“What do you mean, too many?” The only people I could think of that would be there was Sam, Mom, and Jemma. “Who else is there?”
I could practically see Sam grinning despite her worry. “Practically the whole town.”
28
Sam
“This is fucking bullshit.”
Jo looked over at me. “Language, Samantha.”
I stuck out my tongue at her. She was always on me for my foul mouth. If any moment in time ever called for constant-fucking-cussing it was right now. My best friend - my brother - was in another room with doctor’s doing god-knows-what to him. I didn’t even know if he would make it through the night.
This was definitely time for cussing.
My phone buzzed. “Claire’s here,” I said looking up from the text. “I’m going to go out and meet her.”
We were stuffed into some sort of staff conference room that they used for lectures or something. I really didn’t give a fuck what it was. But it was large, had plenty of tables and most of all coffee. There was a vending machine right out in the hall so I couldn’t complain too much.
I pulled my shirt up and scrubbed at my eyes with it. It still smelled like smoke.
Fucking stupid tears.
Leaving the waiting room with a few dozen people behind I nearly collided into a harried nurse that was clutching a stack of clipboards. I didn’t have to walk far to see Claire as she walked through the sliding glass doors into the reception area and waiting room.
She looked about as bad as I felt. Red-rimmed puffy eyes, red nose. Her lips set into a permanent frown. I rushed to her and for some reason - certainly not one that I could think of - I hugged her tight around the middle.
Claire let out a gasp of air. Okay, maybe I squeezed too hard. I eased off and pulled back. “Everybody’s in here,” I said pointing at the door I came through. It was a little hard to see so I took Claire by the hand and tugged her along.
She nearly pulled the arm out of my socket when she stood her ground. I whipped around. “Ow! What the fuck, Claire?”
The soft shimmer of tears that were in her eyes before had erupted into a full-blown crying jag. Oh, no. I am not good at this. Please let me go get your Mom. Don’t lean on me. No, stop. Okay, here we go. She’s doing it.
Her full body weight nearly bore me to the ground. It would have if Thomas hadn’t gotten me into working out. Damn his infectious attitude towards exercise.
I still ate like shit, so I had the last laugh.
Just barely managing to prop Claire up, I wrapped my arms around her again and squeezed. What was it that Thomas did to cheer me up? Oh right. My hand moved in smooth circles between her shoulder blades.
There was no way I could do the soft murmured words of encouragement. That wasn’t me. But I could be there for her. It’s what Thomas would have wanted me to do. And since he was fucking lying down on the job, I had to step up.
Maybe if I showed him up enough he’d get off his lazy fucking ass and come out here so we can all stop worrying about him.
Some people can be so fucking inconsiderate.
Fresh tears spilled out of me at the outpouring of grief from Claire. I wanted to tell her it wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t horribly burned or maimed. He’d survive.
Except I didn’t know if that was true and I could not give her false hope. Not now.
“Come on, let’s go see the others. Your sister and mom are waiting in there too.”
“Yeah, all right.” She sounded so… defeated.
Keep it together, Sam. We broke the hug and I took her hand again, leading her past the seating area and a nosy receptionist that tried to stop us.
“You can’t go-”
I shot her my meanest glare, knowing that it was partially ruined by the fresh tears. It managed to do the trick anyway.
You still got it.
Through the door into the conference room, Claire tugged on my arm again. For fuck’s sake! I turned to look at her, trying to stuff my rage back into its bottle. She wasn’t the one I was mad at.
And then I saw it. She was stunned. The poor girl was broken by what she saw. Without the last few days for context, seeing so many people worried about Thomas would probably come as a surprise.
I tugged gently on her arm a few times until the spell finally broke and she came into the room proper.
“Oh, Claire!” Jo came rushing at us and I barely managed to slip out of the way before momma-bear tackled her cub and enfolded her in an epic hug the likes of which I wanted nothing to do with.
Which of course meant I would suffer along with her.
I didn’t get away fast enough because Jo’s long looping arm came around and caught me around the shoulders and pulled me into a group hug. “We’re all family here, that includes hugs for you too, Samantha.”
I grumbled but didn’t fight it. Some things aren’t worth the cost. Jo was also wicked strong. There was no way I would break out until she deemed it so.
The door opened behind us and a young man with rimless glasses, a white coat, and a clipboard came in. After he got over the shock at seeing so many people, he cleared his throat and read from the clipboard. “Is a Claire Walker here?”
“That’s me,” she said, turning around and looking at the door. Jo let her go but kept me in a steel-armed embrace.
Dozens of people rose to their feet and shifted closer to hear. The doctor, obviously intending only for Claire to hear the news sighed and decided it was best not to fight it.
Smart man.
“I’m Doctor Mills, I’ve been treating your fiancé, Mister Weller.” He glanced up at us then back at her. “Would you prefer to do this in private?”
Claire shook her head. “No, they’re all family.”
Mills looked at us, a heavy-lidded expression, then back at Claire. “Everybody here is related?”
“Yes, they’re family.” I had to give it to her, the girl was resolute. And, probably wasn’t far from the truth. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people were related in some distant way or another.
Except me. I was the one outsider here.
