Lindsay stood in the darkened hospital room looking out the windows, "Jacobi can handle this case, Tom." she whispered into her phone. "No, I don't know when I'll be back in." She paused taking in whatever Tom was yelling at her. "He has been stopping in and we've gone over the file...he can handle it....I'm not leaving." A small sound from behind her had Lindsay turning toward the bed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said as she abruptly hung up on her boss and moved across the room to the bed.
"Hey there, sleepy head." She said as she moved to Cindy's side. She looked down into her friend's tired, confused and scared eyes. "You're okay, you were asleep for a while but you're back now." Lindsay tried to comfort as she pushed the call button for the nurses' station. Once she informed them that they should send in the doctor Lindsay focused her attention back to Cindy. "You got hit by a car. Remember?"
Cindy nodded and made a noise to speak but Lindsay stopped her. "No, don't try to talk. Wait for the doctor to remove the tubes." Then she immediately answered the 'why' in Cindy's eyes. "You were out for a couple of days." The confused brown eyes scanned the room and then settled back on Lindsay with more questions. "You broke your leg and arm, a few ribs and there was some internal bleeding..."
Lindsay's injury list was cut off by the doctor entering the room. "Nice to see you awake Ms. Thomas." he said as he approached the bed. He turned to Lindsay, "why don't you wait in the hall Inspector."
"I should probably stay." Lindsay's request was met by a nurse escorting her out.
Actually thankful for the moment alone Lindsay leaned against the wall and relaxed slightly. She made two brief calls to inform the girls that Cindy was awake, unfortunately she had no answers to their many questions. She told them that rushing over now would be pointless, and reluctantly they agreed to wait till morning.
After thirty minutes the doctor finally came out of Cindy's room and Lindsay tried to rush back in. He grabbed her arm to stop her, "the nurses are just finishing up. Give them a few minutes."
"Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine." He assured. "She has movement in her left hand and foot, so the bones should heal fine. She has full control of her right side and some strength in her arm and leg, and I suspect that will return fully in time. Her memory seems intact but there are some holes from the night of the accident." Accident, Lindsay hated it when they said that. The first night she had angrily corrected Claire's use of the word, 'murder attempt you mean' she screamed at her, then felt immediately guilty. So for the next two days she held her tongue when the doctors and nurses would refer to the accident.
"You know her better than we do, so keep an eye on her and let us know if anything seems wrong." The doctor asked of Lindsay before finally allowing her remittance to the room.
Lindsay stalled inside the door taking a moment to collect her thoughts. She had spent the last two days trying to figure out what to say, how to thank her friend for, quite possibly, saving her life. And now that Cindy was awake she still had no idea what she was going to say.
When Cindy finally turned to face her Lindsay found her courage and moved to the bed.
"You don't have to stay here." Cindy whispered
"I want to." Lindsay replied as her courage diminished.
"The doctor said it was Friday. Isn't Pete here?"
Lindsay took Cindy's hand. "He understands."
"Linz." Cindy sighed as her eyes drifted closed. "Go home and spend time with your boyfriend." She forced her eyes back open. "Besides, I have a feeling I'll be asleep in no time."
Courage now gone Lindsay reluctantly agreed, "if you're sure." She leaned down and kissed Cindy gently on the forehead, "I'll be back in the morning."
"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Cindy assured her as she finally appeared to let sleep overtake her. Hearing the tell tale sound of her guest leaving Cindy opened her eyes and watched the door close before turning her gaze to stare blankly out the window.