Hold My Hand

Minutes felt like hours as she sat alone in the waiting room, but Boden soon arrived with both Matt and Shay hot on his heels.

“Have you heard anything?” Matt inquired as he took a seat beside her, causing Taylor to shake her head and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, “He’ll be okay.”

“Are you okay?” Taylor added, realizing that she hadn’t even thought to ask and feeling guilt stir in her chest.

“I’m absolutely fine,” Matt reassured her, tightening his hold and kissing her head as she rested it on his shoulder.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the crew turned up and they waited in silence, each lost in thought. Taylor played nervously with her fingers, staring at the door and frowning when Renee rushed in.

“Is Kelly okay?” she asked as she approached Taylor, “What happened?”

Unsure how Renee had found out, Taylor opened her mouth to ask and fell silent, when Shay beat her to it.

“How did you even know that he was here?”

“Back when we were dating, Kelly knew that I was worried about him getting hurt and so, he put me down as his emergency contact,” Renee replied, “I guess he never got around to changing it again after we broke up.”

She had just opened her mouth to continue, when Will Halstead walked in and everyone looked at him expectantly.

“Kelly lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stabilize him and he’s currently in recovery,” he told them.

“Can I see him?” Taylor mumbled, knowing the answer from Will’s expression and dropping her gaze to the ground.

“Due to his injuries and the trauma that he’s endured, I can only allow his emergency contact in,” Will explained, “I’m sorry, Tay.”

“It’s fine,” Taylor lied, standing up and swallowing past the lump in her throat as she left the room.

The ride home in Boden’s truck was filled with Shay talking about how much of a fighter Kelly was and although she was listening, Taylor remained silent. She had wanted to stay at the hospital, but Boden had insisted that she go home and get some sleep.

The next few of days were tense, but Taylor distracted herself as much as possible with work and found that it helped a little.

“Have you been to see Kel?” Matt inquired as they sat down for lunch during shift.

“I’ve dropped by a few times, but Renee was there and... it’s just awkward,” Taylor replied as she pushed her food around the plate, “Have you?”

“Yeah...” Matt began as the alarm sounded.

The rest of the shift offered plenty to keep Taylor’s mind occupied, but eventually, it came to an end and she made her way straight to the hospital. Kelly was alone when she arrived, but it looked as though he was sleeping and she hesitated slightly before taking a seat in the chair beside his bed.

She had been watching television for nearly an hour, when Kelly shifted and she looked over to find him watching her.

“I was starting to think that you were avoiding me,” he said, smiling as Taylor took his hand and entwined their fingers.

“I’m sorry...”

“I’m just glad that you’re here now.”

“Where else would I be?” Taylor added, running her thumb across his knuckles and glancing up as a nurse entered to check on him.

The next couple of hours were spent talking and watching television, until Renee returned. Unable to shift the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach as the other woman fussed over her boyfriend, Taylor cleared her throat and stood up.

“Are you leaving?” Renee asked with a forced smile.

“Yeah, it was a long shift and I could really do with some sleep.”

“Tay?” Kelly added, sending her a knowing look and tightening his grip on her hand.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Taylor promised, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his lips.

“I love you,” he told her.

“I love you too.”

Heading home, Taylor went straight to sleep and woke up a few hours later with the same sick feeling she’d had since Kelly got hurt. Shay was already sitting in the kitchen eating, when she joined her and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

“You want some?” Shay offered as she pushed the pizza box in her direction.

“Nah, I’m good... feel sick.”

“Stress?”

“Either that or I’m pregnant,” Taylor joked, pausing at the comment she’d just made and looking over at Shay who was staring at her.