Chapter 9 All in a day
Regan and Dave were paying a quick visit to Alex. Stevie was hanging around in the corridor, leaning to the windowpane. She tried to let the whole thing sink in, so she stared in front of her with a cuppa in her hands. They just had a short talk with the nurse and Dr. Neill would come back later to fill them in on the latest info. She sighed and hadn't heard Fiona walking down the hallway. The doctor had just told her the latest news about Alex and somehow his wife couldn't really be that happy.
Stevie shook up out of her thoughts when Fiona was standing right in front of her. 'So ...', she said, looking in a total different state than earlier. '... So you got through to him.' Stevie gazed at her, and didn't really know why the dark haired girl said it, making it sound so ... she didn't really could describe it. 'Well, it's good news', she responded.' Stevie tried to stay calm, and decided just to stick to Alex' condition. Fiona nodded for a moment, but she could feel the jealousy boiling in her blood.
'You must be pretty happy that it was you', she almost squeezed her eyes saying it. 'What did you say anyway?' Stevie sighed; this was the last thing she was into. 'That doesn't matter, as long as he gets better ... you want him to get better, do you?' Stevie gave her an intense stare. Couldn't that girl act normal for once, and not treat her like her big rival. Fiona felt offended. 'Of course I want him to get better. I love Alex!' It surprised Stevie she could stay this calm. 'Well, you have a strange way of showing that'. She stood up and wanted to walk away.
Fiona looked a side her, following the red head and was irritated with Stevie's behavior. It felt like she acted superior. 'So you still think you gonna win his heart? Do you? Well, he won't love you, be sure of that. You lied to him too, and he knows it.' It didn't really upset Stevie, and she didn't feel the need to turn around and face the desperate girl. 'As long as he gets better', she repeated. At that moment Dave and Regan walked into the corridor, which made Fiona back off.
'What was that all about?' Regan asked when Fiona was gone. Stevie showed a cynical laugh. 'Oh you know Fiona, just being her annoying self.'
A minute later Dr. Neill was standing in front of the three. 'It looks good for now. It's pretty quick after the crash, so this could mean it won't take long for him to wake up. But we can't be sure about that of course. I just want to ask you to think of all ways to stimulate him. It's important for his recovery.' He looked straight at Stevie, like he knew she would have the answer. 'It can be anything?' Dave asked. Lucas watched at him and nodded. They thought for a moment. 'Just think ab ...', but before Lucas could finish his line he could hear Stevie's voice interrupt him. 'Claire!'. Lucas looked confused at her, and Stevie gave Dave a gaze to see if he supported it. 'Claire! That's what he need.' Regan looked confused too. 'Claire? But how do you want to do that?'
'Who's Claire?', Lucas asked. Dave started to explain and it made Dr. Neill agree. 'That sounds like a good idea, but how?' 'Well, anything that reminds him of her, maybe we have old clothes, or ... well I don't know. Jodi probably will ... her sister', Stevie added quickly before Lucas could ask for another explanation.
It was a couple of hours later when Regan and Stevie were on their way to Drovers. The red head kind of felt excited, turning around all possibilities in her head, but Regan could hardly help her. She still wasn't sure how to bring Claire to Alex. 'Maybe Jodi knows, or we can call Tess, yes we can call Tess.' Stevie's excitement worried Regan a bit, what if it didn't turn out well?
When they arrived at Drovers Stevie rushed inside, spreading around words to Moira. 'Wait, calm down Stevie', the older woman said. She could see the exhaustion through Stevie's excitement. 'Let's take a seat'. 'But I have to find Jodi', Stevie said while Moira pushed her down on a chair. Regan and Jodi got inside. 'You needed me? Well here's Jodi to the rescue!' She grinned a bit. Again Stevie started to talk in hardly an understandable way, followed by Regan who kind of translated it.
