Chapter 10
Morning has come. They are still in bed with Kate curled up sleeping against him. He stares at the ceiling fan as it spins and thinks about how far they have come in their relationship. He knows that Tori and Javi would make it through his injuries and come out on the other side a little better for it. He wants to give them both his and Kate's support. Though, sometimes some things are better left alone.
Tori rises earlier than usual this morning. First on her agenda is to get a quick shower and something to eat. As she enters the dining room/living room her eyes catch the table as she walks past it. It is still set with the dishes and silverware for the dinner from that terrible night. She looks back and wonders if it is all worth it.
She makes herself two scrambled eggs with white toast. Finishing her food she places the dish along with the dishes she had set out for their date into the sink to clean later. Sadly, she makes her way out of her 5 story walk-up. Descending the stairs, she thinks about the love of her life. She would give anything to have him out of the hospital and in her arms.
Upon reaching the front of her building she notices a black town car waiting at the curb. The driver gets out and asks her name.
"Miss Ellis?" he asks.
"Yes, what's wrong?" Tori replies while automatically thinking the worst.
"Hello, Miss Ellis. My name is Joe. And I can assure that there is nothing wrong. I am Mr. Castle's personal driver. He sent me to take you anywhere you needed to go." He responds.
"Oh, he did, did he?" Tori answers a bit skeptical.
"Yes indeed he did, so do you have any place in mind?" The driver replies.
"Yes, would you please take me to Grace Hospital?" she politely asks.
"Sure thing Miss. Ellis, just let me get the door for you and we will be off." He responds.
The driver opens the door and Tori gets in. It is a 20-minute drive to the hospital and the Joe is making small talk.
"Miss Ellis, for a while I had thought you have given up on coming out this morning. I have been waiting for about an hour. I'm glad that I can be of assistance." He says.
"Thank-you Joe, I'll have to thank Rick when I see him next." She says while looking out the window.
"Anytime Miss Ellis..." Joe beams.
The rest of the ride went without another word. Before long Joe is pulling up the ER Entrance.
"Thank you for the ride Joe. I will inform Rick on how well you perform your duties." Tori says as she exits the town car then rushes into the hospital.
As she presses the button to call the elevator a little too hard, her thoughts are lost in what she is going to say to Javi. The elevator dings and she gets into the car. Quickly arriving at his floor, she exits, then walks to his room. It is not far from the elevator. As she approaches, she hears voices coming from his room.
She stops suddenly, then leaning up against the wall listening intently. The voice is not one she easily has recognized. The conversation is heated, though. The voices are getting louder as the talk continues.
"Oh come on Javi." The voice says very annoyingly.
"What would you like me to tell you? You have moved on and by my calculations, we are over! I'll bet this all started when you found out I was with Tori." Javi angrily says.
"Yeah, but with all that's happened in the last few days, don't you think that we might try again?" The voice says now it is a distinctly a woman's voice Tori thinks.
"Well..." Javi says wavering in his decision.
Even though she catches the last of what he was saying in mid-sentence. It nonetheless hurts from what she thinks what he is about to say. So much so that she leaves to go to the patient lounge. There she keeps an eye on his room's door to see who exits. Time goes by so very slowly. Finally, the mystery woman opens the door and leaves.
When Lanie walked out of his room, Tori knows that Javi has reconsidered their relationship. She quickly walks past his room, seeing that there was no other way to leave the floor. Javi sees her walking quickly as she passes by the room.
"TORI" Javi yelled out as she continues to walk away.
He receives no response, just footsteps fading quickly away. Before long he has put the facts together. He knows that Tori must have been listening to their conversation. She must have left before the conversation has ended. Otherwise, she would not be acting this way.
"Yeah, but with all that's happened in the last few days, don't you think that we could try again?" Javi recalls Lanie saying. "She must have overheard my hesitation.
Javi closes his eyes and recalls what he actually said to Lanie's question.
"Lanie, while you might think that you can just waltz in here, wave your magic wand and expect everything to be fine between us as a couple...then you are sadly mistaken. We have danced around what we both want and we are just not at the same level. I am in love with Tori. So much so that I see us going the distance."
"Can we still be close friends?" She asked hopefully.
"Lanie, I can't label us close friends, but I can say that I am willing to be your friend."
"I can live with that Javi." Lanie turns and leaves.
Javi reaches over to the phone. He tries calling Tori's number. It goes to directly to voice mail. Then he calls Kate to explain what happened this morning.
Kate tells Rick, who calls Joe. Joe is not at the hospital but returns immediately to follow his employer's directions.
Tori reaches the elevator and once again hits the down button. Running through her thoughts, she wouldn't believe that Javi would throw away everything they have. The elevator arrives and she enters. Her phone rings she looks at the caller. It is Javi. She really does not want to hear him dumping her over the phone. So she lets it go to voice mail. The elevator is crowded and slow. Finally, she reaches the lobby level. She hopes that Joe is still here since she did not tell him to wait.
Stepping outside, she is relieved to see Joe driving up. She waits until he stops, then gets out, then opens the door. Tori on the verge of tears enters, then sit as Joe returns to the driver's seat.
"So Miss Ellis is everything alright?" Joe asks seeing her in such a distraught condition.
"No Joe everything is not right. Please take me home." She says.
"Yes, Miss Ellis" Joe says.
"Joe, please call me Tori." She says, gazing out the window.
"Okay, Tori we will be at our destination shortly." Joe says as he follows his Employer's instruction.
Tori is so distraught barely realizes the car has stopped. It, however, was certainly not her apartment building, but Kate's instead.
Tori thinks it is better to go to Kate instead of wallowing at home. Kate would know what do to. Tori exits the car.
"Thank you, Joe, for everything." She says as she walks into the building.
"You are most welcome Tori." Joe says with a wink then departs himself.
Joe calls his employer.
"Miss Ellis has left the car. I understand, Thank you, Mr. Castle." Joe reports.
"Kate, Tori is here. I'll make myself scarce in my office." Rick says, darting into the office then closing the door.
Kate has already gotten showered and dressed after the distressing Javi call. She is holding a coffee cup as a soft knock hits the door. She looks at Rick's closed door and she loves him just a little more by becoming invisible then opens the door….