Chapter 9

Eddy parks his truck in front of the hospital. He looks over at Alyson and says, "I'm going to go to check in with the front desk and see if there is any update. But remember, no news is good news. It means they're still working on him." Alyson nods as we pile out of the car. Eddy holds the door open for us as he says, "Go to the waiting area, I'll be there shortly."

Alyson lets out a sigh as she walks with us toward the waiting area. "I hate hospitals," she says. "They freak me out."

"You and me both," I say nervously.

"Aly!" I hear a voice call. I turn to see Michael getting up as Alyson rushes over to him and throws her arms around him. "Have you heard anything?" he asks.

"No," Alyson says as she releases him. "Have you?" Michael shakes his head as Alyson hangs her head for a moment. "Eddy is checking in at the front desk to see if they have any news."

"Well let's sit down until he gets back," Michael says as he guides Alyson over to the chairs and we sit down next to them. "Oh, by the way," Michael starts, "I drove your car here. I think we both forgot you left it at the apartment when you came to stay so Tyler could drive it to the airport. I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's fine," Alyson says. "I left your car off the side of the road in the middle of nowhere so I can't really be mad even if I wanted to."

"Don't worry about it," Michael says. "We'll get it back at some point."

Michael looks up as Eddy walks over to us. Alyson whips her head around and asks, "Any news?"

"He's still in surgery," Eddy says. "She hadn't heard anything else but at least he's being treated." Alyson nods as Eddy sits down across from us.

"I feel like I've been hit by a semi," Alyson mutters as she leans forward and puts her elbows on her knees. "This has been the longest day and it's not even over yet." Avi puts a hand on Alyson's back and rubs it and Alyson sits back up and lays her head on Avi's shoulder. Her eyes slowly start to close as her breaths become even. Avi mouths "she's asleep" to me and I give a small smile. I'm glad, I think to myself. She needs the rest.

Hours pass. Eddy has started pacing the waiting area, regularly walking out to make phone calls. Michael is softly snoring in the chair beside Alyson as Alyson continues to sleep on Avi's shoulder. Avi and I text back and forth to try and not wake Alyson or Michael. Finally, a surgeon starts to walk into the waiting room, still sporting her scrub cap. "I'm here for the family of Tyler Ronan?" she calls out.

"That's us," Alyson says groggily, sitting up and looking up at the doctor. She nudges Michael awake as Eddy walks over. "Do you have any news?"

The surgeon nods, "I'm Dr. Grey, I'm the surgeon who operated on Tyler. Who do we have here today?"

"I'm his sister," Alyson says. She points to Eddy, "He's our uncle…cousins," she points to Avi and me, "and his boyfriend," she finishes pointing to Michael."

"Pleasure to meet all of you," Dr. Grey says, shaking our hands. "So, the stab wound that Tyler had fortunately wasn't very extensive. It was deep and was bleeding a lot but there wasn't a ton of damage. What made him critical was the amount of blood he had lost. We were able to repair all the damage and we did a blood transfusion to help bring him back from that critical point. We've been monitoring him before notifying you all just to make sure he didn't have a reaction to the blood but we started that transfusion before we even went into surgery and he's remained stable. He's not awake yet but his vital signs have been great and baring any complications, he should be okay."

"Oh thank God," Alyson says, clutching Michael and Avi's hands.

"This is great news!" Eddy says as he walks over and hugs Alyson. He turns back to the surgeon, "Thank you, Dr. Grey."

"You're very welcome," she says with a smile. "I'm going to go back and check on him. Once we start to wake him up and extubate him, we'll move him to a room and you can see him. I'd like to keep him for a few days just to monitor him but he should be able to go home by the end of the week." Eddy nods as Dr. Grey walks away.

"I have to get back to the station, Little Moose," Eddy says as he crouches down to face Alyson. "I have to get started on this investigation on Tom. Keep me posted please, let me know when he wakes up."

"I will," Alyson says as she hugs him. "Thank you, Uncle. I love you." She pulls away and kisses him on his cheek. He squeezes her hand as he walks away. Alyson falls back into the chair and covers her face and starts to sob.

"Are you okay, Al?" I ask as I move from my seat and crouch in front of her.

"I'm just so relieved," Alyson cries. "I thought we were going to lose him." I squeeze her hand.

"So, was Tom the one who stabbed Tyler?" Michael asks. "Is that why Eddy's investigating him?"

Alyson nods, her eyebrows furrowing, "I need to go out there and talk to him."

"Are you serious?!" Michael asks, his eyes growing wide. "Do you not remember what literally just happened to Tyler when he went to do the same thing?"

"Michael, we know that Eddy plays by the book," Alyson starts, standing up and turning to face him. "And he might get Tom arrested for stabbing Tyler but what about the article? If that doesn't get taken down or a statement put out against it, what does that do to Tyler? To me? If we leave it to Eddy, that will stay out there forever. I need to find out why he did this and see if any of it can be used against him or his credibility."

"And how do you plan on proving you got this information from him?" I ask. "And not just that you made it up because you were mad about the article? He played it right, his story went first. Anything to counter it will sound like it's just in retaliation."

"Not if I record what he says on my phone without him knowing it," Alyson says, darting between me and Michael. Avi glances between her and me nervously.

"I get where you're coming from, Aly," Michael says, "but what's to say he won't hurt you too? I'm not too keen on the possibility of losing you." Michael hangs his head as his voice gets shaky, "I can't go through this nightmare again."

"I'm not going alone," Alyson says, putting a hand on Michael's shoulder. "Chloe and Avi will go with me, won't you?" She turns to look at both of us.

"Of course we will," Avi says, giving Alyson a small smile.

"And how do I know they are enough to protect you?" Michael asks, glancing at us.

Alyson chuckles, "Chloe's packing and Avi…" she glances at Avi and winks at her, "let's just say she can fight."

Michael hangs his head, deep in thought. Finally, he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the keys to Alyson's car, "You better keep me updated and if you're not back here in a couple of hours, I'm calling Eddy."

"Thank you, Michael," Alyson says as he hands the keys to her.

He puts a hand on Alyson's shoulder, "I'm trusting you. Tyler needs you. Come out of there alive."

"I will," Alyson says as she hugs him.

"And you two," Michael says as he releases Alyson and walks over to us, "keep her safe…please."

"We will," Avi says as he hugs her and then me.

"I'll keep you posted," Alyson says as she turns toward the door.

"Two hours, Aly," Michael calls to her. "Two hours."

"Then let's get a move on," Alyson says as we follow her out the door.