"It's Lucy, "Genny stated on the other side of the phone. "There's been an accident."
Tim felt his legs give out, but somehow he remained standing. He tried to process what Genny was saying. An accident. What did that mean? Was she hurt? Was she ok? Was it a car accident? Was she trying to do some more home repairs and fell? Did someone hurt her? Every possible scenario ran through Tim's head, but yet he couldn't form any coherent thoughts. He couldn't make his mouth ask the right questions.
"Tim, did you hear me?" Genny asked when she got no response. "Tim!"
"Yeah, I'm here." He went from not being able to speak to having too many questions that he wanted answered all at once. "What happened? Is she ok? Is Alex ok? Where is she?"
"Slow down," Genny told him. "She was in a car accident. A drunk driver blew through a stop sign and hit the driver's side. It took the firefighters a bit of time to get her out. Alex wasn't in the car, thank goodness. I was watching the boys and Lucy was coming to pick him up and…"
Tim breathed a little sigh of relief, but not much. "Genny, is she…"
"She's at the hospital. I'm here now. They won't tell me much since I'm not family. Just that they're working on her."
"Oh God," Tim breathed. "Where's Alex now?"
"Tyler's dad came to watch the boys at my place. I haven't told Alex anything. The police were able to see on her phone that I was the last person she called so they called me. Tim, I don't know…this could be bad."
Tim could hear his sister sniffling. He was trying to keep his own tears from falling.
"I'm coming back," Tim stated. "I'll take the next flight out. If you hear anything, call me."
"I will."
When Tim hung up the phone it took everything in him not to drop to his knees and begin to sob. He didn't know what Lucy's condition was. He had a six hour plane ride ahead of him during which he wouldn't be able to get any information about how she was doing. What if he lost her during those six hours? What if their last interaction was her brushing him off when he tried to convince her that he would be coming back?
"Tim…" Angela began, tearing him from his thoughts. She had heard the important parts of the conversation through the phone. "What can I do?"
"Is Nolan working tonight?" Tim asked.
"I think so. But his shift is probably over soon. Why?"
"Because he's taking me to the airport with sirens blaring. Let's go."
Tim began to jog back to Mid-Wilshire, a building that for the longest time had felt like home. Now the person who made him feel more like home than anybody else was in a hospital 3,000 miles away and he didn't know if she was going to survive.
It was a grueling ten hours before TIm made it back to Connecticut. He had to talk his way onto an already full flight by flashing his badge and making it seem like he was on important police business. Between waiting in the airport for the flight to take off and a delay on the tarmac, Tim felt like he was losing his mind. He did get a text from Genny right before his flight took off that Lucy was alive and awake. Genny hadn't gotten the chance to see her yet, but things were looking up. Although it gave Tim a sense of relief to hear the news, he wouldn't be happy until he could see her.
The minute the plane landed, TIm raced to his truck that was still in the long term parking lot at the airport. He sped off, his wheels squealing. Tim committed a few traffic violations trying to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. When he finally did, he burst through the doors and talked to the first nurse he could find.
"I'm looking for Lucy Chen," he said rather demandingly.
"I'm sorry, sir, you'll have to wait at the desk and…"
He whipped his badge out of his pocket. "Lucy Chen. Now."
Tim wasn't one to abuse his power as a police officer, but he couldn't wait another minute to see Lucy.
"Of course. I'll find out what room she is in right away."
Tim followed the nurse to the nurse's station and waited impatiently while she typed into the computer. She's in room 103A."
"Thank you," Tim said as he raced down the hall.
"But you need a visitor's pass!" The nurse was shouting, but Tim ignored her. He would get a visitor's pass after he laid eyes on her and saw for sure that she was ok.
When he finally got to the room with the numbers 103A written on the door, Tim burst into the room. Lucy was sitting up in bed talking to a nurse who was wrapping a bandage around a rather large gash that had been sewn shut on Lucy's arm.
"Excuse me!" The nurse exclaimed upon Tim bursting in.
"It's ok," Lucy assured the nurse. "That's Tim. He's…"
"Her boyfriend," Tim said, finally feeling the relief of knowing that she was ok. He desperately wanted to touch her.
Lucy felt her heartbeat quicken at just the sight of him. She hadn't realized just how much she missed him and needed him until she saw his face when he walked in the door. She just wanted him to take her in his arms and never let go.
"But I thought…" the nurse stuttered. "That other gentleman yesterday said…"
"It's a long story," Lucy said with a little smile to the nurse. "Can we have a minute?"
