Chapter 39: Clay, what are you doing?

Clay looks at his watch for a third time then turns around to check as Alex re-joins him. He sighs impatiently pacing up and down the corridor. "What the hell are they doin' in there? It's been thirty-five minutes and they still haven't come out yet"

"It just takes time. They have a lot of checks to do"

"What checks? Surely they just take her off it and see if she breaths. I wish they'd just get on with it"

"Come on Clay, you know it's not that simple. They..." he stops mid-sentence as the door to Kelsey's room opens. The nurse exits and gives them a sympathetic smile. It's a look with no real expression which means that they can't read much about the situation. Then as they stand watching, one of the doctors comes out. He doesn't even acknowledge them and hurries off, disappearing down the corridor.

"What the hell! Where's he going?" Clay frowns, questioning the waiting nurse "What's going on ? How's Kelsey?"

"Please, just wait. The doctor will be with you in just a moment. They'll explain more"

"Wait?! We've been waiting. I wanna know what's going on. Can't you just tell me?"

"Clay... Alex.." The voice inside the room calls " you can come in now" They both take an apprehensive breath, looking nervously at each other and Alex touches Clay's shoulder, gesturing him forward first. As they enter the room the doctor turns and smiles "It's good news. She's breathing, by herself. It was, touch and go there for a moment, but she's improving as we speak"

"Oh my god!" Clay gasps. He can't hide his relief as the heavy weighted emotional cloud lifts from over him. His head spins with dizziness and he smiles. "What, she's... she's gonna be alright?"

"Woah! Slow down. Guys, this is just one small step. She's nowhere near out of the woods yet. Look... " she reassures him as she watches his expression change " I'm sorry I wish I could say she's going to be totally fine but, believe me, this is good news." she smiles " Look, I'll leave you with her for a short while. But just a warning, she's on some heavy pain medication, so even if she does respond she's not going to be very coherent"

She smiles again and then checking the monitors beside her bed, one more time, she prepares to leave. She looks up at the nurse "Can you just keep an eye on that drip, put another one up when it's finished."

Clay sighs, he and Alex smile at each other as they for the first time in days, relax. There's a huge sigh of relief, as they look at her. She looks so much better, with all the tubes now removed from her mouth and only an oxygen nasal line in.

She now looks like Kelsey again and Clay sighs loudly "Do you think she can hear us?"

Mmmm hmm! Alex nods pulling the chair up on his side of the bed. Pheww! He sighs. Taking a breath he eases his aching body down into the seat.

"You okay?" Clay frowns he can see the pain etched on Alex's face. He knows he's been struggling with his knee the past couple of days.

"Yeah. Funny thing... as the swelling goes down the pain increases. But I'm fine. I'm trying to ease off on the pain killers now but .. I think I'll have to take a couple soon. I'll go get some water in a while. I thought I'd got on top of it but...It's more my damn my knee, than my ribs"

"Still looks pretty swollen" Clay frowns, Alex has been wearing shorts with his knee in strapping and he see how bruised it is. He sighs again as he nervously takes Kelsey's hand gently in his. He grips her fingers around hers and then he's taken aback because as he touches her he notices her blink. "Oh my god! Shit... Kelsey .. Kelsey can you hear me?"

Alex hearing the sudden panic in his tone, sits forward watching her. Clay frowns staring at her, he gently kisses the back of her hand "Did you see that? I swear... oh my god, she just blinked!"

"Yeah she did" Alex smiles, he gently strokes his fingers along the length of her arm "Hey, there trouble. Are you awake?"

There's a soft low moan and Kelsey's heavy eye lids flutter as she struggles to focus. Mmmm! she gives another low moan from the back of her throat. Gasping they can see she's struggling to swallow

"Hey..."Clay's own words get stuck in his throat as it dries up from his excited relief " you okay? Kelsey?! Oh god, can you hear me?" he looks across at Alex, unsure what to do.

"Um... " Alex frowns, the suddenness of her movement takes him by surprise "her throat, it will be dry from the tubes. Get some water" he points at the jug on the cabinet on Clay's side of the bed.

Pouring some into the glass, he frowns trying to work out how to give it to her. Alex shakes his head he can see his dilemma "No... just damp it on her lips. She won't be able to drink. Just wet it on her lips, a few drops but slowly"

Clay nods, he can feel his heart beating hard in his chest and he gently touches her lip with his wet finger. She flinches to the touch and with some difficulty, her tongue swipes across the wet feeling. Clay smiles and adds a few more drops "Shhh! Take it slow" he smiles as her eyes blink wide open Mmmm...ahhh mmm!

She continues to groan loudly and it sounds to them like she's in pain. As a sudden panic engulfs her she tries to make a movement Ahhh! Her face crumples as something really does hurt. She closes her eye, grimacing.

