Tommy woke up. The first thing he felt was his banging headache. Trying to remember how much alcohol he had to drink last night, he realised he had none.
Dressed in only his boxers, he slowly but surely got out of the bed and trotted off, making light thump noises as he walked over the hard floor. In the kitchen, he opened the corner cupboard and pulled out some Nurofen. Filling his mouth up from the tap, he gulped the water down along with two pills.
Resting his palms on the side, he bowed his head and knew something had to be done. These headaches and dizzy spells weren't getting any better - not for the foreseeable future anyhow.
Without warning, he felt a warm hand climb up and down his back.
"Are you okay?" the faint, comforting sound of Tina's voice soothed his ears. The hand swooped up towards his neck, and caressed the nape of his neck.
Tommy briefly glanced at his beautiful girlfriend, then looked away. No, not today. He thought, she has enough on her plate.
"Yeah. I'm fine." He turned towards her and pulled her in to a tight hug. Then Tina looked up and pressed their lips together. Tommy moved backwards, in unison with Tina, towards the couch and lay down on it, Tina on top of him. Tongues battled for victory, and when Tina moved way down, her claws on the tip of his underwear, the guilt consumed him. He started to breathe heavily, and by the time the underwear was half way down he jerked up, surprising him and Tina, the scurried into the bedroom, pulling his boxers up, locking the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Tommy, come out. I'm visiting Joey in five minutes, with or without you. I need to get changed! Stop being a baby and be a man!" Tina sat against the door. Little did she know, Tommy was on the other side in exactly the same position. He was now smartly dressed in Tina's favourite clothes of his, ready to see little Joey. "Look, Tommy, I don't know what happened earlier, but-"
Cling, clang. The door unlocked. Tommy let the door fall open, then let Tina embrace him with her arms.
Tommy kissed Joey's head. In one week now, he was coming home. He handed Joey over to Tina for his special milk then went over to see the secret appointment he booked.
"Come in, Mr Duckworth." A man of about forty-five greeted him as he opened the door to Tommy's knock. Tommy smiled then sat on a stylish looking blue chair.
"So... I hear you've been having headaches. Now, I'm going to behave rather like a psychiatrist. I want you to lay down on that patient bed over there, and start from the beginning."
"Where's the beginning?"
"Wherever feels comfortable for you. Remember, everything told in here stays in here."
With this, Tommy lay down on the bed.
"When I first heard that Tina had been kidnapped, I didn't know what to think. Especially because it was her ex-boyfriend that said it. But somehow, I knew I'd find her, I just knew it. I had to. The next thing I knew, it was a wild gooose-chase down the motorway. Tina managed to contact me from the back of the van, so we managed to track them down. I followed Tina and the thug into the warehouse, and all hell broke loose. Tina was 8 months pregnant, the size of a balloon. In a few weeks she was due to pop.
"Bullets were fired, a life was lost. Everyone flashed before me that day, and the first sign of a headache was when Tina was in labour. I just stared at a tree outside. Ever since I've been getting headaches, nausea and dizzy spells."
The doctor had just finished his notes. "Could you describe the dizzy spells you get?"
"Sure. First, my head starts to go boom, like its being pumped or something. Then my eyes fill with water, and its like I get pins and needles all over. If I try to look around, everyone goes really slow, and when people try to talk to me I don't realise anything..."
"Yes. Oh definitely." The doctor mumbles under his breath. He scratched his beard. Tommy sat up. "Oh, yes, it seems you have developed a major case of what's known as a chronic neurological disorder, or epilepsy for short. I know this because of your inattentive staring and head banging aches. I'm going to give you a mild medication called Tranxene. It sharpens the attention span and reduces heavy headaches. Remember, if they don't work, come back to me."
Tommy buried his head in his hands.
"I know it's hard, but it's time to face facts. You will get through this! If you hadn't seen so soon, you would of fainted or even died. You're a very lucky man Mr Duckworth."
Tommy couldn't feel himself as he walked back through the corridor. It wasn't him walking, it was his body. Back in the baby ward, tears fell down him as he saw his beautiful son and wife-to-be in a hug, knowing he may not be able to spend the rest of his time with them.