“All right, fine. As I said we’ve been treating Thomas for oxygen deprivation and smoke inhalation. A lot of people don’t know this but excessive smoke inhalation can cause everything from stroke to a heart attack in perfectly healthy people.”
Claire let out a choked gasp.
The doctor put out his hand. “So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case. However, he has yet to come to consciousness. This is not entirely unusual. He has a few first degree burns but most of the damage is to his throat and lungs. He breathed in an incredible amount of smoke and heat.
“I want you to brace for the very real possibility that he may need oxygen therapy for the rest of his life. His lungs were severely damaged and we currently have him on a ventilator.
“He will be put into a special chamber that we will use to get the carbon monoxide out of his blood. We are hopeful that will speed up his recovery and let him wake up on his own. But the damage was extensive and I do not want to get anybody’s hopes up. However, Thomas’ vitals are strong.” The doctor smirked a little. “He’s a fighter and before this was obviously in great physical condition. That will help immensely.”
I smiled at that. Thomas was buff as fuck, there was no way a little smoke would knock him down. It made me glad that the doctor, after spending just a little time with him, could get a glimpse of Thomas’ stubborn-as-fuck personality.
“What about Gavin?” I asked.
The doctor looked up. “Are you family of his too?”
I smirked. “You bet.”
He muttered something that might have been, “Heaven help me.” I couldn’t be sure. “He’s in a similar condition to Thomas but with less severe symptoms. Though he has a minor orbital fracture in addition. We expect he’ll come around soon. His parents are with him now.”
Claire balled her fists at her sides. “Can we see him now? Thomas, can
I see Thomas?”
“No, I’m afraid not. He is currently being moved to a hyperbaric chamber where they will pressurize it and flood it with oxygen to help rid his blood of the excessive build-up of carbon monoxide. I will come back with an update when he’s out.
“Now, be aware that even if he comes out he may not be able to have visitors. Each session in the chamber is roughly ninety minutes but his case is so severe he may need several rounds. So, my advice is to go home and get some rest.”
Claire was already shaking her head back and forth before he finished. She wasn’t going to go anywhere and neither was I.
The doctor nodded as if he had known she would stay all along and left us alone. The room exploded with talk. Jo finally let go of me and rushed to her daughter’s side.
Jemma sidled up next to me with a Butterfinger in one hand and Snickers in the other. “Want one?”
“Thanks.” I took the Butterfinger and immediately unwrapped it. After I bit into it I would usually get this sick satisfaction that I was somehow rubbing Thomas’ fitness ethics in his face.
But now I just felt… empty. I mean it was still delicious. Don’t get me wrong. I fucking love butterfingers. The way the candy sticks to your teeth and gives you a surprise flavor boost three hours later is one of my favorite things about it but even that simple joy was blunted by Thomas’ absence.
When I would leave Sunrise Valley, I took comfort in knowing he was there. He was my north star. I could always plot the course of my life as long as I knew where he was.
Now I didn’t even have that.
Wake up, you stubborn bastard. Don’t you dare fucking leave me alone. You know I’m helpless without you constantly nagging me.
29
Thomas
I wasn’t much of a late sleeper. Even after the bakery began taking off and I could get up at ten, eight in the morning was the latest I could sleep.
So it was strange that I was so damn tired. Sometimes I would hear Claire trying to wake me up and she would manage to pull me into that twilight between sleep and waking.
“You have to wake up. I’m not kidding, Thomas,” I heard her say one morning. She shook my arm. “I can’t do this without you. Please.”
Just a moment Claire-bear. That’s all I need, another five minutes and I’ll be there. We’ll have breakfast soon. I’m so tired. Why don’t you get out the eggs?
Sometimes I dreamt about the autumn trees I loved so much. Their vibrant display of red, yellow, gold, and orange. And in those dreams, the trees would shimmer and catch fire in imitation of the fall leaves and they would race towards me and down my throat burning me from the inside.
Other times I dreamed about the bakery and renovating it.
One after the other dreams came and went. Sometimes Claire would bring company into our room. Which was weird but whatever. I was too tired to start an argument over bedroom privacy.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” came Sam’s voice. It felt like she was talking to me from across the room. I could barely hear her voice. Why did it sound like she was crying? I had to get up but couldn’t. “You’re the strongest man I know, Thomas. If you can’t beat this, nobody can. So get the fuck up and stop screwing around. We’re all really worried.”
Worried about what? Can’t a man sleep in? Jeez. Overreact much?
Claire was there most of all. The weirdest dreams always included her. She’d tuck me in, put on my favorite music and talk to me. It was almost annoying how often she’d pull me from sleep but I loved her soothing voice so much I found that I didn’t really mind.
I kept trying to tell her that I was so tired. Everything hurt like a long day of working out new muscle groups. Waking up was her problem, not mine, so why couldn’t I seem to do it?
Every time I clawed my way to semi-consciousness I fell right back again, more tired than the last time. I could not remember a moment in my life when I had been so thoroughly exhausted.
