Thank you Aithusa for being an awesome beta!
Alec stood outside the, in his opinion, over decorated house. Motion activated strobe lights went off every few minutes as another group of kids entered the haunted house. In even closer intervals the sound of smoke cannons going off could be heard and every few seconds someone within screamed.
Tom had been trying for several minutes, without success, to get Alec to enter the haunted house with him. Alec doubted that any of the cheap scares that were most certainly inside would compare to some of the things he had experienced while on the job but he didn't want to risk getting his heart rate up too high. He had been feeling light headed and dizzy all day and he was already risking a heart attack by walking around this evening but he didn't want to ruin Tom's night. Besides, Tom was starting to make new friends and he didn't want to get in the way.
Alec watched as Tom exited the house with a group of boys his own age. It was a relief to see the boy laughing without restraint and fully enjoying himself. For too long Tom had been restrained and guarded in his interactions with others. Even when Alec had managed to get a smile out of Tom it had never reached the boy's eyes but now Tom looked just like any other eleven year old.
Alec's vision started to swim as Tom spotted him and ran over. He had been holding onto the pillow case Tom would be using to collect his sweets in while the boy was going through the house. Alec took deep breaths, trying desperately to calm his heart.
"Alec? Are you alright?" Tom asked, having reached Alec. He was looking paler now than he had when he had arrived.
Alec never got to answer. No! This couldn't happen now, at least not in front of Tom. He was only just starting to recover from what his father had done, he couldn't add to Tom's trauma. Even as he thought these things Alec's vision began to darken and his chest exploded with pain. Dizziness overcame him and Alec fell to the ground. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was Tom crying his name.
x-x-x-x
Ellie rushed into the ER, searching frantically for Tom. Even twenty minutes after receiving his call she could still hear his panicked cries as he explained that Alec had collapsed and was being taken to the hospital and that one of his friend's parents was driving him there as well.
"Mum!"
Ellie whirled around to see Tom standing in the far corner of room with another costumed boy and his parents. Ellie turned Fred's stroller around and walked as fast as could to her eldest son. Upon reaching him she threw arms around him and held him tight. She felt his body shake as he cried into her chest and kissed his head.
"He's going to be alright." Ellie told Tom. "This has happened before and he was alright then."
"But, but.." Tom shuddered. "I was so scared, mum. He just fell and he was so, so pale."
"I know it's scary sweetheart but I promise you Alec will be alright." Ellie reassured her son.
"You said this has happened before. He's been sick all this time?" Tom asked.
"Yes, Tom." Ellie took a deep breath and crouched down so she could look Tom in the eye. She gently held his arms. "Alec is really sick but he's been afraid to get the treatment he needs. That will change tonight."
"How?"
"Because he cares about us. He bought me that new bed and he came all the way here to go trick or treating with you even though he wasn't feeling well. He won't want to scare us or make us cry, that's why. When I ask him to get the treatment he needs later tonight, he'll agree." Ellie explained.
"You think he really cares about us?" Tom asked.
Ellie pulled him into another hug. "I know it. He's one of the few who truly cares about us." She said softly into his ear.
Tom nodded his head and held onto her tightly. They stayed like that for a few minutes as Tom silently cried and Ellie fought back her own tears. Finally, they released each other.
"The fireworks have been scaring Fred all evening. I bet he would love to have his big brother around to protect him from all the scary things." Ellie suggested.
Tom nodded his head and walked the few steps to where Fred sat in the stroller. He crouched down and started to talk quietly to his brother. Ellie took a deep breath and wiped her eyes before standing up and looking at the family who had brought Tom to the hospital. The father was a stout man with brown eyes and sandy hair, while the mother was about Ellie's height with long ginger hair in two plaits. She was dressed like a pirate to match her son, who was Tom's age. The boy had strawberry blonde hair and his father's brown eyes.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble." Ellie apologized.
"It's no problem. There's no way to control this sort of thing." The man said, smiling sympathetically. He stuck out his hand. "I'm Dan McGuire. This is my wife, Elizabeth, and our son, Michael."
Ellie grasped Dan's hand and shook it firmly. "Ellie Miller. I wish our meeting was under better circumstances."
"I agree. Your Alec certainly gave us quite the fright." Dan replied.
