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Update
Title - An Everyday Life
Author name – beautiful_love a.k.a. Jessica
Rating – PG-13
Disclaimer - I don't own these characters.
Feedback - Yes please! I need it!
Summary- Totally AU - Tara meets Willow - the happy bumblings of falling in love - I'm not too good at this summary thing.
Notes: Special thanks to Ariel for her incredible assistance as my beta.
Chapter Thirty Three
“Well I’ll say one thing. This hospital’s food is way better than St. Claire’s. When I was there for my knee surgery, I thought I was going to starve,” Donnie said as he took another bite of the untouched scrambled eggs from the tray in front of Tara.
“Donnie!” Carolyn scolded from the other side of the hospital bed, dropping the scarf she was knitting in her lap. “Don’t eat that! It’s Tara’s and she needs to keep her strength up.” Tara just smiled at her brother as he guiltily looked back at her, his mouth still full, fork poised in the air with another helping. She giggled and pushed the half empty tray of semi-solid food towards him. Smiling in appreciation he enthusiastically dug into the remaining fare. “Tara! You need to eat that!”
“Mom, I’m fine. I don’t need to gobble down every morsel that they feed me. Barbara already told me not to push it.”
“But Tara, you’re thin enough as it is,” Carolyn said, her tone worried as she scrutinized her daughter’s appearance. “I swear you’ve lost ten pounds since the last time I saw you.”
“Damn and you were shooting for twenty pounds,” Donnie said with a smirk as he took another bite.
“I know. There goes my modeling career. Guess I’ll l have to have my agent cancel that gig for the next Victoria’s Secret catalog,” Tara said, her face completely serious. Next to Carolyn, John began to chuckle but kept his eyes on the television across the room.
“It’s not funny,” she scolded him, picking her needles back up and dropping a stitch with the pink yarn balled at her feet. “And you two are incorrigible,” she said glancing back at her children. They just shook their heads and smiled.
Tara looked around at her family, hating that the accident was the reason that they were all here together, but happy to have them near just the same. Rubbing her tired eyes, she settled back against her pillows and stared up at the ceiling. It was only 9:30 but so far it had been an eventful morning.
After her initial talk with the on-duty nurse about how she was feeling, she was a little startled when two burly police officers knocked on her doorframe, taking their caps off as they entered.
“Morning Ms. Maclay. I’m Officer Jake Stevens and this is my partner, Rick Thomlin. We’d like to speak to you for a few minutes about your accident if you don’t mind,” the taller of the two said with a kind smile at Tara to put her at ease. He stood just inside the door for a moment, waiting for any indication that the blonde was not ready.
“O-O-Ok. Um… wh-what can I h-help you with?” she asked as she attempted to prop herself up, cringing as she did.
“Ms. Maclay, please stay still,” he said as the two officers stepped into the room. “This isn’t a formal matter. We just want to ask you a few questions.” Tara nodded and settled back down. “Great. May I sit?” he asked, motioning to the chair near her bedside. Tara’s head just sort of bobbled on her pillow, causing him to smile as he sat. His partner, the younger of the two stepped to the foot of her bed, looking curiously around the room but not seeming to really pay attention to what his partner was saying.
“Now, Ms. Maclay, we’ve talked to many of the eye witnesses on the scene and the driver of the third car. We were just wondering if we could get your account of the accident,” he said as he pulled a small notepad and a dull, yellow pencil from his pocket.
“Um… w-well, I d-don’t really remember much. Or a-anything really,” she said with a contrite look. “I’m sorry.”
“No apologies needed,” Officer Stevens said with a reassuring smile. “If you don’t mind my asking, what is the last thing you remember?”
“Leaving w-work. I was on m-my way to m-meet someone and I was g-getting in the elevator in my office on the way d-down to my car. That’s all.”
“Well ok then,” he said as he pocketed his notepad. “We won’t take up any more of your time. But if you do remember anything else, please call me,” he said passing her a card with his number printed on it.
“Ok,” she said, studying the card. The two men made their way to the door and were almost in the hall when she called out softly, “What happened?”
“I’m sorry?” Officer Stevens said as he slipped his cap back on.
