A/n Someone on Twitter was craving a Tedbecca hospital trope so I wrote one. I don't think it needs any warnings, it isn't very graphic, but it does contain some injury description and mentions of violence.
/
Black and Blue
Coach Beard calling Rebecca after eight on a Saturday night was definitely unexpected so much so that she almost ignored it – but she thankfully didn't.
She wasn't in the best of moods anyway, the team lost at home to Chelsea, and it always stings more when a loss comes to a local rival, especially when played at Nelson Road. It was only 1-0, it could have been worse, yet still she simmered with anger. It doesn't help that West Ham beat them last week, a club now owned by her deceitful ex-husband. She is sure that presently he is sipping some kind of booze, most likely champagne, enjoying Richmond's defeat whilst she is apprehensively drinking some disgusting tea from a paper cup. "I just don't understand." She voices, wiping away beads of sweat from her forehead using the back of her hand, her heel-clad foot tapping on the vinyl floor anxiously. "How has this happened?"
The hospital waiting room is nothing but dreary. It is barely lit and is untidy from a long day of loved ones coming in and out, hoping to receive some good news. There must be ten or so chairs but currently they are the only two people in here which is both good and bad. It means no stranger has to witness her imminent breakdown, but Beard is hardly the most comforting person to be around when that happens. She really wished Keeley was here right now, or better still, Ted. "We went into the Crown & Anchor to have a drink and there were some away fans in there causing a nuisance. Usually, Mae can handle herself, but these guys were trouble." He calmly explains but then sighs. "Coach jumped in before I could really grasp what was going on." It isn't the first time Ted and Beard have been in a fight. During their college days they used to happen all too often, generally because of the latter man being off his trolly on drink and drugs. He thought those days were long gone, especially for Ted who now seems allergic to physical confrontation, but he didn't even vacillate getting involved. Perhaps that is a reflection on how he was feeling, like he deserved to get hurt after today and after disappointing Rebecca. Beard could see that this game got to him, especially after talking to her. It isn't that he was looking for a fight, he did try to diffuse the situation with words, but he didn't appear surprised that things escalated quickly. "He will be okay. The scan is just a precaution."
He may be saying this in hope rather than certainty but there is something about his composed tone which does put her at ease. It was a fight at a pub, they happen all the time, particularly on match days. This is what Rebecca is trying to persuade herself as she stares down into the beige liquid that she has now given up on drinking. Why did Beard even phone her? Is it just because she is the club owner, and he was giving her the heads up? In which case her eager presence must be confusing him, although it would be difficult to tell. Or is it because he has realised that there is something deeper going on between she and Ted? Last week after their away win to Manchester United they went out for dinner, just the two of them, and although nothing happened between them, she now gets butterflies when he turns up with her biscuits in the morning. "He likes to play the hero doesn't he…?"
"I'm not sure if he likes it." Beard muses and discards the now warm cold compress that he was resting on his right cheekbone to the chair beside him. Ted really took the brunt of the action whereas he escaped with a bruised cheek and a bust lip, he has been in worse scrapes, he knows that he will recover. "He just naturally wants to protect people I think."
Yesterday after training, she bumped into Ted in the carpark, and she almost then invited him out for dinner tonight after the game, but she stopped herself because the prospect of a loss made it less appealing. Maybe if she had though, this wouldn't have happened. Neither he or Beard probably would have been in the pub, and it would have been up to the locals to sort out the thuggish Chelsea fans. Has she really become so emotional about this stupid game that she is letting the results affect her relationships? She used to watch how Rupert's mood would drastically sway depending on how the team was doing and almost laugh, thinking about how silly it was. He could wake up on matchday practically bouncing, suggesting all sorts of things they could get up to later but if the match then didn't go their way, he would call it off with a scowl on his face. There was one occasion when he had organised a party on a boat along the River Thames and despite the celeb-tastic guest list, he cancelled and screamed at her when she told him that he was being ridiculous. She remembers how much it used to hurt her and she doesn't want to be like that. She won't be like that.
If Ted knew that she was sat here, agonising over what has happened and blaming herself, he would straightaway find some way to make her feel better. He would persuade her until she listened that none of this is her fault. Shit happens. He may have even said that. It is amazing how he can usually put her at ease. He can do that better than anyone else in her life she thinks… What if she has missed an opportunity with him? Even if he is okay and he manages to walk away from this incident without too much physical damage, this could really knock him for six, both mentally and emotionally. Leading up to the end of last season, he was fragile, and she hated seeing him like that because the brilliant Ted Lasso doesn't deserve to feel that way. He now appears to have a strong grasp on his mental health helped by therapy and the summer break which he spent with Henry in Kansas. When he returned to London, Rebecca immediately noted how is aura was lighter and after asking him if he is okay and ready for the season, he replied with such optimistic assuredness that it made her beam.