People came and went though I couldn’t manage to open my eyes to greet them. Joanne was there. “We’re all pulling for you, Thomas.” She kissed me on the forehead. The maternal love of it almost made me cry. I had forgotten how badly I missed it. “Take all the time you need. I know everybody wants you to wake up, but you do it when its right for you. Not for any of us. Rest well, sweetie.”
Finally, somebody gets it. I think I’ll do just that, Joanne. Thanks.
Fingers running through my hair brought me back to that weird twilight. “Hey, babe.” Something in me eased every time I heard her voice. “I could really use my partner right now.” She leaned in close, her breath stirred the hairs on my neck. “I’ll even do that thing you asked about if you wake up. Just… please get up.”
Like a magic spell, her words dragged me back into the dark depths.
Music again, voices too. “Happy Thanksgiving, babe.” A kiss on my forehead. “Everybody’s here, won’t you get up and carve the turkey? We really could do with one of your famous pies.
The music and familiar, friendly voices lingered like the smell of baked bread long after the oven had gone cold. Claire’s voice drifted back to me again but this time there was no attempt at a brave face.
Why are you so sad, Claire-bear? I’ll get up, don’t cry.
“Thomas… I’m pregnant. I can’t raise our baby on my own. Please don’t leave me. I’ll do anything, be whatever you want. Don’t leave me. Us. Don’t leave us. You’re going to be a father now, you have a responsibility, a duty, to come back. Please.”
What? Now I know I must be dreaming. There’s no way Claire is pregnant. I’ve only been asleep a day. Besides, we used protection, right?
30
Claire
“I’m losing it, Mom,” I said into her arms. She held me like she used to when I’d skin my knee on the driveway and came running to her with tears in my eyes.
Except this is so much bigger than a scraped knee.
“Shh, it’s okay sweetie. He just needs a little rest, you’ll see.” Since when did she become such an optimist?
“It’s been weeks and he’s still not awake. I can’t imagine life without him!”
My mom tensed against me from the impact of my words. I didn’t mean them like that but I should have known better. I hugged her tighter, hoping she understood it for the apology it was.
“You won’t.” She pet my hair. “Have a little faith.”
“Sorry, fresh out. Could I interest you in some despair? Seems somebody made an error in the paperwork and I’ve got enough despair and doom for ten people.”
“These things have a way of working out. I know, I know it sounds cliché but it’s true. Have you gotten any rest?”
I nodded against her. Which wasn’t quite a lie. The nurses had been kind enough to wheel in a small slab of stone they called a cot. It was worth the aches and pains if I could sleep in the same room as him.
They hadn’t been too happy when they found me awkwardly trying to fit into his hospital bed and they knew I wouldn’t let them keep me out.
“You always were the patient one.” Mom gently pried me away from her, she held me out at arm’s length and smiled at me. “Are you sure you don’t want to go down and get something to eat from the cafeteria?” She looked over at the bed where Thomas had been asleep for a few weeks now. A tinge of sadness ghosted her features.
“I’m sure.” Going over to Thomas’ bed, I stroked his wavy hair away from his head. It had grown loose and unkempt. I kind of liked it this way. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
“Sam said she wouldn’t mind staying with him if you wanted to get some proper sleep.”
“I know, but really it’s fine.”
Thomas’ hair was soft and wavy with a slight curl to the tips. So different than his usual shorter and clean look. His beard had turned from rough sexy stubble to full-on mountain man.
I laughed to myself at the image in my head. Which was basically just Thomas in the same getup as the Brawny man, only sexier. Flannel
shirt with white undershirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, but with a big bushy beard.
“What’s so funny?” rasped a voice below me. My hand stopped mid-stroke through his hair. Heart pounding, I looked at my mom and saw the perfect O she made with her lips.
Please let this be real. I looked down and found myself staring into those delicious coffee dark browns. My heart stuttered and forgot how to work.
“Thomas!” I cried and collapsed onto him, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him with every ounce of strength I had. I poured every last bit of my fears and worries into that hug. I swore I heard his back pop.
“Claire-bear.” His voice was so hoarse. I reached over to get him a glass of water with a straw. Noticed my mom was gone and held the straw to his lips.
“Here, have a sip babe. Not too fast now.”
A few sips later he let out a sigh of pleasure. And only then seemed to realize where he was or what was going on. “Where-” Realization dawned on him. “Why am I in the hospital?”
I pulled the well-worn chair I took my vigil in ever since he was admitted to a room up to the side of the bed and sat down. My legs felt like jelly. His hand gripped firmly in mine, I recounted what had happened since the fire.
Sam had filled me in on the whole rally, the protest, attempted arrest, and the fire that ended up burning down the entire block. Our apartment included.
I mourned the loss of our home and the business but they were just things. Gavin was already out of the hospital fully recovered but with a nasty scar above his right eye.
Now it was Thomas’ turn. I wanted to scoop him up and run out of the hospital before they could keep him another minute.
Right around the part of the fire, the kind nurse that had arranged the cot and made sure I was as comfortable as could be - which wasn’t much, admittedly - came in with Doctor Mills in tow.
“Well, look who finally decided to wake up,” the doctor said brightly. He carried Thomas’ chart in his hands, flicked through the pages then began a battery of physical tests on him.
Bun in Her Oven Page 20