Title: Stroke

Author: John O'Connor

Email: lushcoltrane

Rating: Established relationship

Pairings: Tori/Jade

Category: T

Date: 28 August 2020

Series: None.

Disclaimer: Victorious and its characters are the property of Schneider's Bakery and Nickelodeon. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. No profit is intended or wanted for this story.

Summary: Tori gets crushing news while she's thousands of miles from home.

Tori came offstage from her fourth encore to find her manager, Steve Wilhelm, waiting for her, as usual.

"Tori! Great show! As always. You blew your Italian fans away! Especially when you sang Make It Shine in Italian…" Singing Make It Shine in the native tongue of her fans, regardless of the country, was a regular encore of her shows. Even when she had to adapt the lyrics so the native tongue's version matched the rhythm.

"Thanks, Steve," Tori replied as she accepted a small towel from one of the backstage crew. She patted her face then pulled her damp mane to the side as she rubbed the back of her neck while arching her back with a light groan.

"Uh, Tori… I have to…um, tell you…" Steve's voice trailed off even as he knew it was hopeless to delay. "Jade had an episode. May be a stroke but…"

"WHAT?!" Tori cried. "Jade had a…STROKE?!"

"Um… Maybe... Could be a seizure or… But, yeah, looks like… B-but a mild one…"

"When did you hear this?" Tori asked, her voice a low, dangerous tone. One few had ever heard.

"Um…" Steve felt all his internal organs shrink into a small cold ball in the middle of his empty husk. "About two, two and a half hours ago."

"WHAT?! BEFORE I EVEN WENT ON STAGE?! WHY DIDN'T YOU…"

She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him close. In a low voice, she said, "Never, ever keep shit like this from me! Ever!"

Tori swearing was a sure sign of her anger.

In an even lower, very angry voice, Tori said, "You never…

"FUCK!" she exclaimed as she nearly threw him away from her. Then, in a quiet voice, she said, "Steve, you're fired! Get the fuck away from me!"

In the meantime, the stagehands quickly darted out of the backstage area even as her PA, Jackie, stepped up. Steve, who wanted to run, ignored Tori's statement and stayed in place. He merely nodded, a truthfully contrite expression on his face.

In a rigid stance, Tori walked away, across the back-stage area. Then she returned to Steve. "Tell me exactly what is going on."

Steve hesitated, for fear of meeting the true Beast few knew was lurking in Tori as he told her what he knew. Then again, he already lost his job…

"She…she collapsed on the set of her movie. She's at the UCLA Medical Center undergoing tests."

"And, still you didn't tell ME?!" Tori's voice started as a hiss but exploded on the last word.

"Tor…um Tori, a couple of hours didn't matter. Believe me! Please. I checked every flight back to the States. The earliest non-stop – to New York – is in five hours. The nearest with a connecting flight – Rome to London to Newark – is in four hours. And, on arrival, you're still across the continent!" Steve took a deep breath and uselessly added, "Since Tehran's recent threats, after the last time, American carriers are limiting overseas flights for now."

"Whatever!" Tori interrupted. She could care less about a major international crisis at the moment. "And two hours ago?"

"Tori, I looked at this as soon as I had the news. Just add three hours to those times – wouldn't have made any difference. A tropical storm over the mid-Atlantic, right in the usual flight paths, delayed everything south of New York-bound flights. And while Naples is a major port city it's not a major air hub. If you left from here when I learned, you'd either be waiting and stewing over Jade at Leonardo DaVinci, Ciampino or Urbe airfields or driving recklessly cross-country to Rome. And you'd still be waiting…

"Tori, I didn't do this just to have you perform. You know that. I just thought the show would give you at least two hours of peace before you would start to fret the fuck out of yourself over this."

Tori shook her head and again walked across the backstage area. Stopping, she shook for a couple of seconds with a quiet sob barely heard, then straightened up. Without turning, she asked, "What about the Navy? Or the Air Force?"