"Kelsey, stay still" Alex can see what she's trying to do and ignoring his own pain he quickly stands up. He strokes his hand against her head trying to calm her Shhh! "C'mon you need to stay still, don't fight it just relax... Clay get the nurse!"

"Wh-where...huh... wh..ere .." her voice is husky, struggling with confusion ".. am I?"

"You're okay! You're ... you're in hospital. We're here with you. You're going to be okay. Kelsey.. we're not gonna leave you"

Mmmm! She blinks, trying desperately to focus her eyes. She can't and momentarily they roll back in her head, her body relaxes back into the pillow. Then taking a breath she's able to consciously open them enough to see "Clay!" she sighs. The corners of her lips curl, she's relived to see him "Casey .."

"Hey! Um.. no, no he's not here. I..." Clay frowns, he feels guilty now for not going with his instincts to bring him, even though he knows, practically, it wasn't the right thing to do. He feels terrible that she's not able to see her baby as she wakes.

"I-I...I heard him?! " she breaths are so labored as she tries to force the words out " I.. heard..."

"No…err... that was me. I err... I played you a video of him, laughing" He looks up at Alex, he smiles releasing that she did hear them earlier "You wanna listen, again?" Clay smiles. He takes his cell from his pocket and once again hits play. Placing it carefully against the side of her head he lets her listen to Casey's laughter. She manages a smile as Clay strokes her cheek "Don't worry, you ll see him again soon"

"Casey..." she groans again, and then her eyes close shut tight.

For a moment both guys have a feeling of dread but then they hear her deep, heavy breathing as she drifts back into sleep. Clay looks up checking with Alex "That's gotta be good right?"

"Yeah .." Alex smiles, he also strokes his finger on her cheek ".. yeah that's good" He runs his hand through his hair. His face beams, her waking up is the best news. He rubs his hands over his face relieved at hearing her speak, even just those few words, gives them a glimmer of hope after a long week of waiting.

Clay sits stroking her hand. There's a gurgling sound and he can hear his own stomach growl with hunger. All of his senses suddenly spring back into life. Hunger and tiredness start to nag at his body. He closes his eyes, for a few moments as he and Alex just sit in silence. Both of them staring at her while they all take a chance to rest.

It's getting late when the door opens, and the nurse brings in new medications and a bowl
"Oh um... I didn't know you guys were still here. Look, I'm going to need to ask you to leave. I have to clean her up and sort her medications. I'm sure she'd be more comfortable without you two staring at her" she smiles "Why don't you go home, get something to eat and some sleep and then come back in the morning"

"Oh, I'm fine .. we had um.. some type of burger thing, from the canteen earlier" Clay smiles at her "I'll just wait"

"No, I'm sorry but it's going to be a long night. We're going to be in and out most of it doing tests and changing dressings. If I were you, I'd go and get some rest while you can"

"Clay c'mon, she's right, we need to go freshen up and I need some pain killers and actually even if you don't , I do need some sleep" Alex sighs loudly " Clay, she's going to be alright tonight. She's heavy on the medication from where they changed the dressing on her leg earlier so she's not even gonna know we've gone."

"I-I ... I'd rather stay. You go if you want"

The nurse smiles at Alex, she can see how tired he is and that he's struggling to hold his patience with Clay "Look..." She places her hand gently on Clay's shoulder "She's going to need you in the coming days, and you need to be at your best. Please go home. Get some rest. I'm going to be taking care of her tonight." She smiles "She will be fine, I promise."

Clay rubs he hands over his head, even if he won't say it, he is tired. He really could do with some sleep and then finally acknowledging his exhaustion he relents "Okay, okay yeah. I guess I need to check in with Audrey, see how Casey is anyway. So, I suppose I could get a couple of hours rest"

"At last!" Alex smiles as he pulls himself up from the chair. He closes his eyes for a moment as he gets a grip on the pain pulsing through his knee and he struggles towards the door.

Clay holds it open for him while he takes one last look at her lying there before they leave. He mouths quietly "I'll be back soon... Kelsey, I love you!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Clay's laying in the bed. The lights are out and it's dark in the room, apart from a small chink in the curtains that lets a small orange glow of the outside streetlight. The one thing he notices is how quiet it is here.

He sighs loudly turning over again in the bed. He can't sleep and he flicks through various photographs that he has stored on his cell. He smiles at the ones of Casey and Kelsey together, the video of him laughing, which he plays over. Checking the time he hits call.

The phone rings for quite a while before a Spanish accent answers "Hullo?"

"Audrey... hi, it's Clay. I was just checking in, see how things are?"

"Oh Clay, hello. Yes, everything's good here. How are things your end? Is um... Kelsey okay?"

"Yeah.. yeah things are improving. How's Casey?"

"Oh, he's good. He's playing in his cot. You want to see him?"

