Chapter Seven: Commitments

When the doctors and nurses took Dewey through the OR doors, Gale was going to wait in the waiting room. While I went to check on Randy. Gale said she would stop by and give me news once she found out anything with, Dewey.

"Hey you." I greeted an awake, Randy.

He still looked out of it but seems alert and more color in his face then yesterday.

"Tiff."

I walked over and sat down in the same chair as before. He didn't have the full mask oxygen on anymore, only the tube nose kind.

"Glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?" I ask.

"Like a million bucks." He says, sarcastically.

I roll my eyes, smiling at him. Looking towards him, I had gotten more serious.

"You look worse than I do. Are you okay?" Randy asks.

Instead of trying to sugar coat things, I wanted to go ahead and tell him the truth. He was going to hear about everything one way or another.

"Dewey, Gale, Sidney and I were all attacked last night," I said. "We also found out who the killers were."

"Were? Who were they, did you kill them?" He asks.

I looked at him with funny expression of his reaction.

"Yeah… They were Mickey and Billy's mother, Mrs. Loomis."

"Mrs. Loomis, she isn't a shocking surprise. Let me guess what her motive was. Sidney killed her son, and she wanted revenge."

I nodded.

"Typical." He rolled his eyes. "Why, didn't I see that coming?"

"You weren't the only one that was surprised."

"Mickey. What was Mickey's motive? Let me guess this one, she was going to pay his college tuition?"

"I wish that were the motive, but no. I'm still wrapping my head around this. He was, Stu's, cousin. To whom he looked up. So, he wanted to make sure that I knew and wanted to take revenge on Sidney too."

He shakes his head, taking in all this information was a lot. I mean, I was still reeling it in myself. I leaned back in my chair, finally feeling the exhaustion kicking in, the adrenaline was wearing off.

"So, are you okay? Is everyone else okay?"

I smiled, grateful for his kindness. Even in his condition.

"Sidney's fine, a few cuts and bruises. Gale was shot by, Mickey, has a couple of broken ribs, but is still walking around. I'm fine just a bump on the head. Dewey… He was stabbed in the back. He's in surgery. The paramedic said that his old scar tissue saved him."

"He's one lucky son of a bitch, isn't he?"

"Well, he's in surgery right now. Not out of the woods just yet. Gale's waiting in the waiting room for ay news on him. She'll let us know if there's any news."

Someone knocked on the door and they walked in. It was Gale, as if she was hearing us talking about Dewey.

"Hey Randy, how are you?" She asks.

"I'm all right. How are you feeling?"

"I'm a little sore," She sits down slowly, looking towards me. "I'm guessing you told him?"

I nodded.

"How's Dewey?" I ask her.

"The doctor came out and told me, he came out with flying colors,"

I breathed out a sigh of relief. I wasn't ready to lose him, not only a year after losing, Tatum.

"He also said that he was able to fix Dewey's severed nerve and with a more physical therapy, Dewey should be able to walk normally again."

"See, told you he was a lucky bastard" Randy says, looking at me.

"Shut up, Randy." I tell him.

We looked over to Gale and she has a confused face on.

"Don't worry about him."

"I just wanted to come and tell you two about, Dewey. He's in the recovery room, I'm going to go and sit with him."

"Thanks Gale." I speak.

She gets up slowly and walks out the room, leaving me with, Randy alone. I was so tired. I leaned back in the chair, rubbing my forehead from stress.

"Are you okay?"

Looking over at my best friend, he was looking at me with worry.

"I'm just so tired. I haven't really slept since all this started back up again."

"Well, maybe you can ask for a bed from a nurse and sleep in here." He suggest.

"I don't even think I can sleep."

We sat silent for a minute. Then, I got an idea.

"After you recover. Let's go somewhere, I don't care where, let's just leave. Get out of the U.S even, for all I care." I say suddenly.

"Where are we going to go, Tiff?"

"I don't know, and I don't care, let's just leave."

"Tiff, you are just tired and need sleep."

"No, I'm not Randy. Let's just drop everything and just leave town."

"Tiffany, I'll go anywhere with you. You know that. I'm just worried about you."

"I'm worried about you too, Randy. That's the thing, I am done worrying about everything. I am done worrying about who the next killer is going to be. Wherever we go, the killer is there. Wherever WE go, Billy and Stu are there!" I shout the last part.

We stared at each other, not even aware that someone walked into the room.

"Is everything okay in here?" The nurse asks.

"Yeah. Will it be all right if my friend stays the night here?" Randy asks.

"I wouldn't have any problem but let me check with the doctor first."

"Thank you."

She leaves the room, leaving the door cracked open. Randy looks over to me, as I look at him with disbelief.

"You are just tired, Tiffany, please sleep and we can talk about this later." Randy tells me.

For the rest of the day, I was in and out of Randy's room. The nurse from before noticed me and told me, the doctor approved of me staying with Randy and they would bring me a cot to sleep on for the night. I thanked her and walked to the cafeteria. I grabbed a coffee, still not really hungry and spotted Gale sitting next to the windows of the room.

"Mind if I join you?" I ask.

She waves her hand for the chair across from her. I sat my coffee down on the table before sitting down.

"How's Dewey?" I asked.

"He's doing good. He had woken up before, I came here. Went back to sleep due to the meds. Are you doing okay?"

"Too be honest, I don't even know anymore. I'm just really, really tired, Gale."

She looks at me with sympathy. She does have a little worried eyes though, the same ones, Randy had. I took a sip of my coffee, feeling it giving me a little more energy.

"We're all here for you, Tiffany. You know that, right?"

"I know, I know. I just need a break from reality for a while." I said, running my hands through my hair and letting out a yawn.

"Do you mean, go into hiding or something?" Gale asks.

"I don't want to hide if there isn't going to be another killer. I don't want them to win."

"You mean, Billy and Stu?"

I looked at her with a defeated look.

"Oh Hun, you haven't let them win one bit. With what you went through last year, you beat them. But, if you think you need to hide, you hide and protect yourself."

"I don't want to leave, Randy. I know he wouldn't do that with me."

Gale laughs a little. I look at her questionably.

"He would leave with you, Tiffany. He loves you."

I smiled at that, already knowing the truth of our relationship now. Because, I have the same feelings for him. I sighed.

"I love him too." I smiled.

"You haven't told him yet, have you?"

I shook my head, looking down.

"Well, you just have." She says simply.

I looked up at her confused. She glances behind me, I turn around in my chair and noticed Randy in a wheelchair, a nurse pushing him. I felt my heart stop, my breath hitched in my throat, blood running cold through my body.

"Randy…"

"I wanted to tell you too, Tiff, but didn't know how to or when. I wanted to wait for all this to be over with" He says.

The nurse pushes him a little closer to us and he left. I heard a chair being pushed back and looked over to see Gale standing up.

"I'll leave you two, to it then."

She leaves, leaving the two of us alone.

"Tiff, I had this whole thing planned out. I was going to ask you out and go on this big date and then ask you to be my girlfriend. I was just waiting for everything to blow over."

I let him continue.

"I started to have feelings for you after we came here. I just kept the charade of my love for, Sidney, to not have you suspect anything," He pauses, rubbing the back of his neck. "I like you, Tiff. A lot."

I smiled, looking him in the eye.

"I like you too, Randy."

He smiles, and he takes a deep breath.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend, Tiffany?"

"Yes, Randy, I would like to be your girlfriend."

"If I could stand right now, I would pick you up and spin you around."

I smiled, bending over to him, as we kissed. It was sweet, short, and soft. I don't regret this decision, what's so ever.

"That was so much better, though." We both laugh, in the empty cafeteria.