“Wh-What happened? I mean, if you’re doing an investigation, I’m guessing th-this is about more than j-just a car accident,” she said, looking hopefully at the officer. He smiled again, but this time it there was a hint of sadness there. He nodded to his partner to give him a minute before coming back into the room and sitting back in the same chair.
“Unfortunately Ms. Maclay-”
“Tara.”
“Tara,” he said gently. “The driver that hit you fled the scene immediately. Eye witnesses gave us a description but so far we’ve had no luck at apprehending the individual. He was speeding when he hit you and one witness reported that he appeared to be texting right before the accident.”
“It was a hit and run?”
“In a stolen vehicle,” he said with a nod. He watched for a moment as she absorbed the information, her face full of surprise. “Like I said, we were able to gather a description from some of the witnesses on the scene but unfortunately, there’s some conflicting information.”
“Conflicting information?”
“Yes. One person said he had brown hair, another said blonde. Someone said he was tall and someone else said short, etcetera, etcetera. It caused a lot of excitement and the few witnesses that were available were more concerned about you and the other driver’s well-being.”
“The other driver… how is h-he?”
“I haven’t actually spoken to him since the day of the accident. He was with you when we arrived on the scene just before the ambulance. Nice guy. He kept asking about you when I talked to him after he was discharged from the ER.”
Tara nodded and took another moment before asking her next question.
“Do you th-think you’ll c-catch the guy?”
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we do,” he said softly.
“Ok,” she said with a nod as she stared down at the card in her hands.
“Well, I won’t take up anymore of your time Tara. But again, if you remember anything, even if it doesn’t seem important, please call.” She just nodded again as he stood up and made his way towards the door.
“O-Officer Stevens?” Tara looked up to see him staring back at her, his eyes still soft. “Thank you.” He nodded once and then left the room. She listened as the sound of his patent leather shoes tramping against the tile became quieter and quieter until eventually there was silence and she was once again left alone, a nagging feeling eating at her chest as she processed what he’d told her.
It wasn’t the accident that bothered her. Sure it was scary but it wasn’t the first time she’d been hit. She’d been in a fender bender or two and had nursed a mild case of whiplash when she was fifteen and riding shotgun when Donnie had his first accident in their father’s truck. And even though she hated the idea that someone had caused all this destruction with a stolen vehicle and then ran off, she wasn’t surprised. People did bad things every day and some got caught and the rest didn’t. That was just the way life worked. But the fact that she couldn’t remember any of the events was eating at her insides; clawing its way through her brain as she struggled over and over to try and piece together anything. And again and again, she was unsuccessful.
“Tara!” She was snapped back to reality by her brother’s booming voice. He was staring at her, his eyes worried as he waved a hand in front of her face.
“Stop it!” she said as she pushed his hand away. She looked to her parents who were sporting the same worried glances as her brother. “What?”
“Are you ok sweetie?” Carolyn asked as she reached for her daughter’s hand.
“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking. What did I miss?”
“Before or after Donnie ate your Jell-O?” John joked.
“Definitely after,” she said with a laugh as she saw a red glob of the jiggly stuff stuck to his lip.
“Am I interrupting?” Willow’s voice came softly through the door as she stood in the hallway, her eyes quickly scanning over the other faces in the room before landing on Tara’s, her lips instantly lifting at the corners as she saw her girlfriend’s beautiful blue eyes.
“Willow! Oh how are you darling? Come in. Sit, join us,” Carolyn said, her over-welcoming tone causing Tara to laugh a little too hard and then cringe as she felt the stitches on her abdomen pull.
“You ok?” Donnie asked as she placed her hand gently on the tender spot. She just nodded and turned back to the doorway, smiling once again when her eyes met Willow’s.
“You can come in,” she said when Willow stayed rooted to her spot in the hallway.
“Oh, no, I don’t want to intrude. I’ll just sit in the waiting room,” she said, motioning over her shoulder.
“Nonsense,” Carolyn cried as she stood and ushered the nervous redhead into the room, much to Tara’s enjoyment. “Donnie, be a gentleman and give Willow your seat,” she said as she pushed her to the other side of the bed where Donnie had immediately stood and gestured towards the now vacant chair.
