Sarah looked up at the knock on the door, and saw a smiling Robyn standing there. She glanced at Jay, and was pleased to see that she looked happy to have the visitor.
Sarah went over to Robyn and gave her a quick hug. "It's so good to see you," she said.
"I should probably have called," Robyn looked at Jay. "Is this okay?"
Jay smiled. "It's great," she said, careful to pronounce her words clearly. "Now Sarah has someone else to talk to! She's bored with me now," she pretended to whisper.
Robyn approached her chair, trying not to stare at her plaster-encased foot. She couldn't see her damaged hand, as it was in her pocket. She hugged her carefully. "You look great," she said, and really meant it. With all the trauma of her recent problems with Amy, she had still not forgotten what a terrible ordeal Jay – and Sarah – had gone through.
"I feel good," Jay tried to put her at her ease. "So how are you?"
"How am I? Are you mad?" Robyn smiled. "I'm fine, Jay. I'm good. And I can't tell you how happy I am to see you."
"Not that good," Sarah said, gently. "Amy was here an hour ago. She told us you two were taking a break."
Robyn looked startled.
"Weren't gonna tell us, huh?" Jay spoke quietly.
Robyn felt tears pricking her eyes. "You don't need to hear my shit right now," she said.
Jay shook her head. "I do. We care, Rob. Want to help. We both love you both." She reached out with her uninjured hand, and rested it on Robyn's forearm.
"I'm gonna get us all some tea," Sarah said, tactfully, seeing that Robyn was trying to get herself together. "Milk, no sugar, right?"
Robyn nodded.
Jay patted the chair next to her. "Spill," she said, as Robyn sat.
"I came here to see how you are," Robyn protested. She hadn't intended to tell Jay or Sarah about her problems. She had come solely to check on her friends and, while she was relieved to see that things weren't as dire as she had feared, she still felt bad about moaning about her own situation when they had been through so much worse.
"How I am," Jay said slowly, "is bored of talking about me. Sum up: foot and hand semi-fucked. Speaking still hard, more when I'm tired. But I have Sarah. I'll be fine. Now tell. Please," she smiled kindly.
"We fought. She kicked me out. That's about it."
"The fight?"
"Truthfully? I'm not sure. I mean, I know what it was about. She says she can't bear me being in a dangerous job, but I've always been a firefighter, for as long as we've been together, and she's coped. I know it's difficult for her, but she knows how careful I am. She hasn't been … herself. Not since the attack. I think this is more to do with her anxiety. I just wish she'd talk to me. I'll leave the Fire Department, if I have to. I'm just worried that it'll be hard for me to get another job. But I'm not gonna leave, not if she won't even talk to me about it. Her, and the job. They're all I've got. And my friends, of course," she smiled at Jay.
"When?" Jay asked.
"Four days ago."
"So where are you staying?"
"I've been sleeping at the station house," Robyn didn't notice Sarah coming back in with the tea.
Jay shook her head. "Not good," she said. "Need more sleep than that."
"Stay at our apartment," Sarah spoke, startling Robyn slightly. She passed her a cup of tea, and placed another cup on the table next to Jay.
"Oh no," Robyn objected. "You do not need this. I'm fine where I am. And I know I could stay with one of the guys. You've only got one bedroom, and you'll be home soon – at least, I hope you will?" she looked at Jay.
"'nother ten days, the doctors say," Jay sounded pissed.
"Our couch is a hide-a-bed," Sarah said. "It's actually real comfortable. It'll just be for a few days. I know you'll fix things with Amy soon."
Robyn shook her head. "No, it's ..."
"You're staying," Jay declared. "You can spy on Sarah for me. Report to me if she invites any sexy librarians to spend the night," she teased gently. "Seriously. You gotta sleep. You can't do the job. Dangerous for you, and the others."
"I'll do you a deal," Sarah said. "Stay until either Amy comes around, or Jay comes home, whichever happens first. I know Alex and Olivia have always got room for you, if the worst comes to the worst. She looked awful, Rob. Amy," she clarified. "When she came this morning. She didn't say much, but I don't think I've ever seen her look so bad. She had made an effort, but she still looked exhausted. And thin."