"Oh! Um, Alec's not... he's not..." Ellie struggled.
"I'm sorry! I see him picking Tom up everyday so I just assumed he was Tom's dad, until today when I learned they had different last names and then I thought that meant he was actually Tom's step-dad." Elizabeth explained.
"No! No. No, we're not like that. Alec, he's, ah, he's my..."
"Partner." Tom piped up from behind them. Fred had fallen asleep and he had secretly been listening to what the adults were saying. "Alec isn't my step-dad but he is mum's partner."
"I see! Commitment issues, is it? All men have them. You wouldn't believe how long I hinted at this man here that I wanted to get married before he finally asked." Elizabeth said poking her husband in the gut several times with a grin.
"Yeah." Ellie said. "Um, well, thank you so much for bringing Tom here and staying with him until I arrived. Why don't you head home? I'm sure it's not too late to get in a few houses."
"It was no problem." Dan repeated. "You're sure don't want us to stay?"
"I'm fine. I don't want to ruin your night any further." Ellie said.
"Alright then." Dan nodded in farewell and turned to leave.
"If you need anything feel free to give us a ring, Tom has our number." Elizabeth added.
"See on Monday?" Michael asked Tom.
Tom nodded his head. "Yeah, see you then."
As they watched the McGuire family leave, Ellie looked at her son out of the corner of her eye and raised an eyebrow. "My partner?" She asked.
"It's true! Besides, the doctors won't tell us anything unless we're family. It's not our fault they just assume the wrong meaning." Tom explained.
Ellie put her arm around his shoulder and tugged him close. "When did you become so crafty with words?" She asked, smiling, despite her worries.
x-x-x-x
Awareness returned to Alec slowly. First came the feeling that his body was weighed down, then the sound of rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, along with a dryness of the mouth. Lastly, Alec's eyes flickered open. The lights had been turned down low so there was only a soft yellow glow instead of a blinding white. All the same Alec immediately recognized where he was, the bloody Hospital. Turning his head slightly to the right he found Ellie glaring at him. Thankfully she didn't have a bag of grapes with her this time.
"You were pale when you arrived this evening." Ellie said. "If you weren't feeling well, why didn't you tell me? I could have taken Tom out, left a bowl of sweets on the steps for the kids."
"Tom wanted me to take him." Alec mumbled. He needed water to wet his mouth and throat.
"You nearly died. You did die on the way to the hospital. Tom thinks it's his fault you're here." Ellie said, her voice strangely quiet for the amount of anger she was putting into her words. "He cried himself to sleep because of you." She jerked her head towards the other side of the bed. "He even refused to leave you and go home when Olly and Lucy came and picked up Fred."
"I'm sorry." Alec croaked, looking at the sleeping boy curled up in a chair, his face still slightly damp and red from crying.
"You bloody damn well better be!" Ellie hissed then continued in a more sedate tone. Her voice quivering with her unshed tears. "You're almost all we have left. You're our rock, damn it!"
"I'm sorry." Alec repeated.
Ellie must have finally noticed how gravelly his voice was and how often he was wetting his lips, for she stood up and poured a glass of water for him from the pitcher at the side table and handed it to him. Alec gratefully drank through a straw, swirling some of the water around his mouth to make sure he wet it all before gulping down the rest of the glass.
"Thank you."
Ellie nodded her head and crossed her arms, looking at her reflection in the window on the far side of the room.
"Prove it." She whispered.
"Pardon?" Alec asked.
"Prove it." Ellie looked back to Alec. "Prove that you're sorry. Take care of yourself like you've been forcing me to take care of myself. Get the pacemaker put in."
"Ellie..." Alec began.
"No! You listen to me. Perhaps if the killer hadn't been Joe, if we hadn't been forced out of Broadchurch, then I would let you go on as you are but it was Joe and we were forced out. It's not just you anymore, Alec. My boys and I are depending on you now." Ellie sniffed and wiped furiously at her eyes before she began pacing at the foot of the hospital bed. "I've talked to the doctors, gotten all the information." She said.
"Ach! Where is the bloody patient confidentiality?" Alec complained.
"I told them I was your partner. It was Tom's idea. As he so nicely put it 'it's not our fault they just assume the wrong meaning'." Ellie explained.