Jodi nodded. 'Ah, so we need to get something Claire's!' 'Yes!', Stevie shook her head exaggerating, while Moira placed a glass of water in front of her. After Jodi had a few moments of thought she got a bright idea. 'The video of BOM's name giving party!' The women looked at her before they realized this was indeed a wonderful idea. 'I know Terry filmed Claire before the party started, and before Peter showed up. We probably have it somewhere in the boxes upstairs.'
A wide smile appeared on Stevie's face and she wanted to check it out right away, but the girls held her back. 'I will do that Stevie. It's probably better for you to get a shower, something to eat, and mostly some rest', Jodi said determined.
She was still too full with adrenaline to get some sleep so she walked outside to get some fresh air. She had missed the countryside and decided to walk to the bathtub under the windmill. While taking a seat she stared to the sky that was getting pretty dark already. The last days had been so heavy, but she couldn't wait for tomorrow, to get back to Alex.
'Hey', she heard behind her, turning around she saw Jodi with a comforting smile on her face. A second later she made space for Jodi to sit down next to her. 'I've found the tape and watched it quickly. I guess it's good enough.' She lay her hand on Stevie's knee and smiled to her friend. 'Thanks', Stevie said with a deep sigh, staring back in front of her. 'He'll be fine, I just know', Jodi said when she looked up at the sky, seeing the first stars showing up. 'Claire will make that happen.' They gave each other a short assuring look.
'Hey ladies'. A bit startled, the girls looked behind them. Riley was standing there holding the tip of his hat with his left hand, nodding greeting. 'I hope I don't interrupt?' Jodi smiled softly at him. 'No you don't.' She knew Riley had asked a few times about Stevie these last days, but she didn't tell him much and figured it was better for Stevie to have a private talk with him. 'I'm gonna go inside, to make sure the video is set for tomorrow.' Jodi took off and Riled walked to the tub.
'You mind if I sit with you?', he asked. Stevie only gave him an approving look, before gazing away again. 'So, I heard it's been pretty hectic lately'. Riley didn't really know how to start the conversation, and Stevie wondered how much he knew.
'How is Wildflower doing?' 'Well, perfectly well', Riley answered, noticing Stevie wasn't really into a talk, so he tried to incite her. 'I've helped on Killarney today.' It made Stevie look at him for a moment. 'How's Alex?' She looked away again, cause she couldn't really watch him while she mentioned Alex. 'He's', she sighed, 'we just hope he gets out of his coma.' She bitted her lip and saying it made her sad again.
Riley lay his hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged away. 'Don't', she uttered. He was pretty surprised with her reaction and Stevie could see in his eyes he asked for an explanation. 'Sorry, not now'. Riley sat back a bit. 'Stevie, I don't wanna ... I ... I feel like I'm left out in all of this. What's going on?' 'Nothing', she said quickly, 'I'm just worried about Alex'. She knew immediately that it hadn't sounded like enough to him. He nodded a bit though it bugged him she didn't want to open up to him. What was this with Alex? He never noticed they were that close.
Riley took his hat of his head and twirled it around in his hands, keeping silent for some time. Than Stevie stood up and she felt his hand grapping her arm. It made her stop and watch him, seeing his worried, confused and questioning look. 'Please, Stevie ... I don't know what's going on, but I think I deserve some kind of explanation ...' She gazed at him, not wanting to say a thing, so she tried to free her arm. 'Damn Stevie, we're partners ... we made love for goodness sake!'
Stevie breathed in deeply, knowing she had to say something. He saw that his words had upset her, but he couldn't stop now and so he kept glaring her. 'Not now Riley, I can't deal with that now'. He looked down after hearing her words, letting go off her hand, like he was defeated. For a moment she looked at the sky, with teary eyes, deciding to walk away.
She took big steps back to the house. We made love ... Stevie shook her head thinking of it. Gosh, was this the way Riley felt? Was he really talking about love? Stevie never thought he would think of her like this. Riley didn't really seem the guy that would be serious about stuff like this, at least not to her. Love, that wasn't love, it had been just sex ... to ease her mind.