"Of course. I'll come back soon to finish."
"Thank you."
As the nurse passed by Tim, she looked him up and down. "You really should have a visitor's pass."
"I'll be sure to get one," he said and he held the door open for the nurse to leave. Once she was gone, he went to Lucy's bedside.
"Oh, babe," he said, looking her up and down. Aside from the gash on her arm, she had some bruising to the left side of her face and a cut above her left eyebrow.
"I'm ok," Lucy assured him.
He ran his hand through her hair while he looked her over carefully. "You don't look ok."
"You should look in the mirror. You look like crap."
Tim chuckled a little. "I haven't slept in…I don't how long."
"You didn't have to come back," Lucy told him.
"Of course I did. Lucy, when Genny called me and told me you had been in an accident, I…I thought the worst."
"I'm sorry. Mostly it's just some bad cuts and bruises."
"DId you lose consciousness?" Tim asked, unable to stop searching her body with his eyes for any more signs of damage. He hated seeing her hurt.
"For a few minutes right after the crash, yeah. The doctors say I have a pretty bad concussion and a few of my ribs are bruised, but not broken. I have some whiplash from the seatbelt, but it could have been a lot worse," Lucy explained.
"All of that sounds pretty bad."
"The worst part was waiting for the firefighters to cut me out of there. I couldn't open the doors and my arm was pinned and the inside of the car was crushed. I was so scared."
Tim took her hand and squeezed it. "Oh, babe…I'm sorry. That must have been awful. What about the guy who hit you? Genny said he was drunk? Did they catch him?"
"Yeah. He walked away with no injuries."
"Bastard," Tim muttered.
Lucy put her hand on his cheek. "Chip came down to the scene and interviewed me this morning. It's not the man's first DUI."
"Yeah, well, it sure as hell is going to be his last if I have anything to say about it," Tim said.
"I'm just glad Alex wasn't in the car."
"Me too. I was so worried. The whole time on the plane back, I kept thinking…you don't what terrible thoughts kept coming to mind."
Lucy nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to call you, but the firefighters had taken my phone and I don't even know where it is now and…"
"Don't you be sorry. I'm just glad you're ok."
Tim leaned in to give her a kiss. As his lips met hers softly, the door to Lucy's room opened. Tim expected to see a nurse or a doctor, but it wasn't either of those two professions. It was someone Tim wished he would never see again. It was Chris and he was holding a bouquet of flowers.
"So, you are here," Chris said.
Tim stood up to his full height, facing Chris. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Tim," Lucy warned.
"The hospital called me," Chris answered.
"Chris was still listed as my emergency contact on my insurance so the hospital called him when I arrived yesterday," Lucy explained.
"When I found out Lucy was hurt, I dropped everything and came to see her," Chris stated. "It didn't take me nearly half a day to get here."
"I got here as soon as I could," Tim spat.
Lucy grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
"Chris, I thought you were going home this morning," Lucy remarked.
"I am. I have to be back for a deposition, but I wanted to bring you these and to tell you that I'm here if you need anything and I can come back to…"
"No," Tim stated.
"That won't be necessary," Lucy said. "I appreciate you coming. I do. I know you're busy and…"
"I had to reschedule court to be here," Chris commented. "The judge wasn't happy."
"What do you want, a medal?" Tim retorted sarcastically.
"Tim," Lucy warned for a second time.
"I don't get it, Lucy," Chris continued. "What do you see in this guy, huh? Does the fact that he can install flooring and paint a wall really turn you on that much?"
"That's enough, Chris," Lucy said.
"Because I could hire someone to do that," Chris continued. "At least I was here when you needed someone, unlike this jackass."
Tim stepped forward and had his fist ready to punch Chris in the face, but Lucy still had hold of his hand and she tugged on his arm, stopping him.
"You need to leave, Chris," Lucy said. "Again, I appreciate you coming. But this doesn't change anything between us."
"Well, don't expect me to show up the next time this guy lets you down," Chris said. He dropped the flowers on a nearby chair and walked out the door.
Tim was seething. "I should have punched his lights out."
"And gotten arrested? He's not worth it, Tim. And he did keep my company last night."
Tim didn't like the sound of that. He turned to look at her. "I'm sorry I wasn't here."
"It's not your fault. You can't be everywhere all the time. No one could have predicted that this would happen. I'm fine. It's you I'm more worried about. You need some sleep and by the looks of it, probably a good meal that doesn't come from a greasy paper bag."
