"Come on, little sis, you need to sleep," Sadie said softly. "I'll stay with him while Kwest isn't here, if the reason you're not leaving is because you don't want him to be alone, but you have to get some sleep."
"I sleep," Jude murmured. "I slept for a few hours last night."
"I mean in a real bed, Jude," she sighed. "It's been almost five days, and you haven't left here for more than a couple hours. You're exhausted. You need to get some real food, and some real sleep. He's still going to be here in the morning when you come back."
"But what if he isn't, Sadie?!" Jude's eyes were wide and scared.
"Oh, sweetie, no. You can't think like that." Sadie looked sad. "Besides, you heard the doctor. He's doing a lot better. He's out of intensive care, they said he's going to start physical therapy soon… He's okay. He's out of the woods."
"They said she was okay, too!" Jude cried, too loudly.
Sadie winced. "It's not like that. The doctors check on him every few hours, they've been doing all those tests and scans… if they say he's doing better, it's because he's doing better. Besides, the hotel is right across the street, you could be here in two minutes if you needed to. I promise I'll call if there's anything you need to know."
"I can't!" Jude's voice was rising in pitch, becoming increasingly hysterical. "What if he's not fine? What if he needs me?" Sadie put her hands on Jude's shoulders, trying to calm her down, but Jude was crying now. "What if I leave and he– I can't! Every time I close my eyes I see him die, Sadie! Or I see her… This is all my fault. It's all my fault! If anything happens–"
"Jude," Tommy's voice came from the bed, snapping her out of her increasing panic. He sounded groggy, but insistent.
"Tommy! I'm sorry!" Jude said quickly, hastily wiping her tears. "I didn't mean to wake you. Please, go back to sleep. I'll shut up."
"It's fine," Tommy said quietly. He was frowning, but it looked like concern in his expression, not anger, though the bruises and the shadows made it hard to tell. "Come here for a second." He grabbed the remote for the bed and raised the head of it about a foot, gesturing for her to sit on the edge of the bed.
She sat. "What? What is it?" she asked, worried. Even in the dimness of the room, the blue of his irises was striking in contrast to the bloody red color surrounding them. That was going away at the edges of his eyes, she noticed, the white coming back slowly but surely.
He spoke softly, so only Jude could hear. "I know I'm probably one to talk, but you look like shit, Harrison." Jude looked taken aback, and Tommy sighed. "I'm not saying that to be cruel, I'm saying it because Sadie is right. Go get some sleep, go eat something… You need to take care of yourself."
"I'm fine, Tommy. I swear, I'm alright."
"I know you're scared, Jude," he said, more gently than he'd spoken to her since she told him what she'd done. "I know that you feel guilty." He raised an eyebrow and added, "And you probably should. But, again, you need to take care of yourself, too."
"I'm fine," she insisted, again.
"Hey," he said, gently, grabbing her hand and squeezing it weakly. "I need you to, okay? I have enough to worry about without also worrying about you. Listen to your sister, girl. Please." His tenderness made her start to cry again. He looked very sad, and reached his shaky hand up to brush away some of the tears. "Don't cry, Jude. Hey, come on. I'm okay. I promise."
She nodded, sniffling. "I can't even begin tell you how sorry I am, Tommy."
"Don't." He frowned again. "I can't right now. Just please promise me you will go get some real sleep, and some real food."
"Okay. I will." She nodded again. "I promise."
His face relaxed. "Good."
"I'll see you in the morning, then," she said gently. She reached out a hand, meaning to touch his face, but pulled it back. She wanted to kiss him, to tell him she loved him, but she wasn't sure where the line was, so she just squeezed his hand before standing up.
