Thank you to my Beta Aitusa
IMPORTANT! There will be a longer time between chapter updates for the next few weeks as I am writing a short story for my mum as a Christmas present and will be devoting my time to that instead THM. Thank you for your patience.
The next morning Ellie woke up with a stiff back and a sore neck. Tom was still asleep, lying on his side with his head rested on Alec's chest and his left hand fisted in Alec's hospital gown. Alec, on the other hand, was wide awake, lying on his back, looking out the window at the rising sun. He was deep in thought and hadn't noticed that Ellie had woken up.
"Morning." Ellie mumbled. She rubbed her eyes, not caring about smearing yesterday's mascara. It had probably already run from the crying she'd done last night.
"I already told the nurse I want to talk to the cardiologist when you and Tom wake up." Alec said in lieu of a morning greeting.
"That's good." Ellie said. At least that was one less thing she'd have to do today.
"Hmm." Alec still hadn't looked at her.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Ellie asked.
"I haven't seen her since the divorce." Alec replied. Ellie didn't have to ask who her was. "She doesn't even know I'm sick. This isn't the sort of thing I can tell her about in a voice message but it's not like I'm going to see her anytime soon. I guess I'm just afraid of dying without her knowing."
"You're not going to die, Alec. You're a fighter. You fought to find Danny's killer and should any complications arise you'll fight to live." Ellie insisted.
"Aye, but on the off chance that something does go wrong, could you tell her everything, and tell her..." Alec swallowed. "...tell her I love her?" He asked.
Ellie leaned forward and reached for Alec's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She waited until he looked at her for the first time that morning before speaking.
"I promise." Ellie said. "I'll her tell all that and more, however nothing is going to happen."
Alec nodded his head in thanks and turned back to the window. They elapsed into silence, Ellie still holding his hand. Tom woke half an hour later when the nurse came in with Alec's breakfast, which he made a face at, and to check his vitals. It was only then that Ellie released his hand.
"The cafeteria is open and serving breakfast if you'd like to get something for yourself and your son." The nurse told Ellie. "The Cardiologist should be here to see you in a half hour." She directed at Alec before she left to check on another patient.
"What's say we go and get breakfast and bring it back to eat with Alec?" Ellie asked Tom.
Tom was rubbing one eye while staring blindly at the wall. He had never been much of a morning person. Slowly, Ellie's words filtered through his brain. It was easy to see the moment Tom's stomach took control over his body, for his eyes became brighter and he sat up straighter, more alert.
"Come on sweetheart, let's get some food in you." Ellie said. "We'll be back soon." She told Alec.
As they walked down the hall Tom asked his mum, "What's a Cardiologist?"
"You were awake enough to catch that then?" Ellie asked.
Tom nodded.
"A cardiologist is a doctor who specializes in dealing with the heart." Ellie explained.
Tom looked up at her, excitement in his eyes. "He's going to get the treatment he needs?"
Ellie smiled. "Yes, he is."
When Ellie and Tom returned with a cardboard carton of scrambled eggs and shredded potatoes each the cardiologist was already in the room. Ellie gave her meal to Tom and asked him to wait outside in the hall for her. She introduced herself to the doctor, making sure to say she was Alec's partner. Alec wrinkled his nose at her while the doctor's back was turned but she didn't care what he thought of her deception. Ellie wanted to make sure Alec got his surgery scheduled.
It was determined that Alec was well enough to be discharged that evening so he could go 'home' until his surgery but he was under strict orders to rest. Ellie could already tell Alec wouldn't listen and would insist on looking after her boys tomorrow afternoon per as usual. The next available date for the surgery was November fifth at ten in the morning. The surgery would last two hours at most; afterwards Ellie would pick up and drive Alec 'home'.
Once everything was arranged and the cardiologist had left Tom came back into the room. Ellie and Tom took their seats on either side of the bed and together all three of them ate their now cold breakfast.
After lunch Ellie left Tom playing cards with Alec and went outside to make a few calls. First she phoned Lucy and Olly to let them know about the situation and to check in on Fred. The toddler had cried away half the night and most of the day, not understanding why his mum wasn't there. Ellie's next call was to Chief Superintendent Jenkinson at the station. As one of Alec's few friends she was glad to hear he was getting his pacemaker put in; As Ellie's boss she was reluctant to give her best DS time off because of a recent spree of car keying. However, Jenkinson knew Alec had no family near by who could drive him to and from the hospital. In the end a compromise was reached, Ellie would get the fifth off and would come in on the weekend to make up the time.
"It's good to hear I'll be getting my DI back soon." Jenkinson had said before hanging up.
Ellie didn't have the heart to tell the Chief Superintendant that there was a possibility that she could lose her DI and friend in a far more permanent way.
Tom looked thoroughly put out when Ellie returned to Alec's room.
"What happened here?" She asked.
"Your son has learned not to play cheat with a detective." Alec answered. "Repeatedly."
"I thought I could win!" Tom said. "I win against you all the time."
Ellie couldn't quite look her son in the eye. It was true that on occasion he did actually win but a vast majority of his wins were because she let him win. While Tom had successfully kept how his friendship with Danny had fallen apart a secret, he was still a mediocre liar at best and she could easily tell when the cards he said he had put down were actually different cards.
"You let me win don't you?" Tom asked, crossing his arms.
"Alec, I thought since your car is still at my house that you should spend the night, then you can drive back into Broadchurch in the morning." Ellie said trying to change the subject.