"She hasn't been eating well," Robyn said, anxiety creeping into her tone.
"She hasn't been eating at all, if you ask me," Sarah said. "We tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn't. Have you tried calling?"
"Only a hundred times a day," Robyn snorted. "She won't pick up. Look, that's enough about me. I hear you've made a new friend."
Jay smiled. "Tomász," she said softly. "I've been visiting him in the afternoons. He's a sweet little guy. God, if ever I think I had it bad, I just need to look at him. He's lost most of his leg. And he has no family at all. He's alone," she inhaled sharply, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"He has you," Sarah said softly.
"I've visited him three times," Jay snapped. "Hardly the same as family."
Sarah kept silent.
Jay shook herself; she had to stop herself from snapping at those she loved. She hated the hospital so much, it was hard to keep her temper even. Things would be better once she got home. She forced herself to smile. "Glad you're here," she said to Robyn. "You can tell my wife to go back to work."
"Jay...," Sarah started.
"Just half days, to start," Jay interrupted. "If you insist. Come see me mornings, work afternoons. And I'll visit Tomász while you're working. Try to get him to start talking. Good idea, huh, Rob?" she smiled at her friend.
"It makes sense," Robyn said, smiling.
"Who's side are you on?" Sarah teased.
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"Send her our love," Olivia said, as she hung up the phone. She patted the seat next to her on the couch. "Lily? Come sit with me a while."
Lily scrambled onto the couch, and smiled as her mother pulled her into a hug.
"You're getting so big," Olivia smiled at her, as she brushed her hair away from her eyes. "You know who that was?"
Lily shook her head; she had been too intent on playing with Wiggle.
"That was Sarah. I know we were going to go see Jay today, but Sarah tells me she's had a few visitors today, and she's real tired. So we'll go tomorrow instead."
Lily's lip wobbled, as she nodded. "Is Jay okay?" she wanted to know.
"She's fine, munchkin. She really is. She's so much better than she was. And I know she can't wait to see you. But Sarah has said it would be better if we let her rest today. She still gets very tired, and we don't want to tire her out, do we?"
Lily nodded. "So we can go tomorrow?"
"We can. And as it's a Saturday, we can all go."
"Mommy too?"
"Mommy too. Hey, Lily, I have an idea. Since we aren't going to the hospital, why don't we go visit Mommy in her office? We can show her Maisie's new trick."
Lily grinned. "Mommy will be real pleased. Is Maisie still asleep?"
"She is, but I'm betting she'll wake up any moment. Shall we get ready?"
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Casey went to the door when she heard knocking, and was delighted to welcome Olivia, Lily and Maisie into the office. She kissed Olivia on the cheek. "Your Mommy's just on the phone," she said quietly, as she took Maisie from Olivia's arms and held the beaming child close. "We're still going to the park on Sunday, I hope?" she addressed Lily.
Lily nodded. "I got new sneakers!" she said proudly, lifting a foot to show Casey.
"Well, aren't they smart? We'll have to make sure they get a good runaround on Sunday, won't we Maisie?"
Alex hung up the phone, and got up to welcome her family, with a huge smile.
Lily ran to her mother and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Mommy? We got something to show you!" she declared.
Alex let Lily guide her to the couch and sat down, with a look of anticipation on her face. "Just watch," Lily advised.
"Just set her on her feet," Olivia grinned as she gestured to Casey, who carefully lowered the child to the carpet. "Put your arms out, Alexandra."
"Momma!" Maisie gave a gummy grin as she wobbled on her feet. She took one careful step, all the while looking at her feet. She looked up and smiled triumphantly. She took two more steps, and on the third landed on her butt at Alex's feet.
Alex's smile lit up the whole of her face, as she scooped Maisie up into a big hug, giving her a loud kiss on her cheek and making her giggle. "Who's my clever girl?" she said to Maisie. "You knew about this?" she looked at Lily, who smiled widely.