"Wait," Tommy said softly as she started to turn away. She turned back to him, sitting back down, looking expectantly at him. "I…" He hesitated. "You can…" He frowned, looking conflicted, and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. When he opened them again he looked vulnerable, even a little frightened, just for a second. He hesitated for another few seconds, then softly said, "kiss me?" Jude's heart squeezed, and tears pricked at her eyes again. She put a hand on the side of his face and leaned down, careful to avoid hurting his broken ribs, and pressed her lips softly to his. He put a hand on her cheek, too, holding her there for a moment, their foreheads pressed together. "Jude, I…" he started to whisper, but trailed off with a sigh. He removed his hand, turning his face away slightly.
She sat up, cold air rushing in in her absence, and reluctantly pulled her hand back. His expression was conflicted again. "Tommy, I really am so sor–"
He cut her off, saying, "No," softly. He couldn't deal with apologies right now, when he couldn't figure out how to even begin to forgive her. All he wanted, more than anything, was for none of it to have happened. But, failing that, he just wanted to pretend for a second that she was still his Jude, that he still believed their love could survive anything.
She nodded. "Okay." Another tear slipped from her eye and she brushed it away. "But I love you." Pain flashed across his face, but she continued, speaking in an urgent whisper. "You need to know that. No matter what."
He looked upset. "I… I do know that, and I… I just…" He put his hand up to his head, clenching it into a fist and pushing it against the center of his forehead. "I can't… You…" He trailed off and sighed, relaxing his hand. "Please just go. Get some sleep. Can you do that?"
"Yeah, okay." Jude looked at him for one more long moment before squeezing his hand again and standing up. She turned back to Sadie, who had been pointedly looking down at her phone to avoid intruding on their sudden private moment. "Do you have the room key, Sade?"
Sadie looked surprised and relieved. "Yeah." She retrieved it from her purse and asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"
Jude shook her head and asked softly, "Can you please stay with him?"
"Of course." Sadie nodded and handed her the key card. "Room 416." She stood up and gave Jude a tight hug. "I'll see you in the morning. Love you." She gave Jude a kiss on the cheek.
"Love you too," Jude sighed, and left.
When she was gone, Sadie said, "Thank you."
Tommy didn't answer for a moment, and she thought maybe he was asleep, but then he said, "I know how to handle Jude." It wasn't exactly a kind thing to say, and he felt a little guilty for it, but he didn't know how to reconcile his anger at Jude with his concern.
"Oh, was that what you were doing?" Sadie asked, wryly. Tommy didn't answer, and after a moment she said gently, "She made a mistake, Tom."
"Sadie, don't." He was too tired to say it as sharply as he wanted.
"She loves you."
He looked at her with a scowl. "I don't care," he snapped. It was a lie. "It doesn't make what she did okay."
Sadie felt a surge of anger. "That's rich, coming from you."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
Sadie, you can't fight with a man laying in a hospital bed, she chastised herself. Her voice was gentler when she continued, "You know what it means."
"I cannot believe we're still having this conversation. It was years ago! I did not cheat on you, Sadie. Besides, you still broke up with me anyway, remember?"
"It's not about us!" she protested. "We had bigger problems than whether you did or did not sleep with some model. Namely the fact that you were in love with my little sister. No, this is in no way about you and me."
"Then what the hell is it about?"
"It's about the fact that she's given you so many second chances I've lost count!"
"I never slept with someone else!" he said as harshly as he could muster. "I would never!"
He was struggling to sit up, and Sadie realized she'd gone too far. "Tommy, wait, just relax. I'm sorry." She stood up and went to the bed. "Hey, it's alright, calm down."
Tommy wished desperately that they hadn't taken him off of the patient-controlled morphine pump. He laid back again and tried to relax, breathing as deeply as he could without hurting his ribs too much. "You're telling me I don't have the right to be angry at her?"
"Sure you do. Of course you do. I'm saying you can't stay angry at her forever."
Tommy groaned. "Just let me sleep, Sadie."
"She deserves your forgiveness, Tom," Sadie said softly as she moved back to the chair.
He closed his eyes and, too quietly for Sadie to hear, he whispered, "I'm trying."