"Now that I'm here, I don't want to leave you," Tim said. "I want to be here. I want to help."
"There is something you can do."
"Name it."
"Can you bring me my son?" Lucy asked with tears in her eyes. "I'm sure he's scared and I would really like to see him."
"Absolutely."
Tim leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, above where her bad cut was.
"Thank you."
"I'll be back soon," Tim told her. With one final short kiss, Tim was out of the room, ready to do whatever Lucy needed.
Tim spent the rest of the day with Alex and Lucy in the hospital. Lucy cried tears of joy when she saw her son and Alex was happy to see for himself that his mom was ok. For part of the time, Tim had left Alex and Lucy alone. He had wandered down to the cafeteria and had some relatively healthy food. He also called Angela and gave her an update as to what was going on. He told her that he wouldn't be going back to LA to help her with the rest of the case and she understood.
By dinnertime, Tim could tell that Lucy was fading fast. Her energy level had dropped and he knew she was in discomfort from sitting up all day. Tim was exhausted, but doing his best not to show it.
"What do you say we let your mom get some rest?" Tim suggested to Alex.
"Are you coming home tonight, mommy?" Alex asked.
"Not tonight, sweetheart. The doctors want to keep me here just one more night to make sure everything is ok."
"Does that mean I'm going back to Tyler's house?" Alex asked although not as excitedly as he normally would.
"Do you not want to go back?" Lucy asked.
"I like it there, but I kind of want to sleep at home," Alex answered.
"Oh, honey, but Tyler's mom is…"
"I'll take him home," Tim offered. He didn't really want to leave Lucy, but everyone needed their rest, him included. "I'll stay with him in the house and I'll come back for you tomorrow when the doctors give you the all clear."
"Are you sure you want to take him?" Lucy asked.
"Of course."
"Thanks, Tim!" Alex exclaimed.
"You're welcome, bud. I'll text Genny and tell her the new plan."
"Thank you," Lucy said, stifling a yawn.
Tim wanted to bend down and kiss her to say goodbye, but knew he couldn't with Alex in the room.
"Ok, then we'll see you tomorrow," he said.
"Bye mommy," Alex said, wrapping his little arms around her as best he could. Tim had a feeling that the movement caused Lucy some pain, but she didn't say anything.
"Bye, sweetheart," Lucy said, kissing him on top of his head.
Tim nodded at Lucy before taking Alex's hand and walking out of the room together.
Later that night, after Tim had picked up pizza for him and Alex and they had watched a movie together, Alex was laying in his bed hugging a stuffed shark tightly in his arms. Tim was sitting in a small chair next to the bed, tucking him in.
"Is my mom going to be ok?" Alex asked as Tim pulled the blanket up to the boy's chin.
"She is. And she'll be home before you know it."
"I heard Miss Bradford say that mommy's car is totaled. What does that mean?"
"It means it's so broken that you can't drive it anymore."
"Now we don't have a car," Alex stated. "How are we going to get to baseball practice?"
"Don't worry, bud. The grownups will figure it out. We'll make sure you get to practice."
Tim ruffled his hand through Alex's hair. He was about to stand up and say goodnight when Alex spoke again.
"Tim, did you know that Lucy isn't my real mom?"
Tim nodded, wondering where the conversation was going and how much he should or shouldn't say.
"I did know that."
"I don't remember my real mom very well, but I do remember being scared sometimes with her."
Those words coming from such a small boy were heartbreaking. "I'm sorry, bud," Tim said.
"But I'm not scared anymore since I've been with Lucy."
"That's good."
"You know how Lucy adopted me?" Alex asked.
"Mhmmm."
"Do you think you could do that, too?"
Tim was taken aback by the innocent question. "Oh, Alex…"
"Cause you'd be a really good dad and I don't have a dad so if you just adopted me, you could be my dad and it would be so much fun."
Tim took a deep breath, trying to work out what he was going to say.
"Alex, you are a very special little boy and I would be really proud to be your dad, but it doesn't really work that way. And…"
"Ok. That's ok. I just thought I'd ask."
Tim could hear the heartbreak in Alex's voice. Tim didn't know what else to say. Lucy always seemed to know the right words to use when speaking with Alex, but Tim was at a loss.
"Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?" Alex asked.
"Sure, bud."
Tim sat back in the little chair he was sitting on as the little boy closed his eyes. Tim couldn't help but think what it would be like to have Alex as his son and Lucy as his wife. In that moment he made a decision. He would not be going back to LA.