"Crafty kid." Alec said under his breath.
Ellie let a small smile escape before turning it back into a frown.
"That's what I told him." She said. She leaned forward, placing her hands on the foot board of the bed and look Alec straight in the eye. "I know all the risks now Alec, and I still think you should get the surgery. You can't keep going on like this, we can't keep going on like this. What if the next time this happens you're driving the boys home? I know you're scared but from my point of view it's better to take that fifty-fifty chance in a controlled environment where the doctors could save you than walking around living your life never knowing when you'll have another heart attack. Please Alec, agree to the surgery. For my boys and I, because who'll help me with them, who'll make sure I take care of myself if you don't?"
"I'm sure Lucy and Olly will." Alec pointed out.
"They'll try their best, I don't doubt that, but they have their own lives. They live an hour away and work full time. They can't pick up Tom from school or make the boys dinner if I have to stay late on a case. They can't see me as well as you do and know when I'm under too much stress from one thing or another like you can." Ellie argued.
"If I get the surgery I won't be able to do those things either. If I don't die, I'll be recovering, then I'll be back at work."
"I know, but at least if you have the surgery I'll know if you're going to still be alive the next day. You're the only person I've got that doesn't feel obligated to be here for me because you're related. Please Alec, I can't lose you too." Ellie begged.
"Getting the surgery means you could lose me." Alec said.
"Yeah but at least I'll have an exact date to prepare for the worst instead of worrying about you every time you look a bit pale." Ellie whispered. Her head was lowered so she was looking at his feet now. Her entire stance seemed to radiate sorrow. "Please."
Alec took a deep breath and slowly released it. He closed his eyes and let his head sink into the pillows behind him. He was scared, really scared. He could admit that to himself. Scared of dying, but seeing Ellie like this...the only other time he had seen her so desperate was when she was begging him to tell her that it wasn't Joe. She didn't want it to be the man she loved but it had been and now she didn't want him die without trying to get better. She had brought up a valid point, what if the next time he had a heart attack he was driving with the boys in the back? What if they were severely hurt or killed and he for some insurmountable reason survived? Would he be able to live with himself afterwards? Over the weeks that Alec had been watching them he had grown to love Tom and Fred. After Ellie's comment over dinner about Fred calling him dad had he not made the unconscious decision to be there for the boys as best as he could? How long could he do that without the surgery? Should he die on the table at least he wouldn't have been as close to them as he could be in, say, a month or a year. Although judging by Tom's refusal to leave his side tonight, perhaps for him it was already too late to spare him pain by dying later rather than sooner.
He must have been deep in thought for some time for when Alec opened his eyes Ellie was no longer at the foot of his bed but sitting in the chair to his right again. She looked like she was in the process of settling in for the night, with her atrocious coat tucked around her. She looked at him with wide eyes. He could tell she hadn't been able to keep in her tears as her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were damp.
"I thought you'd fallen asleep." She said.
Alec sighed. "I'll..." He swallowed. "I'll have the surgery." He told her. "Tomorrow morning, before I can change my mind, call in the doctor so I can arrange it."
"Thank you."
Alec nodded. He looked over at Tom still curled into an impossibly tight ball on the chair. It couldn't be comfortable. Alec rolled onto his side and judged how much room was on the bed. There should be enough.
"Move Tom onto the bed. He shouldn't have to sleep like that." He told Ellie
"But.."
"My IV and heart monitor is on your side, he won't get tangled in any of the wires or tubes." Alec said.
"Okay."
Ellie stood up walked over to Tom. She tried to pick him up but he was too big so she crouched down beside him and gently shook his shoulder. Tom awoke sharply, his eyes quickly darting over to Alec.
"You're awake." Tom said.
"Aye." Alec said. "Come here, lad."
Tom jumped out of the chair and onto the bed. He immediately buried his head into Alec's chest and inhaled deeply. Alec wrapped his arm around the boy and settled them in for the night. He looked at Ellie who gave him a small smile before returning to her chair and pulling her coat back up. If the hospital staff had any doubts about their interpretation of 'partners', they would be vanquished when the nurse next came to check on Alec and saw Tom curled into his chest, asleep.