Naples was home to a large American military contingent for NATO. Her audience had more than a fair share of American soldiers, sailors and airmen (airpeople Tori jokingly said in concerts with a military audience to roaring approval from the crowd like tonight).

"Already checked. Next stateside flight by the Navy, an empty cargo flight, is in eight hours. The Air Force also has another empty cargo flight in eight and a half hours. The Army has nothing – they often piggy-back on USAF flights. I did try some old USO connections I have in the Pentagon to get you as a passenger on a fighter but… With the current Iran trouble, virtually all tactical aircraft are tied up in the Persian…"

"SHIT! FUCK!"

Steve chanced stepping closer to her, "Tori, she's getting the best care. UCLA Med is the best on the West Coast for…"

"Okay!" Tori interrupted him. In a quieter voice, she went on, "I understand what you did and why." Her voice deepened again as she turned to him, pointing her finger at his face, "But do not ever do this again! EVER!"

She walked past him, saying, "Get me to L.A. as soon as possible!"

"Already on it, Tori," Steve and Jackie replied simultaneously. Both knew better than to ask about the rest of the tour. Reluctantly, but willingly, Steve saw the massive rescheduling as his penance.

Nearly twenty-four hours later, an exhausted Tori jumped out of the taxi from LAX and charged into the UCLA Medical Center. At the central reception desk, she asked, "Where is my wife?"

One of the two nurses at the desk said, "You're Tori Vega!"

Tori snapped back, "I know who I am! Where is my wife? Jade West! Where is she?"

As the younger nurse shrank under Tori's glare, the senior nurse, more used to celebrity demands, quickly moved in and replied, "Give me a moment…" She checked the database and said, "She's still in the Cardiac Unit. Go through those doors, down the hall…"

Seeing the fatigue-glazed expression on the star's face, the first nurse contritely offered, "I…I can show you…"

Tori nodded and let the younger nurse escort her to her woman.

As they walked along a hospital corridor, the young nurse said, "I'm sorry I was… It's just I've been a fan for… I'm sorry. Never mind."

A moment later, the younger girl said, "Just down that walkway to the Cardiac Center and you can see her.

"I'm so very sorry for going fan-girl on you back there…"

Tori stopped in front of the double doors. "No, I'm sorry. I've been up for something like thirty-six hours, probably more. Outside of a few cat naps on the planes, I haven't really slept in…seems like forever. I was in Italy when I got the news and I've been beside myself since then. I'm sorry I jumped down your throat. I just want to be with my wife."

"I understand and I'm sorry but I still feel horrible that I went all fan-girl on…"

"Let's just forget it, okay? I love my fans. But right now, the love of my life is suffering and I want to be there."

Still, Tori stood motionless, staring at the doors.

"Ms. Vega?" the nurse questioned when Tori stood for a long moment at the entrance to CU.

A look of fear crossed Tori's face, "Um… I have to tell you… Tell someone… I'm scared of what I'll find…" She closed her eyes tightly with a very pained look then said, "I'm just scared."

In a compassionate voice, the younger woman placed her hand on the star's shoulder and said, "Totally understandable. If it was my boyfriend, or even my stupid brother, I'd be scared too."

Tori turned to look at her fan/escort with a weary smile. "Thank you… What is your name?"

"Bryce Cabot. My parents sort of named me after the old character actor Bruce Cabot."

"He was one of my favorites when I took a class on character actors at HA. Bruce McGill is another." Tori smiled, latching onto a reason to delay seeing what she feared. Then she gave a wan smile to the younger girl. Sighing deeply, time to stop delaying… "Guess it's time. Can't put this off forever…"

Bryce offered, "I'm sure she'll be fine. The doctors here are amazing…"

Tori gave her a small smile and took a deep breath before pushing one of the doors open.

Inside the Alyssa Vaughn Cardiac Center, Tori was quickly directed to Jade's room. Jade will hate to learn where she is… If she's… NO!

She steeled herself outside the door. A stroke can be anything from a simple muscular failure to total systemic collapse – death.

