Broken.
(A/N: Taking this idea from that clip from "Ask October Road" where Eddie was in a hospital gown all beat up!)
Scene Two.
By 12:30, most of the bar had cleared out and the last few customers were dwindling down to the regulars.
"Janet! You see that bag over there?" Rooster pipes up from behind the bar.
"Yeah?"
"It's not going to move itself to the dump."
"Would it kill you to just ask nicely? Do requests really need a side of sarcasm?" Rooster pauses and considers this,
"Yes. Yes they do." Janet smiles despite herself and gets the trash bag. She goes toward the back and leaves through the sidedoor the alley. She lifts the lid to the dumpster and tosses the black bag in and turns to leave but something catches her eye. She turns around to see her boyfriend laying on the ground on the other side of the alley. Her gaze of shock eventually turns to a look of horror and she runs to him.
"Eddie? Eddie! Oh my god," she kneels toward him and turns him over slightly to see his face bloody and bruised. She quickly exhales in a panic and runs back to the sidedoor.
"Call an ambulance!" She screams and hurries back out to the alley. Nick and Ronnie, along with Owen, were on their way out the front door when they heard her plea for help. Their smiles fade and they run to the back while Rooster dials 911 on the phone behind the bar.
"What happened?" Owen asks before they see their friend laying helpless on the ground below them.
"Oh god, Eddie!" Nick goes to his friend and kneels opposite Janet. "Is he breathing?" He asks no one in particular. Checking his pulse, Janet leans in to try and hear breath sounds.
"Barely."
Owen puts his hands upon his head in disbelief while Ronnie stands off to the side, pacing the alley while peering in every few seconds.
"What the hell happened? Who did this?" Nick sobers up quickly and looks to Janet for answers.
"I don't know, I don't know." She shakes her head and holds his hand, starting to cry silent tears. "It was a fight, his knuckles are bleeding." She whispered. In the distance, they can hear an ambulance ringing, getting louder with every beat.
"He's going to be all right," Nick said, mostly to himself. "He has to be, he's going to be all right." The ambulance screeches to a halt and Rooster is out front to guide them to the alley. The group stand back as the paramedics swarm their friend. They take him away on a stretcher and ask who wants to come; Nick almost motions to go along, but then gestures to Janet, who was already on her way to the back of the ambulance.
"We'll meet you at the hospital," Nick says, but Janet can barely hear him above the sound of the sirens. It speeds off and the men are left in front of the bar, with bloody hands and desperate eyes.
The front door opened ever so gently and Ray Cataldo closed it behind him in the same manner. Hannah sat on the couch like a nervous mother of a teenager past curfew. Her glare moved toward Ray as he tried to make his way silently up the stairs.
"You went to the store three hours ago." She said in a deadpan voice.
"Hannah, you're up."
"Yeah, and I've been up. Worried. About you."
"Sorry, sweetness. I ran into Matt and he needed some help with his garage door."
"At ten o'clock at night? It couldn't have waited for tomorrow?"
"Hannah Jane, what's the problem? He needed it fixed to get the car out in the morning. Why are you so mad?" He said this gently, as he sat next to his fiancé in the living room.
"I just wish you called. I tried calling like, three times."
"This damn thing," he got his cell phone out and shook his head. "Vibrate. See?" He shows her the phone quickly.
"I believe you, I just wish you were more considerate."
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"That seems to be a motto around here lately."
"Forgive me? Please? I'll take the garbage out for a week?"
"You do that anyway," she smiles and relents.
"Come on, let's go to bed." He gets up and moves toward the stairs.
"Let me just put my mug in the sink. Be right there."
Once she was in the kitchen, Hannah's cell phone rang. Her look turned to concern when she realizes it is late for phone calls. She checks the ID and is even more surprised by the caller.
"Janet?" She paused. "Calm down, where are you? I'll be right there."