She liked Ted Lasso anyway, but an at peace Ted Lasso – wow. He is another force to be reckoned with.
Beard closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, instantly regretting his decision because when he does the events of the night get replayed in his head. Ted strolled up to them so confidently as if he were invincible and casually uttered, "Now, now fellas. How about you leave this lady alone?" The gaggle of five away fans' faces lit up on hearing the midwestern drawl and while two exchanged eye contact, a third immediately had Ted in a headlock, the sudden action making him release a choked gasp.
"Oh look boys! It is yanky-doodle-dandy." The guy with a hold on him spat and accentuated his statement by accompanying the final word with a sharp punch to the gut. Then all hell broke loose.
One positive was how the pub full of Richmond fans leapt to their aid and despite the flying fists, Beard does think that they were in fact winning. One of the away supporters was already being dragged out of the establishment by Jeremy and Baz whilst another was being pushed in that direction. The shouting was loud, overwhelmingly so, and his ears ring from the unruliness of it all. It was just noise. Nothing could be coherently deduced from the cries other than the odd expletive and the desperation of getting to his friend coming from his own voice.
It was the sound of a bottle smashing which silenced the room and had the couple remaining blues fans darting out of the door. The wooden floor became littered with tiny shards of green that reminded Beard of some art at a Tate Modern exhibition he went to with Jane. It discombobulated him, the image along with the quiet which was so brash that it sent a shiver down his spine. Then he heard a thud as his best friend hit the floor and the cry of, "Ted", left him as a sort of strangled yelp. One of those brutes broke an empty beer bottle over Ted's head like he was nothing and then ran off – and Beard is furious. Although you couldn't tell that by looking at him.
Rebecca considers what is going through his head as he gazes off, distractedly, into the distance. She promised herself after the fiasco of trying to bury her own football club that she wouldn't be so selfish. Yet here she is again worrying about how this could affect her when she is sitting with a man whose rock is not only hurt but he witnessed the beating. It must be tough to stomach. "Beard." She softly says his name and it pulls him from his trance if him tilting his head towards her is any indication, but other than that he gives her nothing. "There is nothing else you could have done."
"I suggested going to the pub." He reveals and takes another deep breath. "I know it isn't really my fault but… he has been hurt in the past because of me. I told myself that I wouldn't let that happen again." She cannot stop her brow raising at this confession. The truth is that even though this man is helping coach her team, she knows very little about him, apart from the few bits and pieces Ted has let slip during their conversations – but it isn't a lot. Due to the circumstances that brought them over here, she didn't really tear apart either of their CVs and thinking about it now, the CV of the man sitting a few chairs away from her was pretty bare. It wouldn't shock her if he lived a chequered past… but the past is the past. Ted seems to trust him more than anyone else in the world and because of that Rebecca will trust him also.
Another fifteen minutes pass before they're finally joined in the waiting room by a medic. The presence of the nurse dressed in blue scrubs and sporting a tired smile has them both hurrying to their feet, silently begging that the news is not only good but that they can see their friend imminently. "Are you here for Mr Lasso?" She asks and they nod, perhaps too urgently. "Your friend is okay." And Rebecca instantly becomes light-headed with relief, but she resists from falling to the chair behind her. "He regained consciousness just after his scans, which are clear. No head trauma or internal bleeding. The blow to his head must have just knocked him out. He has some cuts and bruises, but we have stitched him up. He is going to be kept in tonight for observation as a precaution, but you are welcome to see him now." They don't need to be told twice and they impatiently follow the nurse to his private room.
Ted's injuries match Beard's… and then some. There is red bruising to his face – some of which is already turning purple – and his upper lip is swollen making his moustache pop out slightly more than usual. Rebecca thinks of how that moustache used to irk her at the beginning but now she is just relieved that she gets to see it again… relieved that she gets to see him again. "Oh, hey guys." He manages to say and tries his hardest to pump some enthusiasm into his tone, but it doesn't really come and when he attempts a smile, he is wincing thanks to his weeping bottom lip. "I'm sorry if I panicked you."
"Don't apologise buddy." Beard interjects and takes the few steps so that he is stood at his bedside whilst she remains rooted to the spot, hanging back in the doorway, taking in everything about his bedraggled appearance. His hair is sticking up in all directions from being pulled, the back most likely matted with blood but thankfully she cannot see that or his stitches. The sleeveless hospital gown means that she can see speckles of bruising on his arms shaped like fingerprints from when she assumes he was grabbed, and she dreads to think what the gown itself is hiding. How he is holding himself, a hand resting against his ribs, paints an unpretty picture. Apparently he was kneed to the torso a couple of times.
