"Connie?" Tom's voice suddenly came down the line so much stronger and clearer than it had earlier.
"What's happened?" Connie asked sharply, a thin vail of anger managing to hold her tears at bay, at least for now.
"There was a motorbike accident. I don't understand exactly what's happened to Jacob, there's the language barrier and I don't know medical terms, but-"
"Does his doctor speak English?" She barked.
"Yes. At least a little."
"Put them on the phone. Now."
Tom glanced back at the doctor who was beside Jacob's bed, currently talking to the man himself who was refusing any more painkillers. Too scared of the woman on the line to say no to her, Ton just pushed the phone into Jacob's hand and the look on his friend's face told him exactly who was on the line.
"Connie?"
Ar the sound of his voice, tears finally began to fall and her next words were said softly, "what happened?"
"I'm ok." Jacob repeated. "I came off a bike, and I've hurt my side a bit."
"How much is a bit, Jacob? And what the hell happened earlier?"
Unable to reply aa a nurse began to clean the would with no anaesthetic, the phone was quickly pushed into the drs hands.
"Ah...Mrs Beauchamp? I've heard of you, i worked with Elliott Hope at-"
"I don't care. What is going on there?" Connie snapped, wiping furiously at her cheeks as she saw charlie and grace returning.
"Just... Tell her..." Jacob struggled to talk between the bolts of pain that seared into his side. "Tell her... Everything, she'll..." His eyes squeezed shut, and he groaned, his head rolling from side to side as he tried to block out the pain. "She'll only... Make you..."
"Alright Jacob, I would strongly advise you let us-"
"DON'T YOU DARE! YOU NEED TO RUN ALLERGY TESTS, NOW."
"Mrs Beauchamp, I-"
"I will be putting myself through onto a screen very shortly, so you do as I say, right now." She turned around to see Charlie already opening the office door and guiding Grace back out to go and inform Noel that they would be needing IT.
"Told you, mate." Jacob groaned, twisting despite the nurse's protests to stay still.
"Run the tests." The doctor motioned to the nurse, who stepped away from Jacob's side. He groaned again, before signalling for the phone.
"Con?" He was met with silence, until after a few seconds he heard a shallow, shaky breath. "Hey, hey I'm okay. Con, I'm okay..."
"Don't. I'll be there, Jacob I'll be there as soon as I-"
"Ssh, Connie it's okay. Stay with Grace, they'll find..." He winced again, before continuing, a little breathless. "They'll find out what happened, and it'll be okay."
"You're not telling me what to do." She whispered, brushing tears from her cheeks as she cleared her throat, motioning for the technicians to come through to her office.
As they set up the video, Grace hovered by her mother's arm. "I need to talk to him." She told her mother.
"Soon." Connie replied, listening to Jacob's breath catch in his throat every time he tried to breath in deeply. "Why were you on a motorbike, anyway? You hate mine."
"Because I didn't want something like this to happen to you," Jacob attempted a laugh, but it turned into a groan that made Connie flinch, for it hurt her too.
"Mum, I need to talk to him!" Grace insisted, tugging on her mother's arm.
With a sigh, Connie glanced at her daughter and then held the phone away from her ear, putting it on speaker. "Jacob, Grace wants to talk to you."
In spain, Jacob grimaced , beginning to feel as though he was fighting with consciousness again. "Gracie?"
Grace then said what Connie had found herself so unable to say. "We love you, Jacob, and we miss you. We're going to come there and fix you up, I promise. Mum will make you all better, won't you mum?" Grace then glanced at her mother, who brushed tears from her cheeks.
"Mum?"
"Sorry, Gracie I just..." She blew out a long breath, and folded her arms in front of her as she true to regain some composure.
"Jacob?" Grace held the phone tightly to her ear, glancing at her mother as she watched the technicians at her desk. "How bad is it?"
"I'm okay, firecracker..."
"That's not true, is it? Mum wouldn't be so upset if she thought you were okay." At this, Connie's head turned and she looked at her daughter, who offered a sad smile. She could say everything to him that she herself was currently unable to. Grace then glanced at the desk, at the jewellery box, and then to her mother who was now sat at the computer screen.