“Oh, no, I’m fine. I can stand.”
“No, I insist. I’ve been sitting around too much anyway lately,” he said, still holding the seat open. Willow hesitated again and opened her mouth to argue when Tara stepped in.
“Just sit Will. Otherwise we’ll be here all day watching Donnie try to be chivalrous.” Willow looked back and forth between the two smiling siblings before taking the seat, sitting stiffly on the corner of the chair. Tara continued to smile at the scene, watching her girlfriend’s eyes dart uncomfortably around the room before landing on hers. Green met blue and Tara watched as Willow melted into the chair, smiling back at her.
“How are you?”
“Fine,” Tara said, elaborating no further when her parents looked expectantly at her. Willow made a mental note of it but didn’t press the issue. “Have you been here long?”
“No. Buffy just dropped me off and ran to get us coffee. She wanted to see you but didn’t feel like drinking the sludge from the cafeteria. Those were her words, not mine. I mean, no the coffee here isn’t the best but it’s a hospital, not a Starbucks, you know. I mean you can’t expect a great Columbian French roast from an industrial Mr. Coffee.” She noticed the smirk on Tara’s face and realized that she was babbling, possibly for the first time in days. “Sorry. No, I haven’t been here long.”
“Well I’m glad you’re here,” Tara said, reaching across the bed with her left hand to her girlfriend. Willow reached up and took her hand, squeezing gently, relishing in the feel of Tara squeezing back.
“So Willow, tell us more about your job,” Carolyn said as she continued her knitting.
“Mom,” Tara chastised at the same time Donnie sighed and John threw her a warning glance.
“What? We’ve spent the whole week with her. I just thought it might be nice to get to know her better since she’s an important part of Tara’s life,” Carolyn said as she looked around at her family.
“Yes, she is important,” Tara said, squeezing Willow’s hand. “But I’d prefer not to scare her off with a third degree interrogation just yet.”
“I wasn’t interrogating. I was only-”
“Carolyn,” John said quietly as he wrapped an arm around his wife and gently squeezed her shoulder.
“Fine. No more questions,” she said resignedly. “So what should we talk about?”
“Nuclear fission?” Donnie suggested. “The division of subatomic particles?”
“No, we discussed the yesterday. How about the significance of the Reconstruction Act of 1867?” Tara said. John just chuckled but continued to watch the television on the far wall. Carolyn looked back and forth between her children, unamused.
“You two so take after your father’s side,” she said with a sigh as she returned to her knitting. Tara smiled at her brother before he turned his back to her, sitting at the end of the bed, his eyes fixed on the television as the latest sports highlights started to play. Tara turned back to Willow, brushing her thumb across the back of the redhead’s hand.
‘I missed you,’ she mouthed, making Willow smile even wider.
‘Me too,’ she mouthed back. They continued to stare at each other, blue getting lost in green and green in blue, noticing nothing else about their surroundings. Willow scooted her chair closer to the bed, awkwardly trying to keep her hand in Tara’s as she did so.
“So what did you end up doing last night after you left here?” Tara asked once Willow was reseated.
“Nothing. Just went home and caught up on some work I had waiting.”
“And why aren’t you there now being super computer girl?”
“Because then I wouldn’t be here with you,” Willow said with grin. Tara smiled back and gently ran her thumb across the back of Willow’s hand.
“I’m glad you’re Will. I just don’t want you putting your life on hold to sit here with me. I mean, obviously there’s not a whole lot that you’d miss,” she said, looking around the room.
“I’d miss you,” Willow said quietly, blushing suddenly when Donnie cleared his throat from the end of the bed. Tara just smiled reassuringly at her girlfriend. “Sorry,” Willow whispered.
“Don’t be.” Tara smiled at her once more, getting lost in her girlfriend’s eyes.
“Has Faith been by this morning?” Willow asked. Tara just shook her head. “Anya?”
“Nope. But then again, it’s early and I’m sure they have better things to do than sit in here with me, watching the clock tick by.” Willow opened her mouth to argue when the on-duty nurse entered the room, smiling at everyone, but not saying a word as she made her way around the bed, checking Tara’s vitals. Donnie hopped off the bed to give her room to move around but Tara kept her hand firmly around Willow’s, keeping her in place as the nurse silently worked around her.
