The Fast Times

Holliday rushed into the house, Pete trailing slowly behind her. She found Nancy sitting on the couch watching TV, and hopped onto her lap, "Hi mommy! How was work?"

Nancy hugged Holliday, "It was good. How was your day, baby?"

"Me 'n' daddy had fun," Holliday exhaled, "he's a slow poke."

Nancy turned around, seeing Pete enter and close the door. He didn't say hi, he just went straight to the kitchen. Nancy bit at her lip, then turned to Holliday, "Holly, I'm gonna go talk to daddy, why don't you go play."

Holliday hummed, climbing off the couch and dancing her way to her bedroom. Nancy got up, straightening her shirt, and went to the kitchen. Pete had set the Tupperware of food on the counter, hissing as he leaned against it.

"Hey," Nancy murmured. "Holly wear you out today?"

Pete shook his head, "Nah...I needa talk to you about that."

Nancy raised a brow, "Yeah?"

Pete rubbed his side, "When I was in New York, fuckin' Crystal hit me with her car. I think she fucked my side up."

Nancy's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull, "What? Why didn't you go to the hospital?!"

Pete shrugged, "I wasn't thinking about it. I got up, I was okay--but I'm not."

"Do you want me to take you?" Nancy offered. "I can go get my shoes--"

"Nah, I'm..." Pete trailed, knowing refusing help would be foolish. "Yeah, okay."

Nancy went over to him and kissed him, "I'll grab my shoes 'n' Holly," she said quickly.

Pete hummed, supporting himself on the counter.


Holliday sang to herself as she colored in a book Nancy had bought her at the gift shop. Pete was being examined, had been for the past hour, and Nancy was growing worried, but she managed to keep herself calm. She found herself casually petting her daughter's hair back, distracting herself.

"Mommy," Holliday spoke up, breaking Nancy's thoughts. "Why is daddy in da hos-pit-tal? Does he gots 'n owie?"

Nancy looked down at her daughter, exhaling softly, "Yeah, daddy has an owie, but he'll be okay."

"Good," Holliday announced.

Nancy smiled, rubbing Holliday's back, "Daddy'll be just fine."

The two waited for another 30 minutes before a nurse came out and allowed them to see Pete. He had been admitted, was changed in a gown and had morphine surging through him. Nancy was confused when she saw him, wondering what was wrong with him.

"What's going on?" She asked him softly.

Holliday hopped onto the bed, crawling and sitting beside Pete, who gladly welcomed his little girl. He wasn't sure how to tell Nancy what exactly was wrong. He was shocked at what he had been told himself.

"Chu okay, daddy?" Holliday asked, lying her head on his chest.

Pete winced, careful to keep it to himself, but Nancy saw; "I'm okay, baby girl."

Nancy looked around, her heart picking up it's pace, "Pete, what's wrong?"

Pete pointed to his ribs, "My ribs."

"Are they broken or cracked--what?" She asked impatiently.

"Cracked. Docs are--they want me to stay overnight," he said.

Nancy calmed and exhaled, "Okay. You'll be fine?"

He smiled, the morphine was starting to kick in, "Yeah," he murmured.

Nancy reached out and smoothed his hair back, "Do you need anything?"

He shook his head, his smile growing lazier, "I'm good."

Nancy sighed, leaned over and kissed his forehead. Holliday hummed, beginning to talk to Pete as the morphine pulled him in, causing him to feel tired and a bit loopy. Nancy decided to stay until Pete fell asleep, which wasn't too long after.

"Daddy?" Holliday murmured, then frowned, "Daddy, ya sleepin'?"

Nancy stood up, "I think daddy is asleep, baby. We should go home so he can get better."

Holliday shook her head, "I don' wan' go!"

"I know, baby girl, but we have to. You want daddy to get better?" Holliday nodded adamantly. "Then we have to let him rest. I promise we can come in the morning, alright?"

Holliday sighed defeatedly, "Okay."

With Pete snoring softly, Nancy kissed his forehead again, then Holliday kissed his cheek. The two said goodnight to Pete before heading out; they both looked at him once before leaving.


Holliday didn't sleep well that night; she missed Pete, and couldn't sleep without him checking her closet and under her canopy bed for monsters. At 3 AM, she woke up, looked around, took a deep breath, and hopped out, running from her bed so a monster wouldn't be able to swipe at her ankles.

Rushing into her parents bedroom, she went to her mommy's side and shook the covers, "Mama, mama! Mama, wake up!"

Nancy sighed, "Yeah?" She asked tiredly, "What is it, Holly?"

"I can't sleep," she murmured. "Daddy checks for mun-sters."

Nancy sat up, turning the light on, causing them both to squint; "You want me to check?"

Holliday shook her head, "I sleep wit'chu?"

Nancy picked up Holliday, placing her in the bed beside her, "There you go...get under the covers."

Holliday sunk under the blankets, rolling onto her side with a fluffy pillow under her head, "Thank you."

Nancy shut the light off and laid beside her, "Feel better?"

Holliday hummed, "Yes...but I miss my daddy."

"Yeah," Nancy wrapped her arms around her baby girl, "daddy misses you too. He's just sick right now, he'll be better before you know it. We can see him in the morning when you wake up."

It's only 6 hours later that Holliday is up and asking Nancy to take her to see Pete. Nancy was too tired, but she knew she had to take Holliday. As she got ready, Holliday ate breakfast, not long after finishing, she was announcing she was ready.

"Just lemme get my shoes," Nancy exhaled.

The phone rang before she could, so she growled under her breath and picked up the receiver, "Hello?"

"Nancy? What's wrong?" It was Dale; calling to check up on Pete.

Nancy sighed, "Sorry, it's just...really early. I totally forgot to call you. It's a long story, but Pete's in the hospital with cracked ribs."

Dale sighed too, "Oh god, what did he do?"

"He says Crystal hit him with her car."

"What?!" Dale exclaimed.

"Yeah--Pete's been walkin' around for almost a month with cracked ribs. I'm gonna take Holly to see him now."

"Honey, you sound exhausted," Dale said quickly, "how about I take her? I'm not busy today."

"You want to?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, of course! I'll be over soon," Dale replied, hanging up before Nancy could say anything else.


Pete hadn't been honest with Nancy. He didn't tell her the truth. He had severe internal injuries that hadn't been serious until just a day before. The doctor was worried about him, that's why he kept him overnight. Now, he was bleeding internally. He was under, the doctor's operating to stop it.

Pete couldn't remember what happened before then, but he had sharp pain in his abdomen. He buzzed for a nurse, and then promptly began to scream as the pain proved too much for him. He felt this weight being lifted off of him, and his sudden thought was, "I'm gonna die."

As the nurse talked to him, telling him to stay with them, "You can do it, Pete, just hang on," he began to ramble. Incoherent things, but the nurse listened.

"Tell...Nancy...I'm sorry," he breathed out, swallowing thickly. "Holliday...Holly...I love her."

The nurse shook her head to his words, "Pete, you're fine. You're fine, you can tell your wife and daughter you love them when you're out of surgery. Hang on for me."

Pete thought it was useless; he knew he was going to die, and he felt like a terrible, horrible human being. The tears overflowed, he shut them right as the tears began to burn, "I'm sorry," he whispered. "This...wasn't...what I wanted."

The doctor and other nurses moved him to a gurney and ushered him into the OR, putting him under to deal with the bleeding. It was a great feat, they all had doubts; Pete dreamt about losing Holliday, after being with her for only a little while. He felt cheated, but was happy he had gotten some time with her; he wouldn't change any of the seconds he had with her, except maybe to smack some sense into his 18 year old self and make Nancy stay.