"Yeah ... yeah I do" Oh god! Clay wipes a tear from his cheek "sorry, I ... Yeah it would be good to see him, I'm missin' him so much"

"Okay, I will get him so you can see. Oh ...do your wanna speak to Sonny? He's here too."

"Yeah sure thing, put him on" There's a rustling sound and then the familiar warm sounding Texan drawl as Sonny's face fills up the screen "Hey there poster boy! How's things doin'?"

"Sonny!" Clay sighs, relived. He's just glad to hear a normal accent "Oh Sonny it's ..." Hmmm! He sighs again this time longer and louder "They um... they took her off the ventilator today. Don't worry, she doin okay though."

"So, do you know when you're comin' home? This little one's missin' you "

"err No... no, we just gotta take it one day at time. Anyway, what are you doin' there? Everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, everythin's great. Look, I been staying over, just to keep Audrey company and help her out with champ"

"Sonny ..." he hushes his voice "I told ya already, Audrey's off limits. Don't be hittin on the Au Pair, right?" he sighs again "Sonny, you listenin' to me?"

"Oh no .. no, it aint nothin' like that. Its' alright. Anyways, she already made it clear that I'm just not her type" he laughs, his cackling dirty sound rings loudly in Clay's ear "Still all this Texas charm, it might turn out too much to resist and she might come around, right?"

For the first time in he can't remember how long Clay burst out laughing with him "Yeah well, just ... just remember what I said. Don't think about going there, alright?! Sonny I mean it."

"Hey, uou know me. Strictly hands-off type of guy. But don't tell her I'm only, here to keep an eye on my champ, I don' wan' her takin' offense" He grins as Audrey standing the doorway, holding Casey, frowns at him "Oooo! There he is!" Sonny smiles and taking the baby in his arms he holds the phone so that Clay can see him. Taking his small hand in his, he makes Casey wave at the screen "Say hey there Dada...how ya doin'?"

"Hey Casey" Clay smiles, a tear trickles slowly down his cheek "Daddy loves you. You gonna see Mommy real soon" Sonny tickles Casey making him giggle and Clay smiles and laughs "Well, he sounds like he's okay"

"Yeah...yeah he's been alright. He's been a really good boy. Though, like his Uncle Sonny, he's missin' his mommy and daddy." Sonny sighs loudly "So, she gonna be comin home any time soon did they say?"

"No ... no not yet. Still a way to go yet!" Clay's face drops. He frowns trying hard not to get upset and remain positive.

"Yeah well take it slow. Look um...Clay, you gonna need to call Jason soon. He mentioned today that Blackburn's already bending his ear about what your plans are"

Shit! Clay rubs his head "Yeah, okay. I will I just need a few days. See how things gonna go. Is Audrey still okay?"

"Yeah... she's doin' great" Sonny looks up and smiles at her "Look, I'll let you go. Just take care and call me soon, alright. Let us know how things are"

"Yeah" Clay sighs "I'll call ya today...tomorrow, oh you know what I mean. As soon as I know something" he smiles blowing a kiss to the screen "Bye Casey. Daddy loves you so much. I'll be home soon, I promise. Audrey, I'll speak to you laters okay. You need anything, money whatever just speak to Sonny"

"We are fine. Clay... " she smiles "Don't worry. We will take care of everything but we look forward to you coming back soon"

"Yeah... well better go, need some sleep. See ya!"

Clay cuts the phone dropping the handset down onto the bed beside him. He sighs, rubbing his hands through his hair. Then instead of getting back to sleep he picks up his tee shirt from the floor and pulls it over his head, putting it on.

Finding the cab number that he saved on his phone earlier "Yeah um... can you get me a cab, to the hospital. It's the Royal. Yeah as soon as you can"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Hmmm mmm! Kelsey stirs in the bed. She feels sick and aches all over. Her head throbbing as she slowly blinks her eyes open. As her vision starts to clear, she focuses on the high-backed chair in the corner of the room.

She frowns trying to make out the who's sitting there "Clay?" she gasps breathlessly "Clay what are you doing?"

Clay also opens his eyes; again he'd fallen asleep in the chair and he rubs the tiredness from his face. Sitting himself upright he smiles at the soft sound of her voice

"Hey there!" he smiles with a huge grin on his face which conveys how happy he is to hear her "Are you okay?"

Mmmm! She nods, still feeling very confused Mmmm! "I think so" she vaguely looks around the room trying to get a focus on something "Where am I?"

"You're um.. you're in the hospital. You had an accident." he frowns moving to stand by her side at the bed "Do you remember anything?"

Mmmm! She shakes her head slowly "Not really. I remember... No I don't. Clay, I'm hurting" she sighs "No I don't remember, just a loud bang!"