“She doesn’t say much does she,” Donnie joked once she had left the room, earning a smile from his sister. “Still feeling like a pin cushion?
“I’m ok,” she said with an over exaggerated yawn and a pointed look at her brother. She flitted her eyes towards her parents, who were paying no attention to their children and Donnie immediately picked up the cue and sprang into action.
“He mom, dad, why don’t we go grab a coffee?” he said as he moved towards them. They both looked at him curiously.
“Donnie, we already had coffee this morning with breakfast,” Carolyn said. “You had three cups actually.”
“Well, juice then. Let’s go get some juice,” he said, trying to herd them towards the door.
“Juice?” John asked. “What do you want juice for? You just drank half of what they gave your sister for her breakfast.”
“Ok, just get out,” he said as he helped his mom from her chair and pushed them both out the door. He turned back once to a smiling Tara before leaving the room himself.
“They aren’t that great at taking a hint huh?” Tara joked as she tried to adjust herself to a more comfortable position in the bed, her face contorting in pain.
“Tara?” Willow stood up and reached for the blonde, unsure of what to do.
“I’m ok,” she said as she settled back. “Just want to be able to keep you here with me for the ten minutes that Donnie will be able to keep them out of the room.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Willow said, leaning in to place her lips against Tara hand. “So what did I miss this morning?”
“The police w-were here.”
“Baby, why didn’t you tell me they were here?” Willow asked, the concern in her voice evident.
“They just showed up first thing this morning. I-I didn’t even know they wanted to talk to me,” she said, uncomfortably looking away from the Willow. “They told me what happened.”
Willow nodded, having already heard the story days ago when the police had spoken to Tara’s parents. She actually couldn’t get what she'd been told about the scene out of her mind and felt the strongest surge of powerlessness sweep over her every time she envisioned it.
“They wanted to know if I could give them any more information about it, but I still can’t remember anything,” Tara said dejectedly.
“Hey, it’s ok,” Willow said, her voice comforting. She wrapped her two good hands around Tara’s non-casted one and smiled. “Did the police say anything else?”
“Not really,” Tara said, adjusting slightly in the bed. “But I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s all I’ve been thinking about all morning.”
“Ok. We can talk about something else. Any thoughts on that Reconstruction Act?”
“No,” Tara said with a giggle. “I really am glad you’re here though.”
“Me too. Or at least I’m glad I’m with you. Not too keen on the whole hospital part though. Have they said how long you’ll have to stay here?”
“I asked this morning and basically the sooner I can get out of this bed, the sooner I can go home,” she said with a sigh.
“So do you want to practice jogging around the nurses’ station now or later?” Willow joked.
“I just want to go home. I hate being here and being poked and prodded all the time. But obviously they can’t discharge me until I can semi-take care of myself.”
“Well it’s not like you live alone,” Willow said. “Can’t they take that into consideration?”
“Unfortunately no. Though my mother is insisting that she come stay with me when I do get out of here,” Tara said with a cynical smile that Willow could only laugh at. “I mean it’s really sweet of her to want to help but I’ll be ok. I have Faith living there with me and if she wasn’t available, I could always call someone else if I needed help.”
“Someone like?”
“Someone like you?” Tara asked hopefully.
“Whatever you need baby,” Willow said as she stood and leaned forward, gently kissing Tara’s forehead, letting her lips rest there as the blonde nuzzled into her.
“You smell good,” she whispered after a long moment of deeply inhaling the scent of her lover.
“Ah yes, it’s this new thing I’m trying out called soap,” Willow said, resting her forehead against Tara’s, smiling at the beautiful girl beneath her. “You smell like Tara.”
“Is that a new scent?”
“It’s my favorite,” Willow said, pressing her lips softly against Tara’s. She was mildly surprised when she felt Tara’s left hand wind through her hair, keeping her in place as their lips met over and over again. She placed her hands on either side of the blonde’s shoulders and leaned in further, mindful not to touch Tara’s injuries but unable to stay away from her any longer. It had been far too long since she’d felt Tara’s soft lips against hers and suddenly she couldn’t get enough.
