Chapter 10

Tommy shifted slightly on the bed trying not to move Jude around too much. How could she sleep comfortably on this thing? He had only been there a few hours and the crick in his neck was awful. He sat up, stretching his arms over his head; he got his first good look at Jude. She had some small cuts on the left side of her face from where her window shattered, and two were stitched up with tiny, tight sutures. He could see the large bandage on her right leg through the covers, and grimaced when he imagined the cut that she had under it. Her hair was messy, in a some what pony tail, and you could see a small bruise forming along her hair line. She looked pale, and thin, and her lips were chapped and cracked. He had to look away from her; he didn't want her to catch him crying.

Kwest was in a recliner in the corner with a hospital blanket around him. He looked just as bad a Jude did, Tom could tell that he was tired and worn down. Tommy slid off the bed quietly and went to use the restroom in Jude's room…so much better then the cramped airplane ones. He then went up to the nurses station to see what he could find out about her condition.

There was an older lady behind the counter, typing on the computer, frequently taking sips from a coffee mug.
"Um ma'am?" She looked up at him over the top of her glasses.
"What are you doing here? Visiting hours ended…hour's ago." she said to him.
"Yes I know that, I'm with Jude Harrison."
"Oh that darling girl…yes of course, and you are? I'll add your name to our list." she said reaching for a clip board.
"Tom Quincy" The nurse raised up her eyebrows as she wrote down his name.
"I didn't know the hospital was the place for young starlets like yourself to be hanging out." She joked.
"Well…when it concerns Jude I'm everywhere." The nurse smiled at him.
"Is there anything else I can help you with son?"
"Three things actually. I wanted to talk to someone about getting Jude a bigger, maybe um, more comfortable room? And when she wakes up she's going to want food, and I know already she won't eat what's here…so is there a list or something of what she can and can not eat? And finally how badly…" He had to take a second and look down at the counter...
"How badly is she hurt?" he managed to squeak out.
She looked at the young man in front of, and her heart went out to him. "Hold on one second," she said. She looked through some charts and found Jude's.
"Well, she wasn't as beat up as we thought she was when she first came in, but her injuries are still serious. It's the leg we are worried about, that cut is deep and almost cut her muscle there in half. They did operate on it, and stitched it up on the inside, then the outside. Hopefully the muscle will start to heal this way, if not then other options are going to have to be explored."

"So that's it? Just her leg?" he asked.
"Well it looks like she has a punctured lung and two broken ribs on her right side."
"Punctured lung? That sounds really bad," Tom said.
"Well it can be, luckily Jude's is not severe and the doctor is expecting it to heal on its own. Punctured lungs can lead to other problems so we're keeping a close eye on that. The ribs will be sore and she needs to be careful, but will heal in time. As for anything else, she's fine." Tom sighed and folded his arms on the counter, resting his forehead on them. "Thank God" he muttered.

"As for the room thing, I have a few rooms a few floors up that are usually reserved for patients and their families that will be here for extended amount of time. But given Miss Harrison's status, and her need for security, I'll see what I can do. I know the guards outside have been very very busy since she arrived here. Maybe if we move her somewhere more private they can ease up down there…last question? Oh! Food, it says on her chart that she can have what she pleases, within reason….
"Meaning no cheese burgers and fries?"
"Meaning no cheese burgers and fries…try more along the line of grilled chicken with fresh steamed veggies." He laughed and ran his hands through his hair. "She won't be too happy about that when she wakes up." The nurse laughed, and Tommy thanked her profusely for all her help.

