The racing thoughts continues as he reached Toby's floor. After asking an on-duty nurse which room he was in, he headed to the room.
He knew what to expect. This was nothing new to him. He knew Toby would have tubes and wires, but he paused as he opened the door and saw Toby laying in the bed. Taking a deep breath he walked to Toby's bedside. He was so focused on his friend that he almost didn't notice the woman looking out the window.
"Hey," he began, "I'm sorry if I interrupted." He watched her turn to face him.
Her strawberry blonde hair shined in the sunlight. She smiled slightly as she looked at him.
"You weren't interrupting. I was just looking out the window." She reassured him walking to the opposite side of the bed. "I'm Rachel"
"Oz, I'm Toby's partner," he stammered. "I mean we work together." He always felt nervous around women that he felt were attractive.
"I know what you meant," the gentle smile on her face was relaxing to Oz.
"You're a friend of Toby's?" Oz asked as he looked at all the monitors. It was reassuring to him that Toby was not alone.
"Yeah, ah," she paused, "we recently met."
"I just talked to Olivia, Dr. Fawcett, they still don't know the cause of this." He explained looking at Toby. "Come on Toby, what's going on?" He said quietly to his friend. He knew not to expect any form of response.
Toby lay quietly, looking as though he was in a deep sleep.
"It's eerie," Rachel paused, "he's just laying there. Don't you expect him to just wake up and tell you he's fine?"
"I was just thinking about that," Oz responded scrunching his eyebrows. Great! Now she's reading my mind! He watched her closely.
Rachel walked toward the foot of the bed. "You've known Toby for some time now, right?"
"Oh, yeah! We were in training together so it's been several years now, why?"
"Just wondering." She looked back out the window. "You ever think about when yo meet someone, how that one person can affect your life a year down the line?"
"No, not really," Oz paused, "but come to think of it, I can see how one person can have an affect on many things." He recalled how Toby seemed to have an affect on so many people. Even over the last couple years Toby had helped so many people. It was amazing to think how one person could affect so many people.
"You know, I think it takes a special person to do what you guys do." Sitting on the chair next to Toby's bed, she continued. "To be a paramedic or firefighter and a police officer, that takes a special kind of person. I can't imagine the times all of you put your lives on the line for a total stranger. That's so admirable."
"Thanks," Oz grinned. "It's actually kinda fun most of the time. Well, at least when I'm working with my partner, not some of the other guys though." Oz turned to face Toby. "Man, you need to get better and get back to work. Ryder's got me riding with Bishop! He's nuts! Everything is by the numbers with him! Toby you got to get better!" Oz was getting worked up, the days' events were catching up to him.
"Do you think he can hear you?" Rachel said softly.
Stepping back for a moment, Oz thought about that. Could Toby hear him? Could he hear his thoughts? Did he know his friends were worried about him? Did he know what happened to him?
"I don't know," he said as calmly as he could.
The room fell silent, the only noise for a few moments was the hum of the machines in the room.
I wonder how well she really knows Toby? Does she know he can read minds? Oz thought.
The opening of the door broke the silence. It was Bishop.
"Oz," he started, "the rig's all set. We need to get back to work." Stepping into the room he closed the door gently behind himself. "How's he doing?"
"The same," Oz replied. He looked at Rachel. "Guess I gotta get back to work." He placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'll be back after my shift man."
"It was nice to meet you Oz," Rachel said to him as he headed to the door.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too," Oz replied. He knew he had only a couple hours left on his shift. Then he would be back to check on Toby. He hoped by then they would have some answers. He preferred that this were all a dream and things would go back to normal.