“Stupid hospital bed,” she grumbled against Tara’s mouth when her the bed railing clattered against her hip, causing the blonde to giggle.
“We’ll have to have proper snuggles when I get home,” Tara said, her lips tickling Willow’s as she held tight to her girlfriend.
“I can’t wait,” Willow said, her eyes closed, savoring the feel of Tara’s fingers combing through her hair. She was jolted out of the moment by a wide yawn from the woman beneath her. “Tired?”
“A little.”
“Why don’t you go back to sleep then.”
“Because I don’t want to miss out on alone time with you,” Tara said with a pout. Unable to help herself, Willow leaned in and kissed her once more.
“I’ll stay right here. Just close your eyes,” she coaxed. Tara reached for her hand first, gripping it tightly as her eyes fluttered shut. Willow pulled her chair closer so she could comfortable sit and turned towards the TV, hoping it would kill some time while Tara napped. Hockey highlights, she thought with a sigh. Not exactly her cup of tea. She turned back to Tara and smiled when she saw the blonde staring back at her, that infamous half-smile stretching at her lips. “Go to sleep,” she said again with a smile. Tara squeezed her hand once more before nodding off.
***
“Knock knock,” Faith said as she stuck her head into the stockroom at the back of Anya’s shop.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Anya said as she looked up from the inventory books littering her desk.
“Looking for you,” Faith stepped in and closed the door behind her. “I had to barter sexual favors with Spike to tell me where you were.”
“Sexual favors?”
“Something involving a nine iron and those plastic pink ice cubes that old people use. I have absolutely no intention of following through though,” Faith said as she looked around the stockroom. “So what’s up? I haven’t talked to you for a few days.”
“I’ve been busy,” Anya said turning back to the ledger she was working on.
“Tara’s awake.” Anya sat completely still, her pen poised above the ledger for a full ten seconds before she looked up at Faith.
“So she’s ok?”
“Pretty much. She woke up yesterday but the doctor thinks she’s going to be fine.” Faith paused for a moment, searching Anya’s face for any emotion. “I was just about to head over there to see her. You want to come with me?”
“Oh… well… I don’t think right now’s a good time for me. I’m really busy here with this inventory and I have all these back orders to deal with.”
“Well Spike can handle that.”
“No, he’s busy up front.”
“Anya there’s no one up there. I’m sure he can handle things here for a few hours.”
“Faith just… I think you should go without me.” She put her head back down but made no attempt to start writing in her books again.
Deciding not to give in to her stubborn friend, Faith stepped closer to the desk and sat on the edge, grabbing one of the supplier catalogs off the desk and idly began flipping through it.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I’ll just wait until you’re ready to go and then we can ride together.”
“Faith, I said you can go. I’ll go see her later.”
“Will you?” Anya huffed and slammed her pen down on the desk, her irritation boiling over, but Faith pressed on. “Or are you just saying that to get me to leave?”
“Why do you care?” Anya asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.
“Because your best friend just woke up for the first time in three days and you’re ignoring her. What the hell’s up with you?” Faith asked as she tossed the catalog onto Anya’s ledger.
“Nothing’s up with me. I’m just busy ok,” Anya said as she stood up from her desk and attempted to busy herself with arranging some of the already neat boxes on the shelves.
“Really? Because I’m pretty sure you’re acting like an asshole right now,” Faith growled as she hopped off the corner of the desk and stepped towards the blonde, her fists clenched at her sides. “What the hell happened between Tuesday night and now that you all of a sudden don’t care about what happens to her? You haven’t been back to see her since you ran out Wednesday morning and now she’s awake and scared and she needs her friends but you’re bailing on her. And why? Because you want to sit in this dark stockroom and worry about some customer in Indiana who needs some special lube overnighted to him? Yeah because they matter but your best friend lying in a hospital bed, well who gives a shit about her right?!” Faith was standing right behind Anya by the time she finished her tirade but the blonde refused to turn and meet her stare. Disbelief coursed through the brunette at her friend’s actions and before she did something that she might come to regret she turned and quickly stepped towards the door. She yanked on the doorknob, fully intent on leaving and slamming it behind her when she heard a sniffle come from the blonde in the corner. Turning to look at her friend she saw her shoulders hunched and shaking as another sniffle filled the air between them. Sighing she closed the door and leaned back against it, watching Anya for a moment before speaking.