"Connie..." Jacob groaned again, and Grace could hear his sharp breaths as he tried to force away the pain.
"It's done, you should be able to get through now." The men at the desk quickly left the room, closing the door behind them, leaving Grace and Connie alone, Charlie hovering just outside the office door.
Soon the picture on her screen crackled into life. They were in a small room, nurses and doctors hovering all around Jacob, but unlike he would have in england, there were no wires attached to him, no monitors beeping, just the man attempting not to wriggle but unable to stop it as pain shot through his side. The person holding the iPad soon moved closer so Connie could speak to the doctor, but she was unable to draw her eyes from Jacob. Unable to look, Grace buried her face into her mother's shoulder, and Connie found herself holding her tightly.
"Mrs Beauchamp? Does Jacob have a history of any allergies? We've asked him, but he says he can't remember." The doctor questioned.
"Not that I'm aware of. I need you to hold the camera closer to him so I can see what's going on." Connie instructed, but Jacob shook his head.
"No." He managed, attempting to cover himself. "N-not with Grace there."
"Grace, can you go and wait outside with Charlie? I'll call you back in soon." Connie promised her daughter who nodded, pulling away. When the door was shut, Connie nodded at the nurse, who quickly moved the camera closer.
Jacob began muttering something, trying to keep himself awake as his eyes rolled in his head, and everyone began to grow nervous as Connie remained silent. She was shocked at the state of Jacob's usually lean middle, which was now covered in wet and drying blood.
"It's not an allergic reaction. You can see there, there's a clot blocking... Blocking..." Her hands went to her mouth, and she struggled as her breaths rose, before an arm lowered onto the desk so she could steady herself. "You need to get him into theatre, now."
"He won't let us anaesthetise him..."
"Pull the camera up."
It was a tearful whisper, and the doctor looked to the assistant before asking her to repeat what she had said. The camera moved and she could see him lying there, and how his face contorted every few seconds, before taking a glance behind ber to see Grace pressed against the door.
"Jacob, you let them do their job. You know as well as I do that if they don't remove that clot and sort the veins-"
"I had... I had to wait for, for you..." He trailed off, and Connie felt a stray droplet run down her cheek.
"You've seen me now, I'm here. Okay, get him out of that room, now." She spoke louder now, and opened the door, Grace rushing in to stand at the computer.
"Mum, where are they taking him?" When her mother didn't reply, she shook her arm. "Mum!"
"He's going into surgery, sweetheart." Connie managed to say softly, her eyes on the small box that still rested on the desk.
"But he'll be okay, won't he?" Grace whispered, scared. She had grown to love Jacob, for he was the only person she'd ever met who just accepted her as she was and wanted to spend time with her even though he didn't have to. At least once a week, they went out just the two of them, and he always let Grace pick where.
"Yeah." Connie managed, gesturing for Charlie to come in. "Did you manage to book anything?"
"There's a flight going in an hour..." Charlie replied.
Connie was unsure what to do. She knew that Jacob would be in surgery for a while and she would be unable to do anything, but the thought of something happening to him, the thought of having to keep her phone off while on the flight...
"Mrs Beauchamp?" The nurse questioned, the camera now only showing the empty space where Jacob's bed had been.
"I'm on my there. I'll be on a flight within the hour." Connie replied as she stood up.
"I'll pick you up from the airport." Tom offered, hovering in front of the camera.
"No thank you." Connie spoke icily. "I think you've done quite enough." With that, she disconnected the call. "Okay sweetheart, give me five minutes and then we'll get some things together at home."
Grace nodded, sitting down on the sofa and watching as her mother unplugged the camera from her computer and tossed a plethora of wires onto her desk.
"Oh, and Grace..." Connie paused, taking the small box from the desk before handing it to her daughter. "Take this back to his locker."
"But Mum, I think-"
"Gracie, please." She said, softly. Again, Grace nodded and did as her mother asked.