Olivia surreptitiously wiped a tear from her own face. "You missed it the first time she did it, so we had to bring her, see if she would do it again."
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Sarah passed Robyn a glass of wine, as they sat down after dinner.
"You're so kind," Robyn said, her emotions raw.
Sarah settled on the couch, one leg tucked underneath her. "So what are you going to do?"
Robyn shrugged. "I really don't know. She won't answer any of my calls."
"Maybe you should call round?"
"I probably should. And I keep planning what I'm going to say. But then, I start to think, no. Why should I? I'm not the one that has changed. Nothing that I'm doing is new to her. And she threw me out of my home. She hasn't checked to see where I'm staying."
"She looked terrible," Sarah spoke softly. "This morning. I've never seen her like that. She's so unhappy, Rob."
"Yeah, well, so am I," Robyn snapped. "Oh God, I'm sorry."
"I know this isn't easy," Sarah said.
"It's not as hard as what you've been through, and here I am, in your apartment, bitching at you. I'm so sorry, Sarah. I'm just so tired. I'll think about it all tomorrow, when I've had some sleep."
"When are you next working?"
"Not until Monday."
Sarah nodded. "If you wanna talk, I'm here. I won't bug you."
Robyn blinked back tears.
Sarah reached out and laid a soft hand on her arm. "You're gonna fix this. Between you. It'll be okay. You two are made for each other."
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On Saturday morning, before Sarah arrived, Jay wheeled herself down the corridor to the elevator. She got herself to Tomász's ward, smiling at the night nurse as she passed reception. Everyone knew who she was, and knew that her visits always cheered up the sad child.
Jay reached his room, and knocked gently. As she pushed open the door, she was saddened to see a weeping Tomász, his face buried in the pillow. She recognized the nurse who sat on his bed, his hand gentling the boy's back.
"Greg?" she spoke quietly.
"Bad night," Greg said. "He won't let me comfort him, keeps pushing me away."
Jay approached the bed, and Greg moved to the side. "Hey, little man," she said quietly. She rested her hand softly on his back. "It's only me. I'm so sorry you're sad."
Tomász looked up, and saw his favorite person. His face crumpled further, and his weeping intensified.
"Can I maybe have a hug?" Jay smiled at Greg as he lowered the bed, so that Jay could more easily reach the child.
Tomász stared at her, and nodded.
Carefully, Jay removed her injured hand from her pocket, where she customarily kept it hidden, and lifted Tomász from the bed, ignoring the pain. She pulled him into her lap, and wrapped a blanket around him. He turned and buried his face in her front, clinging tight to her shirt.
Jay just held him, and rocked him gently, whispering softly to him. "I know, baby. I know. It's been awful. And you've been so brave. You're safe now. Shh. Cry all you want. That's good. I've got you. I've got you." She didn't notice the tears that were streaming down her own face, nor did she spot her wife as she quietly entered the room.
Sarah sat on the windowsill, and watched her wife.
Jay held the boy until he quieted. She then took tissues, and cleaned up his face, accepting a warm washcloth from Greg as she bathed his face.
Tomász eased his grip on her shirt. "You look like the angel," his voice shook.
Greg looked astounded. The boy had not spoken since he had been admitted over a month ago.
"What angel?" Jay asked him softly.
"The angel that saved me. Everything was scary, and I couldn't breathe, and it was all hot, and I felt sick. And then an angel saved me."
Sarah looked away, trying to stem her own tears.
"I'm no angel," Jay whispered to him. "I know that was a scary night. You were so brave. You are so brave. And because you've been so good, I reckon, if we ask nicely, then maybe you'll be allowed to spend some of the day with me in my room. I've got some friends coming to see me this morning, and I just know they'd love to meet you. And Lily loves doing jigsaws, maybe you can do one together?"
Tomász looked up at Greg. "Can I?"
Greg was choking back his own emotions. "Let me just check. I don't think there's gonna be a problem," he left the room.