"It's okay, don't worry. Just lay still. You're gonna be fine. I'll um... I'll get a nurse"

Mmmm! "Clay, no don't go! Please, just stay with me"

"Hey," he smiles "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I promise I'm right here" He takes her hand in his then leaning forward over her he drops a gentle kiss on her forehead "I'm right here. I promise. How do you feel? Are you alright?"

She tries to lift her arm but it's full of cannulas, drips and tubes. Trying to swallow she points to her neck and throat. "Everything, hurts so much"

"It's okay... it was the tubes, from the breathing machine. You want some water?"

Mmmm! She nods "Clay, what happened?"

"You ... you were, in a car accident. You've broken some bones but you're gonna be okay" He pours some water into the glass and then very gently lifts her head and tries to give her small sips.

She gags the sore pain in her throat hurts with a burning sensation. The feel of the cool water is nice. She pulls her head away taking a moment "Where's Casey?"

"Um... he's not here. What I mean is, I didn't bring him with me. I had to get a last-minute flight. It was a military transport plane and so I couldn't bring him. I'm sorry. But he's fine though. Audrey and Sonny are taking good care of him. I checked in earlier. He's good"

"Wait ...What, I'm.. I'm still here. UK? You I mean I didn't get my flight?"

"No! Don't you remember? You ... you were in the car with ...with Alex"

She frowns, pushing her head back into the soft of the pillow as she lays quiet not answering him. He can see the look of concern on her face and he knows the reasons why she won't answer

"It's okay! Kelsey it's gonna be fine, you just don't worry about anything. Everything's good" he sighs, then kisses her again "I'm just so glad you're awake...Oh god, you know I thought I was going to lose you" He smiles watching as she closes her eyes again.

He gently strokes her hair, while watching her slump into a peaceful sleep and then quietly he sits himself back in the chair. Leaning back he smiles and then closes his eyes.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Clay! Clay are you still here?" Kelsey frowns watching him from the comfort of her bed "Clay, are you awake?"

"Um... yeah" He sighs coming around from the deep sleep he was in.

She smiles watching him "Clay what are you doing still here? You need to go. Go home and get some sleep. You've been in that chair for over a week now and as nice as it is to see you when I wake up, you can't keep doing this!"

He smiles. Yawning as he stretches his body "I don't care how long I sit here. I'm going to be here as long as it takes. I told you that the other day."

"I know but... " she smiles " while it's nice, you do know I'm not going anywhere. It's been nearly two weeks now, and you need to go shower and sleep in a bed so you can rest properly. You really can't keep this up" She looks up as the door opens and she smiles "Oh Alex, good! Maybe you can talk some sense into him. Tell him he needs to go home, and shower!"

"I've already tried to tell him, so don't involve me in your domestic" he laughs "But yeah she's right Clay, you can't keep sitting here and you do need to shower! Why don't you let me take over and you can go back to the flat, get some proper rest for a few hours"

"Guys I don't need babysitting. I'll be fine, so please... both of you go get some rest. I feel terrible watching you both sit there endlessly while I keep falling asleep"

"No .. no, we're not leaving you alone. We already made a deal that one of us would be here at all times"

She smiles. "Guys, I appreciate this. But I really don't need you to. The doctors have said I'm doing much better now."

"Yeah you do." Clay kisses her head

"Well I guess you're not going to give up are you?" she laughs, looking around at both of them Alex frowns at her he switches his gaze quietly between her and Clay. He's frowning and knowing he's trying to indicate he wants to speak to her, she takes a breath "Um.. Clay, look why don't you go and get some coffee for us all. Take a walk. I could really drink... well sip, a cup of tea. If you don't mind?"

"Um... yeah sure" Clay frowns looking at Alex who just shrugs "Do you want one?"

"Err... yeah. I'll have a coffee"

Oooo! "I'll have one of those cookie things that you got me yesterday" Kelsey smiles "If you can get one"

He kisses her head again and smiles "Of course, I'll go now. You're right, I'll get some fresh air while I'm there. You gonna be alright?" he checks with Alex

"Yeah I'll stay with her." As the door closes Alex moves his chair closer to the bed "so... did you talk to him?"

"No..." she sighs "no not yet. I um... I haven't found a chance to be able to bring it up"

"Kelsey, you need to talk to him. You need to tell him."

"I know but... he's not going to like it is he. We only just got him onside, he's …"

"Probably not but... you need to bring it up. Look, he's not gonna take it from me so it needs to come from you"

"Yeah, I guess. I was just waiting first to see what comes back from these tests. I didn't feel the point in upsetting the apple cart .. just yet if .." she sighs rubbing her hand on her face.

"Look, tell him. Then we can deal with what he says." He takes her hand in his "You know this is for the best right ... he's going to have to see that. There isn't a choice."

"I know but... " she sighs again "You know Clay, he's not going to accept that easily. But you're right. I do need to speak to him"