Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue! ;D
Chapter 12: Thoughts Of An Apology
"Do you know where your heart is?
Do you think you can find it?
Or did you trade it for something?
Somewhere?
Better just to have it?"
-"Say (All I Need)" by OneRepublic
"Is he going to be alright?" Sarah asked, watching as Stephen and Becker carefully pulled Connor from the driver seat and placing him in the back seat.
"He'll be fine." Stephen assured her. "He just needs to sleep it off."
"Right, Sarah, I need you to come with me and point out the medic that saw Connor earlier." Jenny said, turning to Doctor Page.
Sarah nodded. "Okay."
"Becker and I will take Connor home. Have fun with Lester." Stephen smirked at Jenny.
"I'll be sure to tell James that the report you owe him will be on his desk by the end of the day." Jenny shot Stephen a wry smile.
The smirk faded from Stephen's face. "See you later, then."
As Sarah and Jenny left to return inside the ARC, Stephen looked to Becker.
"Follow me in one of the trucks."
"Why? Wouldn't it just be easier if we dropped Temple off at home and returned here with the vehicle?" Becker questioned.
"This is Connor's car. In fact, he'd probably freak out if he found out any of us drove it. We'll take him home, leave his car there and return in one of the trucks." Stephen explained, before picking up the car keys that were still lying on the ground.
Becker nodded before heading to grab a set of spare keys to one of the trucks.
"I swear on my medical license that I didn't know those pills would kick in quite so quickly! Those are new pain pills we just got in a couple weeks ago." The medic that had seen Connor earlier defended.
"I think your medical license might actually pay the price for the life you put in danger," Jenny spoke sternly.
"But he's alright, yes?"
"At the moment." Sarah answered.
"Then, no harm done?" The medic asked.
"He could have died." Jenny raised her voice slightly.
Sarah felt a sinking feeling at Jenny's words. Somehow, the thought of Connor being killed frightened her, despite the fact that she barely knew the guy.
The medic stuttered.
"He could have been driving when the pills kicked in and crashed." Jenny added.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. And, in my defense, I did suggest to him to have someone drive him home. I assumed that he did."
Jenny turned to Sarah and shared a look before turning back to the medic, smiling.
"I think there's something for all of us to get out of this little misunderstanding."
"I'll do anything." The medic begged.
"I want full reports on anything and everything that has to do with Connor and the medical bay from this day forward. In return, I will forget this ever happened." Jenny held out her hand for the medic to shake.
"Deal." He spoke, shaking Jenny's hand.
"It's a pleasure doing business with you." Jenny smiled before she and Sarah departed the medical bay.
"Do you do that on anomaly sites as well?" Sarah asked curiously.
"What?"
"You know, bully people into seeing things your way."
"I'd like to think of it as a swaying of opinion in favor of the ARC."
"So then, everything's taken care of? The medic's been debriefed and Connor's been taken home."
"Not quite." Jenny replied, as they walked down the corridor. "We've still got to talk to Cutter and James."
Connor rolled about in bed before groggily opening his eyes. He glanced around. He was in his bedroom and it was nighttime.
Perhaps it was all a dream?
He glanced at his right hand. It was wrapped in gaze and he could still feel the gash in the palm of his hand. No such luck.
He was having another livid dream about eight months ago. About when he forced Caroline out of his life following Abby's death.
Caroline had come to see him a few hours after he'd been escorted home from the scene.
"Connor? Connor, are you here?" She asked cheerily, unaware of what had happened.
She'd found him sitting at the little island table in the kitchen, his head in his hands.
He wasn't making any sounds apart from breathing heavily. He'd completely spent the water in his tear ducts.
"Connor, is—is everything alright?" She asked.
He didn't answer her, he just wanted to be on his own right now.
"I—Maybe I could get you something?" Caroline stumbled.
"No." Connor had muttered.
"What's wrong?" she asked concerned.
"I think you should leave, Caroline." He spoke, anger and frustration bottling up.
"Would you like me to come round later, then? See how you're doing ?" She said, hopefully.
"It's over, Caroline; just get out." He mumbled against his hands, not looking up.
"What do you mean 'it's over'?" She asked, thinking it was a joke.
"Where's Abby?" She asked when he didn't immediately answer.
Connor wanted to laugh. He knew the pair of them hated each other. The hatred between them had sparked the unresolved fight between him and Abby that he'd never get the chance to apologize for.
"Is this a joke? It's a joke, isn't it?" Caroline asked, worry lining her voice.
She was starting to get on his nerves, he just wanted her to leave.
"Connor, I—"
He couldn't take it anymore.
"She's dead, Caroline! We're through, don't ever come back here again!" He shouted cutting her off.
"Dead? What—what happened—" Caroline asked, gobsmacked.
"Get out of my flat, Caroline!" He screamed.
Tears sprung in Caroline's eyes before she turned and left the flat, slamming the door behind her.
That was the first night Connor got himself drunk.
Connor stood, shaking the still fresh memories from his mind as a new mystery came to mind.
How did he get home? How'd he end up in bed and where were his shoes?
The last thing he remembered was taking those pills the medic gave him and heading towards his car to leave. Connor was fairly certain that he hadn't left the ARC parking garage, as his head felt a bit sore where he was sure he'd whacked it off the steering wheel when he passed out.
He wandered out of his bedroom, down the hallway and towards the kitchen. He was dying of thirst.
The kitchen looked seemingly brand new.
The broken, bloody, glass mess had been cleaned and new replacements adorned the island table.
"Jenny must've had someone sneak into my flat after we left this morning." Connor said aloud to himself.
He strolled over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice. As he poured some into a glass sitting on the table, Connor noticed a note resting near the edge, addressed to him.
I guess you're probably wondering how the hell you ended up in your flat as you read this note. You were found unconscious in your car in the parking garage. Don't worry, the keys are on the nightstand and the car is in one piece just outside.
Connor rushed to the kitchen window to peer outside to make sure the blue coupe was still there. After seeing the car in one piece, he returned to the note.
Jenny took care of all the technicalities. If you want, you can be offered medical leave as compensation for the after-effects of the pills the medic gave you. There are no secrets, so I think it's best you know that none of us would have known you were unconscious when we did if it wasn't for Sarah.
If you decided to take medical leave, call or text one of us before tomorrow morning.
-Stephen.
"Huh." Connor spoke, before sipping his glass of orange juice.
Perhaps he had an apology he needed to start working on.
Please Review! ;D