When he walked back into Jude's room she was awake, flipping the channels on the TV half heartedly as she willed herself to stay awake. She smiled brightly the best she could when she saw Tom.
"Hey you." she said patting the place on the bed next to her.
"Hi baby," he said lying down beside her, wrapping his arms around her the best he could. She leaned forward and winced a little, but soon sighed in comfort as she lay against his broad chest.
"You ok?" he asked. She nodded and patted his leg.
"Poor Kwest…" she said looking at her friend in the corner. "I kept telling him to go home, but he wouldn't…"
"He knew I would want him here with you, I trust him with my life…and yours" he told her.
"That's good," she said lowering her voice, "Because I might not be here right now with you, if it weren't for him. There was just so much blood, and my leg hurt…my whole body...everything hurt…" she said crying, finally letting the tears spill out now that Tom was there to fix everything.
"Shhh, baby it's ok, it's all over now, I'm here and the doctors are taking great care of you…" he said holding her as tightly to him as he could without hurting her.
"But..." she said sniffling, "I was so scared, and I dreamed you where there…"
"I'm here now Jude, just calm down baby," he said urging her tears to stop. She took some breathes as deep as she could.
"Can I ask the obvious question?" she said calmly.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Where's Sadie?"
He ran his fingers softly over the top of her hand tracing each finger, "China I guess, I saw you were hurt on FOX news…I'm sure Kwest tried calling me but it just didn't work, so when I saw it, I told her I was leaving. She said she was sure you were fine and we could visit you when we got back but…there was no way in hell that was going to happen. That flight was the most awful thing I have ever been through."
She nodded her head and closed her eyes.
"You tired?" he asked.
"Extremely…sing to me," she told him.
"Sing what?"
"Anything, I just want to hear your voice." He thought for a second when I song he had been working on came into his head. He was going to save it for a little later, but now was the right time.

"I should have known the day we met
the way you turned and waved at me
I never will forget
Two years later who'd of guessed
That we would make at this far
just to put it all the rest "

As he sang the song to her he traced small patterns on her hand, calming her down, and encouraging sleep to come. Eventually he closed his eyes as well and joined her in sleep.

He woke up to Kwest bringing breakfast into the room. Tommy yawned and stretched, sliding off the bed. He went over to investigate what Kwest had brought.

"Man this is great," he said getting a muffin out, "I can't thank you enough. What you did for Jude, it means the world to me," he said pausing, "she means the world to me." Kwest slapped him on the back and smiled.

"No problem man, I knew you would kill me if I didn't watch after her. She left the studio that night before me and I stayed after to just turn off the lights and lock the place down, I'm just glad I didn't leave before her man…so?"
"So what?" he said taking a bite of his muffin.
"Did the wife come with you on this hospital excursion?"
"Nosy bastard…no she didn't. She wanted to stay in China so I let her."
"You mean you 'left her' right? Instead of you 'let her?'" Kwest teased him.
"You know what I meant. I just, I saw it on the news like I told you and panicked. I didn't even try to call anyone I just knew that I needed to get home. The worst part is when I told her…she didn't even care man. I mean, no matter what Jude is still her sister. How could she just blow it off to stay there in China?"
"Man…China is about her. Here it's about Jude, and you know Sadie is all about her self. Why would she come back to this?"
"You're right Kwest, you're so right."

Two day later Jude was finally moved to a bigger room, it was a little plusher and a little more comfortable for her guest. Everyone came to see her, even Darius and Liam. Jamie and SME spent the night there one night so Tommy and Kwest could go home shower, get some fresh clothes, all that stuff. But the were both back bright and early.

Tom had gone out and picked up some lunch for the three of them, returning with plenty of things he knew Jude was not going to like.
"What did ya get?" she asked sitting up in bed. She was feeling better, but her leg still hurt like hell, praising the nurses for that little morphine drip button she could press.
"Grilled salmon with capers, and fresh veggies."
"Grilled? How about something fried?" she said. He laughed and opened up her food. He sat on the side of the bed and ate with her and they discussed a song they had been writing before the wreck.
"I just think if you put more piano behind that part and less guitar, it will sounds more romantic." He argued with her.
"How but just less music, more voice? More emotion…" she said. Suddenly the door burst open and the frazzled blonde practically fell into the room.
"Oh my god Jude!" Sadie said as she rushed to her sister bed side, pushing Tommy out of the way. Jude started to think that maybe she was dead…
"Sadie?" she said. Sadie leaned down and wrapped her arms around Jude hugging her.
"Ow ow ow Sadie, ribs, broken ribs Sadie," Sadie immediately let god and righted her self.
"Jude I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should have come sooner. I was just stupid," she said lightly touching Jude on the arm.
"Its ok Sadie, don't beat your self up over it. I'm fine, everything's fine…" she said with a gleam in her eye, "Besides Tom was here for me." Tom coughed and cleared his throat. Jude wasn't going to be nice to Sadie just because she found some of the morals she seemed to have lost.
"Would you like something to eat Sadie?" he asked motioning to the food.
"No thanks, the chartered jet I took had the most fabulous food on it." Jude rolled her eyes shot Tommy a pleading look. He shrugged, "Um Sadie lets go take a walk, let Jude eat in peace." She just nodded her head and walked out the door, Tommy following her.