lights. The look on Tami's face alarmed her daughter.
"Your Dad's conscious," Tami immediately started. She spoke very quickly. "He was unconscious when he arrived, and it was really scary for awhile. He knows who I am, who you and Gracie are. That's very good news. He doesn't remember what happened tonight or how he got to the hospital which they are telling me is not abnormal. He was just taken upstairs to get a CT scan of his head. Now, we wait to see what the scan shows."
"Mom, what happened to Dad? Nobody's told us anything." Julie needed to know.
Tami's face contorted into the most painful look. "Someone cold cocked him on the back of his head," Tami cried, so sorry to have to tell her daughter. She had a hard time fathoming how someone could do that to Eric or to anyone else.
"What does cold cocked mean?" Matt asked, thinking maybe Julie didn't know either.
"It means to knock someone unconscious," Tami sobbed.
Julie cried and hugged her mom.
"Tyra and Landry are here," Matt did the talking because Julie couldn't. "Gracie is sleeping. She's with them so we could come back here and talk with you."
Tami nodded, trying hard to compose herself. "Thank you for bein' here, Matt. Julie and Eric and I need you right now. Anyway, I need to get back up there. I'll come back down when I know something from the scan. But it could be awhile."
"I'm not going anywhere until I know Dad's okay," Julie told her mom, still visibly shaken.
"I know," Tami hugged her, oldest. "And I think that is fine."
Midland Medical Center
Emergency Room
Saturday morning
Very early the next morning, the only ones left in the waiting room from Dillon High were Julie, Matt, Gracie, Tyra, and Landry. Everyone else was told to go home until the next day.
Finally, Tami came down to give Julie an update. She took a seat on the sofa between Julie and Gracie, and she softly patted her sleeping baby girl's back.
"I'm sorry it took so long," she said and began the update. "Eric has a hematoma which is a big bruise that is bleeding under the skin in the back of his head. His skull has a dent where he was hit, but it didn't fracture. That's good. The hematoma can cause swelling and pressure on the brain, and that is a concern. He's in Critical Care so that they can watch the situation very carefully by repeating the scans to watch for changes. They may need to drain the blood which is why they are watching it very closely."
Julie looked frightened. "Is he still awake?" Julie asked.
"Yes, he is. But he's had a tough night. He has a bad headache which you could imagine, and he's been vomiting. It's been no fun for him," she answered, hugging her girl.
"That sort of sounds like when Riggins had that concussion last year," Landry commented.
"Yes, that's right. A concussion or brain swelling is exactly what it is," Tami said. She felt it was better to be honest with these very intelligent young people.
Tami continued, "Jules, I'm going to take you in to see your Dad for just a few minutes. You can come back tonight and see him again. After your visit, I think you should go with Gracie to wherever you feel most comfortable and get some sleep so you can be rested when you're allowed to see him again. We can't go back to our house right now under any circumstances. Don't any of you go back there for clothes or anything else until the police tell us its okay."
"Julie and Gracie could stay at our house," Tyra offered.
"You should all be together as much as possible," Tami suggested, knowing that Julie sometimes had split loyalties between Tyra and Matt. "Watching Gracie is a handful and sometimes a two person job. One or two of you are going to need to watch her while Jules gets some rest."
Matt joined in. "My mom can take care of Gramma. I can be wherever Julie needs me to be. I just need to check in with her. Gramma is very concerned about Coach."
"I'd be happy to help watch Gracie," Landry smiled at Tyra.
"That's wonderful," Tami smiled. "If you all stick together and help Julie get through this, I would be forever grateful."
Tyra, Landry, and Matt all easily agreed.
"What about you, Mom?" Julie asked, concerned about her mother.
"I just spoke with your Aunt Shelly; she will be here by tonight and will help us with Gracie and clothes and whatever we need. They just brought a cot into the room for me," she said. "I'm about to lay down for a couple of hours before the doctors come through to make their rounds. But first, I'm going to take you up to see your Dad."
(To be continued …)