She walked in and saw Jade lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to monitors, infusers, saline drip bags, assorted medical paraphernalia and less obvious waste receptacles. But her focus was on the woman all the crap that was attached to.

Jade looked paler than usual. So did Dad when he was shot. Is it the hospital lighting? She looked like she was asleep. I hope so. Please, God, let her just be asleep.

As if he read Tori's thoughts, the attending doctor said, "She's doing well. Just sleeping. I'm Doctor Derek Walker. I was notified you were here, so I wanted to be available to you"

Oh, thank you God!

With a relieved sigh, Tori asked, "So she's not in a coma?"

"No. Just sleeping. She had so much caffeine in her system, we had to sedate her once the doctors finished their examinations. Just so she could rest.

"It also appears that she wasn't eating regularly."

"She does that when she's working on a movie, or even a script. Substitutes coffee too much." After a pause, Tori asked, "Did this just all build up? Or was there a trigger?"

"Can you tell me, does she smoke? Drink? Or if there's a family history of high blood pressure or cardiac issues?"

"I don't know her family that well. Jade's pulled away from them since we were in high school. But, outside of a party or two in high school, or the occasional times when she's in the middle of writing, I've never seen her with a cigarette. And, unless she has some mutant talent, I never taste tobacco when we… Well, you know...kiss…" Walker nodded.

"I guess I shouldn't wake her?" Tori asked.

"No, I'd advise letting her sleep. But if you want to wait with her, she should be awake in a few hours.

"I've been the physician on her case. The stroke doesn't seem to be too extreme. As far as we can tell, none of her cognitive functions seem to be affected, fortunately. There are some physical effects but, with physical therapy, that could be mitigated. Likely even totally corrected. Again, given her age, that's definitely a strong possibility."

"Then she'll be okay?"

"With care, time, rehab and some lifestyle changes… I'd say, yes. There's a very good chance she'll recover totally."

"Lifestyle changes?"

"She needs to stop smoking completely. Caffeine too. If she drinks, cut that out too. I'm not sure what the cause is but she needs to find a way to deal with stress better. None of these on their own caused this but it's a potentially fatal combination. Fortunately, otherwise, she's a healthy young woman. That is a definite asset in this situation."

"I got her to cut back on her drinking…alcohol was down from college to a glass of wine or two or a few beers on weekends. But caffeine… Oh God! I don't know how she'll deal with that."

"There are some good decafs out there."

"You don't know my wife," Tori replied with a dark laugh. "Thank you, Doctor."

"You're welcome." He turned away then stopped, "I just wanted to tell you my daughters are huge fans. I gotta admit I'm one too." He shook his head, "Sorry, this isn't the time or the place…"

Making a mental note to get the doctor and the young nurse an autographed cd or three, Tori managed a smile, "Maybe not but thank you."

Tori sat in a chair next to her woman. Taking Jade's hand, she whispered, "I'm here babe. I'm so, so sorry I wasn't here when you needed me. But I'm here now and I'm staying…"

She continued to whisper to Jade until fatigue caught up with her. Later, when she woke up, she couldn't actually remember falling asleep, much less resting her head on the mattress. But soon, she dozed off again, her head on the mattress next to Jade while still gently gripping Jade's free hand.

"Whyyy th' fu' r' you h're?"

"Jade?"

"Tha's muh na'e. Don'…ware it ou'… Wha you h're?"

"My wife had a stroke! Where the fuck should I be?"

"Heh, 'ega thwore!"

"I'll put a dollar in our swear jar. Wait, we don't have a swear jar. Otherwise we'd have a fortune from you," Tori teased, trying to get a rise out of her wife.

"Yeaaa… Oerrr Iii'd ooowe mah paiyzeeek…"

"Yep! Your entire paycheck. From an entire movie. Probably in a single rant!"

"Don' ma'e meee laaaff…"

Jade yawned out of the side of her mouth and Tori said, "Jade, just rest. I'll be here."

"Www…uvvv… Oooo…"

"My lil' demon angel…I love you too! Always and in all ways! Forever!" She kissed Jade's cheek softly, "Now sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."