When Hannah rounded the corner of the hospital waiting room, she saw a group of familiar faces lined against the wall, sitting in the uncomfortable chairs, looking shocked. She went straight to Janet and greeted her with a thoughtful "hey." Janet got up and hugged her friend,
"It was awful, Hannah." She looked at her as they sat side by side. "He was just laying there, completely helpless. He wasn't even conscious."
"How is he now?"
"We're not sure, apparently he's in surgery."
"Surgery? What for?" Hannah was taken aback.
"They said he took a blow the temple and they need to relieve some pressure, I don't know. It just doesn't sound good."
Nick came by with a cup of coffee and handed it to Janet, one for himself.
"Hey," he said, looking mostly to Hannah, surprised at her presence. "I hope black is ok, it's all they had."
"Thanks, Nick." Janet accepted the caffeine, but was too concerned to drink it.
"Are you ok?" Hannah looked to Nick.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn't with him. I should have been, though."
"What do you mean?"
"We have a meeting tomorrow morning, he left the bar early to get some sleep and I should have gone with him."
"You can't blame yourself, Nick. Whatever happened, whoever did this to him—there was nothing you could have done."
"What are you saying, Hannah? That Eddie brought this on himself?" Janet accused.
"No! No, not at all. I just mean, god, I don't know what I mean. It's just good Nick wasn't there, or he could have been hurt, too."
"Or I could have helped him." Nick responded. "If he's not all right, I'll never forgive myself."
"Stop it," Owen said from the side. "He's going to pull through, so stop talking like he won't. This isn't your fault, Nicky. So everybody just stop it." Owen's words of wisdom were accepted by the group, but before anyone could respond, a doctor came into the room.
"Anyone here for… Eddie LaTekka?"
Janet, Hannah, Nick, Owen, Ronnie, and Rooster all stood.
"Any of you family?"
"We're all his family," Owen responded. "How is he?"
"He's stable, but we have him in the step-down unit at the moment."
"Step-down?" Nick asked.
"It's a step below intensive care. The surgery went well, we think. We relieved the pressure to his brain, and we stopped the internal bleeding. The only issue now is whether or not he'll wake up."
"Wait, what are you saying? Is he in some sort of coma?" Nick asked urgently. The doctor sighed.
"With the massive injuries he sustained to his head, he's facing an uphill battle. He could wake up in an hour or a week or…we just don't know. It's entirely up to him."
"Can I see him?" Janet asked. He checks his watch.
"Sure, but only for a few minutes. It's the policy to only have one person at a time. Follow me," Janet looks to the group, almost for approval.
"Go on," Nick urged.
"I'll wait for you here, Janet." Hannah said as Janet made her way through the corridor.
"Damn it," Nick exclaimed. "I can't believe this is happening."
"You heard what the doctor said, Nicky, it's up to him. How long have we known Eddie?"
"Twenty years, give or take."
"And in those twenty years, give or take, has he ever given up on a fight?" Owen asked.
"No."
"Exactly. Not once. He's a fighter. And he's going to make it through this just fine. Hell, he's probably awake right now. These doctors don't know who their dealing with here."
"Owen's right, Nick. He's going to wake up in no time," Hannah offered, giving Nick's hand a squeeze.
"I just wish I knew who did this."
"We can find out," Rooster spoke from behind the group and they turned to him.
"What do you mean?" Nick squinted.
"Remember last year, when those cars kept getting vandalized in the Ridge? Well, Sully installed some security cameras outside the bar to catch the guys. We keep them on and record 24/7."
"And if the fight happened in the alley?"
"Got it covered."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Owen starts, with Rooster and Ronnie right behind him.
"You ok alone, Hannah?" Nick asks.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You should go." Nick goes to leave, but Hannah pulls him back.
"Don't do anything stupid, Nick," he cocks his head and looks at her quizzically. "Don't go looking for a fight with these guys, whoever they are. You call the police before you take any action. Promise me, Nick."
"I promise." And with that, the men were off to Sully's.