“What’s going on with you Ahn?”
“I can’t lose her,” Anya said quietly, still facing away.
“But Ahn, she woke up.” Faith was trying to keep the aggravation out of her voice but it seemed to be a futile effort.
“I know but…” Anya finally turned and faced her friend. “What if something else happens? What if they screwed up the surgery and tomorrow she’s gone? Or maybe she’ll be ok but a year from now she gets run over on her morning jog? Or mugged at gunpoint? Or-”
“Anya stop!” Faith pushed off the door and stepped towards her friend. “Why are you thinking like this? What brought all this on?”
“I just… she was in the accident and we all knew what was happening to her. The doctors told us and they prepared us but… actually seeing her there, completely unresponsive, looking the way she did… I just don’t understand how it happened. I don’t understand how that asshole ran her down and then took off! She could’ve died, Faith! She could be gone forever and I just… I can’t deal with it ok? I know you two are so close and you’re both so important to each other. But I love you both too. I may not be there every morning when you wake up but for the past decade you two have been such an important part of my life. Yes, I ended up lucking out with my family. I was adopted by two great parents and brought into a loving family but when I met you two, I got to choose you as my family. You two are my best friends and… well, I can’t lose either of you. It would break my heart. And I-”
“Anya seriously, stop!” Faith said gently, reaching out to the blonde, who shoved her hand away.
“No! Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you. But I just… I don’t… I don’t know...” She trailed off as she sat back down at her desk looking utterly defeated.
“I do. I get it Ahn. You’ve never lost anyone before. And this scared you. I know how much you love Tara. But pushing yourself away isn’t going to make you feel any better.” Faith stepped closer and kneeled down near Anya’s chair, resting her hand on her friend’s forearm, grateful when she wasn’t shoved away. “You can’t push away because you care too much. I know you’re a hard ass Ahn but you’re going to feel much worse if you’re not around. And you know you can’t just walk away from her. Yes, if something happens to her, it’s not going to be fun. Losing someone never is. But it’s part of loving someone.” She paused for a moment, allowing her words to sink in to the sulking blonde’s mind. “Look, she’s a big part of both of our lives. But whether she’s here or not, that’s not going to change. Wouldn’t you rather have time with her while she’s here though? Wouldn’t you rather not worry about the what ifs and just focus on the fact that today, she’s ok and that’s one more day you have your best friend in your life.” She paused again and watched as Anya took a deep breath and nodded slightly. “Plus if you don’t show up, she’s going to be really hurt and possibly come down here and kick your ass when she feels better.” Anya finally met Faith’s stare and shook her head.
“I hate that she knows how to throw a decent punch,” Anya said, completely serious.
Faith smiled and squeezed Anya’s forearm, knowing she’d broken through.
“I know this is new territory Anya but it’s going to be ok. I promise.” Anya looked at her, knowing she couldn’t really promise anything but nodded just the same.
“Ok. I guess we can go see her.” Faith smiled and stood up, stepping back.
“Do you want me to drive?”
“Absolutely not!” Anya said as she pulled a mirror out of her desk and looked at her blotchy face.
“Why not? I at least know the difference between the gas pedal and the brake.”
“Yes you do. But you also drive ten miles below the speed limit and last time I rode with you, a grandmother on her Rascal passed us on the sidewalk. I’m driving,” she said as she retouched her makeup. “Now, should we bring her a waking up gift?” she asked as she looked around the stockroom for something appropriate.
“Sure, as long as it’s not from here,” Faith said, smiling when Anya scowled.
_________________ Anya: I don't like the sound of this. They don't sound very ex-demon compatible. Tara: Are you sure they're English? I thought English people were, um, gentler than uh... normal people. An Everyday Life
Last edited by beautiful_love on Wed Jan 18, 2012 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Not your over the top, but the humor of day to day life.