"You do! You let me win!" Tom shouted.
Ellie sighed, a quick glance at Alec showed that was enjoying the show. He always did like seeing how she would react when she was put on the spot during the investigation.
"Not all the time." She admitted. "I can think of several instances when you won on your own."
The reassurance that Tom had indeed won several games of cheat against his mother without her helping did nothing to make him feel better. He sat at the foot of Alec's bed, glaring at Ellie with his arms crossed. Every once in a while his eyes would flicker to Alec as well, because he was slightly conflicted. While he was mad at his mum for letting him win, he also mad at Alec for having no mercy and calling his every bluff.
"As I was saying, I think it's best you stay the night." Ellie continued on her earlier train of thought but this time she was trying not to look at Tom for fear she would start laughing. He was too precious when he was like this. "I also thought it would be a idea good for you to stay the night before the surgery so I can make sure you get in on time."
"Ah, I see. And pray tell, where am I to sleep during those nights?" Alec argued. He didn't like that Ellie was starting to mother hen him.
At this, Ellie's eyes shifted to Tom. "I was thinking that Tom could sleep with me and you could take his bed." She suggested.
Tom looked like he was going to argue with the idea but Alec beat him to it. "I don't think I'll fit in Tom's bed. I'm wee bit taller than he is. And no!" Alec interjected when he saw Ellie open her mouth. "You are not going to offer your bed while you sleep on the floor."
Tom watched as his mum and Alec argued about sleeping arrangements. He couldn't understand why they didn't just share a bed. He knew that's what they had done when Ellie had been going into Broadchurch twice a week. How was this any different? Tom heard his mum suggest she sleep with him in his bed and was very glad when Alec vetoed that as well, stating Tom needed his own bed and that if he wasn't going to fit in it alone how would both Ellie and Tom fit? Getting tired of hearing the same suggestions and arguments as to why they were bad over and over, Tom finally piped up.
"You could just share mum's bed." He suggested.
Was it just him or did his mum suddenly lose the ability to look at Alec, and was she... blushing? Tom looked at Alec, he too was steadfastly avoiding looking Ellie.
"What's so bad about that?" Tom asked. "It's not like guys haven't done it before."
"How did you...? Oh never mind, that was different in any case." Ellie said.
"How?" Tom asked. "You needed a bed so Alec offered you his to share until he got you one of your own. Now he needs a bed and you have one you can offer him."
Ellie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, stalling for time as she searched for the right thing to say. When she opened them she sat down beside Tom and took his hands in hers.
"Sweetheart, it's different because I only needed sleep but Alec needs more than that. He's just had a heart attack and..." Ellie was cut off by Alec grunting. She whirled around to face him. "I don't care what you think; you are sick and need more than just a bed to sleep the night on." She turned back to Tom. "He'll be having an operation soon too. He needs to recuperate and get as much rest as he can. Do you remember what your dad used to always complain about?"
Tom smiled. "He used to say you had three modes. Bed or blanket hog mode, clingy mode and log mode."
"That's right." Ellie said. She too was smiling at the good memory. "Do you remember the time you had a nightmare a few years back and we let you sleep with us?"
Tom nodded. Choosing to sleep with parents was worse than if they had made him sleep in his own bed. That had been one of Ellie's clingy combined with blanket hog nights. She had wrapped herself around him in her sleep and then had somehow managed to wrap them in all the blankets. Tom hadn't slept much more than his father that night. Where Joe had been shivering and cold, Tom had been suffocating inside the hot cocoon his mother had created. He looked at Alec with pleading eyes.
Alec, for his part, had only experienced log mode. He didn't think he would mind clingy mode. He rather enjoyed holding someone or something, usually a pillow, while he slept, not that anyone would ever hear him admit that out loud. He had already sworn Ellie into secrecy over this fact. He had a reputation to keep, even if at the time he hadn't thought he would ever be returning to the force. The hogging mode though, that may be an issue. Tess had been a blanket hog to the extreme, it had been his biggest pet peeve. It was such a problem in fact that they had ended up with going to bed with separate sets of blankets and yet he would still wake up in the morning with either his duvet or sheets missing.
"Please, let her sleep on the floor." Tom begged Alec. "It's only two nights. Don't make one of us suffer."
"You make it sound a hundred times worse than it is." Ellie said.
"You only think that because you're not the victim." Tom replied. "Please, Alec."
Alec looked between the two. He really didn't want to put Ellie out but judging by the look on Tom's face it would be like signing his death warrant to have his mother sleep with him. He personally didn't mind sharing a bed with Ellie so long as she didn't enter her hog mode but he could also see Ellie's point. He did need to recuperate from this latest attack and be completely rested for the surgery.
Alec brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose and looked at Tom again. While nothing had happened during the nights he'd had Ellie over he didn't like the thought of Tom knowing they'd shared a bed. He remembered being his age and still thinking that only parents shared beds. Up until a few days before Halloween Tom didn't even seem to really like him, he just tolerated Alec's presence like everyone at the station did. Now he was finding loopholes in hospital policies by saying his mum was his partner and suggesting they share a bed. Alec liked that Tom had warmed up to him, he was a good lad,and although Alec wanted to be there for the Miller family and missed being a dad, he didn't like the thought of Tom secretly trying to get his mum and him together. Alec had come to like Ellie but only as a friend.
"Fine. If your mother would prefer to sleep on the floor she can." Alec finally replied.