It is only now that it truly dawns on her how lucky he was. He was whacked over the head with a bottle and has escaped with some stitches. He was struck to the body multiple times but doesn't have any internal bleeding. He was punched to the face but doesn't even have a broken nose. If any of those things hadn't gone his way, then he could be unconscious in intensive care right now or worse… The thought has her zoning out so she cannot hear the discussion between the two coaches which is just Ted trying to convince Beard to go home to rest.
A gentle hand on her arm pulls her from her spiralling thoughts and suddenly her bearded coach is at her side, his forehead creased in concern, concern that the patient certainly shares. "I am heading home because according to Doctor Lasso, I need sleep." He explains as she unearths some poise that she uses to mask her inner fears. "You coming?"
"No, I will stay for a bit." She elects without a second of thought. "I will talk to you tomorrow."
"Hey Beard!" Ted calls from the bed, his shout making them both turn towards him. "I am sorry-"
"Nope." Beard interrupts with a pointed finger raised. "This isn't on you." Making Ted shut up with a minute smile which is barely detectable, but if anyone can notice it, it is these two. "Sleep well coach. See you tomorrow." He leaves with a cursory glance to her as he does so.
It takes her a few seconds, but Rebecca does regain the motion in her legs, and she tentatively paces to where Beard was standing barely a minute before but pulls up the plastic chair that was pressed against the wall so that it is closer to the bed. Ted watches her do this and doesn't say a word, sensing that there is something on her own mind that she is struggling to piece together or get out. He may be a chatterbox, but he doesn't feel the need to fill silences like some people he knows. He is okay with being quiet, it is simply that he has realised over time that if he is talking, other uncomfortable people don't have to. He doesn't feel uncomfortable around her, far from it. She gives him a sense of safety and security having shown faith in him countless times and even with their rocky start, she has always stuck by him. When he brought her that first box of biscuits to her office endeavouring to form some kind of a relationship, he had no idea that it would become a sort of ritual. He has no plan on stopping anytime soon.
Rebecca releases the breath she had not realised she was holding when she settles on the seat, still unsure how her night, how their night has come to this. She should have asked him out in the carpark yesterday after training. They could be out right now, enjoying fine dining at The Petersham Hotel, laughing together despite their earlier loss. That match seems a distant memory now and she knows it would have been like that even if this hadn't happened. They could be sharing a dessert whilst mulling over their options for what is next, not just with the team but with them, not spending their Saturday night in Kingston Hospital. "Shit, Ted." She finally mutters and bites hard on her bottom lip that is usually decorated with lipstick when she is out of the house, but as soon as she got the call from Beard, she knew she didn't have the time, or the will, to faff about with such things. "Shit."
"Hey now, it is alright." The gentleness of his tone gives her some relief. He really is a genius at making other people okay even with such little effort. "I'm okay." Then again, with the cut to his lip speaking must be tough so perhaps there is more effort going into this interaction than what meets the eye.
She peers up at him through her lashes and the view of how beaten he really is makes her chest sting. Her anguish is clear to him, and he is ready to assure her once more but then her expression changes into one of annoyance as her phone buzzes. It has been vibrating pretty constantly over the past hour, most likely the press asking for comment and people at the club wanting a course of action, but she can't think about any of that. The club's image or statement or anything like this is not important to her in this moment. With a shake of her head, she is retrieving the device from her coat pocket, and he silently observes as she switches it off. Beard knows what has happened, he can let people know if he wishes, and she will apologise to Keeley later for keeping her in the dark. All her focus has to be on him right now. She isn't stupid. She knows why this is.
Ted Lasso really has a firm grip on her heart.
Without hesitating, she reaches forward and soothingly slides a hand down his bicep, striving to coax his own – which is resting against his throbbing ribcage – away from the affected area so that she can entwine their fingers. At first, he is baffled by her action, his breath hitching in his throat whilst her touch dances down his arm, but then that bewilderment shifts, and he is feeling content. Content and excited. Their hands linked together provides him with some much-needed comfort and she senses him relax at the contact. "Boss-"
"Shh." Rebecca hushes and he does obediently close his mouth. "You don't have to talk." She brings her free hand up to her lip and grazes where the angry gash on his own is, showing him that she understands that he is in pain when he speaks. Her care makes him feel like jelly inside. "And Ted, it is Rebecca. Okay?" It is a simple statement and to any casual onlooker it would appear to mean nothing. However they both know that it means a lot, it is verbal confirmation that their relationship has switched into one neither of them expected.
If tonight has taught Rebecca one thing, is that she isn't going to wait around anymore. It is impossible to predict what is right around the corner.
Ted is glad she has made the first proper move because he has been trying to come up with one for weeks. When he is back to forming comprehensive words then he will tell her this. For now though, they are both happy to sit quietly in the bright light of the hospital room, imagining what is to come.
